The 19th Century on the Screen
The big events of the ninetinth century, and a few movies that serve as time capsules. Mostly feature films with a few TV movies to fill in the gaps.
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78 titles
- StarsPaul GiamattiLaura LinneyJohn DossettThe life of one of the USA's Founding Fathers, its second President, and his role in the nation's first 50 years.Spans quite a few years into the 1800's
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsIoan GruffuddAlbert FinneyMichael GambonThe idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.Early 1800's
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsFred MacMurrayCharlton HestonDonna ReedAfter purchasing Louisiana from France, the USA sends surveyors Lewis and Clark, assisted by a Shoshone guide, to chart the new territory.1804 (Don't let the kids base their homework off this)
- DirectorWill PriceStarsJohn PayneMaureen O'HaraHoward Da SilvaIn 1805, the United States battles the pirates of Tripoli as the Marines fight to raise the American flag1805
- StarsBenedict CumberbatchJared HarrisJamie SivesIn 1812, young British aristocrat Edmund Talbot travels by ship to Australia, and learns more about himself and about life than he had ever bargained for.1812
- DirectorAnthony QuinnStarsYul BrynnerClaire BloomCharles BoyerDuring the War of 1812, Louisiana buccaneer Jean Lafitte assists the Americans in defending New Orleans against the attacking British war fleet.1814
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsRod SteigerChristopher PlummerOrson WellesFacing the decline of everything he has worked to obtain, conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and his army confront the British at the Battle of Waterloo.1815
- DirectorGonzalo SuárezStarsHugh GrantLizzy McInnernyValentine PelkaLord Byron, poet Percy Shelley, his future wife, Mary Shelley (writing Frankenstein) and others spend the summer of 1816 together.1816
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillArthur HillerStarsJulie AndrewsMax von SydowRichard HarrisAn American missionary and his wife travel to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.1820's - 1830's
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsGary OldmanJeroen KrabbéIsabella RosselliniThe life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to find out who this beloved was--not easy, as Beethoven has had many women in his life.
- 1824
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsPierce BrosnanSaeed JaffreyShashi KapoorFact-based account of a secret society of murderers, and of the man who exposed them in British India 1825.1825
- DirectorJack CoufferStarsNicholas ClaySusan MacreadyIan RichardsonVictorian naturalist Charles Darwin sails on the HMS Beagle and returns with a shocking theory of evolution.1831
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsDennis QuaidBilly Bob ThorntonEmilio EchevarríaBased on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio Texas.1836
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDjimon HounsouMatthew McConaugheyAnthony HopkinsIn 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.1839
- DirectorJin XieStarsGuoan BaoLiankun LinSihung LungQing official Lin Zexu burns the opium of British traders in a bid to end the opium trade. Incensed by his actions, the British traders appeal to their government, leading to the First Opium War and the eventual cessation of Hong Kong.1839
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleAnton WalbrookWalter RillaThe story of an 18-year-old princess who becomes Queen of England. It chronicles six decades of her reign during a period of immense change and her marriage to a prince who would become her treasured source of stability and affection.1840's - 1850's
- DirectorGene Fowler Jr.StarsFred MacMurrayWilliam BishopNina ShipmanIn 1846, a newspaperman joins an Oregon Trail wagon train to verify rumors about the U.S. government sending troops disguised as settlers there in order to claim Oregon.1846
- DirectorTerrence MartinStarsCrispin GloverClayne CrawfordMichele SantopietroAfter becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846-1847, a number of trapped settlers join together in a final effort to reach California and organize a rescue party.1846
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsTyrone PowerLinda DarnellDean JaggerIn 1844, after the assassination of Mormon leader Joseph Smith by an angry mob in Illinois, the Mormons choose Brigham Young as their new leader and follow him to a new promised land in Utah.1847
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsJoel McCreaBetty FieldHarry CareyThe biography of Dr. W. T. Morgan, a 19th century Boston dentist, during his quest to have anesthesia, in the form of ether, accepted by the public and the medical and dental establishment.1848
- DirectorJames CruzeStarsEdward ArnoldLee TracyBinnie BarnesStory of the gold strike on an immigrant's property that started the 1849 California Gold Rush.1848
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert RedfordWill GeerDelle BoltonA mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.Late 1840's
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsTrevor HowardVanessa RedgraveJohn GielgudIn 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.1854
- DirectorMichael CrichtonStarsSean ConneryDonald SutherlandLesley-Anne DownEngland, 1850s. A master criminal aims to rob a train of a large sum of gold. Security is incredibly tight and the task seems an impossible one. However, he has a plan and just the right people to carry it out.1855
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniJosephine HutchinsonAnita LouiseThe biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.1857
- DirectorKetan MehtaStarsAamir KhanRani MukerjiToby StephensThis is a film about the leader of the 1857 mutiny and his fight against the British rule.1857
- DirectorChristopher CainStarsJon VoightTrent FordTamara HopeA love story set during a tense encounter between a wagon train of settlers and a renegade Mormon group.September 1857 (Mountain Meadows Massacre)
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsJohn WayneEiko AndoSam JaffeIn 1856, the first U.S. Consul General to Japan encounters the hostility of the local authorities and the love of a young geisha.1858
- DirectorCharles Marquis WarrenStarsRaymond MasseyDebra PagetJeffrey HunterRise, fall and execution of John Brown, fanatic abolitionist.
- 1859
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsRaymond MasseyGene LockhartRuth GordonHumble Abraham Lincoln gains the respect of his Illinois neighbors, growing in stature and respect until he is elected President in 1860 and departs for Washington.1830's - 1860
- DirectorJerry HopperStarsCharlton HestonRhonda FlemingJan SterlingBuffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickock work to establish the Pony Express and fight Indians and California Separatists who seek to destroy it.1860 (Inaccurate depiction of Buffalo Bill & Wild Bill Hickok)
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsVirginia MadsenAlex Hyde-WhiteReed DiamondA naval battle between two large ships: the "Monitor" and the "Merrimack".March 8 - 9, 1862
- DirectorRon MaxwellStarsTom BerengerMartin SheenStephen LangIn 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.July 1 - 4, 1863
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCameron DiazDaniel Day-LewisIn 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.1863
- StarsKevin CostnerBill PaxtonMatt BarrDramatization of the bitter blood feud between the two families on the West Virginia/Kentucky border in the years after the Civil War.1963 - 1891. (Length of the feud)
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDaniel Day-LewisSally FieldDavid StrathairnAs the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.January - June 1865
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsRobin WrightJames McAvoyTom WilkinsonMary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life.June 1865 -
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsVan HeflinLionel BarrymoreRuth HusseyBiography of Andrew Johnson, who followed Abraham Lincoln into office and became the first President of the United States ever to be impeached.1865 (Andrew Johnson takes office)
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsDavid WenhamKate CeberanoJan DecleirThe true story of the nineteenth century priest who volunteered to go to the island of Molokai, to console and care for the lepers.1865. (Father Damien arrrives in Hawaii and serves for the next twenty years)
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsJodie FosterChow Yun-FatBai LingThe story of the romance between the King of Siam and widowed British schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens, during the 1860s.1860's
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsBarbara StanwyckJoel McCreaAkim TamiroffIn 1862, Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads compete westward across the wilderness toward California.1869
- DirectorSimon LangtonStarsAidan QuinnNigel HawthorneKabir BediOne mans quest for a lost missionary in the African jungle becomes a journey of his own self discovery1869
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsYul BrynnerMaria SchellClaire BloomDrama based on Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's homonymous novel about the proud Karamazov family in 1870s Russia.1870
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerAlice FayeDon AmecheThe O'Leary brothers--honest Jack and roguish Dion--become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.1871
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsHelmut BergerRomy SchneiderTrevor HowardThe reign of the tormented Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from 1864 to 1886.1870's
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsRobert ShawMary UreTy HardinGeorge Armstrong Custer's love of the heroic traditions of the Calvary and his distaste with the coming of industrialization leads him to his destiny at the Little Big Horn.1876. Neither this or They Died with Their Boots On are terribly accurate.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsDon AmecheLoretta YoungHenry FondaThe story of how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.1876
- DirectorMartin RittStarsSean ConneryRichard HarrisSamantha EggarIn 1876 Pennsylvania, a group of Irish immigrant coal miners begin to retaliate against the cruelty of their work environment.1876
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTom CruiseKen WatanabeBilly ConnollyNathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.1877
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsBurt LancasterPeter O'TooleSimon WardA dramatization of the Battle of Isandlwana, where the British Army met its match against the Zulu nation.January 22, 1879
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerJack HawkinsUlla JacobssonOutnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.January 23, 1879
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsSpencer TracyRita JohnsonLynne Overman82 year old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty year career of scientific achievement.1879. (Invention of the electric light)
- DirectorGregor JordanStarsHeath LedgerOrlando BloomGeoffrey RushAn innocent man becomes one of the most wanted criminals the world has ever known.
- 1880
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJames CoburnKris KristoffersonRichard JaeckelPat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.July 14, 1881 (Billy's death. Takes liberties with the facts, if anyone knows an accurate Billy the Kid movie, I'd like to hear it)
- DirectorHarry MosesStarsSamuel L. JacksonSam WaterstonMason AdamsThe story of Johnson Whittaker, one of the first African-American cadets admitted to West Point. Tied down and beaten by his fellow cadets, Whittaker was court-martialed on the grounds that he staged his own assault to avoid taking a philosophy exam. His defense attorneys consisted of a racist and a Harvard Graduate who squabble over how best to present his defense.1881
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosKevin JarreStarsKurt RussellVal KilmerSam ElliottA successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.October 26, 1881 (Gunfight at OK Corral)
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsJohnny CashKris KristoffersonMarcia CrossThe various fortunes and misfortunes of the outlaws and bank robbers Frank and Jesse James.April 3, 1882 (Jesse's death)
- DirectorBernard L. KowalskiStarsMaximilian SchellDiane BakerBrian KeithIn 1883, ship captain Hanson plans a shipwreck salvage mission in The Dutch East Indies to retrieve a cargo of pearls but an unexpected volcano eruption and a state-ordered transport of convicts upset his plans.August 26-27, 1883
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsJudi DenchBilly ConnollyGeoffrey PalmerWhen Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown, but their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil.1861 - 1883
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellIrene DunneElizabeth TaylorA straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.1883
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsAnthony HopkinsJohn HurtAnne BancroftA Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.November 1884 (Dr. Treves meets Joseph Merrick)
April 11, 1890 (Death of Joseph Merrick) - DirectorBasil DeardenEliot ElisofonStarsCharlton HestonLaurence OlivierRichard JohnsonIn the Sudan, in 1884 to 1885, Egyptian forces led by British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) defend Khartoum against an invading Muslim Army led by a religious fanatic, Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi (Sir Laurence Olivier).Late 1884 - Early 1885
- DirectorVincente MinnelliGeorge CukorStarsKirk DouglasAnthony QuinnJames DonaldThe life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.1880's
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsHeath LedgerWes BentleyKate HudsonA young British officer resigns his commission just before his regiment is sent to battle and soon receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of what they view as his cowardice.1885
- DirectorWalter HillStarsJason PatricGene HackmanRobert DuvallThe story of the Apache chief and his armed resistance to the U.S. Government's subjugation of his people.1886 (Capture of Geronimo)
- DirectorArthur PennStarsAnne BancroftPatty DukeVictor JoryThe story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.1887 - 1888
- StarsMichael CaineArmand AssanteRay McAnallyA Scotland Yard police inspector, battling the booze, investigates the Jack the Ripper murders and discovers a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the Queen.1888
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsGeorge O'BrienFlorence GilbertJanet GaynorFollows Tom O'Day, who is loved by two women: Anna Burger and Gloria Hamilton. He has no idea of Anna's love for him, and he becomes engaged to Gloria.May 31, 1889
- DirectorAntony DarnboroughTerence FisherStarsJean SimmonsDirk BogardeDavid TomlinsonVicky Barton visits Paris with her brother Johnny, only to discover the following morning he has gone missing and the hotel staff have no recollection of his presence.1889
- DirectorMarc ForbyStarsQ'orianka KilcherBarry PepperShaun EvansThe true story of a Hawaiian princess' attempts to maintain the independence of the island against the threat of American colonization.1890's
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnAlexis SmithJack CarsonAs bare-knuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert, Jim Corbett, uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the top of the boxing world.1892 (Match with John L. Sullivan, and the beginning of modern boxing)
- DirectorDavid MillinStarsBrian O'ShaughnessyWill HutchinsAdrian SteedThe nerve-jangling true tale of a battalion of volunteer soldiers facing the might of King Lobengula's army in Rhodesia in 1893.1893
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRichard DreyfussOliver ReedPeter FirthAn investigation into the conviction of a French Army Captain of treason leads a man into the deadliest of conspiracies that helped divide the people of France and set the stage for the First World War.1894
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyAlbert LewinStarsGreer GarsonWalter PidgeonHenry TraversDespite himself, accomplished physicist and avowed bachelor Pierre Curie falls for brilliant student Marie, and together they embark on the discovery of radium.1895. (Discovery of Radium)
- StarsDavid Ogden StiersHunt BlockDavid CarusoThis movie describes the founding of the modern Olympics and concentrates on the creation of the American team and their trials in getting to the Olympics in Athens.1896
- StarsTom BerengerSam ElliottGary BuseyUndersecretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt resigns to form a volunteer militia unit called "The Rough Riders" to fight in the Spanish-American War.1898
- DirectorStephen HopkinsStarsMichael DouglasVal KilmerTom WilkinsonA bridge engineer and an experienced old hunter begin a hunt for two lions after they start attacking local construction workers.1898
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsRobert MontgomeryVirginia BruceLewis StoneIn the fever-stricken areas of Cuba, a brave band of scientists, doctors, and U.S. Marines fight a losing battle against the deadly plague of 'Yellow Jack' until the great heroic risk taken by an Irish sergeant brings victory.1899