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1920s, Prohibition and Great Depression
Movie Title
Rating
Date
Summary**
The Great Gatsby
PG-13
2013
A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor.
Boardwalk Empire (TV Series)
TV-MA
2010-2014
An Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law, conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era.
It’s a Wonderful Life
PG
1946
An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.
Chicago
PG-13
2002
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.
Seabiscuit
PG-13
2003
True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.
Cinderella Man
PG-13
2005
The story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed-up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s.
The Cotton Club
R
1984
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem. The story follows the people that visited the club, those that ran it, and is peppered with the Jazz music that made it so famous.
Of Mice and Men
PG-13
1992
Two drifters, one a gentle but slow giant, try to make money working the fields during the Depression so they can fulfill their dreams.
The Grapes of Wrath
Not Rated
1940
A poor Midwest family is forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
The Untouchables
R
1987
Federal Agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop Al Capone; because of rampant corruption, he assembles a small, hand-picked team.
The Immigrant
R
2013
1921. An innocent immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.
WWII MoviesAmerican Civil Rights MovementMovie Title
Rating
Date
Summary**
Selma
PG-13
2014
A chronicle of Martin Luther King's campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965
Remember the Titans
PG
2000
The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
PG-13
2013
As Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man's life, family, and American society.
Malcolm X
PG-13
1992
Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam.
Mississippi Burning
R
1988
Two FBI agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
The Help
PG-13
2011
An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Ruby Bridges
1998
The true story of Ruby Bridges, an African-American girl who, in 1960 at age 6, helped to integrate the all-white schools of New Orleans. Although she was the only black girl to come to the school she was sent to, (and since all the white mothers pulled their children out of class, she was the only one there, period), and though she faced a crowd of angry white citizens every day, she emerged unscathed, physically or emotionally. Encouraged by her teacher, a white woman from the North named Barbara Henry, and her mother, Lucille, and with her own quiet strength, she eventually broke down a century-old barrier forever, a pivotal moment in the civil-rights movement.
Separate But Equal
PG
1991
A dramatization of the American court case that destroyed the legal validity of racial segregation.
Movies about Developing NationsMovie Title
Rating
Date
Summary**
Hotel Rwanda
PG - 13
2004
The true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.
Blood Diamond
R
2006
A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.
Two episodes of Generation Kill
TV-MA
2008
A Rolling Stone reporter, embedded with The 1st Recon Marines chronicles his experiences during the first wave of the American-led assault on Baghdad in 2003.
Invictus
PG - 13
2009
Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Hurt Locker
R
2008
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
Argo
R
2012
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1980.
Jarhead
R
2005
Based on former Marine Anthony Swofford's best-selling 2003 book about his pre-Desert Storm experiences in Saudi Arabia and about his experiences fighting in Kuwait. (125 mins.)
Blackhawk Down
R
2001
123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.
Restrepo
R
2010
Documentary of a year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.
Taking Chance
PG
2009
Based on real-life events, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort officer, accompanies the body of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming.