History 122 Recommended Film List

Updated February 26, 2008

Your job in this essay is to research an event or person from history, watch the film on the topic and then assess the historic validity of the film. Be sure to read the review instructions before you begin. After watching the film and comparing it with your notes, you may want to check additional reviews and watch it again before finishing your final draft. Recommended Films and Review Instructions

Rough Riders. At the center of the story of America's rise to world power is one of the most fascinating characters in all of American history: President Theodore Roosevelt. This film, starring Tom Beringer, captures much of what Roosevelt was about. The Spanish-American war ushered in the age of American imperialism, and as a result of that war and immediately following it the United States became possessor of Guam Puerto Rico the Philippine Islands and the Hawaiian island chain. The Rough Rider's charge up San Juan Hill is the stuff of legend. Much of it happens to be true.

Iron Jawed Angels. 2004 by HBO. Defiant young activists put their lives at risk to win American women the right to vote. Hilary Swank plays Alice Paul, who led the fight for woman suffrage. Frances O'Connor plays her friend, Lucy Burns.
Inherit the Wind. 1960. — The Scopes (“Monkey”) Trial, 1925 Frederic March, Spencer Tracy, Gene Kelly. A fictionalized account of the famous trial, it nevertheless uses actual transcript material, especially clear in the cross examination of the character based on William Jennings Bryan by “Colonel Drummond,” the character based on attorney Clarence Darrow.
Matewan. 1987. — The West Virginia Coal Field Wars, 1920s. Chris Cooper, Mary McDonnell, James Earl Jones. John Sayles, Director. The “war between capital and labor” was never sharper than in the coal mines.
Geronimo. 1993. —  Wes Studi, Jason Patric, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Matt Damon. The Apache leaders fights for his way of life.
Grapes of Wrath. 1940. — The Great Depression. Henry Fonda. Based on the great novel by John Steinbeck.
The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell. 1955. — A courageous army officer sees the future of military aviation in the era between the world wars. Gary Cooper, Ralph Bellamy. Directed by Otto Preminger.
Come See the Paradise. 1990. — Japanese Americans in the West during World War II. Dennis Quaid, Tamlyn Tomita. The excellent film addresses not only the forced Japanese-American relocation, but also some labor issues of the 1930s and 1940s. A little-known film that deserved more attention than it received.
Tora Tora Tora. 1970. — The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Martin Balsam, So Yamamura, James Whitmore, Joseph Cotton. Perhaps less exciting, but far more accurate that the recent Pearl Harbor. Tells the story from the Japanese side in a credible way as well, as the Japanese scenes were Japanese produced and directed.
Patton. 1970. – The World War II general and his enemies, foreign and domestic. George C. Scott, Karl Malden. Covers action from the North African campaign through the invasion of Europe.
MacArthur. 1977. — World War II and the Korean War. Gregory Peck, Ed Flanders. While much of the action follows MacArthur through his fight in the Pacific during World War II, the insights into the Korean War are very telling. Peck is masterful in his characterization, especially during the general's famous farewell speech to Congress.
Nuremberg. 2000. — American Justice Robert Jackson presides over the war crimes trial of Nazi leaders. Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessy, Max von Sydow. As the horrors of Nazism are revealed in the courtroom, even the jaded lawyers are stunned.
Saving Private Ryan. D-Day, June 6, 1944 and after. Tom Hanks. The scenes from Omaha Beach on D-Day bring that event alive in bloody detail.
Twelve O’Clock High. 1949. World War II B-17 air crews in action. Gregory Peck. The air war over Germany had its terrors, for the flight crews as well as those who were bombed.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. 1944. — World War II —General Doolittle's 1942 Raid on Tokyo.  Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson. Used as a propaganda film during the war, it has actual photos of the aircraft taking off from the U.S.S. Hornet.
The Tuskegee Airmen. 1996. — African American Fighter Pilots in WWII. Laurence Fishburne, Andre Braugher, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Courtnay Vance. These brave pilots--the “Red Tail” (from their painted planes) faced enemies at home and over Europe and defeated both. Their combat achievements are unparalleled in American aviation history.
Varian's War. 2001. A wealthy American helps rescue Jews from Vichy France during World War II. William Hurt.

Hiroshima. 1995. — A detailed account of Hiroshima and the end of the war from the American and Japanese perspectives. Large international cast.

Citizen Cohn. 1992. — McCarthyism in the 1950s. James Woods. Roy Cohn was Senator McCarthy's hatchet man during the McCarthy era. The film includes the famous scene where U.S. Army attorney Joseph Welch (Ed Flanders)

Truman. 1995. — Biography of the 33rd President of the United States based on David McCullough’s book. Gary Sinise plays the president, with Diana Scarwid as Bess Truman, a very untypical first lady.

Guilty by Suspicion. 1991. A 1940s film director finds his life turned upside down by the anti-communist hearings conducted by Congress. Robert DeNiro, Annette Bening.  A fictional account of that era, it nevertheless reveals what many in Hollywood went through during the witch hunts that preceded the McCarthy era.

Mr. and Mrs. Loving. 1996. — An interracial couple in Virginia takes on the State of Virginia and winds up in the Supreme Court. Timothy Hutton, Lela Rochon. Based on the actual case as it was handled by courts in Virginia and the United States Supreme Court.

The Long Walk Home. 1991. — Civil Rights: Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1950s. Sissy Spacek, Whoopi Goldberg. Black and white families family in Montgomery deal with the issues raised by Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.
All the President's Men. 1976. — Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein help break the Watergate case. Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman. Post editor Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards) keeps a tight leash on the two reporters until he is convinced they are onto the real story.

Hoffa. 1992. — History of the American Labor Leader of the Teamsters Union. Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Armand Assante. Nobody knows what really happened to Jimmy Hoffa, but this film shows how he got to wherever he is.

The Best Years of Our Lives. 1946. — Aftermath of World War II, the “Good War.” Harold Russell, Frederic March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy. For many World War Ii veterans, the war did not necessarily end when they got home.

See suggestions on this essay.

The Bridges at Toko Ri. 1954. — The Korean War. Frederic March, William Holden, Grace Kelly. In the post-World War II era, this anti-heroic war film was remarkable for its time.

We Were Soldiers. 2002. — The Vietnam War in 1965. Mel Gibson, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliot, Madeleine Stowe. Based on the book by Colonel Hal Moore and Joe Galloway, who was with the troops on the battlefield. A realistic depiction of the full-unit actions in Vietnam, this film is one of the few credible Vietnam-era movies.

Thirteen Days. 2000. The Cuban Missile crisis of 1962 is handled by JFK and his staff. Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Steven Culp. Based on the book of the same title by Robert F. Kennedy, his brother's right-hand man during the crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Path to War. 2003. Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War. Alec Baldwin, Donald Sutherland and Michael Gambon. The President finds himself trapped in a war he did not want and cannot get out of.

Bright Shining Lie. 1998. — John Paul Vann and the Vietnam War. Bill Paxton, Amy Madigan. Follows the course of the war from the advisor phase forward, through the eyes of a larger-than-life character who was well respected by American journalists covering the war because he told the truth.
Updated February 26, 2008 | Sage History Home | Questions