Here you’ll find a selection of Feature Films and Documentaries. Some of them were filmed during the Forties but the majority are either set then or about that time period. We’ve tried to include something for everyone.

Click on the titles to be taken to the Library’s Online Catalog.

Adam’s Rib – Domestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband. (1949, 101min, NR)

Angela’s Ashes – Life in impoverished Depression-era Ireland holds little promise for young Frank McCourt, the oldest son in a tightly-knit family. Living by his wits, cheered by his irrepressible spirit, and sustained by his mother’s fierce love, Frank embarks on an inspiring journey to overcome the poverty of his childhood and reach the land of his dreams: America. (2000, 145min, R)

A Beautiful Mind – Tells the tale of the brilliant Mathematician John Nash, on the brink of international acclaim when he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. (2001, 136min, PG-13)

Big Fish – William Bloom, is a young man who never really knew his now dying father, Edward – outside of the tall tales his dad told him about growing up. During Edward’s last days William and his wife Josephine hold a bedside vigil next to the old man as he recollects elaborate memories of his youth. Still doubting the legends and folklore, William makes a journey to meet a mysterious woman from whom Edward had bought property. (2003, 125min, PG-13)

Casablanca – Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications. (1942, 102min, PG)

Easter Parade – Astaire is trying to forget ex-dance partner Miller while rising to stardom with Garland. (1948, 103min, NR)

The Edge of Love – The unconventional love story of poet Dylan Thomas and the two women who inspire him. (2008, 111min, R)

The End of the Affair – In England during World War II, an American writer and the bored wife of a British civil servant fall in love. Then she mysteriously ends the affair. (1999, 101min, R)

The Eye of the Needle – A ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband. (1981, 112min)

Flags of Our Fathers – The epic story of the five Marines and one Navy corpsman that were forever immortalized as a symbol of WWII by raising the American flag at the battle of Iwo Jima. When Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the event becomes a symbol of hope for the families at home, the three surviving men are pulled from combat and sent on a tour across America to raise desperately-needed bond money. It is a trip that brings out the truths of both that symbolic act, and of their lives during war. (2006, 132min, R)

Fountainhead – When an uncompromising architect who refuses to change his designs discovers the plans for one of his buildings has been changed, he decides to take matters into his own hands by blowing up the structure. (1949, 112, NR)

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life – Follows the life of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. (2010, 122min, NR)

Gaslight – A susceptible young woman marries a suave, romantic man never suspecting that he is a murderous scoundrel, obsessed with finding the jewels hidden in their London home. She becomes the helpless victim as slowly, insidiously, he drives her to the brink of insanity. (1940&1944, 113min, NR)

The Good German – While in post-war Berlin covering the Potsdam Conference, American military journalist, Jake Geismar, is drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress and his driver. (2006, 108min, R)

The Great Raid – Based on the true story of American Rangers who rescue the survivors of the Bataan Death March from the Cabanatuan Prison Camp during WWII. (2005, 133min, R)

In Darkness – Leopold Socha is a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland. One day he encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. (2012, 145min, R)

IP Man – Set in Fo Shan, China, during the second Sino-Japanese War, this film brings to life the brutality of a Japanese occupation in which once-proud men were reduced to fighting to the death over bags of rice. Under these dire circumstances, Ip Man, a courageous and humble fighter who is revered all over China, refuses to teach martial arts skills to the invading Japanese soldiers and is forced to fight for the honor of his country in a series of battles that culminate in a kill-or-be-killed showdown with Japan’s greatest fighter. (2008, 107min, R)

It’s a Wonderful Life – An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed. (1946, 130min, NR)

Julie and Julia – Julie Powell is a frustrated insurance worker who wants to be a writer. Trying to find a challenge in her life, she decides to cook her way through Julia Child’s ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ in one year, and to blog about it. As Julie begins to find her groove as a cook, and her voice as a writer, the project takes on a life of its own. (2009, 123min, PG-13)

A League of Their Own – When the male professional baseball players are called away to war in 1943, Jimmy Dugan takes on the task of coaching a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. (1992, 127min, PG)

Letters from Iwo Jima – Sixty-one years ago, the United States and Japanese armies met on Iwo Jima. Decades later, hundreds of letters are unearthed from that stark island’s soil. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them. (2007, 140min, R)

Mister Roberts – As the USS Reluctant carries cargo across the Pacific during World War II, Lieutenant Doug Roberts dreams of joining in the war effort but must contend instead with the ship’s unsympathetic captain. (1955, 122min, NR)

Mrs. Miniver – The story of a middle-class British family and their struggle to survive during WWII. (1942, 133min, NR)

The Others – A devoutly religious mother of two ailing children has moved with her family to a mansion on the English coast. Her two children both suffer from a rare photosensitivity disease that renders them extremely vulnerable to sunlight, prompting the rule of having only one door open in the house at a time. When one of the children claims to see ghosts, Grace at first believes her newly arrived family of eccentric servants to be responsible, but chilling events and visions soon lead her to believe that something supernatural is indeed going on. (2001, 104min, PG-13)

Pan’s Labyrinth – When young Ofelia and her mother go to live with her new stepfather on a rural military outpost, she finds herself in a world of unimaginable cruelty. Soon Ofelia finds the creatures of her imagination in which she used to escape have become a reality and she must battle them to save both her mother and herself. In the terrifying battle that ensues, Ofelia soon learns that innocence has a power that evil cannot imagine. (2007, 119min, R)

Patton – A dramatization of the experiences of General George S. Patton during World War II. (1970, 171min, PG)

The Philadelphia Story – A sophisticated romantic comedy about a rich, spoiled socialite who learns some things about who she is and what she really wants on the eve of her second marriage. (1940, 112min, NR)

Racing with the Moon – Sweet, nostalgic film about two buddies awaiting induction into the Marines in 1942. (1984, 108min, PG)

Raging Bull – A biographical film about psychologically destructive, violent middleweight champion Jake La Motta. (1980, 129min, R)

The Remains of the Day – The story of blind devotion and repressed love between a fanatically proper butler and a high-spirited, strong-minded young housekeeper employed by a British lord who is unwittingly a Nazi dupe. (1993, 134min, PG)

Revolutionary Road – Frank and April Wheeler live a life that appears to be perfect. They live in the Connecticut suburbs with two young children. Frank commutes to New York City where he works in an office job that he hates. One he places little effort at, but he has yet to figure out what his passion in life is. April is a housewife who forgoes her dream of being an actress. They are not happy. (2008, 118min, R)

Schindler’s List – The story of a Catholic war profiteer, Oskar Schindler, who risked his life and went bankrupt in order to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps. He employed Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army. At the same time he tries to stay solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant and negotiates business with a vicious Nazi commandant who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa that overlooks the prison camp he commands. (1993, 196min, R)

The Shawshank Redemption – City banker Andy Dufresne arrived at Shawshank Prison in 1947. Convicted of two brutal murders, he received a double life sentence. Within the confines of the prison, Andy forms an unlikely friendship with the prison “fixer” Red. He also becomes popular with the warden and the prison’s guards, as Andy is able to use his banking experience to help the corrupt officials amass personal fortunes. (1994, 142min, R)

The Trip to Bountiful – In an attempt to recapture the happiness she knew in the past, an elderly woman journeys back to the small town where she raised her children. (1985, 108min, PG)

Twelve o’Clock High – The commander of the Eighth Air Force bomber unit in England during World War II begins to crack under the strain. (1949, 132min, NR)

Valkyrie – Based on the true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his assassination plot targeting Adolf Hitler. (2008, 120min, PG-13)

A Walk in the Clouds – After returning from World War II, a young G.I. finds he has little in common with the wife he left behind. Disillusioned, he heads north to work as a travelling salesman where he meets the daughter of a wealthy vineyard owner. (1995, 102min, PG-13)

Here you’ll find a selection of Feature Films and Documentaries. Some of them were filmed during the Thirties but the majority are either set then or about that time period. We’ve tried to include something for everyone.

Click on the titles to be taken to the Library’s Online Catalog.

Amélie – Amélie is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amélie didn’t attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Despite all this, Amélie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. She decides to step into the lives of others around her to help them out. (2002, 122min, R)

Angela’s Ashes – Life in impoverished Depression-era Ireland holds little promise for young Frank McCourt, the oldest son in a tightly-knit family. Living by his wits, cheered by his irrepressible spirit, and sustained by his mother’s fierce love, Frank embarks on an inspiring journey to overcome the poverty of his childhood and reach the land of his dreams: America. (2000, 145min, R)

Annie – The story of the comic strip character Little Orphan Annie, who is adopted by billionaire “Daddy” Warbucks. (1981, 127min, PG)

Brideshead Revisited – A Londoner of lower class befriends and begins a romantic relationship with an aristocrat that becomes complicated when the aristocrat introduces his new friend to his sister. (2009, 133min, PG-13)

Bright Young Things – During the 1930’s, the world of the British uppercrust society is one of nightclubs, dancing, jazz and speed. Their lives revolve around an endless series of parties and pleasure seeking – including motorcars, jazz bands, gossip journalism, drugs, gramophones … Inevitably, however, the frantic pace of living begins to take its toll and one by one they begin to crash and burn in the search for newer and faster sensations. (2005, 105min, R)

Brighton Beach Memoirs – Fifteen-year-old Eugene Jerome is trying to uncover life’s mysteries in this adaptation of a Broadway hit about growing up in Brooklyn during the late 1930’s. (1986, 110min, PG-13)

City Lights – A tramp wins the love of a blind flower girl and attempts to obtain money from a millionaire to help her regain her sight. (1931, 186min, G)

Citizen Kane – Story of the rise and fall of a great man as the result of his accumulation of wealth and subsequent isolation from the world. Loosely based on the life of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. (1941, 232min, PG)

Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin Button is a not-so-ordinary man who began his life under unusual circumstances. Born in his eighties at the end of World War I, Benjamin ages backwards. (2009, 165min, PG-13)

The Devil’s Backbone – During the Spanish Civil War, young Carlos is abandoned at a completely isolated orphanage. The tensions therein have been building for years, exacerbated by the unexploded bomb resting menacingly in the courtyard. Bullies scheme, tempers flare, and a ghost that visits Carlos’s bed seems to be the key to it all. (2002, 103min, R)

The English Patient – Based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje, a complicated WWII saga told in flashback sequences. Best Picture, Best Director-Anthony Minghella, and Best Supporting Actress-Juliette Binoche. Includes exclusive bonus material and special packaging. (1996, 162min, R)

Frida – The life of artist Frida Kahlo, from her humble upbringing to her worldwide fame and controversy that surrounded both her and her husband, Diego Rivera. (2002, 122min, R)

Gandhi – Tells the story of Gandhi’s adult life, when he led an entire country to freedom, using non-violent methods. (1982, 190min, PG)

Good – When John Halder’s latest novel is enlisted by the Nazi party to push their agenda, his career and social standing instantly advance. But after learning of the Reich’s horrific plans for the future, John must decide whether to do nothing and keep his fame or risk losing everything. (2009, 96min, R)

A Good Woman – A notorious seductress enters a gossipy society and entices the husband of a faithful young woman, delighting the gossips and prompting a series of unexpected consequences. (2006, 93min, PG)

Harlem Nights – A night club owner and his son fight to keep the mob and corrupt police from putting them out of business. (1989, 115min, R)

The Hindenburg – A dramatization of the journey and crash of the German dirigible, the Hindenburg. (1975, 155min)

I Capture the Castle – In a classic English story, Cassandra Mortmain chronicles in her diary what happens to her eccentric family when a young American man inherits the local estate. The bittersweet love story that ensues is far more complicated than she ever imagines. (2003, 113min, R)

Indochine – Set in French Indochina in the 1930s as the Vietnamese begin to rebel against French colonialism. Dramatizes the last years of French rule through the relationship between plantation owner Éliane, French by birth but born and raised in Indochina, and her adopted daughter Camille, an orphaned Annamese princess who becomes a Vietnamese revolutionary and representative at the Geneva Conference after having a child by French officer Jean-Baptiste, Éliane’s past lover. (1992, 156min, NR)

J. Edgar – J. Edgar Hoover was head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for nearly 50 years. Hoover was feared, admired, reviled and revered, a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it. His methods were at once ruthless and heroic, with the admiration of the world his most coveted prize. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life. (2011, 137min, R)

King Kong – Young and beautiful actress Ann Darrow is from the world of 1930s vaudeville, who is down on her luck. She meets Carl Denham, an over-ambitious filmmaker, who brings her on an exploratory expedition to a remote island where she finds compassion and the true meaning of humanity with an ape Kong. (2005, 188min, PG-13)

Ladies in Lavender – The peaceful life of two aging sisters is shattered when they take in a young Polish violinist who they find injured after having been washed ashore near their coastal English home. Their town is suspicious of any visitors and things get worse when he befriends a Russian woman who is visiting the town. (2004, 104min, PG-13)

Lawrence of Arabia – The story of T.E. Lawrence, the heroic and troubled man who organized the Arab nations to fight the Turks in World War I and then, having reached a pinnacle of power in Mideast politics, retired to postwar military obscurity. (1962, 227min, PG)

The Legend of Bagger Vance – The protagonist of this metaphysical fable is Rannulph Junah, Southern aristocrat and World War I hero. In a tournament in Savannah, he defeats two golf pros by following the teachings of his guru, Bagger Vance, a black mystic serving as his caddie. (2000, 127min, PG-13)

Malcolm X – Screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader. (1992, 201min, PG-13)

Memoirs of a Geisha – In 1929, an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto’s Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy in Hatsumomo and she is rescued by Hatsumomo’s bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha’s mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha, she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. (2006, 145min, PG-13)

Murder Inc. – In the violent burroughs of 1930s New york, gangs spawned by Prohibition have found new work … as racketeers and contract killers. The most vicious of these is Murder, Inc., the merciless Brownsville, Brooklyn syndicate. As their reign of terror spreads, only one cop has the nerve to methodically track them down, determined to destroy them by any means necessary! (1960, 103min, NR)

The Natural – An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this magical sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat cut from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs lives the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he is inexplicably shot by a young woman. (1984, 138min, PG)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Convict Ulysses Everett McGill and two others escape the chain gang to find a stolen treasure, but end up having a odyssey of strange adventures. (2000, 103min, PG-13)

Papillon – Thrilling adventure of an escape from a French Guiana prison. (1973, 150min, PG)

Pride of the Yankees – Tells the tale of Lou Gehrig, a Hall-of-Fame baseball player for the New York Yankees whose life was cut short by ALS. (1942, 128min, NR)

Public Enemies – Focuses on the true story of FBI agent Melvin Purvis and his pursuit of criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd during the Great Depression. (2009, 140min, R)

Rabbit Proof Fence – In 1931, Molly and her younger cousins, Gracie and Daisy, were three half-caste children from Western Australia who were taken from their parents under government edict and sent to an institution, were taught to forget their families, their culture, and re-invent themselves as members of “white” Australian society. The three girls begin an epic journey back to Western Australia, travelling 1,500 miles on foot with no food or water, and navigating by following the fence that has been build across the nation to stem an over-population of rabbits. (2002, 93min, PG)

Road to Perdition – Chicago hitman Michael Sullivan and his young son become targets of another hitman from the same mob. Sullivan and his son embark on a journey of

survival and revenge. (2002, 117min, R)

The Sound of Music – As Nazism takes over Austria, Maria, a spirited young postulant, leaves the convent to act as a governess for the seven musically-talented children of widower Captain von Trapp. (1965, 175min, G)

Tea with Mussolini – Tells the tale of British women living in Florence prior to World War II. (1999, 117min, PG)

To Kill a Mockingbird – The setting is a dusty Southern town during the Depression. A white woman accuses a black man of rape. Though he is obviously innocent, the outcome of his trial is such a foregone conclusion that no lawyer will step forward to defend him–except the town’s most distinguished citizen. His compassionate defense costs him many friendships but earns him the respect and admiration of his two motherless children. (1962, 130min, NR)

The Untouchables – A fierce, larger-than-life depiction of the mob warlord who ruled Prohibition-era Chicago and the law enforcer who vowed to bring him down. (1987, 119min, R)

Victor/Victoria – A poverty-stricken singer in Depression-era Paris becomes convinced that the only way she can earn a living on the nightclub circuit is to masquerade as a man who impersonates women. Then she meets the man of her dreams. (1982, 133min,  PG)

The Way We Were – The romance and marriage of opposites– the love that binds them together and the differences that tear them apart. A love story from college to Hollywood in the thirties, forties, and fifties. (1973, 118min, PG)