Subgenre Sampler
Rental > Classics > War: 265 Films to Rent
- Come See the Paradise (1990)
- Dir. Alan Parker
Feat. Dennis Quaid
- An epic romance about a hot–headed unionist whose love affair with a Japanese American is torn apart when the state interns 100,000 Japanese…
- Jeweller's Shop, The (1989)
- Dir. Michael Anderson
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Olivia Hussey, Ben Cross
- Charming, low–key adaptation of a play by Pope John Paul the Second. Burt Lancaster in his last film role plays a jeweller in 1930's Poland…
- Welcome Home (1989)
- Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
Feat. Kris Kristofferson, JoBeth Williams, Sam Waterston…
- Fairly tepid post–Vietnam War drama has Kris Kristofferson play a pilot shot down over Cambodia and was rescued by a Khmer Rouge woman, whom he…
- Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
- Dir. Barry Levinson
Feat. Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker
- Robin Williams tour–de–force performance as an irreverant, rebel radio–jock stationed in Saigon during the Vietnam War. The funny…
- Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
- Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill…
- Eastwood stars as a rugged drill sergeant assigned to a platoon of raw recruits in order to whip them into shape.
Lesser Eastwood effort is also…
- Eleni (1985)
- Dir. Peter Yates
Feat. John Malkovich, Kate Nelligan, Linda Hunt
- John Malkovich plays a U.S. reporter in Greece trying to find the long–lost truth about his mother's political execution.
- Mussolini and I (1985)
- Dir. Alberto Negrin
Feat. Bob Hoskins, Anthony Hopkins, Susan Sarandon…
- The last days of Il Duce as embodied by Bob Hoskins in this strong Italian miniseries.
- A Soldier's Story (1984)
- Dir. Norman Jewison
Feat. Howard Jr. Rollins, Adolph Caesar, Art Evans…
- In charge of an inquiry into the murder of a black sergeant on an army base in 1944, investigator Howard E Rollins Jnr uncovers a knot of racial…
- Birdy (1984)
- Dir. Alan Parker
Feat. Matthew Modine, Nicolas Cage
- Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage star in this complex yet compelling tale of a disturbed war veteran's descent into believing he is a bird. A bold and…
- Killing Fields, The (1984)
- Dir. Roland Joffe
Feat. Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich…
- Devastating and award–winning account of Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia.
- Last Bastion, The (1984)
- Dir. Chris Thomson
Feat. Bill Hunter, Ray Barrett, Robert Vaughn…
- Australia's involvement in World War II is explored from behind closed doors in this dramatisation of the decisions made by politicians and generals…
- Privates On Parade (1982)
- Dir. Michael Blakemore
Feat. John Cleese
- John Cleese stars in this perky adaptation of the play about a gay Song and Dance Unit of the Brtish army stationed in 1940s Singapore.
- Sophie's Choice (1982)
- Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline
- Master of many accents Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her role as a European refugee of the Nazi death–camps whose uneasy relationship with…
- Private Schulz (1981)
- Feat. Michael Elphick, Ian Richardson, Billie Whitelaw…
- Gleefully macabre farce focuses on the scheming titular character who convinces the Nazis to mass counterfeit millions of five pound notes in a bid…
- Private Benjamin (1980)
- Dir. Howard Zieff
Feat. Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante…
- Well–fashioned vehicle for Hawn's natural comic talents, she here plays a swanky socialite who joins the army on the spur of the…
- Sea Wolves, The (1980)
- Dir. Andrew McLagen
Feat. Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven…
- Salty War drama based on a real covert mission during World War II in which a group of middle–aged civilian ex–soldiers are sent by the…
- 1941 (1979)
- Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Toshiro Mifune
- The dir.’s only real commercial failure, this loose slapstick comedy, set in a Californian seaside town visited by a Japanese submarine in 1941,…
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
- Dir. Delbert Mann
Feat. Ernest Borgnine, Richard Thomas, Donald Pleasence…
- While the 1930's film of Erich Maria Remarque's exceptional anti–war novel is undoubtedly a masterpiece, this later version should not be…
- Junoon (1979)
- Dir. Shyam Benegal
Feat. Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah…
- Indian drama set during the 1857 War of Independence, where a feudal chieftain falls for an Anglo–Indian woman and encounters bitter opposition…
- Testament of Youth (Mini-series) (1979)
- Dir. Moira Armstrong
Feat. Cheryl Campbell, Peter Woodward, Emrys James…
- Sterling adaptation of Vera Brittain's memoir recounts her early years and lost loves admidst the turmoil of the first world war.
- Go Tell the Spartans (1978)
- Dir. Ted Post
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Craig Wasson, David Clennon…
- Set in the early stages of the conflict in Vietnam, Lancaster plays a Major who, with a small band of untested soldiers, is ordered to hold a small…
- Holocaust (TV Mini-series) (1978)
- Dir. Marvin J. Chomsky
Feat. Meryl Streep, James Woods, Michael Moriaty…
- Captivating saga of a Jewish family shattered by the rise of the Nazis. One of the top–rating and best quality mini–series of the 1970s.
- Julia (1977)
- Dir. Fred Zinnemann
Feat. Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards Jr.…
- Dramatising the 1930s memories of playwright Lillian Hellman (THE LITTLE FOXES), this Oscar–winning classic centres on the relationship between…
- Last Remake of Beau Geste, The (1977)
- Dir. Marty Feldman
Feat. Marty Feldman, Michael York, Ann-Margret…
- Marty Feldman directs and co–writes this star–studded satire loosely based on the novel Beau Geste, a frequently–filmed story of…
- Secret Army (TV Series) (1977)
- Feat. Bernard Hepton
- This gripping – and unlike its comedy spoof successor ALLO' ALLO!, deadly serious – BBC dramatic series focused on the exploits of a…
- Once an Eagle (TV Mini-Series) (1976)
- Feat. Sam Elliott, Glenn Ford, Amy Irving…
- Much lauded, epic mini–series spanning the tumultuous years from WWI to the Vietnam Era, about two Army officers whose vast personal…
- When The Boat Comes In (TV Series) (1976)
- Feat. James Bolam, James Garbutt, Jean Heywood
- 'Northern' drama series set in a post–WW1 Britain, where Ex–Sergeant Jack Ford (Bolam) and his family must deal with the aftermath…
- Conduct Unbecoming (1975)
- Dir. Michael Anderson
Feat. Michael York, Richard Attenborough, Trevor Howard
- Well–made, though somewhat old–fashioned version of Barry England's play about misbehaviour among the British Army in India. The stars…
- QB VII (TV Mini-Series) (1974)
- Dir. Tom Gries
Feat. Ben Gazzara, Anthony Hopkins, Leslie Caron…
- A multiple Emmy–winning adaptation of the novel by Leon Uris (best known for "Exodus") detailing the gripping court battle between a…
- Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973)
- Dir. Norman Cohen
Feat. Jim Dale, Arthur Lowe
- Jim Dale plays a young Spike Milligan, then an aspiring jazz musician who in 1940 reluctantly obeys his call–up and joins the Royal Artillery…
- Blockhouse, The (1973)
- Dir. Clive Rees
Feat. Peter Sellers, Charles Aznavour, Jeremy Kemp
- A crafted, though minor serious role for Sellers as one of a number of slave–labourers at work on the Nazi's Normandy defence bunkers.
On…
- MASH (TV Series) (M*A*S*H) (1972-1983)
- Feat. Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit
- Long running and much loved TV Series loosely based on Robert Altman’s 1969 film set in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean…
- Up the Front (1972)
- Dir. Bob Kellett
Feat. Frankie Howerd, Bill Fraser, Hermione Baddeley…
- One of Frankie Howerd's bigscreen starring roles in a spinoff of the 'Up Pompeii' TV Series. Here he plays an WWII soldier who has invasion plans…
- A Fistful of Dynamite (Duck, You Sucker!) (1971)
- Dir. Sergio Leone
Feat. Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli
- Leone’s final spaghetti–western is a sprawling adventure set in the Mexican revolution, with fistfuls of action and comedy aplenty to rival…
- Dad's Army The Movie (1971)
- Dir. Norman Cohen
Feat. Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn
- The feature film is a coarser expansion of the characters and situations that endeared millions to the long–running TV show.
- Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
- Dir. Dalton Trumbo
Feat. Timothy Bottoms, Marsha Hunt, Jason Robards Jr.…
- Excoriating anti–war statement based on the dir.'s own novel, concerns an ordinary infantryman in WW1 and his nightmare experiences.
In a…
- Raid on Rommel (1971)
- Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Richard Burton, John Colicos, Wolfgang Preiss
- In 1942 Libya, a German–speaking British Intelligence officer uses former British POWs, some dressed in German uniforms, to fulfill a secret…
- Kelly's Heroes (1970)
- Dir. Brian G. Hutton
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas…
- Comic WWII yarn in which Clint Eastwood recruits a wildcat tank platoon to help rob a bank in German territory. Features one of Donald Sutherland's…
- Last Grenade, The (1970)
- Dir. Gordon Flemyng
Feat. Sir Stanley Baker, Honor Blackman, Alex Cord…
- Slam–bang action pic with Baker and Cord as opposing mercenaries duking it out in exotic Hong Kong locales, shot in scope and with a…
- McKenzie Break, The (Escape) (1970)
- Dir. Lamont Johnson
Feat. Brian Keith, Helmut Griem, Ian Hendry
- Mostly engrossing, and certainly unusual and authentic, this is a WWII POW escape yarn with a difference – here, it's Germans attempting to…
- Patton (1970)
- Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
Feat. George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates…
- George C. Scott is unnervingly convincing as the real life WW2 General with whose military convictions were indeed unnerving. Co–written by…
- Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
- Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Martin Balsam, Soh Yamamura, Jason Robards Jr.…
- Elaborate account of events that led to the bombing of Pearl Harbour, told from both American and Japanese veiwpoints. Explosive finale.
- Waterloo (1970)
- Dir. Sergei Bondarchuk
Feat. Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles
- Napoleonic epic from the Russian director of WAR AND PEACE is dramatically woolly, but includes superb, sprawling battle–scenes. Rod Steiger…
- Army of Shadows (L'Armée des Ombres, aka Army in the Shadows) (1969)
- Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel…
- Melville’s heavyweight masterpiece – by turns sombre, exhilarating, and tension–filled – tackles the clandestine rearguard…
- Castle Keep (1969)
- Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Patrick O'Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont…
- Anachronistic WWII film in which a ragtag squad of GI's, led by an eye–patched Burt Lancaster, hunker down in a medieval castle and try to halt…
- Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)
- Dir. Richard Attenborough
Feat. John Rae, Corin Redgrave, Maurice Roeves…
- Powerful anti–war musical adapted from the play by Charles Chilton, which depicts the mass blunder of WWI through the experiences of the poor…
- Probability Zero (1969)
- Dir. Maurizio Lucidi
Feat. Henry Silva
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- Secret of Santa Vittoria, The (1969)
- Dir. Stanley Kramer
Feat. Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Hardy Kruger…
- Bombastic war comedy with Quinn as a wine sodden local buffoon who through a number of contrivances becomes town mayor. When the townsfolk learn of a…
- Virgin Soldiers, The (1969)
- Dir. Norman Cohen
Feat. Lynn Redgrave, Hywel Bennett, Nigel Davenport…
- Comdey–drama following a squad of naive young British soldiers in 1950's Singapore who fall for the daughter of the Regimental Sergeant Major.
- Where Eagles Dare (1969)
- Dir. Brian G. Hutton
Feat. Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure…
- Exciting adaptation of Alistair MacLean's WW2 novel concerning British paratroopers rescue mission from an impregnable castle.
- Zulu (1969)
- Dir. Cy Endfield
Feat. Sir Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson…
- Vivid historical epic about a British army post besieged by the Zulu hordes in 19th century South Africa. Half of the film is a blow by blow recount…
- Anzio (1968)
- Dir. Edward Dmytryk, Duilio Coletti
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Peter Falk, Arthur Kennedy…
- Robert Mitchum and Peter Falk lead an international cast for this ropey war epic – an Italian–American co–production about…
- Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
- Dir. Tony Richardson
Feat. Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, David Hemmings
- Updated version of the Mid–Victorian battle made in the sardonic spirit of the swinging sixties. Trevor Howard, John Gielgud and David Hemmings…
- Damned, The (1968)
- Dir. Luchino Visconti
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Helmut Berger
- Italian dir. Luchino Visconti casts a languorous eye over the decline of a German industrialist family during the Nazi era. Heavyweight cast includes…
- Green Berets, The (1968)
- Dir. Ray Kellogg, John Wayne
Feat. John Wayne, David Janssen, Jim Hutton…
- Notoriously jingoistic blockbuster designed to drum up support for America's invasion of Vietnam. The Duke leads two ace fighting teams into battle…
- Hell in the Pacific (1968)
- Dir. John Boorman
Feat. Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune
- American GI Lee Marvin encounters lone Japanese soldier Toshiro Mifune on a remote Pacific island. A series of tense confrontations unfolds, expertly…
- Play Dirty (1968)
- Dir. Andre De Toth
Feat. Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green
- During the Desert War in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised in Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital…
- Villa Rides (1968)
- Dir. Buzz Kulik
Feat. Yul Brynner, Robert Mitchum, Herbert Lom…
- Violent western set during the Mexican revolution, with Robert Mitchum playing a corrupt Texas gunrunner and pilot who joins Pancho Villa (Yul…
- How I Won the War (1967)
- Dir. Richard Lester
Feat. John Lennon, Michael Crawford
- John Lennon and Michael Crawford do service in this black satire on military lunacy.
- Night of the Generals, The (1967)
- Dir. Anatole Litvak
Feat. Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay…
- WWII crime thriller concerning the prolonged investigation of the murder of a Polish prostitute and German agent that implicates three generals, and…
- Blue Max, The (1966)
- Dir. John Guillermin
Feat. George Peppard, Anton Diffring, James Mason…
- Impressively staged, this WW1 actioner concerns the career of ace German combat pilot Bruno Stachel (Peppard). Although the human drama is fairly…
- Guerre Est Finie, La (1966)
- Dir. Alain Resnais
Feat. Yves Montand, Ingrid Thulin, Genevieve Bujold…
- (The War is Over). Deeply romantic film in which Spanish Civil War refugee Yves Montand tries in vain to keep alive the memory of his struggle.
- Is Paris Burning? (Paris brûle-t-il?) (1966)
- Dir. Rene Clement
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron…
- An international cast grace this lengthy war drama, set in 1944 Paris as the retreating Germans prepared to burn the city to the ground on Hitler's…
- Khartoum (1966)
- Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Charlton Heston…
- Lavishly mounted biopic of General Gordon's defeat by Arab tribesmen in 1833.
- Lost Command (1966)
- Dir. Mark Robson
Feat. Anthony Quinn, Alain Delon, George Segal…
- Atypical war movie follows Anthony Quinn's realpoliticking officer through French colonial defeats from Dien Bien Phu to Algeria. Tough action film…
- Patriotism (Yûkoku) (1966)
- Dir. Yukio Mishima
Feat. Yukio Mishima, Yoshiko Tsuruoka
- Short film directed by Japanese writer and revolutionary Yukio Mishima, based on his short story of the same name published in 1961. Set in February…
- Sand Pebbles, The (1966)
- Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Candice Bergen
- An epic series of adventures on an American gunboat in the turbulent China of the 1920s, Steve McQueen giving a particularly underrated performance,…
- Tobruk (1966)
- Dir. Arthur Hiller
Feat. Rock Hudson, George Peppard, Guy Stockwell…
- This WW2 desert actioner is about the activities of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), who ran commando raids against Rommel and his Afrika…
- Triple Cross (1966)
- Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Christopher Plummer, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard…
- Minor curio concerns the real–life adventures of English safe–cracker Eddie Chapman (Plummer) who was in prison on Jersey when the Nazis…
- War and Peace (1966)
- Dir. Sergei Bondarchuk
Feat. Lyudmila Savelyeva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Irina Gubanova
- The definitive version of Leo Tolstoy's gargantuan novel, set during the Napoleonic invasion of Russia in the early 19th century. Nothing else quite…
- What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? (1966)
- Dir. Blake Edwards
Feat. James Coburn, Dick Shawn, Aldo Ray
- Deft farce set during World War II. Coburn and company charged with seizing a small Sicillian village are surprised to find its inhabitants only too…
- Battle of Algiers, The (1965)
- Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo
Feat. Brahim Haggiag
- Gripping account of the Muslim uprising which led to the withdrawal of France from Algeria was shot merely four years after the revolution, and as…
- Battle of the Bulge (1965)
- Dir. Ken Annakin
Feat. Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan…
- Admirable and far from simplistic recreation of the Nazi's WW2 counter–offensive in the Ardennes in 1944, which led to a series of bitter…
- Bedford Incident, The (1965)
- Dir. James B. Harris
Feat. Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier
- Excellent Cold war navy thriller in which an US captain (Richard Widmark) treads the nuclear tightrope in obsessive pursuit of a Russian sub.
- Cast a Giant Shadow (1965)
- Dir. Melville Shavelson
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Angie Dickinson…
- Spectacular epic concerning the Israeli War of Independence in 1947–8, that like EXODUS somewhat romanticises events. Weaves a romance around…
- Heroes of Telemark, The (1965)
- Dir. Anthony Mann
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson…
- Douglas and Harris are bickering leaders of an allied attempt to destroy a Nazi atom–bomb factory in the snowy wastes of Norway. Predictably…
- Hill, The (1965)
- Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Sean Connery, Ian Bannen, Roy Kinnear
- Intense military stockade drama, with Sean Connery doing gruelling punishment in the Sahara.
- Hogan's Heroes (TV Series) (1965-1966)
- Feat. Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner…
- Cheeky American WW2 series centred around a motley bunch of Yankee prisoners and their haphazard endeavours to disturb the Nazi war effort and make…
- In Harm's Way (1965)
- Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal…
- Epic and stately treatment of the aftermath of Japan's WW2 attack on Pearl Harbour, with Wayne playing a sidelined Admiral who tries to claw back…
- King Rat (1965)
- Dir. Bryan Forbes
Feat. George Segal, James Fox, Tom Courtenay…
- Star–studded adaption of James Clavell's novel, set in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. At the darker end of the genre, with 'hero' George…
- Once Before I Die (1965)
- Dir. John Derek
Feat. John Derek, Ursula Andress, Richard Jaeckel…
- Fairly substandard drama with a good premise set in the Philippines in 1941, where a column of Americans retreats before the advancing Japanese.…
- Von Ryan's Express (1965)
- Dir. Mark Robson
Feat. Frank Sinatra
- Frank Sinatra plays an unpopular US Colonel who leads a train–bound escape from an Italian POW camp. Tension mounts to a smashing finale.
- Americanization of Emily, The (1964)
- Dir. Arthur Hiller
Feat. James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas…
- Plucky black comedy with James Garner as the scapegoat for a wacky US admiral's grand plan to have a American naval officer be the first killed at…
- Back Door to Hell (1964)
- Dir. Monte Hellman
Feat. Jimmie Rodgers, Jack Nicholson, John Hackett
- Rousing tale of a three–man commando team as they try to knock out a Japanese communication center. Strong performances, ribald banter, and…
- Father Goose (1964)
- Dir. Ralph Nelson
Feat. Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, Trevor Howard
- Wartime situational comedy with Cary Grant in his penultimate role as an uncouth South Sea beachcomber who becomes a coast watcher for the Allies,…
- Guns of August, The (1964)
- Dir. Nathan Kroll
- A World War I documentary based on the writings of Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Barbara Tuchman that traces the origins and actions of the…
- King and Country (1964)
- Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Tom Courtenay, Leo McKern
- Earnest, expertly acted drama in which a detached army lawyer (Dirk Bogarde) attempts to defend a working–class deserter (Tom Courtenay) during…
- McHale's Navy (1964)
- Dir. Edward Montagne
Feat. Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Joe Flynn…
- War–time comedy where marines are embroiled in a gambling misadventure, based on the 60's TV sitcom of the same name.
- Secret Invasion, The (1964)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney…
- Expedient actioner is a rare, unsensational Roger Corman flick about British intelligence using criminals behind enemy lines in WW2 Yugoslavia.
- Thin Red Line, The (1964)
- Dir. Andrew Marton
Feat. Keir Dullea, Jack Warden
- First version of James Jones' war–novel (later redone by Terrence Malick), chronicles the US invasion of Guadalcanal during WWII in grim B&W,…
- Train, The (1964)
- Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau…
- Burt Lancaster leads the French Resistance in stopping (or at least diverting) a train used by the Nazis to steal precious French art treasures in…
- 633 Squadron (1963)
- Dir. Walter Grauman
Feat. Cliff Robertson, James Clavell
- WWII airmen Cliff Robertson and co maintain their staunchly British reserve as they prepare to bomb a Nazi rocket factory in Norway. Slow but with…
- Donovan's Reef (1963)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Jack Warden…
- One of dir. Ford’s more comically inclined efforts with ex–Navy buddies John Wayne, Lee Marvin and Jack Warden raising hell on the remote…
- 300 Spartans, The (1962)
- Dir. Rudolph Mate
Feat. Richard Egan, Ralph Richardson, Diane Baker
- Richard Egan leads the hardened best of Sparta into the famous battle at Thermapayle between the Greek and Persian empires in in the 5th century…
- Damn the Defiant! (H.M.S. Defiant) (1962)
- Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Quayle
- Naval drama set aboard a British warship during the Napoleonic wars is a defiantly good–quality effort. Script, photography (by Christopher…
- Hell Is For Heroes (1962)
- Dir. Don Siegel
Feat. Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker…
- An expertly written and delivered WWII adventure, where a small squad of US soldiers, headed by Steve McQueen, must hold off an advancing German…
- Ivan's Childhood (1962)
- Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
Feat. Nikolai Burlyayev, Valentin Zubkov, Yevgeni Zharikov
- A teenage spy works behind enemy lines in WW2 Germany. The Russian master's first feature is his least self–conscious and most efficient…
- Longest Day, The (1962)
- Dir. Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki
Feat. John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum…
- One the great WW2 films, with over 40 international stars. The large scale battle scenes have taken some outdoing.
- Guns of Navarone, The (1961)
- Dir. J. Lee Thompson
Feat. Gregory Peck, David Niven
- A great WW2 nail–biter in which Gregory Peck and David Niven lead the all–star macho cast as an elite squad assigned to destroy two giant…
- Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)
- Dir. Stanley Kramer
Feat. Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Maximilian Schell…
- Dramatisation of the trial of the Nazi judges at Nuremberg, facing the patient integrity of Judge Spencer Tracy. Epic, gripping courtroom drama, with…
- On the Double (1961)
- Dir. Melville Shavelson
Feat. Danny Kaye, Dana Wynter, Wilfrid Hyde-White
- Zany action–comedy set during the Invasion of Normandy, where an American soldier and talented mimic (Danny Kaye) impersonates a British high…
- Light Up the Sky! (1960)
- Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Ian Carmichael, Benny Hill, Dick Emery…
- Ian Carmichael leads an inept searchlight unit during in this bumbling and occasionally tragic wartime comedy. Larrikins Benny Hill and Tommy Steele…
- Long and the Short and the Tall, The (1960)
- Dir. Leslie Norman
Feat. Richard Todd, Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris…
- A taut WW2 drama, based on a stageplay, set around a dysfunctional British patrol caught out behind enemy lines in Burma.
Hinging on the treatment…
- Sink the Bismarck (1960)
- Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Kenneth More, Dana Wynter, Laurence Naismith…
- A no–nonsense depiction of the WW2 hunt by the British navy to destroy the German super–warship Bismarck.
Conveying both the allied…
- Tunes of Glory (1960)
- Dir. Ronald Neame
Feat. Alec Guinness, John Mills, Dennis Price…
- Two colonels of a Scottish regiment – one convivial, one disciplinarian – face off in a battle of wills in this drama of peacetime…
- Danger Within (1959)
- Dir. Don Chaffey
Feat. Richard Attenborough
- In an Italian POW camp in WW2, 400 plan to escape but one plans to betray. Can you spot the traitor? Richard Attenborough leads the cast of suspects.
- Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
- Dir. Alain Resnais
Feat. Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada
- Romance between a French actress and a Japanese architect rekindles their traumatic wartime experiences. The twin threads of despair and sensual love…
- Human Condition, The (No Greater Love, Road to Eternity, A Soldier's Prayer) (1959-1961)
- Dir. Masaki Kobayashi
Feat. Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratana
- An epic Japanese film trilogy following the life of a well–intentioned yet naïve pacifist and socialist as he tries to survive in the…
- Operation Amsterdam (1959)
- Dir. Michael McCarthy
Feat. Peter Finch, Eva Bartok, Tony Britton
- Gripping wartime drama tracking two gem specialists attempting to remove a valuable horde of diamonds from Amsterdam in 14 hours before the nasty…
- Operation Petticoat (1959)
- Dir. Blake Edwards
Feat. Cary Grant, Tony Curtis
- Submarine Capt. Cary Grant and First Mate Tony Curtis excel in this seaborne comedy.
- Pork Chop Hill (1959)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn…
- Given a gritty believability by Dir. Milestone ('All Quiet on the Western Front'), this recounts the bloody, meaningless conquest of a lowly hill…
- A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
- Dir. Douglas Sirk
Feat. John Gavin, Jock Mahoney, Don DeFore…
- Bittersweet WWII melodrama finds Douglas Sirk at his gravest; John Gavin plays a returning German solider who falls in love under the shadow of war.…
- Carve Her Name With Pride (1958)
- Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, Jack Warner…
- Brit war–time romance centred on a lady living in London during WW2 who marries and has a child with a French soldier. Upon hearing of his…
- Dunkirk (1958)
- Dir. Leslie Norman
Feat. Richard Attenborough, John Mills, Bernard Lee…
- British war film set during the 1940 evacuation of French and British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk, following the contrasting perspectives of a…
- Hidden Fortress (1958)
- Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune
- Toshiro Mifune displays astounding skill with horse and sword as the ultimate warrior in this innovative amalgam of fairy–tale and Samurai…
- Hunters, The (1958)
- Dir. Dick Powell
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Richard Egan
- Robert Mitchum portrays an aging fighter pilot in the Korean War who falls for the wife of a fellow squadron member in this aviation–romance.
- I Was Monty's Double (1958)
- Dir. John Guillermin
Feat. Clifton James, John Mills, Leslie Phillips…
- Absorbing war drama based on the true story of a man hired to imitate General Montgomery in order to hoodwink the Germans before the North Africa…
- Ice Cold In Alex (1958)
- Dir. J. Lee-Thompson
Feat. John Mills, Anthony Quayle
- After a hurried retreat from the siege of Tobruk, a band of medics and nurses in an ambulance, attempt an arduous crossing of the Libyan Sahara…
- Kings Go Forth (1958)
- Dir. Delmer Daves
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood
- Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis are comrades in arms who fight over Natalie Wood, but her mixed heritage arouses their bigotry instead.
- Men in War (1958)
- Dir. Anthony Mann
Feat. Aldo Ray, Robert Ryan, Vic Morrow…
- Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray play the leaders of a small detachment of American soldiers cut off and desperately trying to rejoin their division over a…
- Quiet American, The (1958)
- Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Audie Murphy
- This early screen adaptation of Graham Greene’s cautionary novel was the first major film to address to thorny issue of Vietnam, although loses…
- Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
- Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster
- One of the best WWII submarine movies, this pits Commander Clark Gable against rebel Lt. Burt Lancaster as together they patrol the deeps.
- Sea of Sand (Desert Patrol) (1958)
- Dir. Guy Green
Feat. Richard Attenborough, Vincent Ball, Michael Craig…
- Brit war thriller about an army team sent to destroy a German petrol dump in preparation for an attack who are confronted by their enemies in the…
- Young Lions, The (1958)
- Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin…
- Sensitive, well–mounted WW2 epic charts the effect of war on young lives from both sides. Marlon Brando as a confused German commandant…
- Bitter Victory (1957)
- Dir. Nicholas Ray
Feat. Richard Burton, Curt Jurgens, Ruth Roman…
- Superior war drama is set around a WW2 mission by British commandos in North Africa, trying to retrieve vital papers from a German HQ before…
- Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Dir. David Lean
Feat. William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins
- Another rousing, grand scale production from director Lean, about a group of British POW's employed by the Japanese to build a bridge, while their…
- China Gate (1957)
- Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson
- In 1954, during the French Indochina War, an Eurasian female smuggler and a group of French Foreign Legion mercenaries, infiltrate the enemy…
- Cranes are Flying, The (Letyat Zhuravli) (1957)
- Dir. Mikhail Kalatozov
Feat. Tatyana Samojlova, Aleksei Batalov, Vasili Merkuryev
- A Russian classic which conveys homefront anxieties during WW2 for a young bride whose original fiance has gone to the front.
Pursued by his…
- Enemy Below, The (1957)
- Dir. Dick Powell
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Curt Jurgens, Theodore Bikel…
- Naval thriller with Mitchum as a U.S. destroyer captain caught in a cat–and–mouse battle with German U–boat commander Jurgens he…
- Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
- Dir. John Huston
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr
- Kerr and Mitchum play a nun and Marine sergeant respectively, who are stranded on a desert island during WWII – the island happens to also be…
- Hellcats of the Navy (1957)
- Dir. Nathan Juran
Feat. Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Arthur Franz…
- WW2 submarine actioner that is chiefly remembered as the only film to star both Ronald Reagan and his future wife Nancy Davis. Storywise this…
- Ill Met By Moonlight (1957)
- Dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Marius Goring, David Oxley
- Conventional WW2 flick focused on a group of Resistance fighters in German occupied Crete who hatch a plan to kidnap the head of the German army.…
- Kiss Them For Me (1957)
- Dir. Stanley Donen
Feat. Cary Grant, Jayne Mansfield, Leif Erickson…
- Very very silly war comedy with Grant and his navy buddies fighting for their right to spend their shore leave as they see fit, which inevitably…
- One That Got Away, The (Einer Kam Durch) (1957)
- Dir. Roy Ward Baker
Feat. Hardy Kruger, Colin Gordon, Terence Alexander…
- Sturdy war thriller centred on the true story of German airman Franz von Werra – the only German POW to successfully escape from allied custody…
- Paths of Glory (1957)
- Dir. Stanley Kubrick
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou…
- Kubrick's muscular drama deals frankly with the hypocrisy and inhumanity of military ethics, based on a true incident in WWI France. Following a…
- Pride and the Passion, The (1957)
- Dir. Stanley Kramer
Feat. Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren…
- A solemn epic set around Napoleon's campaign in Spain in the early 19th century – the cast doing their sincere best with a fairly passionless…
- Raintree County (1957)
- Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint…
- Civil War set romance has Montgomery Clift as a schoolteacher whojoins the Union Army as they march into Georgia in the hope of finding his estranged…
- Run of the Arrow (1957)
- Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Rod Steiger, Brian Keith, Charles Bronson…
- Technicolour western set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, with Confederate veteran Rod Steiger going rogue and joining the Sioux, but…
- Sad Sack, The (1957)
- Dir. George Marshall
Feat. Jerry Lewis, David Wayne, Phyllis Kirk…
- A charming adaptation of the beloved comic strip by George Baker, with Jerry Lewis playing a hopeless soldier whose planned six weeks weeks of…
- Sayonara (1957)
- Dir. Joshua Logan, Marlon Brando
Feat. Patricia Owens, Ricardo Montalban, Martha Scott…
- An effective, well–acted version of James Michener's novel set during the Korean War, in which ace pilot Brando inconveniently falls in love…
- Throne of Blood (1957)
- Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
- Kurosawa transposes MacBeth into a Samurai setting and the result justifies his reputation. Nothing short of an awesome spectacle Shakespeare himself…
- Until They Sail (1957)
- Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Paul Newman…
- 1950s Christchurch is the novelty star of this MGM prestige picture set entirely in Canterbury, New Zealand, with landmarks such as the Christchurch…
- Yangtse Incident, The (The Yangtze Incident, Battle Hell) (1957)
- Dir. Michael Anderson
Feat. Richard Todd
- The crew of the HMS Amethyst must escape via the Yangtse river after sauntering into China on the eve of Communist takeover. A riveting dramatization…
- A Town Like Alice (1956)
- Dir. Jack Lee
Feat. Virginia McKenna, Peter Finch
- Based on Neville Shute's 1950s bestseller, this WWII drama opens with the fall of Singapore and the internment of Virginia McKenna in a Japanese POW…
- Attack! (1956)
- Dir. Robert Aldrich
Feat. Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Eddie Albert
- Departing from the glory–day stories of WW2, Aldrich offers a hard–edged realism to the nightmare of war. Jack Palance, Lee Marvin and…
- Battle of the River Plate (1956)
- Dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressbuger
Feat. John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch
- Straight–ahead account of the British attempt to capture a gigantic German battleship in 1939 off the coast of South America.
- Burmese Harp, The (Biruma no tategoto) (1956)
- Dir. Kon Ichikawa
Feat. Rentaro Mikuni
- Another muted anti–war elegy conceived during Japan’s post–WWII recovery, this tells the journey of a Japanese private, who upon…
- D-Day - The Sixth of June (1956)
- Dir. Henry Koster
Feat. Robert Taylor, Richard Todd, Edmond O'Brien…
- Well–executed enactment of the Normandy landings in WW2, with some extravagent action scenes and solid dramatics.
- Kanal (1956)
- Dir. Andrzej Wajda
Feat. Teresa Izewska, Tadeusz Janczar
- The darkest chapter of dir. Wadja's WWII 'Trilogy', is an unremitting portrayal of the last gasps of the 1944 Warsaw uprising. With desperate…
- Man Who Never Was, The (1956)
- Dir. Ronald Neame
Feat. Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng…
- Riveting adaptation of Ewen Montagu's book about the true story of a British Navy commander's involvement in a tricky scheme to fool the Nazis, by…
- Private's Progress (1956)
- Dir. John Boulting
Feat. Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, Terry-Thomas…
- Popular Ealing war satire finds Ian Carmichael, as the film’s spotty college freshman, conscripted to military service where he’s whipped into…
- Reach for the Sky (1956)
- Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Kenneth More
- British WW2 favourite tells the courageous true story of pilot Douglas Bader who overcame the amputation of both legs to miraculously continue his…
- Above Us the Waves (1955)
- Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. John Mills, Donald Sinden, John Gregson…
- Robust submarine yarn from WW2 concerns the efforts of Commander John Mills and his men to sink the deadly German battle–ship 'Tirpitz' with…
- Battle Cry (1955)
- Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Aldo Ray…
- Entertaining WWII yarn concerning a squad of American marines romancing and training (in Paekakariki, New Zealand!) before heading off to action in…
- Cockleshell Heroes (1955)
- Dir. Jose Ferrer
Feat. Jose Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley…
- Fictionalised account of Operation Frankton, a British canoe–borne raid on Bordeaux Harbour during WWII.
- Colditz Story, The (1955)
- Dir. Guy Hamilton
Feat. John Mills, Eric Portman, Christopher Rhodes
- A compulsive and tightly wound prison yarn, set around the supposedly unescapable German POW camp. Britisher John Mills unites prisoners of various…
- Long Gray Line, The (1955)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp
- Engrossing true life tale of military instructors Marty Maher and his rise to the top of his profession.
- Mister Roberts (1955)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon
- Naval officer Henry Fonda yearns for combat but instead must tolerate his eccentric captain (James Cagney). Jack Lemmon won an Oscar for his funny…
- Napoleon (1955)
- Dir. Sacha Guitry
Feat. Daniel Gelin, Raymond Pellegrin, Yves Montand…
- A somewhat farcical film that suffers from being dubbed into English, over–narration, and the attempt to give a complete account of Napoleon's…
- To Hell and Back (1955)
- Dir. Jesse Hibbs
Feat. Audie Murphy
- Unique war film presents Audie Murphy in his own real–life story as the most decorated US Soldier during WW2.
- Bridges at Toko-Ri, The (1954)
- Dir. Mark Robson
Feat. William Holden, Grace Kelly
- Ace pilot William Holden is out to destroy the 'impossible' target in this excellent Korean War thriller.
- Caine Mutiny, The (1954)
- Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Humphrey Bogart
- Solid action with unstable Ship's Captain Humphrey Bogart contending with mutinies and typhoons.
- Carrington V.C. (Court Martial) (1954)
- Dir. Anthony Asquith
Feat. David Niven, Margaret Leighton, Allan Cuthbertson
- Legal drama adapted from the stage play in which a court–martial attempts to find out why, and if, an officer embezzled his unit's funds.
- Dambusters, The (Dam Busters, The) (1954)
- Dir. Michael Anderson
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Ursula Jeans, Charles Carson
- British inventor Barnes Wallis's ingenious attempts to destroy German dams during WWII forms the basis of this splendid thriller. Michael Redgrave…
- Generation, A (Pokolenie) (1954)
- Dir. Andrzej Wajda
Feat. Roman Polanski
- Fast–moving account of the Polish Resistance during WWII, as a scrappy young recruit falls in love with his unit leader. Depicts the spirited,…
- Hell and High Water (1954)
- Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen…
- Cold war thriller with Widmark helming a submarine in pursuit of a Red freighter.
Unexceptional by Samuel Fuller's usual standards – he was…
- High and the Mighty, The (1954)
- Dir. William A. Wellman
Feat. John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day…
- John Wayne undercuts his bravura persona as the reluctant hero piloting a stricken passenger flight over the Atlantic. Solid disaster clichés and a…
- Purple Plain, The (1954)
- Dir. Robert Parrish
Feat. Gregory Peck, Win Min Than, Bernard Lee…
- Strong psychological drama, shot in lush Technicolor, with Peck as a shell–shocked pilot stuck with wounded comrades behind enemy lines in the…
- Twenty-Four Eyes (24 Eyes/Nijushi no hitomi) (1954)
- Dir. Keisuke Kinoshita
Feat. Hideko Takamine, Chishu Ryu
- An elegiac triumph of nostalgia for youth and wartime humanism, this cherished landmark of Japanese cinema gracefully chronicles the 20–years…
- Desert Rats, The (1953)
- Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Richard Burton
- No–nonsense British Army officer Richard Burton assumes command of an Australian platoon, but struggles to win their respect. Sequel to The…
- Fear and Desire (1953)
- Dir. Stanley Kubrick
Feat. Kenneth Harp, Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky
- Kubrick's debut feature – not regarded as worthy of reconsideration by the director himself – is nonetheless a eerie allegorical war…
- From Here to Eternity (1953)
- Dir. Fred Zinnemann
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr…
- Frank Sinatra established himself an actor alongside Burt Lancaster in this account of life at a Honolulu barracks at the time of Pearl Harbour.…
- Malta Story (1953)
- Dir. Brian Desmond Hurst
Feat. Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel
- A taut wee adventure set among the special forces of the British Air Force defending the island of Malta during WW2. Real–life locations and a…
- They Who Dare (1953)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Dirk Bogarde
- Bonus film with SLEEPING TIGER is a Dirk Bogarde WWII actioner that details a commando raid on German–controlled Aegean air fields.
- Angels One Five (1952)
- Dir. George More O'Ferrall
Feat. Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray…
- British war film following the experience of a young fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain during WWII. Based on the book "What Are Your Angels…
- Cruel Sea, The (1952)
- Dir. Charles Frend
Feat. Denholm Elliott
- Bracing account of life aboard a British Corvette during WWII fighting German U–Boats and Atlantic storms, featuring a young Denholm Elliot…
- Hangman's Knot (1952)
- Dir. Roy Huggins
Feat. Randolph Scott, Donna Reed, Claude Jr. Jarman…
- Handsome technicolour western with Randolph Scott leading a band of Confederate soldiers who are unaware that the war is over, and attack a wagon of…
- Invasion U.S.A. (1952)
- Dir. Alfred E. Green
Feat. Gerald Mohr, Peggie Castle, Dan O'Herlihy
- A crudely devised, but fascinating slice of early Cold War paranoia, this has the 'Land of the Free' being invaded by hordes of Russians, with…
- Stalag 17 (1952)
- Dir. Billy Wilder
Feat. William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger…
- Sophisticated WW2 film in which comedy and suspense make uneasy but fascinating bedfellows. William Holden leads imprisoned American G.Is who plan…
- What Price Glory? (1952)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. James Cagney, Dan Dailey, Corinne Calvet
- Soldiers James Cagney and Dan Dailey take time out from the trenches of WWI for some zesty romantic rivalry over local attraction Corrinne Calvet.
- Appointment with Venus (1951)
- Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. David Niven, Glynis Johns, Kenneth More
- Bizarre war drama based on a true story about a small recently occupied British isle with a very important prize cow living on it that the War Office…
- Desert Fox, The (1951)
- Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. James Mason, Jessica Tandy, Sir Cedric Hardwicke…
- James Mason gives a definitive performance as Nazi General Rommel (which he repeated for THE DESERT RATS), whose troubles proved overwhelming despite…
- Fixed Bayonets (1951)
- Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Richard Basehart, Gene Evans, Michael O'Shea
- Brassy Korean War flick with a diminished platoon struggling for survival, and Basehart as the soldier terrified of having leadership thrust upon…
- Go for Broke! (1951)
- Dir. Robert Pirosh
Feat. Van Johnson, Warner Anderson, Don Haggerty
- The story of the 442nd Regiment, a team composed of second–generation Japanese–American soldiers fighting in Italy who were heavily…
- Red Badge of Courage, The (1951)
- Dir. John Huston
Feat. Audie Murphy, Royal Dano, Arthur Hunnicutt
- A classic film version of the classic American Civil War novel by Stephen Crane, which depicts the line between courage and cowardice in the Yankee…
- American Geurrilla In The Phillipines (I Shall Return) (1950)
- Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Tyrone Power, Micheline Presle
- War film from Fritz Lang following a group of American soldiers stranded in the Philippines after a motor torpedo boat is destroyed by Japanese…
- At War With The Enemy (1950)
- Dir. Hal Walker
Feat. Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
- After stealing the show in MY FRIEND IRMA, the duo of Martin and Lewis took centre stage here for the first time, enveloped in the potential madness…
- Halls of Montezuma (1950)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Karl Malden…
- Unflashy and well–cast war film, that follows the US Marines into action on a Pacific island. Makes a fairly gung–ho contrast to dir.…
- Odette (1950)
- Dir. Herbert Wilcox
Feat. Dame Anna Neagle, Trevor Howard, Marius Goring…
- Drama based on the true story of Odette Sansom, the British Special Operations Executive agent in WWII who miraculously evaded death after being sent…
- Wooden Horse, The (1950)
- Dir. Jack Lee
Feat. Leo Genn, David Tomlinson, Anthony Steel…
- Allied P.O.W.'s attempt to escape a Nazi prison camp by way of an excercise vaulting horse.
- Battleground (1949)
- Dir. William A. Wellman
Feat. Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban…
- A tough depiction of WW2 combat set among an American squad during the gruelling Battle of the Bulge, that stands as something of an early classic.…
- Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
- Dir. Allan Dwan
Feat. John Wayne
- Popular WWII saga with John Wayne as a tough Sarg, spurring his troops on in the Pacific.
- Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
- Dir. Henry King
Feat. Gregory Peck
- Gregory Peck is at his peak as a General brought in to restore morale to a squadron engaged in daily bombing raids over Germany. One of the great…
- 13 Rue Madeleine (1947)
- Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte…
- A group of OSS operatives penetrate behind German lines in this rough–edged WWII thriller. Seeking a secret missile site, they must also…
- Germany Year Zero (1947)
- Dir. Roberto Rossellini
- A heart–breaking depiction of life in the post–WW2 ruins of Berlin, in which a boy struggles to help his family who are forced to live in…
- Captive Heart (1946)
- Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Frederick Leister…
- An exciting story of POWs in WWII Germany. Michael Redgrave gives an acclaimed performance as a Czech prisoner masquerading as a British officer.
- Paisa (1946)
- Dir. Roberto Rossellini
Feat. Carmela Sazio, Robert Van Loon, Benjamin Emmanuel
- Six short films focusing on the minor victories and losses of ordinary folk during WW2. Pioneering the now–familiar use of documentary footage,…
- Years Between, The (1946)
- Dir. Compton Bennett
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Valerie Hobson, Dame Flora Robson
- Michael Redgrave plays a British MI6 officer who returns home after working for the French Resistance to find that his wife, who had presumed him…
- A Bell For Adano (1945)
- Dir. Henry King
Feat. Gene Tierney, John Hodiak, William Bendix…
- Hodiak plays an army major assigned to restore order in a small Italian town in this gentle–natured drama. The luminous –and blonde…
- Objective, Burma (1945)
- Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Errol Flynn, James Brown
- A swift, gritty WW2 actioner in which Errol Flynn heads a paratroop mission to disable a Japanese radar station against considerable odds.
- Rome: Open City (1945)
- Dir. Roberto Rossellini
Feat. Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi
- Neo–realist war drama about resistance fighters in fascist Italy places the action right inside the everyday and humanises the heroic.…
- They Were Expendable (1945)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. John Wayne, Robert Montgomery
- Fine tribute to the US Torpedo–boat troops who were last to retreat from the Philippines after Pearl Harbour. John Wayne and Robert Montgomery…
- Walk in the Sun, A (1945)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, George Tyne…
- Absorbing character study of men at war set in WW2 North Africa.
- Way to the Stars, The (1945)
- Dir. Anthony Asquith
Feat. John Mills, Michael Redgrave, Douglas Montgomery…
- An RAF airfield in WWII is the setting of this unassuming war–drama, set around the lives of the ‘flyers’ and the ground–crew. Given…
- Fighting Sullivans, The (1944)
- Dir. Lloyd Bacon
Feat. Anne Baxter, Edward Ryan
- Early telling of the true story that inspired SAVING PRIVATE RYAN about five brothers who served in WWII (in reality, at Guadacanal).
- Henry V (1944)
- Dir. Laurence Olivier
Feat. Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks
- Brimming with zest, this Shakespeare adaption became an instant classic when released, featuring Laurence Olivier in full sail as the youthful…
- Passage to Marseille (1944)
- Dir. Michael Curtiz
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre
- Distinguished by the use of flashbacks within flashbacks, this WW2 propaganda piece re–unites the director with CASABLANCA alumnae.
- Pin Up Girl (1944)
- Dir. H. Bruce Humberstone
Feat. Betty Grable, John Harvey, Martha Raye…
- Betty Grable, America's #1 pin–up during WWII, strikes a pose as a canteen girl who pretends to be broadway star in order to stay close to her…
- Purple Heart, The (1944)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, Farley Granger…
- Watchable flag–waver from WW2 depicts the show trial of a crew of American airmen (led by Andrews) who are shot down over Tokyo in 1944. Has…
- Rats of Tobruk, The (The Fighting Rats of Tobruk) (1944)
- Dir. Charles Chauvel
Feat. Chips Rafferty, Peter Finch
- Aussie battler Chips Rafferty fight hard in the Battle of Rommel in this chest–thumping follow–up to FORTY THOUSAND HORSEMEN.
- Since You Went Away (1944)
- Dir. John Cromwell, Andre De Toth
Feat. Joseph Cotton, Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones…
- While husband Joseph Cotton is away at WWII, Claudette Colbert must hold home and family together. A lengthy dose of home–front stoicism, that…
- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
- Dir. Mervyn LeRoy
Feat. Spencer Tracy, Robert Mitchum, Robert Walker
- True life WW2 story about the first American air raids on Japan with Spencer Tracy and Robert Mitchum in his leading debut.
- Uncertain Glory (1944)
- Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Errol Flynn, Paul Lukas, Lucile Watson
- Wartime romance with Flynn playing French criminal Jean Picard who vows to make the ultimate sacrifice, only to fall in love.
- Way Ahead, The (1944)
- Dir. Carol Reed
Feat. David Niven, Stanley Holloway, Trevor Howard…
- A depleted battalion must scrub up and train a ragtag bunch of conscripts to re–fill the positions left by deceased soldiers in this morale…
- White Cliffs of Dover, The (1944)
- Dir. Clarence Brown
Feat. Elizabeth Taylor, Roddy McDowall, Irene Dunne…
- Patriotic sentiment up full–bore, this extended saga of English–American fraternising over both World Wars, has Irene Dunne and family…
- Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
- Dir. Lloyd Bacon
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale…
- Dramatic battle scenes highlight this Oscar–nominated WW2 drama, in which Bogie portrays the first mate of a freighter travelling the…
- Air Force (1943)
- Dir. Howard Hawks
Feat. John Garfield
- Persuasive propaganda piece focusing on the crew of a B–17 bomber, quite thrilling in the hands of director Hawks.
- Crash Dive (1943)
- Dir. Archie Mayo
Feat. Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews
- A submarine lieutenant and his commander fall in love with the same girl in this thrilling propaganda piece that won the 1943 Oscar for best special…
- Destination Tokyo (1943)
- Dir. Delmer Daves
Feat. Cary Grant
- Suspenseful Cary Grant war melodrama set aboard a U.S sub encroaching Japanese waters.
- Edge of Darkness (1943)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston…
- Taut account of Resistance activities in Norway during WWII, has extra–good camerawork of Erroll Flynn, Ann Sheridan and Walter Huston in some…
- Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
- Dir. Billy Wilder
Feat. Franchot Tone, Anne Baxter, Erich von Stroheim…
- Rousing early outing for Billy Wilder; a nimble, well–executed piece of WWII propaganda exaggerating the exploits of a British corporal officer…
- Flemish Farm, The (1943)
- Dir. Jeffrey Dell
Feat. Clive Brook, Clifford Evans, Jane Baxter
- Low budget WW2 aviation drama focused on a regiment of Belgian pilots who use a Flemish farm as an airstrip with one of the injured men becoming…
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
- Dir. Sam Wood
Feat. Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman
- Splendidly mounted Spanish civil–war drama, in which International Brigade–er Gary Cooper leads local guerillas, including Ingrid…
- Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
- Dir. Lewis Seiler
Feat. Anthony Quinn, Lloyd Nolan, Preston Foster…
- Filmed just after US victory in the Solomon Islands during WW2, this standard issue war–film is a reasonably solid account of a grueling…
- Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The (1943)
- Dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Feat. Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook
- The numerous off–beat adventures of a British soldier are chronicled over a period of three wars, with Deborah Kerr playing all three of the…
- Millions Like Us (1943)
- Dir. Sidney Gilliat
Feat. Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson, Anne Crawford…
- Honest dramatization of the British "home front" during the second World War focuses on a factory worker struggling to overcome her grief after the…
- Sahara (1943)
- Dir. Zoltan Korda
Feat. Humphrey Bogart
- Good WWII actioner, with Humphrey Bogart commanding a tank stuck behind enemy lines.
- Silver Fleet, The (1943)
- Dir. Vernon Sewell
Feat. Ralph Richardson, Esmond Knight, Googie Withers…
- A rousing WW2 maritime drama in which a Dutch shipping port owner decides to swindle the Nazis by agreeing to provide them with his submarines for…
- We Dive at Dawn (1943)
- Dir. Anthony Asquith
Feat. John Mills, Eric Portman, Niall MacGinnis
- Sturdy WWII actioner has a British sub sent out to sink a heavily–armed Nazi battleship with the help of three German sailors, but getting into…
- WWII - The John Huston Documents (Let There Be Light; The Battle of San Pietro) (1943-1947)
- Dir. John Huston
- Two legendary war documentaries from John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON) who participated in WWII as a combat filmmaker yet whose films are the…
- Day Will Dawn, The (1942)
- Dir. Harold French
Feat. Hugh Williams, Griffith Jones, Deborah Kerr…
- Propaganda fuelled WW2 drama about a foreign journalist reporting on German U–Boats attacking Norwegian ships who finds himself up against the…
- Desperate Journey (1942)
- Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan
- Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan are stranded Allied pilots who flee the clutches of the Nazis in Boy's Own WW2 propaganda film.
- First of the Few (Spitfire) (1942)
- Dir. Leslie Howard
Feat. Leslie Howard, David Niven, Rosamund John…
- Rousing true life tale of aircraft designer R.J. Mitchell and his streamlined monoplane that led to the devolpment of the spitfire.
Released with…
- Goose Steps Out, The (1942)
- Dir. Basil Dearden, Will Hay
Feat. Will Hay, Frank Pettingell, Charles Hawtrey…
- British war comedy with Hay as a bumbling teacher conveniently turns out to be the double of a German general. In the true spirit of wartime…
- In Which We Serve (1942)
- Dir. David Lean
Feat. Sir Noel Coward, John Mills, Bernard Miles…
- WW2 drama contrasts the service lives of a destroyer crew with their memories of back home. Powerful film won an Oscar for writer, director and star…
- Journey into Fear (1942)
- Dir. Norman Foster
Feat. Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio, Orson Welles…
- Hitchcockian suspenser set around an American engineer's adventures in WW2 Turkey.
Loaded down with a maze–like plot (written by star Joseph…
- Mrs. Miniver (1942)
- Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon
- An unabashed patriotic war drama, so effective in that capacity it garnered political commendation as well as six Oscars, including Best Picture and…
- One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942)
- Dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Feat. Eric Portman, Bernard Miles, Hugh Williams
- Brisk war–thriller about how a six man British aircrew must find their way back to England across the Occupied Netherlands. Raised above the…
- Secret Mission (1942)
- Dir. Harold French
Feat. Michael Wilding, James Mason, Hugh Williams
- Wartime propaganda piece focused around four Brit intelligence officers on a mission in France to gauge the force of the German defences while being…
- Thunder Birds (Soldiers of the Air) (1942)
- Dir. William A. Wellman
Feat. Gene Tierney, Preston Foster, John Sutton…
- Routine wartime love triangle with two fighter pilots falling for a radiant Gene Tierney, gorgeous Technicolor and ace aerial photography liven it up…
- To Be or Not to Be (1942)
- Dir. Ernst Lubitsch
Feat. Jack Benny, Carole Lombard
- Wonderful black comedy about a Polish theatre group who in the face of a German invasion, become involved in a covert operation that masquerades them…
- Went the Day Well? (1942)
- Dir. Alberto Cavalcanti
Feat. Leslie Banks, Valerie Taylor, Marie Lohr
- British pluck and courage is put to the test in this Graham Greene story, where a cosy English village is infiltrated during WWII by a truckload of…
- 49th Parallel (1941)
- Dir. Michael Powell
Feat. Laurence Olivier
- A taut, effective actioner in which five German U–boat men become stranded off the Canadian coast and try to make it overland to the neutral…
- Cottage to Let (1941)
- Dir. Anthony Asquith
Feat. Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim, John Mills…
- Brit thriller focusing on an inventor in the business of bomb testing for the Air Ministry, whose supposedly innocent domestic staff is riddled with…
- Dive Bomber (1941)
- Dir. Michael Curtiz
Feat. Errol Flynn
- The life and duties of a navy doctor turned flight surgeon entering WW2 with a dashing Errol Flynn. Notable for top–flight aerial sequences.
- Jean Grémillon: During the Occupation (Remorques, Lumière d'été, Le Ciel Est à Vous) (1941-1944)
- Dir. Jean Gremillon
Feat. Jean Gabin, Madeleine Renaud
- Three character–driven dramas from the heralded French film director who has been little represented outside of his home country:
Remorques…
- Sergeant York (1941)
- Dir. Howard Hawks
Feat. Gary Cooper
- A wartime classic about a real–life pacifist turned WW1 hero. Gary Cooper won an Oscar for his vivid portrayal.
- They Died With Their Boots On (1941)
- Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland
- Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland lead a great cast for the life and times of General Custer. Part romantic comedy, part tragedy, done in grandest…
- Fighting 69th, The (1940)
- Dir. William Keighley
Feat. James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, George Brent
- James Cagney plays a loudmouthed braggart who alienates his comrades and officers, but the regimental chaplain (Pat O'Brien) has faith that he'll…
- Forty Thousand Horsemen (40,000 Horsemen) (1940)
- Dir. Charles Chauvel
Feat. Chips Rafferty
- This rollicking war romp depicts the deeds of the Australian Light Horse cavalry during WWI. Stars the archetypal Aussie bushman, Chips Rafferty.
- Let George Do It! (1940)
- Dir. Marcel Varnel
Feat. George Formby, Phyllis Calvert, Garry Marsh
- Ealing Studios comedy sees George Formby star as a ukulele player who unwittingly takes the wrong boat and finds himself mistaken for a British…
- Four Feathers, The (1939)
- Dir. Zoltan Korda
Feat. John Clements, Ralph Richardson, Sir C. Aubrey Smith…
- Best version of the much–filmed, classic A E W Mason story, where a British civilian (John Clements), accused of cowardice, must prove himself…
- Spy In Black, The (U-Boat 29) (1939)
- Dir. Michael Powell
Feat. Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, June Duprez
- The brilliant debut collaboration between Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (COLONEL BLIMP, THE RED SHOES), twists an already exciting spy yarn…
- Alexander Nevsky (1938)
- Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Feat. Nikolai Cherkassov, Nikolai Okhlopkov
- Eisenstein's first sound film is a patriotic epic about the 13th century hero who led his people against the Teutonic Knights. Monumental battle…
- Dawn Patrol, The (1938)
- Dir. Edmund Goulding
Feat. Errol Flynn, David Niven
- Errol Flynn and David Niven play ace fighter–pilots in a tense action/drama set during WWI.
- I Accuse (J'Accuse) (1938)
- Dir. Abel Gance
Feat. Victor Francen, Line Noro, Marie Lou
- Dir. Gance’s own remake of his 1919 silent classic, in which a soldier traumatised by the slaughter of WWI attempts to prevent future…
- Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) (1937)
- Dir. Jean Renoir
Feat. Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim…
- The heroics and hypocrasies of war are illustrated through an imprisoned French squadron in WW1 and their cultured German commandant. A hailed…
- Wee Willie Winkie (1937)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen
- Charming adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's adventure story, with young Shirley negotiating between the British army and Afghani rebels.
- Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
- Dir. Michael Curtiz
Feat. Errol Flynn
- Rousing action on the North–western frontier with Errol Flynn leading the climactic charge into certain death with fellow British cavalry men.
- Crusades, The (1935)
- Dir. Cecil B. DeMille
Feat. Loretta Young, Henry Wilcoxon
- Hollywood Heavyweight Cecil B. DeMille Directs this overblown spectacle that differs vastly from it's grisly historical origins.
- Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The (1935)
- Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell
- Set in India during the British Raj, this rousing literary adaptation follows a British regiment struggling to retain it's stronghold in the…
- All Quiet On the Western Front (1930)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray…
- Landmark film looks at WW1 from the enemy's point of view. It remains brilliant and quite moving after all these years. Academy Award winner for Best…
- Hell's Angels (1930)
- Dir. Howard Hughes
Feat. James Hall, Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon…
- Still highly watchable, this early sound feature financed and 'directed' by the notorious Howard Hughes, boosts its melodramatic story of WWI heroics…
- Napoleon (1927)
- Dir. Abel Gance
Feat. Albert Dieudonne
- Renowned silent epic treats the life of the French general and emperor as a melodramatic spectacle of the highest order, with a…
- Wings (1927)
- Dir. William A. Wellman
Feat. Clara Bow, Charles Rogers, Gary Cooper
- Renowned silent film represents the epic struggles of the allied airforces in WWI, with brilliant aerial sequences, battle recreations and several…