443 Films & TV Shows Set In North America During The 1950s
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Pollock
New York The 1950s The 1940sA true portrait of life and art. — In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral.
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Company Man
🇨🇺 Cuba The 1960s The 1950sInternational intelligence just got dumber. — Set in the 1960's, a school teacher pretends to be a CIA spy to get his nagging wife off his back. He helps a Russian ballet dancer defect and is then sent to Cuba to locate "Agent X" for the CIA.
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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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Two Family House
New York The 1950sThe only way to find out what you love is to risk everything you have. — Buddy Visalo (Michael Rispoli) is a factory worker, a frustrated crooner who once had a shot at the big time. Buddy's dreams of greatness have been reduced to an endless series of failed moneymaking schemes. His latest is buying a two-family house for him and his wife, Estelle (Katherine Narducci) and converting the ground floor into a neighborhood bar where he can perform. The wrench in the works is that he also inherits the upstairs tenants, Mary,a pregnant Irish girl fresh off the boat (Kelly Macdonald) and her abusive, alcoholic husband, Jim (Kevin Conway). As Buddy's gang of Italians tries to handle the situation, the girl goes into labor, and a baby is born, forcing them all to confront the limits of their tolerance and compassion.
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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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Common Ground
Connecticut The 1950s The 1970s The 2000sThis movie contains three short stories dealing with the theme of homosexuality. In "A Friend of Dorothy", a woman joins the Navy during the 1950's and discovers lesbianism. In "Mr. Roberts", a teacher in a 1970's classroom struggles with his closeted gay status. Finally in "Amos and Andy", a father wrestles with his own emotional acceptance of a present day wedding between his son and another man.
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Operación Fangio
🇨🇺 Cuba The 1950sCuba, February 24, 1958. The second Grand Prix International Automobile City of Havana is scheduled for this date. The great Argentinean driver Juan Manuel Fangio, five times world champion, is expected with open arms by all Cubans and the Batista government, the event organizer. But Fidel's revolutionary group "July 26" has other plans for Fangio, not exactly fly. The group's intention is that Fangio boycott a government that has very little time in power.
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The Talented Mr. Ripley
🇮🇹 Italy New York The 1950sHow far would you go to become someone else? — Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.
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Man on the Moon
New York 🇵🇭 Philippines The 1950s The 1970s The 1980sHello, my name is Andy and this is my movie. — The story of the life and career of eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.
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Snow Falling on Cedars
Washington The 1950sFirst loves last forever. — In the 1950s, a Japanese-American fisherman is suspected of killing his neighbour at sea—and race is a factor in the trial. So is reporter, Ishmael.
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The Iron Giant
Maine The 1950sIt came from outer space! — In the small town of Rockwell, Maine in October 1957, a giant metal machine befriends a nine-year-old boy and ultimately finds its humanity by unselfishly saving people from their own fears and prejudices.
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The Hurricane
Ontario New Jersey The 1950sHis greatest fight was for justice. — The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
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October Sky
West Virginia The 1950sSometimes one dream is enough to light up the whole sky. — Based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes, and eventually became a NASA scientist.
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Liberty Heights
Maryland The 1950sYou're only young once, but you remember forever. — Anti-Semitism, race relations, coming of age, and fathers and sons: in Baltimore from fall, 1954, to fall, 1955.
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The Woman Chaser
California The 1950sA 1950s used-car salesman (Patrick Warburton) wants to make a low-budget film about a trucker who accidentally runs down a child.
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The Passion of Ayn Rand
New York California The 1980s The 1960s The 1950sThe author of "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" becomes involved with a much younger, and married man... to the dismay of those close to her.
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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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Gods and Monsters
California The 1950sIt's 1957, and James Whale's heyday as the director of "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Invisible Man" is long behind him. Retired and a semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When his dour housekeeper, Hannah, hires a handsome young gardener, the flamboyant director and simple yard man develop an unlikely friendship, which will change them forever.
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Why Do Fools Fall In Love
New York The 1980s The 1960s The 1950sThe story of three very different women.....with one husband in common. — In the mid-80s, three women (each with an attorney) arrive at the office of New York entertainment manager, Morris Levy. One is an L.A. singer, formerly of the Platters; one is a petty thief from Philly; one teaches school in a small Georgia town. Each claims to be the widow of long-dead doo-wop singer-songwriter Frankie Lyman, and each wants years of royalties due to his estate, money Levy has never shared. During an ensuing civil trial, flashbacks tell the story of each one's life with Lyman, a boyish, high-pitched, dynamic performer, lost to heroin. Slowly, the three wives establish their own bond.
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Blind Faith
New York The 1950sWhat would you be willing to sacrifice to keep your family secrets? — in 1957 an African-American criminal lawyer (Courtney B. Vance) defends his nephew, who faces the death penalty for murdering a white boy. Charles S. Dutton, Kadeem Hardison, Garland Whitt and Lonette McKee costar in this drama of racial and social tensions.
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L.A. Confidential
California The 1950sEverything is suspect... Everyone is for sale... And nothing is what it seems. — Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
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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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Inventing the Abbotts
Pennsylvania Illinois The 1950sWhen you want it all but can't have it, there's only one way to handle life... invent it. — In the 1950s, brothers Jacey and Doug Holt, who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor and Alice, wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela, which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd, both frown upon.
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This World, Then the Fireworks
California The 1950sMeet Marty and Carol. Two people who are very good at being bad. — Marty Lakewood is a reporter forced to leave Chicago and his family because he had uncovered too much police corruption. He returns to his small home town on the California coast to his ailing mother and prostitute sister, with whom he had an incestuous affair. Being short of money, he seduces a woman cop in order to sell her house.
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