|
Lesson Plans: Using Film in the History Classroom
Movies in American History
The following is a list of movies that teachers might want to consider for use in their history classroom. The films are listed chronologically according to their subjects.
U.S. History to 1877
- 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992). Gerard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver. Account of Columbus's discovery and exploration of the "New World".
- The Scarlet Letter (1995). Demi Moore, Robert Duvall. Adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel about 17th century Puritan New England.
- The Crucible (1996). Winona Ryder, Daniel Day-Lewis. Seventeenth century Salem witchcraft trials based on Arthur Miller's 1953 play.
- The Last of the Mohicans (1992). Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe. Based on novel by James Fenimore Cooper, this movie explores the 1750s at the height of the French and English wars in the American colonies.
- Jefferson in Paris (1994). Nick Nolte, Gwyneth Paltrow. Thomas Jefferson's five years in Paris are the center of this film as is his personal life, particularly his relationship with his slave Sally Hemings.
- Tecumseh: The Last Warrior (1995). Jesse Borrego, David Clennon. Television biography of the Shawnee leader.
- The Alamo (1960). John Wayne, Richard Widmark. Old-fashioned patriotic battle epic recounts the real events of the 1836 fight for Texas independence.
- The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (1987). James Amess, Lorne Greene, Alec Baldwin, Raul Julia. Another portrayal of the events of 1836.
- Amistad (1997). Djimon Hounsou, Anthony Hopkins. Spielberg creates an epic based on the 1839 slave revolt aboard the ship Amistad and the subsequent Supreme Court case in which John Quincy Adams argued that the Africans were legally free.
- Race to Freedom: the Story of the Underground Railroad (1994). Courtney B. Vance, Janet Bailey. Story of 4 fugitive slaves who in 1850 struggle to get from North Carolina to the safety of Canada.
- Gettysburg (1993). Martin Sheen, Jeff Daniels, Tom Berenger. Based on Michael Shaara's novel The Killer Angels, this film gives a realistic look at this pivotal Civl War battle complete with over 5000 Civil War re-enactors.
- Glory (1989). Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman. The story of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry from its organization from 1862-1863 until its dramatic assault on Fort Wagner.
- Andersonville (1995). Jarrod Emick, Frederic Forrest. The story of the infamous Confederate prison camp told through the eyes of Massachusetts Corporal Josiah Day who is captured in 1864 and struggles to survive the hellish conditions.
- Little Women (1994). Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne. Louisa May Alcott's story of the March sisters as they grow up against the backdrop of the Civil War.
U.S. History 1877 to Present
- Dances with Wolves (1990). Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell. The story of a U.S. Army soldier circa 1870 who chooses to see the West and eventually becomes a member of the Lakota Sioux.
- Far and Away (1992). Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise. Epic about immigrants, romance, and settling the American West.
- Age of Innocence. Michelle Pfeiffer, Daniel Day-Lewis, Wynona Ryder. Adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel.
World War I:
- In Love and War (1996 ). Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell. Story of Ernest Hemingway's romance with a Red Cross nurse during World War I.
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1979). Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine. Made for TV remake of the 1930 film based on E. Remarque's classic novel from the German point of view, as seen through the eyes of the young idealistic student-turned soldier.
- Reds (1981). Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson. Movie biography of radical journalist John Reed, his wife Louise Bryant, and their involvement in the American radical movement and the Russian Revolution.
1920s and 1930s:
- Inherit the Wind (1988). Kirk Douglas, Jason Robards. Famous Scopes trial of 1925 dealing with a school teacher in Tennessee who was arrested for teaching about evolution. There is also a 1960 movie starring Spencer Tracy and Gene Kelly.
- Eight Men Out (1988). John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney. Story of the infamous 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" scandal in which members of the White Sox were paid to throw the World Series.
- The Color Purple (1985). Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey. Spanning 1909 to 1947, this movie chronicles the life of Celie, a poor black girl from the South. Based on the book by Alice Walker and directed by Steven Spielberg.
- The Great Gatsby (1974). Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Karen Black. Adaptation of
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel about rich WASP society in New York City and Long Island during the 1920s.
- Boxcar Bertha (1972). Barbara Hershey, David Carradine. Story about a woman labor organizer in Arkansas during the violence-filled depression era of the early 1930s.
- Bound for Glory (1976). David Carradine, Melinda Dillon. A biography of Woodie Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. The movie reveal the oppression, suffering, and strength of American working people that infused his songs.
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Henry Fonda, John Carradine. John Steinbeck's novel of impoverished migratory workers and their struggle to get to California in the 1930s is one of the all-time great films.
World War II:
- Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Jason Robards, Jr., Martin Balsam. Re-creation of the events leading up to Pearl Harbor.
- Swing Shift (1984). Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell. On theWorld War II homefront, Hawn excels as a homespun wife who joins an airplane plant when her husband is called up.
- A Soldier's Story (1984). Howard E. Rollins, Jr., Denzel Washington. During World War II in Louisiana, the Negro manager of an all black Army baseball team was found murdered. A black army lawyer is sent from Washington to investigate.
- Schindler's List (1993). Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley. Spielberg's evocation of the Holocaust through the eyes of Oscar Schindler who bullied the Nazis into allowing him to employ Jews in his Polish factories during WWII thereby saving them.
- Saving Private Ryan (1998). Tom Hanks, Matt Damon. Spielberg WWII epic focusing on the efforts of 8 soldiers going behind enemy lines to save a downed paratrooper.
Civil Rights Movement:
- Malcolm X (1992). Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett. Spike Lee's tribute to the black activist based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
- Mississippi Burning (1988). Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe. Mississippi in 1964 during the height of the Civil Rights movement finds FBI agents investigating 3 missing activists.
- The Long Walk Home (1989). Whoopi Goldberg, Sissy Spacek. The story of a black woman who supports the Montgomery bus boycott by walking 9 miles to work and is aided by her white employer.
1960s to Present:
- JFK (1991). Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek. Oliver Stone's controversial examination of Kennedy's assassination as seen from the view of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.
- Born on the Fourth of July (1989). Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick. Meditation on American life affected by the Vietnam War based on the real-life experiences of Ron Kovic who went from a naïve recruit to an angry paraplegic and anti-war protestor.
- Apocalypse Now (1979). Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper. Coppala's epic vision of the Vietnam War.
- Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker. Story of Saigon DJ Adrian Cronauer.
- Platoon (1986). Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger. A Soldier's view of the Vietnam War in all its horrific detail. Directed by Oliver Stone.
- Nixon (1995). Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen. Stone's interpretation of the 1960s and 1970s with a biography of Richard Nixon.
- All the President's Men (1976). Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman. True story of the Watergate break-in based on the best-selling book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
- Thunderheart (1992). Val Kilmer, Graham Greene. Set in the late 1970s, this movie is based on Leonard Peltier and events plaguing the violence-torn Native American community. Kilmer plays a FBI agent sent to an Oglala Sioux reservation to investigate a murder.
|
