If You Build It, He Will Come, or Paint It as in Michelangelo’s Case.
by dgranger | created - 19 Jun 2020 | updated - 26 Jun 2020 | PublicThese are movies and television movies that show actual great buildings, monuments, or works of art that actually exist or had existed, being built or under construction or created during the course of the film. Which is your favorite? (Sorry, but films about building a fictional house are not included here for now. But that may change later.) Budding young architects can discuss contributions here. Live poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/1prjFOZ6oVo/?mode=desktop&ref_=m_ft_dsk
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1. Field of Dreams (1989)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.
Director: Phil Alden Robinson | Stars: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan
Votes: 128,204 | Gross: $64.43M
The baseball field actually does exist.
2. The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
Approved | 138 min | Biography, Drama, History
The biographical story of Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope Julius II.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento, Harry Andrews
Votes: 8,057
Not only Michelangelo’s fresco on the ceiling of the Sixtine Chapel, the building of St. Peter’s is also shown in several phases of its building.
3. An American Tail (1986)
G | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
While emigrating to the United States, a young Russian mouse gets separated from his family and must locate them while trying to survive in a new country.
Director: Don Bluth | Stars: Dom DeLuise, Christopher Plummer, Erica Yohn, Nehemiah Persoff
Votes: 58,096 | Gross: $47.48M
The Statue of Liberty
4. To Heal a Nation (1988 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
The true story of Jan Scruggs, an embittered Vietnam veteran who returns from the war a broken man. However, with the help of his loving wife Becky, he begins to find a new life for himself... See full summary »
Director: Michael Pressman | Stars: Eric Roberts, Glynnis O'Connor, Marshall Colt, Scott Paulin
Votes: 133
The Vietnam War Memorial
5. Lilies of the Field (1963)
Unrated | 94 min | Drama
A travelling handyman becomes the answer to the prayers of nuns who wish to build a chapel in the desert.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann, Isa Crino
Votes: 13,590
The real Chapel actually does exists in Arizona.
6. Liberty (1986 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 180 min | Drama, History
Drama about how the Statue of Liberty came to be erected in New York Harbor in the early 1880s and the people responsible for its creation.
Director: Richard C. Sarafian | Stars: Chris Sarandon, Frank Langella, Carrie Fisher, Dana Delany
Votes: 53
The Statue of Liberty
7. The Ten Commandments (1956)
G | 220 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 77,921 | Gross: $93.74M
It doesn’t say what but a city is being built.
8. Union Pacific (1939)
Passed | 135 min | Drama, Western
In 1862, Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads compete westward across the wilderness toward California.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Preston
Votes: 3,385
The Union Pacific Railroad
9. Sunday in the Park with George (2013 TV Movie)
143 min | Musical
Inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The plot revolves around George, a fictionalized version of Seurat,... See full summary »
Director: Denis Caïozzi | Stars: Rebecca Bottone, Sophie-Louise Dann, Rebecca de Pont Davies, Elisa Doughty
Votes: 34
Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
10. Winchester (2018)
PG-13 | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Fantasy
Ensconced in her sprawling San Jose, California mansion, eccentric firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Dame Helen Mirren) believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.
Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig | Stars: Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Finn Scicluna-O'Prey, Jason Clarke
Votes: 36,764 | Gross: $25.09M
The Winchester Mystery House, or as some would say, Manson. (Suggested by ACT_1)
11. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 233,416 | Gross: $44.91M
The Burma-Siam Railway and the bridge at the Mae Klong river – renamed Khwae Yai in the 1960s. The film is highly inaccurate since Colonial Nicholson is fictional and would have been quietly killed by the prisoners for collaborating with the enemy. The real officer was Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey of the British Army who encouraged his men to sabotage and delay the building of the bridge.
12. Interstellar (2014)
PG-13 | 169 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
When Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Mackenzie Foy
Votes: 2,102,569 | Gross: $188.02M
The cornfield. (Suggested by BONAFIDE BOSS.)
13. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Passed | 116 min | Drama, Romance
In 15th-century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 12,286 | Gross: $3.27M
Notre Dame. (In this version, it is still under construction.)
14. Brooklyn Bridge (1981)
TV-G | 58 min | Documentary, History
This documentary chronicles the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. The difficult construction process is described in interesting detail; later parts of the film interview ... See full summary »
Director: Ken Burns | Stars: Paul Roebling, Julie Harris, Arthur Miller, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Votes: 1,012
The Brooklyn Bridge (Suggested by Dan Dassow)
15. Monument to the Dream (1967)
28 min | Documentary, Short
Soaring above the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Arch stands today as the nation's tallest arch and national monument. "... See full summary »
Directors: Charles Guggenheim, L.T. Iglehart | Star: Paul Richards
Votes: 89
The St. Louis Gateway Arch (AKA, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Arch) (Suggested by Dan Dassow)
16. Shiraz (1928)
97 min | Drama, History, Romance
A historical romance set in the Mughal Empire. Selima (Enakshi) is a princess-foundling raised by a potter and loved by her brother, Shiraz (Rai). She is abducted and sold as a slave to ... See full summary »
Director: Franz Osten | Stars: Himanshu Rai, Charu Roy, Seeta Devi Jr., Enakashi Rama Rao
Votes: 333
The Taj Mahal (Suggested by Pencho15)
17. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Biography, Drama
American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference and the laws of physics to build a revolutionary race car for Ford in order to defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitríona Balfe
Votes: 475,374 | Gross: $117.62M
Ford GT40 Mk I and Mk II high-performance racing car.
18. Wind (I) (1992)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Romance and adventure happen during the America's Cup series of yachting races.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey, Cliff Robertson, Jack Thompson
Votes: 3,104 | Gross: $5.52M
The racing yacht. While it was called “ Geronimo” and winning the America’s cup in 1987, according to boat international.com, the actual winner of the America’s Cup in 1987, “Stars & Stripes 87” was used. It was just painted over. https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/americas-cup/famous-americas-cup-yachts--26885/frame-3
19. The Great Escape (1963)
Approved | 172 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson
Votes: 259,055 | Gross: $12.10M
The three escape tunnels Tom, Dick, and Harry.
20. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,763 | Gross: $96.90M
I won’t say it was great, but it was real and a nightmare: the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp.
21. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Approved | 135 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith, Bartlett Robinson
Votes: 8,616
The airplane “The Spirit of St. Louis”. (Suggested by Dan Dassow)
22. Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A loving mom becomes compelled to reconnect with her creative passions after years of sacrificing herself for her family. Her leap of faith takes her on an epic adventure that jump-starts her life and leads to her triumphant rediscovery.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Emma Nelson, Kristen Wiig
Votes: 24,947 | Gross: $9.20M
The actual Antarctica base (Suggested by IMDBmember)
23. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The story of Preston Tucker, the maverick car designer and his ill-fated challenge to the auto industry with his revolutionary car concept.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 21,863 | Gross: $19.65M
Tucker automobiles and factory (Suggested by Ed Jones(XLIX))
24. Flash of Genius (2008)
PG-13 | 119 min | Biography, Drama
Robert Kearns takes on the Detroit automakers who he claims stole his idea for the intermittent windshield wiper.
Director: Marc Abraham | Stars: Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Alan Alda, Tim Eddis
Votes: 17,824 | Gross: $4.23M
The intermittent windshield wiper (Suggested by Dan Dassow)
25. Bugsy (1991)
R | 136 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of how Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel started Las Vegas.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley
Votes: 31,010 | Gross: $49.11M
The Flamingo Casino (Suggested by Pencho15)
26. Bridge of Spies (2015)
PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, History, Thriller
During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan
Votes: 327,877 | Gross: $72.31M
The Berlin Wall (Suggested by Pencho15)
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