History
by mainetwyla | created - 05 Nov 2022 | updated - 06 Nov 2022 | PublicBritish history fiction and non-fiction
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1. A Royal Affair (2012)
R | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.
Director: Nikolaj Arcel | Stars: Alicia Vikander, Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Trine Dyrholm
Votes: 50,869 | Gross: $1.55M
2. Robert the Bruce (2019)
TV-14 | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the nobleman-turned-outlaw hero who was crowned king of Scots in the 14th century.
Director: Richard Gray | Stars: Angus Macfadyen, Diarmaid Murtagh, Jared Harris, Stephen Murphy
Votes: 4,880
3. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Rab Affleck, Stéphane Algoud
Votes: 69,699 | Gross: $14.28M
4. Joan of Arc (2005 TV Movie)
60 min | Documentary
In 1425, France needed a miracle. What it got was a warrior. This is the true story of a peasant girl who emerged to lead an army and change the course of history. This is a docudrama ... See full summary »
Director: Pamela Mason Wagner | Stars: Francis Dumaurier, Michal Havelka, Tomás Karger, Vladimír Marek
Votes: 69
5. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 133 min | Drama, History, Western
A historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.
Director: Yves Simoneau | Stars: Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, August Schellenberg, Anna Paquin
Votes: 7,437
6. The King (I) (2019)
R | 140 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming King of England in the 15th century, in the aftermath of his brother's death.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: Tom Glynn-Carney, Gábor Czap, Tom Fisher, Edward Ashley
Votes: 152,755
7. The King's Speech (2010)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Votes: 707,874 | Gross: $138.80M
8. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama, History
Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.
Director: Justin Chadwick | Stars: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess
Votes: 119,955 | Gross: $26.81M
9. Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Jordi Mollà
Votes: 75,054 | Gross: $16.29M
10. Jeanne du Barry (2023)
117 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of Jeanne Bécu who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.
Director: Maïwenn | Stars: Maïwenn, Johnny Depp, Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud
Votes: 10,689
11. Anonymous (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Thriller
The theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, who penned Shakespeare's plays. Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex rebellion against her.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis, Sebastian Armesto
Votes: 42,130 | Gross: $4.46M
12. The Lion in Winter (1968)
PG | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.
Director: Anthony Harvey | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle
Votes: 34,207 | Gross: $22.28M
13. Queen Margot (1994)
R | 161 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.
Director: Patrice Chéreau | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez
Votes: 18,992 | Gross: $2.02M
14. Henry V (1989)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin
Votes: 31,650 | Gross: $10.16M
15. Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
PG | 145 min | Biography, Drama, History
King Henry VIII of England discards one wife, Catharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.
Director: Charles Jarrott | Stars: Richard Burton, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle
Votes: 8,112 | Gross: $2.07M
16. The Sword and the Rose (1953)
Approved | 92 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
During the reign of Henry VIII, Mary Tudor seeks to flee a forced marriage with the French king by escaping to America with her true love, but her plans are not so easily executed.
Director: Ken Annakin | Stars: Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, James Robertson Justice, Michael Gough
Votes: 998
17. King Richard and the Crusaders (1954)
Approved | 114 min | Adventure, Family, History
While leading the Third Crusade, King Richard the Lionheart (George Sanders) battles treachery in his own camp as well as the Saracens and their charismatic leader Emir Hderim Sultan Saladin (Sir Rex Harrison).
Director: David Butler | Stars: Rex Harrison, Virginia Mayo, George Sanders, Laurence Harvey
Votes: 915 | Gross: $2.10M
18. Cromwell (1970)
G | 139 min | Biography, Drama, History
Puritan statesman Oliver Cromwell leads England in a civil war against the absolutist and Catholic-sympathetic King Charles I.
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutin
Votes: 6,956 | Gross: $1.37M
19. The Madness of King George (1994)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
When King George III goes mad, his Lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation.
Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Rupert Graves, Amanda Donohoe
Votes: 18,391 | Gross: $15.24M
20. Richard III (1995)
R | 110 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, War
The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Christopher Bowen, Edward Jewesbury
Votes: 15,568 | Gross: $2.60M
21. Edward II (1991)
R | 87 min | Drama, History, Romance
In this Derek Jarman version of Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan drama, in modern costumes and settings, Plantagenet king Edward II hands the power-craving nobility the perfect excuse by ... See full summary »
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Steven Waddington, Kevin Collins, Andrew Tiernan, John Lynch
Votes: 3,037 | Gross: $0.69M
22. To Kill a King (2003)
Not Rated | 102 min | Biography, Drama, History
A recounting of the relationship between General Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, as they try to cope with the consequences of deposing King Charles I.
Director: Mike Barker | Stars: Tim Roth, Dougray Scott, Olivia Williams, James Bolam
Votes: 3,409
23. Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972)
PG | 125 min | Biography, Drama
On his deathbed, King Henry VIII looks back over his eventful life and his six marriages.
Director: Waris Hussein | Stars: Keith Michell, Donald Pleasence, Charlotte Rampling, Jane Asher
Votes: 987
24. Tower of London (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, History
In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King ... See full summary »
Director: Rowland V. Lee | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter
Votes: 2,230
25. Fire Over England (1937)
92 min | Adventure, History, Romance
During the reign of Elizabeth I, a young man's fervent devotion to the crown and to his sweetheart, a lady-in-waiting, lead him to battle for England's victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Director: William K. Howard | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Flora Robson, Vivien Leigh, Raymond Massey
Votes: 1,981
26. Monarch (2000)
109 min | Biography, Drama, History
Shortly before his death in 1547, the injured King Henry VIII is forced to take refuge a manor house closed for the season. While there, he must confront both his mortality and the ghosts of his past.
Director: John Walsh | Stars: T.P. McKenna, Jean Marsh, James Coombes, Peter Sowerbutts
Votes: 165
27. King Lear (1970)
GP | 137 min | Drama
King Lear divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia refuses to idly flatter the old man, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters.
Director: Peter Brook | Stars: Paul Scofield, Irene Worth, Cyril Cusack, Susan Engel
Votes: 936
28. Henry V (2007)
154 min | Drama, History, War
King Henry V of England is manipulated by the clergy into invading France to claim the crown; He finds that it is more difficult than he imagines, and must rely on his ability to lead his ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Babakitis | Stars: Alexander Babakitis, Peter Babakitis, Howard Dillon, Christoher Grey
Votes: 28
29. Richard I: The Lion Heart (1994)
Documentary
Director: Bob Carruthers | Stars: Hu Pryre, Dave Peres, Marcus Fernando, Owen Hopkins
30. Anna Karenina (I) (2012)
R | 129 min | Drama, Romance
In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen
Votes: 106,521 | Gross: $12.82M
31. The Other Boleyn Girl (2003 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 90 min | Romance, Drama
Based on the controversial novel by Philippa Gregory, "The Other Boleyn Girl" is a fictionalised account of the life of Lady Mary Boleyn who becomes mistress to England's King Henry VIII, ... See full summary »
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe | Stars: Natascha McElhone, Jodhi May, Jared Harris, Steven Mackintosh
Votes: 1,237
32. The Young Victoria (2009)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 66,382 | Gross: $11.00M
33. Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
Mary Stuart's (Saoirse Ronan's) attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.
Director: Josie Rourke | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn
Votes: 55,321 | Gross: $16.47M
34. The Duchess (2008)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was revered for her extravagant political and personal life.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 87,274 | Gross: $13.82M
35. Henry VIII (2003 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 193 min | Biography, Drama, History
Two part mini-series documenting the stormy thirty-eight-year reign of King Henry VIII.
Director: Pete Travis | Stars: Ray Winstone, Joss Ackland, Sid Mitchell, Charles Dance
Votes: 2,487
36. The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Passed | 97 min | Biography, Drama
King Henry VIII marries five more times after his divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
Director: Alexander Korda | Stars: Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Franklin Dyall, Miles Mander
Votes: 4,864
37.
The Hollow Crown (2012–2016)
Episode:
Richard III
(2016)
TV-14 | 129 min | Drama, History, War
Evil Richard plots his path to rule and layers that path with bodies of friend and foe alike.
Director: Dominic Cooke | Stars: Josef Altin, Isaac Andrews, Paul Bazely, Geoff Bell
Votes: 669
38. The Favourite (2018)
R | 119 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
In early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 233,369 | Gross: $34.37M
39. Margrete: Queen of the North (2021)
Unrated | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
1402. Queen Margrete is ruling Sweden, Norway and Denmark through her adopted son, Erik. But a conspiracy is in the making and Margrete finds herself in an impossible dilemma that could shatter her life's work: the Kalmar Union.
Director: Charlotte Sieling | Stars: Trine Dyrholm, Søren Malling, Morten Hee Andersen, Jakob Oftebro
Votes: 2,922
40. The Virgin Queen (2005–2006)
59 min | Biography, Drama, History
From teenage princess to accomplished queen, torn between duty and personal longing, the reign of Elizabeth I is exposed in this lavish drama filmed against a backdrop of some of Great Britain's most beautiful houses and landscapes.
Stars: Anne-Marie Duff, Sienna Guillory, Ian Hart, Tom Hardy
Votes: 3,277
41. Isabel (2011–2014)
3,038 min | Biography, History
The life of Isabella I of Castile, also known as Isabella the Catholic.
Stars: Michelle Jenner, Ramon Madaula, Rodolfo Sancho, Jordi Díaz
Votes: 2,524
42. Ekaterina (2014–2023)
44 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of Russian Empress Ekaterina II (Catherine the Great), a German-born princess who came to Russia as the wife of Peter III, chosen by her aunt Elizabeth, and who, once in power, transformed the Russian empire.
Stars: Marina Aleksandrova, Michael Gor, Vladimir Yaglych, Pavel Tabakov
Votes: 1,683
43. Joan of Arc (1948)
Approved | 145 min | Biography, Drama, War
The abbreviated life of the 15th-century French heroine.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Selena Royle, Robert Barrat
Votes: 3,780
44. Queen Christina (1933)
Approved | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Queen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith, Lewis Stone
Votes: 8,613 | Gross: $0.77M
45. Marquise (1997)
120 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The rise and fall of a beauteous actress. She rises from an impoverished background to become a favorite of the Sun King, Louis XIV.
Director: Véra Belmont | Stars: Sophie Marceau, Bernard Giraudeau, Lambert Wilson, Patrick Timsit
Votes: 1,468 | Gross: $0.07M
46. Ridicule (1996)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, History
To get royal backing on a needed drainage project, a poor French lord must learn to play the delicate games of wit at court at Versailles.
Director: Patrice Leconte | Stars: Charles Berling, Jean Rochefort, Fanny Ardant, Judith Godrèche
Votes: 8,182 | Gross: $2.50M
47. Pippin: His Life and Times (1982 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, History, Musical
At the goading of the ominous and omnipresent Leading Player, Pippin, the eldest son of King Charlemagne, samples life's pleasures to discover his place in the world and the meaning of his life.
Director: David Sheehan | Stars: Ben Vereen, William Katt, Leslie Denniston, Benjamin Rayson
Votes: 604
48. The Six Queens of Henry VIII (2016– )
Not Rated | 60 min | History
A series about Henry VIII and his wives, chronicling the ups and downs in his marriages and how they shaped his reign as King and ultimately the face of Britain.
Stars: Suzannah Lipscomb, Dan Jones, Charlie Clements, Toby Osmond
Votes: 257
49. Lucy Worsley's Royal Myths & Secrets (2020– )
Documentary, History
Lucy Worsley dispels the myths behind some of the key moments in British royal history, and she uncovers how historical stories have been manipulated and mythologized for generations.
Stars: Lucy Worsley, Hannah Young, Lynsey-Anne Moffat
Votes: 127
50. Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley (2016)
Not Rated | Documentary, History
British historian Lucy Worsley travels to Russia to investigate the 300-year reign of the Romanov dynasty.
Stars: Lucy Worsley, Janet Hartley, Simon Dixon, Sergei Bogatyrev
Votes: 1,114
51. Lucy Worsley's Royal Palace Secrets (2020 TV Movie)
55 min | Documentary
Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Lucy Worsley, explores the history of the Tower of London, Hampton Court and Kensington Palace to show how these places symbolize the evolution of British monarchs' place in society.
Director: Eleanor Scoones | Stars: Lucy Worsley, Eleri Lynn
Votes: 120
52. Victoria & Albert: The Royal Wedding (2018 TV Movie)
120 min | Documentary, History
Historian Lucy Worsley and a team of experts re-stage Victoria and Albert's wedding. It was regarded as the wedding of the century at the time.
Director: Ian Denyer | Stars: Jill Buchanan, Ruth Clarson, Etienne Dutoy, Nicholas Frentz
Votes: 223
53. A Merry Tudor Christmas with Lucy Worsley (2019 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary, History
Lucy Worlsey takes us back in time to see what it was like for the 12 days of Christmas in King Henry VIII day. From the food, presents, dress, dances, music, celebrations, customs and more... See full summary »
Director: Peter Sweasey | Stars: Tom Cosnel, Sean Cunningham, Annie Gray, Maria Hayward
Votes: 189
54. Tales from the Royal Wardrobe (2014 TV Movie)
PG | 59 min | Documentary, History
Today, few people's clothes attract as much attention as the royal family, but this is not a modern-day paparazzi-inspired obsession. Historian Dr. Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic ... See full summary »
Director: Nick Gillam-Smith | Stars: Lucy Worsley, Beatrice Behlen, Shaun Cole, Meredith Etherington-Smith
Votes: 235
55. Henry VIII (2020)
Drama
When England's King Henry falls for the young, beautiful Anne Boleyn, he must somehow remove his beloved Queen Katherine from his life. Church and state collide and the course of history is changed forever.
Directors: Barry Avrich, Martha Henry | Stars: Jonathan Goad, Irene Poole, Rod Beattie, Alexandra Lainfiesta
Votes: 9
56. The Last Days of Anne Boleyn (2013 TV Movie)
59 min | Documentary, History
A dramatization of the last days of the queen. It starts on the 2nd of May 1536 when a unit of the kings guard arrives with a warrant for the arrest of the Queen of England, because of incest, adultery and for conspiring against the king.
Director: Rob Coldstream | Stars: Robert Glenister, Tara Breathnach, Daniel Flynn, Brian Shelley
Votes: 172
57. The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family (2021)
Documentary, History
The story of the rise and fall of the Boleyn family during the reign of Henry VIII. Told through the narration of historical academics juxtaposed with actors performing several significant scenes.
Stars: Shelley Conn, Lauren Mackay, Susan Doran, Greg Walker
Votes: 313
58. The Private Lives of the Tudors (2016–2019)
Drama, History
A look though the private lives of the Tudor monorachs
Stars: Gabriella Montrose, Nathan Coenen, Marian Elizabeth, Anastasia Drew
Votes: 115
59. Henry VIII: Man, Monarch, Monster (2020– )
Drama
How a traumatic childhood transformed a clever, handsome prince into a paranoid tyrannical ruler, forever changing the course of a nation.
Stars: Laurence Spellman, Jason Isaacs, Enzo Squillino Jr., Amelia Strohm
Votes: 68
60. Elizabeth I (2005)
TV-MA | 112 min | Biography, Drama, History
Mini-series about the the public and private lives of the later years of Queen Elizabeth I.
Stars: Helen Mirren, Toby Jones, Hugh Dancy, Patrick Malahide
Votes: 7,032
61. Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
During the sixteenth century, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots engages in over two decades of religious and political conflict with her cousin, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England, amidst political intrigue in her native land.
Director: Charles Jarrott | Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Timothy Dalton
Votes: 4,882 | Gross: $2.33M
62. Becket (1964)
PG-13 | 148 min | Biography, Drama, History
King Henry II of England comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant Thomas Becket, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the King's.
Director: Peter Glenville | Stars: Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Gino Cervi
Votes: 15,839
63. Tower of London: The Innocent (1969 TV Movie)
50 min | Drama, History
Worried that the presence of the imprisoned Earl of Warwick will threaten his dynasty, Henry has him entrapped into an act of treason to justify his execution.
Director: Jonathan Alwyn | Stars: John Abineri, Bernard Archard, Paul Bacon, Peter Copley
Votes: 13
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