American Produced History Films, a list by Adam McGready

9.0

/1567942/

88

/25430/

86

/16980/

4.5

/1253752/

98

/135/

97

/22910/

95

/30/

4.0

age 15+

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

92

8.9

/23670/

84

/313/

84

/253/

4.5

/48526/

100

/56/

98

/90/

4.0

age 15+

A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.

89

8.6

/1616804/

85

/31989/

82

/16772/

4.2

/1300325/

94

/148/

95

/41367/

91

/38/

4.0

age 16+

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

88

8.3

/136290/

83

/5833/

73

/61/

4.3

/612242/

98

/204/

99

/599/

88

/42/

4.0

age 11+

Presenting the tale of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, this filmed version of the original Broadway smash hit is the story of America then, told by America now.

88

8.1

/19347/

78

/519/

75

/286/

4.2

/16640/

100

/26/

92

/580/

95

/9/

4.0

An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

87

IMDb 87

8.2

/990331/

80

/33409/

80

/11186/

4.2

/3811657/

93

/513/

91

/6024/

90

/69/

4.0

age 15+

The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

87

8.1

/28387/

81

/2668/

79

/678/

4.1

/43139/

99

/191/

90

/311/

88

/35/

4.0

age 5+

A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.

87

8.4

/463230/

81

/7930/

80

/4589/

4.3

/476825/

90

/159/

95

/7757/

87

/28/

4.0

age 15+

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

86

8.3

/27952/

82

/1781/

80

/574/

4.2

/84419/

97

/256/

94

/735/

85

/41/

3.5

age 10+

For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke directly to young children about some of life's most important issues.

86

7.9

/57336/

76

/1232/

74

/823/

3.9

/42300/

100

/52/

89

/1578/

97

/5/

4.0

age 8+

Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.

86

8.0

/26017/

79

/611/

77

/291/

4.0

/19000/

96

/141/

93

/1006/

87

/36/

4.0

Using archival footage, cabinet conversation recordings, and an interview of the 85-year-old Robert McNamara, The Fog of War depicts his life, from working as a WWII whiz-kid military officer, to being the Ford Motor Company's president, to managing the Vietnam War as defense secretary for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

86

8.2

/39060/

81

/2471/

78

/773/

4.3

/116290/

97

/105/

90

/240/

81

/29/

4.0

age 16+

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

86

8.1

/530144/

79

/18204/

78

/8583/

4.1

/567176/

97

/378/

93

/2949/

93

/45/

3.5

age 15+

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

86

8.1

/779423/

80

/18759/

79

/11744/

4.2

/657927/

95

/376/

90

/6135/

96

/57/

3.5

age 15+

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

85

7.9

/24604/

79

/1229/

77

/502/

4.2

/63193/

99

/210/

83

/257/

95

/36/

3.5

age 13+

Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.

85

7.8

/3845/

76

/123/

72

/47/

4.0

/5623/

100

/25/

90

/116/

88

/16/

4.0

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

85

8.0

/7091/

78

/336/

75

/111/

3.9

/1815/

95

/111/

91

/856/

84

/34/

4.0

age 9+

Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.

85

8.2

/36105/

81

/1055/

78

/527/

3.8

/23680/

100

/30/

94

/824/

age 14+

A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic American who has become one of the leading scientists in humane livestock handling.

85

7.8

/68516/

77

/1875/

74

/930/

4.0

/36860/

96

/53/

90

/1076/

91

/16/

4.0

age 12+

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

84

7.9

/4988/

78

/295/

77

/58/

4.0

/10399/

100

/58/

99

/45/

85

/16/

3.0

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.

84

7.5

/818/

82

/55/

75

/24/

4.0

/2418/

97

/30/

78

/10/

87

/7/

4.0

Fifteen-year-old Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human show, Heidi resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.

84

8.1

/35083/

79

/604/

76

/448/

4.0

/19157/

93

/28/

91

/649/

75

/8/

4.0

age 12+

Schoolteacher Bertram Cates is arrested for teaching his students Darwin's theory of evolution. The case receives national attention and one of the newspaper reporters, E.K. Hornbeck, arranges to bring in renowned defense attorney and atheist Henry Drummond to defend Cates. The prosecutor, Matthew Brady is a former presidential candidate, famous evangelist, and old adversary of Drummond.

84

7.9

/2036/

74

/33/

71

/27/

3.7

/1311/

100

/14/

92

/61/

4.0

Real-life letters written by American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the Vietnam War to their families and friends back home. Archive footage of the war and news coverage thereof augment the first-person "narrative" by men and women who were in the war, some of whom did not survive it.

84

7.9

/113493/

77

/2296/

74

/1172/

3.9

/50142/

92

/51/

93

/2434/

86

/20/

4.0

age 14+

"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.

84

7.9

/136192/

78

/3551/

77

/1989/

4.2

/203020/

94

/71/

92

/2244/

84

/18/

3.5

age 13+

During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.

84

7.7

/661404/

76

/17055/

72

/8718/

3.7

/447911/

96

/360/

90

/10914/

86

/45/

4.0

age 16+

As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.

84

8.2

/7087/

79

/166/

72

/115/

4.1

/11024/

96

/27/

94

/282/

3.5

age 14+

Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.

84

7.9

/5803/

78

/174/

75

/96/

3.9

/5977/

99

/74/

92

/310/

76

/23/

4.0

Doubling as a cartography of the ever-changing city, Bill Cunningham New York portrays the secluded pioneer of street fashion with grace and heart.

84

8.1

/201121/

79

/3557/

79

/3067/

4.4

/364492/

78

/152/

92

/2590/

89

/21/

3.5

age 12+

An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.

83

7.9

/20243/

77

/516/

75

/243/

4.1

/20959/

100

/50/

94

/466/

83

/21/

3.0

age 14+

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.

83

7.7

/109611/

77

/3062/

75

/1817/

4.3

/177843/

89

/83/

91

/2300/

73

/15/

4.0

age 13+

A 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.

83

8.1

/268900/

78

/4645/

78

/3007/

4.1

/119891/

87

/54/

89

/3850/

90

/9/

age 13+

In 26 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.

83

7.5

/299784/

73

/12219/

74

/3908/

4.0

/1137823/

93

/473/

84

/1570/

89

/63/

4.0

age 16+

When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

83

7.8

/466248/

75

/16627/

75

/7285/

3.9

/864023/

95

/468/

86

/325/

94

/55/

3.5

age 17+

Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.

83

7.8

/279028/

78

/10286/

78

/6656/

4.2

/2525674/

95

/441/

92

/3346/

91

/57/

3.0

age 10+

Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

83

7.8

/284125/

82

/25384/

80

/10213/

3.9

/609771/

93

/323/

93

/2736/

74

/47/

3.5

age 10+

The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

83

7.5

/310130/

76

/16047/

74

/7912/

4.0

/1075708/

96

/448/

83

/1723/

83

/56/

4.0

age 15+

Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.

83

7.7

/8654/

77

/435/

72

/156/

4.1

/33179/

100

/100/

90

/49/

86

/29/

3.5

age 15+

Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement.

83

IMDb 88

8.1

/556968/

81

/23267/

80

/8673/

4.0

/927173/

92

/364/

98

/4841/

81

/47/

3.0

age 13+

American car designer Carroll Shelby and the British-born driver Ken Miles work together to battle corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

85

83

8.1

/18714/

79

/327/

77

/266/

4.2

/17569/

100

/14/

93

/267/

In 1840s New York, the uneventful and boring days of the daughter of a wealthy doctor come to an end when she meets a dashing poorer man — who may or may not be after her inheritance.

83

7.8

/36397/

74

/494/

73

/387/

4.0

/19072/

91

/45/

90

/891/

4.0

Henry II and his estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, battle over the choice of an heir.

83

7.9

/6422/

75

/206/

74

/94/

4.0

/5898/

96

/23/

91

/35/

85

/25/

3.5

age 13+

Five Jewish Hungarians, now US citizens, tell their stories: before March 1944, when Nazis began to exterminate Hungarian Jews, months in concentration camps, and visiting childhood homes more than 50 years later. An historian, a Sonderkommando, a doctor who experimented on Auschwitz prisoners, and US soldiers who were part of the liberation in April 1945.

83

8.1

/7068/

80

/463/

78

/154/

4.1

/16734/

95

/20/

91

/155/

79

/11/

A testament to NASA's Apollo program of the 1960s and '70s. Composed of actual NASA footage of the missions and astronaut interviews, the documentary offers the viewpoint of the individuals who braved the remarkable journey to the moon and back.

83

7.4

/25045/

77

/1279/

73

/350/

3.8

/12996/

97

/117/

88

/1109/

85

/33/

4.0

Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

83

7.8

/190618/

76

/3355/

75

/1976/

4.1

/126365/

96

/135/

90

/2576/

85

/34/

3.5

age 16+

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

83

8.0

/246282/

76

/3573/

75

/2442/

3.7

/76173/

89

/112/

92

/2459/

79

/16/

4.0

age 12+

In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.

83

7.5

/98593/

75

/3419/

73

/2280/

3.8

/105295/

99

/310/

86

/2324/

79

/52/

4.0

age 13+

"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act.

83

7.7

/333195/

79

/12086/

74

/5718/

3.8

/254294/

94

/149/

87

/9090/

78

/22/