Digital History>Reference Room>Historically Significant Movies in American History

Historically Significant Movies in American History

These movies were selected because of their relevance to American History and are indexed on this site. Some of these movies are available for downloading. You can navigate the selected movies in the following five ways:

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  12 Angry Men 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1776 1941 1969 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey 39 Steps 42nd Street 49th Parallel 5 Fingers Abe Lincoln in Illinois Aces High Adam's Rib Adventures of Robin Hood African Queen Age of Innocence Aguirre, The Wrath of God Al Capone Alamo Alamo Bay Alamo: 13 Days to Glory Alexander the Great Ali Alice Adams Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Alice in Wonderland Alice's Restaurant Alien All About Eve All Quiet on the Western Front All the King's Men All the President's Men Almost Famous Amadeus American Graffiti American in Paris Amistad Amores Perros Anatomy of a Murder Angel on My Shoulder Angels with Dirty Faces Angry Red Planet Animal Crackers Animal Farm Animal Farm (TV) Anna Christie Anna Christie Anne of the Thousand Days Annie Hall Any Given Sunday Anzacs: The War Down Under Anzio Apache Apartment Apocalypse Now Apollo 13 Arizona Kid Arsenic and Old Lace Asphalt Jungle Avalon Awful Truth Baby Doll Back to Bataan Bad and the Beautiful Bad Day at Black Rock Badlands Bananas Bangville Police Bank Dick Barabbas Barry Lyndon Basic Instinct Bat 21 Battle Cry Battle of Algiers Battle of Britain Battle of London Battle of Russia, Part I Battle of Russia, Part II Battle of the Bulge Battleground Beast Beau Geste Beautiful Mind Becket Becky Sharp Before Night Falls Being There Ben-Hur Berlin Tunnel 21 Best of the River Best Years of Our Lives Beware Beyond the Forest Big Chill Big Heat Big Lift Big Parade Big Red One Big Sleep Birds Birth of a Nation Black Cat Black Hawk Down Black Robe Blackboard Jungle Blade Runner Blazing Saddles Blood and Sand Blow - Up Blue Max Blue Velvet Body Heat Bonfire of the Vanities Bonnie and Clyde Bound for Glory Bounty Boys Town Boyz in the Hood Braveheart Brazil Breaker Morant Breakthrough Bride of Frankenstein Bridge On the River Kwai Bridge on the River Kwai Bridge Too Far Bridges of Toko-Ri Brief Encounter Bright, Shining Lie (TV) Bringing Up Baby Broken Arrow Broken Blossoms Bronze Buckaroo Buccaneer Buccaneer Buccaneer Buddy Holly Story Buffalo Bill and the Soldiers Buffalo Soldiers (TV) Bugsy Burnt by the Sea Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Cabeza de Vaca Cabin in the Cotton Caine Mutiny Cal Camille Captains Courageous Captive Heart Carnal Knowledge Casablanca Casualties of War Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Cat People Catch-22 Celluloid Closet Chaplin--A Woman Chaplin--Bank Chaplin--By the Sea Chaplin--Caught in a Cabaret Chaplin--Champion Chaplin--Fatal Mallet Chaplin--Fireman Chaplin--His Trysting Places Chaplin--Immigrant Chaplin--Mabel's Busy Day Chaplin--Night in the Snow Chaplin--The Masquerader Chaplin--The Rounders Chaplin--Vagabond Charade Charge of the Light Brigade Charge of the Light Brigade Charge of the Light Brigade Cheyenne Autumn Children's Hour Chinatown Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus: The Discovery Citizen Kane City Lights Cleopatra Cleopatra Clockwork Orange Close Encounters Of The Kind Coal Miner's Daughter Color Purple Conagher Conversation Cool Hand Luke Courtmartial of Billy Mitchell Crisis in the Kremlin Cross of Iron Crowd Crucible Crusades Custer of the West Damn the Defiant! Dances with Wolves Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer Danton Dark Command Dark Victory Dark Victory Das Boot David and Bathsheba Davy Crockett and the River Pilots Dawn Patrol Day At The Races Days Of Heaven Days Of Wine And Roses Decision Before Dawn Deer Hunter Defiant Ones Defiant Ones Deliverance Delta Force Desert Fox Desert Rats Destry Rides Again Devil's Daughter Dillinger Dinner At Eight Dirty Harry Divide and Conquer Doc Double Deal Double Indemnity Dr. No Dr. Strangelove… Dr. Zhivago Dracula Driving Miss Daisy Drum Beat Drums Along the Mohawk Drums in the Deep South Duck Soup Duel In The Sun Duellists E. T. : The Extra - Terrestrial East Of Eden Easter Parade Easy Rider Easy Rider Egyptian El Cid Elizabeth Elmer Gantry Emperor Jones Empire of the Sun Enemy Below Escape from Sobibor Ethan Frome Evita Excalibur Exodus Exorcist Fail-Safe Falcon and the Snowman Fall of the Roman Empire Family of Spies Fantasia Far and Away Far Country Farewell to Arms Farewell to Arms Fargo Fast and the Furious Fat Man and Little Boy Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald Father Of The Bride Field Of Dreams Fighting 69th Fighting 69th Fire Over England Five Easy Pieces Five Graves to Cairo Fixed Bayonets Flight of the Intruder For Whom the Bell Tolls Foreign Correspondent Forrest Gump Fort Apache Frankenstein French Campaign French Connection Freud Friendly Persuasion From Here To Eternity Front Page Front Page Frontier Marshal Full Metal Jacket Gallipoli Gandhi Gangs of New York Gaslight Gaslight General General Died At Dawn Gentleman's Agreement Geronimo: An American Legend Geronimo: An American Legend Gettysburg Ghostbusters Ghosts of Mississippi Giant Gigi Gilda Gilda Gimme Shelter Gladiator Glory Go Tell the Spartans Godfather Godfather Godfather II Godfather III Godfather Part 2 Gold Rush Gold Rush Golddiggers of 1933 Golden Bowl Gone with the Wind Goodbye, Mr. Chips Goodfellas Gore Vidal's Lincoln Graduate Grand Hotel Grapes of Wrath Grease Great Battle of Midway Great Escape Great Gatsby Great Train Robbery Greed Grey Fox Gulag Gun Crazy Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Gunfighter Gunga Din Hail the Conquering Hero Hair Halloween Halls of Montezuma Hamburger Hill Hanoi Hilton Hard Day's Night Heaven's Gate Hell's Angels Henry V Henry V Heroes of Desert Storm Hester Street High Noon Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes His Girl Friday Holocaust (TV) Hoosiers Hope and Glory Horse Feathers Horse Feathers Horse Soldiers Houdini Hour of the Gun House on Garibaldi Street How Green Was My Valley Howards of Virginia Hud Human Condition Hunt for Red October Hurricane Hustler Hustler I Am a Fool I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang I Cover the Waterfront I Remember Mama I Will Fight No More Forever Ike: The War Years I'm No Angel I'm No Angel In Harm's Way In The Heat Of The Night In the Name of the Father In Which We Serve Indochine Inherit The Wind Inner Circle Intolerance Intolerance Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Iron Horse Iron Triangle Ironclads It Happened One Night It's A Gift It's A Wonderful Life It's a Wonderful Life Jaws Jazz Singer Jefferson in Paris Jeremiah Johnson Jericho Jesus of Nazareth Jezebel JFK Joan of Arc John Paul Jones Joy Luck Club Judgment at Nuremberg Juke Joint Kansas Raiders Keaton--Balloonatic Keaton--Blacksmith Keaton--College Keaton--Steamboat Bill, Jr. Kent State (TV) Key Largo Khartoum Khartoum Killers Killing Fields King And I King and I King David King Kong King of the Hill King Solomon's Minds King's Row Kiss Me Deadly Kissinger and Nixon Kitty Fowle Know Your Enemy: Japan Knute Rockne All American Knute Rockne, All American Kramer v. Kramer Lady Eve Lady From Shanghai Lady Jane Lady Sings the Blues Land and Freedom Lassie Come Home Last Command Last Day Last Days of Patton Last Emperor Last Hurrah Last of the Mohicans Last of the Mohicans Last Picture Show Laura Lawless Breed Lawman Lawrence of Arabia Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon) League of their Own Left - Handed Gun Lenny Letter Letter From An Unknown Woman Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Life is Beautiful Life of Emile Zola Life with Father Lifeboat Lighthorsemen Lion in Winter Little Annie Rooney Little Big Man Little Caesar Little Lord Fauntleroy Little Women Little Women Lives Of A Bengal Lancer Lives of a Bengal Lancer Lolita Lonesome Dove Long Day's Journey into Night Long Riders Long Walk Home Longest Day Lost Command Lost Horizon Lost Weekend Love Story Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town MacArthur Madness of King George Magnificent Ambersons Magnificent Ambersons Magnificent Seven Maid of Salem Malcolm X Maltese Falcon Maltese Falcon Man for All Seasons Man in the Wilderness Man Who Never Was Manchurian Candidate Marathon Man Marching On Marty Masada MASH Matewan Maytime Medium Cool Meet John Doe Meet John Doe Meet Me In St. Louis Memphis Belle Men in War Men of the Fighting Lady Merrill's Marauders Michael Collins Midnight Cowboy Midnight Cowboy Midway Mildred Pierce Mildred Pierce Miracle at Morgan's Creek Misfits Mission of the Shark Mission to Moscow Mississippi Burning Moby Dick Modern Times Modern Times Molly Maguires Monkey Business Monte Walsh Moon Over Harlem More The Merrier Morning Glory Moscow on the Hudson Moses Mountain Men Mountains of the Moon Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Mr. Deeds Goes To Town Mr. Robinson Crusoe Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Mr. Smith Goes To Washington Mrs. Miniver Murder By Decree Murder in Harlem Music Man Mutiny on the Bounty Mutiny on the Bounty My Darling Clementine My Darling Clementine My Fair Lady My Family My Man Godfrey My Man Godfrey Napoleon Nashville Nashville Native Son Negro Soldier Network Never give A Sucker An Even Break Nicholas and Alexandra Night And Night Night At the Opera Night Of The Hunter Night of the Living Dead Night to Remember Ninotchka Nixon No, No, Nanette North by Northwest North By Northwest North Star Notorious Notorious Now, Voyager Now, Voyager O.S.S. Objective, Burma! Of Human Bondage Of Human Bondage Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men Old Maid Old Yeller On the Beach On The Waterfront One Against the Wind One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One, Two, Three Only Angels Have Wings Open City Operation Eichman Our Daily Bread Our Job in Japan Out Of The Past Outlaw Josey Wales Ox Bow Incident Palm Beach Story Passion of Joan of Arc Paths Of Glory Paths of Glory Patriot Patriot Games Patton Pawnbroker Peck's Bad Boy Perils Of Pauline Peter and Paul Philadelphia Story Pied Piper of Hamelin Place In The Sun Places in the Heart Planet of the Apes Platoon Play It Again, Sam Play Misty For Me Plymouth Adventure Pocahontas Poltergeist Pony Express Pork Chop Hill Postman Always Rings Twice Postman Always Rings Twice Primary Colors Prisoner of Shark Island Prisoners of the Sun Private Buckaroo Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Producers Psycho Psycho PT 109 Public Enemy Pulp Fiction Pursuit of the Graf Spee Pygmalion Queen Christa Quest for Fire Quiet Man Quiz Show Quo Vadis Rack Racketeer Raging Bull Ragtime Raid Raid on Entebbe Raiders Of The Lost Ark Raintree County Raisin in the Sun Rambo: First Blood Rear Window Rear Window Rebecca Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Rebel Without a Cause Rebel Without a Cause Red Badge of Courage Red Dawn Red Dust Red River Reds Reservoir Dogs Retreat Hell Return of Frank James Right Stuff Roaring Twenties Rob Roy Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves Rocky Roman Holiday Romeo And Juliet Rosa Luxemburg Rose Marie Rosemary's Baby Rumor of War Run Silent, Run Deep Rushmore Safety Last Saint Joan Sakharov Salt of the Earth Samson and Delilah Sanders in the River Sands of Iwo Jima Saturday Night Fever Satyricon Saving Private Ryan Sayonara Scarface: The Shame Of A Nation Scarlet Empress Scarlet Letter Scarlet Pimpernel Schindler's List Sea Hawk Searchers Searchers Sergeant Ryker Sergeant York Seven Year Itch Shadow Of A Doubt Shadowlands Shake Hands with the Devil Shakespeare in Love Shane Shanghai Express Shanghai Express Shawshank Redemption She Done Him Wrong She Done Him Wrong She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Shenandoah Shining Shop Around the Corner Show Boat Sign of the Pagan Silence Of The Lambs Since You Went Away Singin' In The Rain Singin' in the Rain Single White Female Sink the Bismarck! Sleeper Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs Some Like It Hot Son of the Morning Star Song of Freedom Sons Of The Desert Sound Of Music Spartacus Spirit of St. Louis Splendor In The Grass Springfield Rifle Stage Door Stagecoach Stalin Stalingrad Stalking Moon Stand and Deliver Star is Born Star Is Born Star Wars Startup.com State Fair Steamboat Bill, Jr. Steel Helmut Story of David Story of Louis Pasteur Stranger Strategic Air Comand Streetcar Named Desire Suddenly, Last Summer Sullivan's Travels Sullivan's Travels Summer of Sam Sunrise Sunset Blvd Sunset Boulevard Sweet Smell Of Success Sweet Smell of Success Swing Time Tale of Two Cities Talk Of The Town Tall, Tan and Terrific Tarzan And His Mate Tarzan The Ape Man Taxi Driver Tea and Sympathy Tea and Sympathy Teenage Zombies Ten Commandments Ten Commandments Terminator Terminator 2: Judgement Day Terms Of Endearment They Died with their Boots On They Made Me a Criminal Thief of Bagdad Thief of Bagdad Thin Man Thin Man Thin Red Line Thin Red Line Things to Come Third Man Third Man Thirteen Days Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Three Little Pigs Tilley's Punctured Romance Time Machine Time to Love and a Time to Kill Tin Star Titanic Titanic To Catch a Theif To Have And Have Not To Hell and Back To Kill a Priest To Sir, With Love Tobruk Tom Brown's School Days Tom Horn Tombstone Tombstone Top Hat Topper Topper Returns Tora! Tora! Tora! Touch Of Evil Traffic Treasure of the Sierra Madre Treasure Of The Sierra Madre Triumph of the Will Trouble In Paradise Twelve O'Clock High Two Gun Man From Harlem Two Rode Together Ugly American Ulzana's Raid Unfaithfully Yours Unforgiven Union Pacific Untouchables Vertigo Viking Virginian Wag the Dog Wagon Master Wake Island Walk in the Sun War Lord WarGames Warriors Waterloo Way Down East Way Out West We Were Soldiers Wells Fargo West Side Story West Side Story Western Union Westerner What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? When Harry Met Sally When We Were Kings White Heat Who Framed Roger Rabbit Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Wild Bunch Wild One Wild One Wild Times Will Penny Winchester '73 Windtalkers Windtalkers Wings of the Dove Wizard Of Oz Woman of the Year Women Woodstock World at War World War II: The Music Video Written On The Wind Wuthering Heights Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp Yankee Doodle Dandy Yearling Yellow Submarine Young Dillinger Young Frankenstein Young Guns Young Guns II Young Mr. Lincoln Young Winston Zoot Suit Zulu Zulu Dawn
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  1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1990s Afghanistan Algeria Ancient Antebellum Biblical Boer War Cambodia Civil War Cold War Colonial Crimean War Discovery French & Indian War Gilded Age Gulf War Ireland Israel Korean War Poland Post-Bellum West Prehistory Reconstruction Revolutionary Russian Revolution Soviet Union Spanish Armada Spanish Civil War Vietnam World War I World War II
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