376 Films & TV Shows Set In North America During The 1940s
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Devil in a Blue Dress
California The 1940sPrivate detective Easy Rawlins has been caught on the wrong side of the most dangerous secret in town. — In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
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A Walk in the Clouds
California The 1940sA man in search. A woman in need. A story of fate. — World War II vet Paul Sutton falls for a pregnant and unwed woman who persuades him -- during their first encounter -- to pose as her husband so she can face her family.
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Truman
Missouri The 1940sBiographical account of America's President for the latter part of WWII. Shows Truman's rise from small-town nobody to leader of the USA, his decision to use the Atomic Bomb against Japan, and subsequent election as the US' post-war President.
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The Tuskegee Airmen
Alabama 🇮🇹 Italy The 1940sThe right spirit. The right attitude. The wrong color. — During the Second World War, a special project is begun by the US Army Air Corps to integrate African American pilots into the Fighter Pilot Program. Known as the "Tuskegee Airman" for the name of the airbase at which they were trained, these men were forced to constantly endure harassement, prejudice, and much behind the scenes politics until at last they were able to prove themselves in combat.
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The Neon Bible
Georgia The 1940sWhile on a train, a teenage boy thinks about his life and the flamboyant aunt whose friendship acted as an emotional shield from his troubled family. This film evokes the haunting quality of memory while creating a heartfelt portrait of a boy's life in a rural 1940s Southern town.
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The Grass Harp
Alabama The 1940sLove is a chain of love... as nature is a chain of life. — Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s.
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Frankie Starlight
Texas 🇮🇪 Ireland The 1940sSometimes the brightest star is the one that shines within. — The quirky story of a young boy's adventures growing up with his stunningly beautiful mother and the two very different men who love her.
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The Shawshank Redemption
Maine 🇲🇽 Mexico The 1940s The 1950s The 1960sFear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free. — Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
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Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
New York The 1950s The 1940s The 1930s The 1920sNew York in the 1920's. The only place to be was the Algonquin, and the only person to know was Dorothy Parker. — Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted with despair.
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Roswell
New Mexico Texas The 1940s The 1970sThe Pentagon denied it was a UFO. But one man knew better, because he was there. — Based on the book "UFO Crash at Roswell" by Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt, Roswell follows the attempts of Major Jesse Marcel to discover the truth about strange debris found on a local rancher's field in July of 1947. Told by his superiors that what he has found is nothing more than a downed weather balloon, Marcel maintains his military duty until the weight of the truth, however out of this world it may be, forces him to piece together what really occurred.
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Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey
🇷🇺 Russia New York The 1920s The 1930s The 1940sAfter escaping Russia's communist revolution, Leon Theremin travels to New York, where he pioneers the field of electronic music with his synthesizer. But at the height of his popularity, Soviet agents kidnap and force him to develop spy technology. Steven M. Martin writes and directs this intriguing documentary about a man's "strange" music and his very interesting life as an inventor and influential musician.
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It Runs in the Family
Indiana The 1940sIt is now summer in the Parker family; and the usual amount of numerous events are happening in their separate lives. Ralphie is searching for the perfect top to use to beat the school bully with, the Old Man is in battle with their hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpus, while eagerly awaiting the discovery of the perfect fishing spot, and the Mother is attempting to collect all of the pieces of a glass china set at a local movie theater.
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Coming Out Under Fire
🇺🇸 United States of America The 1940sA historical account of military policy regarding homosexuality during World War II. The documentary includes interviews with several homosexual WWII veterans.
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Lost in Yonkers
New York The 1940sThis summer there's no better place to find yourself. — In the summer of 1942 two young boys are sent to stay with their stern grandmother Kurnitz and their childlike aunt Bella in Yonkers, New York.
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Philadelphia Experiment II
🇺🇸 United States of America The 1990s The 1940sThey cut a hole through time — It is several years after the events of the first movie, and David Herdeg (the survivor of the Philadelphia Experiment from the first film) and Allison (the woman from 1984 he fell in love with) have married and have a child. David awakes, in agony, to a changed world. Germany won World War II and the United States is now about to mark 50 years as a Nazi conquest.
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For the Moment
Manitoba The 1940sA Moment Can Last A Lifetime. — This Canadian film presents and old-fashioned war time romance. It is set during 1942 in Manitoba and traces the doomed affair between a young farmer's wife (Christianne Hirt) whose husband is fighting abroad and a dashing Australian pilot (Russell Crowe). The pilot has come to train in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of Canada. When the pilot, Lachlan, is not training, he is surreptitiously wooing Lill, the farmer's wife. At the other end of town, Betsy (Wanda Cannon) who supports her two kids by bootlegging, charges for her services. She gets involved with Zeek (Scott Kraft), an American flight instructor.
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Miroslava
🇲🇽 Mexico The 1950s The 1940sTomorrow, I won't be here — Mexico, 1955. A beautiful and popular movie star, Miroslava Sternova is depressed tonight. Sad memories fill her mind: her childhood in the pre-war Prague, one failed marriage, several attempts to be taken as a serious actress and the betrayal of the man she loved. As she prepares to commit suicide her entire life reveals itself on the screen, showing us the portrait of a lonely woman.
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Malcolm X
Illinois Massachusetts Michigan New York 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia The 1920s The 1930s The 1940s The 1950s The 1960sA tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
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Chaplin
California England 🇨🇭 Switzerland The 1970s The 1960s The 1950s The 1940s The 1930s The 1920s The 1910s The 1900s The 1890sEveryone has a wild side. Even a legend. — An elderly Charlie Chaplin discusses his autobiography with his editor, recounting his amazing journey from his poverty-stricken childhood to world-wide success after the ingenious invention of the Little Tramp.
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A League of Their Own
Oregon Wisconsin New York Indiana Illinois Colorado The 1940s The 1980sTo achieve the incredible, you have to attempt the impossible. — As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey. Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan on their way to fame.
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American Me
California The 1940s The 1950s The 1960s The 1970sIn prison they are the law. On the streets they are the power. — During his 18 years in Folsom Prison, street-gang leader Santana rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood, intending to lead a peaceful, crime-free life. But his old gang buddies force him back into his old habits.
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Cool World
Nevada The 1990s The 1940sHolli Would if she could ...and she will — A bizarre accident lands Frank Harris in Cool World, a realm of cartoons. Years later, cartoonist Jack Deebs, who's been drawing Cool World, crosses over as well. He sets his lustful sights on animated femme fatale Holli Would, but she's got plans of her own to become real, and it's up to Frank can stop her.
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Alan & Naomi
New York The 1940sWhen Naomi, a young refugee from Nazi-occupied Paris, moves into Alan Silverman’s building in New York, he does his best to avoid her. But despite Naomi's strange behavior and the language barrier, they slowly develop a deep and touching friendship.
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Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore
Maryland The 1940sIn the second dramatic case for lawyer Harmon Cobb, he defends an incarcerated woman who is refused release from a mental institution.
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Barton Fink
New York California The 1940sWhat's in his head — A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
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