443 Films & TV Shows Set In North America During The 1950s
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Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love
Tennessee The 1950sMiracles happen when we need them most of all. — An unexpected blizzard threatens the Parton family, while at the same time Dolly's father (and his kids) make sacrifices to raise enough money to finally buy his wife the wedding ring he could never afford to give her. Meanwhile, an important person in little Dolly's life begins to see that her amazing voice and musical gift might just be made for something bigger than rural Tennessee.
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An American Girl Story: Maryellen 1955 - Extraordinary Christmas
Florida The 1950sIt's Christmas, 1955 in Daytona Beach, FL, and middle child Maryellen longs to stand out amidst the hustle and bustle of her big family. When Benji, a family friend afflicted with polio comes to stay with them, Maryellen is intent on making the holiday special. After her plans for a big celebration fall through, she discovers the best gifts are often simple, meaningful gestures of friendship.
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Brooklyn
New York 🇮🇪 Ireland The 1950sTwo countries, two loves, one heart — In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Eilis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.
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Pawn Sacrifice
New York California 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇧🇬 Bulgaria The 1970s The 1960s The 1950sOn the board he fought the Cold War. In his mind he fought his madness. — American chess champion Bobby Fischer prepares for a legendary match-up against Russian Boris Spassky.
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Carol
New York New Jersey Illinois Iowa The 1950sSome people change your life forever. — In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
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Trumbo
Kentucky District of Columbia California The 1970s The 1960s The 1950s The 1940sAre you now or have you ever been... — The career of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is halted by a witch hunt in the late 1940s when he defies the anti-communist HUAC committee and is blacklisted.
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Bridge of Spies
🇩🇪 Germany New York District of Columbia 🇵🇰 Pakistan 🇷🇺 Russia The 1960s The 1950sIn the shadow of war, one man showed the world what we stood for. — During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.
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Life
Indiana California New York The 1950sFrom rebel to icon — In 1955, young photographer Dennis Stock develops a close bond with actor James Dean while shooting pictures of the rising Hollywood star.
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Northern Borders
Vermont The 1950sIn 1956, ten-year-old Austen Kittredge is sent to live on his grandparents’ Vermont farm, where he experiences wild adventures and uncovers long-festering family secrets.
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Pirate's Passage
Nova Scotia The 1950sSet in 1952 Grey Rocks – a centuries old town that was famous 250 years ago as a favored port of pirates – Pirate’s Passage follows the story of 12-year-old Jim. Fraught by the death of his father and forced to endure schoolyard bullying each day, Jim manages to carry on, buoyed by his optimistic imagination and fueled by his sense of adventure. The sudden arrival of Captain Johnson, whose small sailboat has been thrown off course by a storm, changes Jim’s life. The Captain quickly becomes a mentor and friend to Jim, giving him extraordinary lessons in self-reliance and determination. Soon, Jim develops a liberating self-assurance that so deeply touches the Captain that he allows Jim to see evidence that the Captain may be more than meets the eye. Is Captain Johnson the same Charles Johnson who was a pirate there two hundred years ago? The lad goes with him on a literal journey into the past to find out and emerges able to navigate the course of his life.
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Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
California 🇮🇹 Italy The 1940s The 1950s The 1960s The 1970sA personal portrait of mythical and controversial actress Ingrid Bergman based on her many home movies and diaries.
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Chicago Boys
🇨🇱 Chile Illinois The 1950s The 1970sThe economists behind the implementation of the most extreme capitalist system in the world observe with surprise the discontent of its countrymen. For the first time, they tell the story of how they became Milton Friedman's students in Chicago in the 1950s and what were they willing to do to pursue their extreme economic ideas, aided by Pinochet's dictatorship in the 70s. Unseen images and testimonies that allow us to understand the historic process that transformed the Chilean people and Chile in the country that it is today, an image of success and discontent.
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Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors
Tennessee The 1950s"Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors" is based on the inspiring true story of living legend Dolly Parton's remarkable upbringing. This once-in-a-lifetime movie special takes place inside the tight-knit Parton family as they struggle to overcome devastating tragedy and discover the healing power of love, faith and a raggedy patchwork coat that helped make Parton who she is today. The film is set in the Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains in 1955. It is neither a biopic nor a musical about Dolly's whole life and performing career, but rather a family-oriented faith-based story about the incidents in her and her family's life around the time she was nine years old.
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Papa Hemingway in Cuba
🇨🇺 Cuba The 1950sHemingway's Untold Story. — In 1959, a young journalist ventures to Havana, Cuba to meet his idol, the legendary Ernest Hemingway who helped him find his literary voice, while the Cuban Revolution comes to a boil around them.
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Big Eyes
California Hawaii The 1960s The 1950sShe created it. He sold it. And they bought it. — The story of the awakening of painter, Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.
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Godzilla
Nevada California Hawaii Tokyo Prefecture 🇵🇭 Philippines Pacific Ocean The 1990s The 1950s The 2010sThe world ends, Godzilla begins. — Ford Brody, a Navy bomb expert, has just reunited with his family in San Francisco when he is forced to go to Japan to help his estranged father, Joe. Soon, both men are swept up in an escalating crisis when an ancient alpha predator arises from the sea to combat malevolent adversaries that threaten the survival of humanity. The creatures leave colossal destruction in their wake, as they make their way toward their final battleground: San Francisco.
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Finding Vivian Maier
Illinois The 1950s The 1960sVivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.
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Jersey Boys
New Jersey The 1970s The 1990s The 1960s The 1950sA musical biopic of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, it gets to the heart of the relationships at the centre of the group, with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto.
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Cesar Chavez
California The 1970s The 1960s The 1950sHistory is made one step at a time. — A biography of the civil-rights activist and labor organizer Cesar Chavez. Chronicling the birth of a modern American labour movement, Cesar Chavez tells the story of the famed civil rights leader and labour organiser torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. Passionate but soft-spoken, Chavez embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle to bring dignity to working people.
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Flowers in the Attic
Pennsylvania Virginia The 1950sAfter the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
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Get on Up
Georgia New York Massachusetts 🇻🇳 Vietnam 🇫🇷 France The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 1960s The 1950s The 1940s The 1930sThe Funk Don't Quit — A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
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Jayhawkers
Kansas The 1950sThey Changed More Than A Game — A group of unlikely allies modernized college sports and changed a small Midwestern town, serving as a parallel to the Civil Rights movement that would transform the entire American society.
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Set Fire to the Stars
New York Connecticut The 1950sNever Meet Your Heroes — An aspiring poet in 1950s New York has his ordered world shaken when he embarks on a week-long retreat to save his hell raising hero, Dylan Thomas.
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The Butler
Alabama California Georgia Tennessee District of Columbia The 1920s The 1930s The 1950s The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 2000sOne quiet voice can ignite a revolution. — A look at the life of Cecil Gaines who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.
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Last Vegas
New York New Jersey Nevada California Florida The 1950s The 2010sIt's going to be legendary — Three sixty-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.
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