376 Films & TV Shows Set In North America During The 1940s
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All the Pretty Horses
🇲🇽 Mexico The 1940sSome passions can never be tamed. — The year is 1949. A young Texan named John Grady finds himself without a home after his mother sells the ranch where he has spent his entire life. Lured south of the border by the romance of cowboy life and the promise of a fresh start, Cole and his pal embark on an adventure that will test their resilience, define their maturity, and change their lives forever.
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X-Men
New York District of Columbia Mississippi 🇵🇱 Poland Africa - General 🇨🇦 Canada The 2000s The 1940sEvolution Begins — Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.
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Ed Gein
Wisconsin The 1950s The 1940s The 1920s The 1910sBefore DAHMER, Before GACY, There was ED. — The true story of Edward Gein, the farmer whose horrific crimes inspired Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. This is the first film to Gein's tormented upbringing, his adored but domineering mother, and the 1957 arrest uncovered the most bizarre series of murders America has ever seen
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The Audrey Hepburn Story
New York England 🇳🇱 Netherlands The 1960s The 1950s The 1940s The 1930sExperience the loves, tragedies and triumphs of a beloved screen legend. — The film spans from Hepburn's early childhood to the 1950s which details her life as a Dutch ballerina, coming to grips with her parents' divorce, and enduring life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. She then settles in the U.S. where she succeeds in making it big as a movie actress, in such movies as Breakfast at Tiffany's.
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Possessed
Missouri 🇫🇷 France The 1950s The 1940sAn 11 year old boy starts throwing temper tantrums, vomiting on and attacking people, and swearing uncontrollably. Furniture begins to move on its own when he is around, and he doesn't remember any of it. After giving up on the protestants, the boy's parents turn to the catholic church for help. Father Bowden is a WWII veteran who is experiencing nightmares, flashbacks and other personal problems, including alcoholism. He is recruited by the archbishop to perform a series of exorcisms. This is the apparent true account of the last exorcism known to have been done by the catholic church.
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Joe Gould's Secret
New York The 1940sAround 1940, New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character who cadges meals, drinks, and contributions to the Joe Gould Fund and who is writing a voluminous Oral History of the World, a record of 20,000 conversations he's overheard. Mitchell is fascinated with this Harvard grad and writes a 1942 piece about him, "Professor Seagull," bringing Gould some celebrity and an invitation to join the Greenwich Village Ravens, a poetry club he's often crashed. Gould's touchy, querulous personality and his frequent dropping in on Mitchell for hours of chat lead to a breakup, but the two Joes stay in touch until Gould's death and Mitchell's unveiling of the secret.
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The Cider House Rules
Maine The 1940s The 1920sA story about how far we must travel to find the place where we belong. — Homer is an orphan who was never adopted, becoming the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?
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Life
Mississippi New York The 1930s The 1970s The 1990s The 1940sShare it with someone you love. — Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
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Angela's Ashes
New York 🇮🇪 Ireland The 1940s The 1930sBased on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the IRA, and when he does find money, he spends the money on drink.
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Herod's Law
🇲🇽 Mexico The 1940sWhy don't they want you to see it? — Mexico, 1949. The fable of a janitor turned Mayor on a little town lost in the Mexican desert, who gradually realizes how far his new acquainted power and corruption can get him.
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No One Writes to the Colonel
🇲🇽 Mexico The 1940sEvery Friday, the Colonel puts on his only suit and goes to the dock to await a letter announcing the arrival of his pension. But the townsfolk all know that this pension will never come. His wife also knows it, and even he knows it. But he is still waiting, living with the pain of the death of his son.
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Roswell: The Aliens Attack
New Mexico The 1940sTwo aliens escape from 1947 Roswell, New Mexico and set out to sabotage the Earth. The lady alien finds she enjoys sex and likes to seduce soldiers. However, the male eventually falls in love with an Earthling and decides to stop the female from setting off a nuclear weapon the two had developed.
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Our Friend, Martin
Georgia The 1950s The 1960s The 1990s The 1940sA Magical Movie Adventure Inspired by the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. — What begins as a routine class project for a diverse group of sixth-graders turns into a magical, time-traveling adventure they'll never forget! Authentic historical footage of Martin Luther King Jr. is blended with colorful animation as the students learn about - and actually meet - the civil rights leader who challenged all Americans to turn his dream of freedom into reality. Produced in association with the King family, "Our Friend, Martin" features an unprecedented all-star voice cast and a hot hit soundtrack with music performed by top contemporary artists and classic Motown greats. It's a fun, new way for your family to share Dr. King's inspiring message of hope and courage that changed the course of our nation's history.
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The Hi-Lo Country
New Mexico The 1940sA woman like Mona can drive men to extremes. — An intimate story of the enduring bond of friendship between two hard-living men, set against a sweeping backdrop: the American West, post-World War II, in its twilight. Pete and Big Boy are masters of the prairie, but ultimately face trickier terrain: the human heart.
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The Legend of 1900
New York The 1920s The 1900s The 1930s The 1940s The 1890sAn epic story of a man who could do anything... except be ordinary — The story of a virtuoso piano player who lives his entire life aboard an ocean liner. Born and raised on the ship, 1900 (Tim Roth) learned about the outside world through interactions with passengers, never setting foot on land, even for the love of his life. Years later, the ship may be destroyed, and a former band member fears that 1900 may still be aboard, willing to go down with the ship.
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The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
Michigan The 1940s The 1930sWhen America Needed Heroes, A Jewish Slugger Stepped To The Plate. — The story of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues, is told through archival film footage and interviews with fans, former teammates, friends, and family. As a great first baseman with the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg endured antisemitism and became a hero and source of inspiration throughout the Jewish community, not incidentally leading the Tigers to Major League dominance in the 1930s.
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Lolita
New Hampshire The 1940s The 1950s The 1930s The 1920sA forbidden love. An unthinkable attraction. The ultimate price. — Urbane professor Humbert Humbert marries a New England widow to be near her nymphet daughter.
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What the Deaf Man Heard
Georgia The 1960s The 1940sFor twenty years, he lived in silence. Now his heart needs to speak the truth. — In 1945, a young boy arrives in a small Georgia town on a bus from which his mother was abducted and murdered. Alone he sits quietly and everyone becomes convinced that he is deaf and mute. Deciding that silence offers some power and protection, the boy decides to remain mute and just listens to all that is being said around him by people who think that he cannot hear.
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Mother Night
New York 🇩🇪 Germany 🇮🇱 Israel The 1960s The 1940s The 1930sThe truth is more shocking than the uniform he wears... HE WAS AN AMERICAN SPY. — An American spy behind the lines during WWII serves as a Nazi propagandist, a role he cannot escape in his future life as he can never reveal his real role in the war.
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The Celluloid Closet
California The 1950s The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 1940sThis documentary highlights the historical contexts that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have occupied in cinema history, and shows the evolution of the entertainment industry's role in shaping perceptions of LGBT figures. The issues addressed include secrecy – which initially defined homosexuality – as well as the demonization of the homosexual community with the advent of AIDS, and finally the shift toward acceptance and positivity in the modern era.
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Bastard Out of Carolina
South Carolina The 1950s The 1940sA poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
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Deep Crimson
Florida Michigan New York The 1940sThe life of a man who preys on unsuspecting women for a living is changed when he finds an accomplice in the woman who loves and controls him.
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Soul of the Game
Indiana The 1940sSatchel Paige and Josh Gibson are the greatest players in the Colored leagues, and everyone expects that one of them will make the leap to the Major Leagues, now that there is talk of integration. But, unexpectedly, it's the rookie with the army record, Jackie Robinson, that gets tapped to be the first.
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Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day
California The 1940sThe Yosemite Valley Railroad, which runs through the breathtaking scenery and stunning vistas of Yosemite National Park, is on the brink of failure. The grandson of a Chinese railroad laborer embarks on a romantic, but ultimately doomed, quest to save this railroad from being sold for scrap. His love of trains finds him working as a railroad-man, instead of at his father's profitable business. He manages to locate a wealthy eccentric investor to help him acquire the railroad, but its financial inviability makes this a quixotic reprieve, at best. The film also portrays the anti-Asian racism present in America at the conclusion of World War II.
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Fire on the Mountain
🇮🇹 Italy Colorado The 1940sA documentary film about the exploits of the Tenth Mountain Division, an elite group of mountain climbers who fought decisive battles against the Nazis in the Italian Alps during the final days of World War II. From the intensive training atop the Colorado Rockies to the spectacular night climb of Italy's Riva Ridge.
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