Great films in History: World War II

Our household believes in using what the classical English educator, Charlotte Mason, called “living books” to learn about history. Living books share stories of people who witnessed what it was like to be there.

Yet I great historical films can serve as living movies – ways to see historical events, how people lived etc.

To honor all those who bravely served our country in time of war, especially those who “gave the last full measure of devotion,” it is fitting to mention films that help us to walk in their shoes.

Below are lists of great movies about the Second World War that can help understand the war, the times and what people went through. This list isn't simply a list of war movies – but movies that help put us there.

Films about the Allies in Europe

School for danger or Now it can be told

A British docudrama about the operations of the British spy network – the Special Operations Executive (SOE). It portrays the activity of British agents that are trained, then dropped into German-occupied France to conduct spy missions, perform sabotage and organize and support the local French resistance efforts.

Some of the actors were actual agents, using their actual techniques and equipment to carry out their operations.

Tora Tora Tora

A classic retelling of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, beginning with the back story leading up to it as well as Japanese preparations for the attack. The effects are quite good; particularly since it was filmed decades before computer animation.

This movie brings out the humanity on both sides – something I like in a historical film. You can see sailors, pilots, etc. on both sides as real people in the midst of the flow of world events.

The American side is played by American actors and directed by American directors as one would expect. However, the Japanese side is produced by Japanese personnel. The result is a distinctively different feel for both sides.

The longest day

This movie depicts the invasion of Normandy by the Allies. It is also an effective review of the popular actors c. 1960 as it has an all-star cast ranging from major roles to brief cameos.

All sides are depicted, Allied soldiers, German, French resistance fighters and a brief depiction of war correspondents trying to get their story out while on the beach. All characters are portrayed by actors/actresses of the proper nationalities (Americans play by Americans, Germans by Germans, etc.) speaking the appropriate languages.

Again the humanity comes through in the midst of the business of war. As an example, in the movie two generals, one American and the other German, in their frustrations independently wonder which side of the war God is on.

The Great Escape

This is a favorite WWII movie in my household and is also the loose basis for the movie Chicken Run.

The Germans gather all their incorrigible, trouble-making prisoners and bring them into one special camp. Their plan backfires as the prisoners employ their army of escape-artists to arrange an epic escape – over 200 prisoners!

The most exciting part of the film is watching the elaborate preparations made by the prisoners – Everything from converting uniforms into civilian clothing, forging identification papers to digging three long tunnels simultaneously.

Classic scene (There are many actually): The small contingent of American prisoners secretly brew a supply of moonshine whiskey to celebrate the upcoming 4^th of July with their fellow prisoners, many of whom are British.

Stalag 17

A more rugged but honest depiction of life as an American POW in Germany. An escape attempt goes wrong, and it becomes apparent that the Germans were tipped off. But who would do this? Suspicions quickly go to the camp wheeler-dealer, one Sargent Sefton. But is he the rat?

Classic line: The voice of one of the characters, 'Cookie,' serves as the narrator. At one point he comments that he always believes in Santa Clause but wondered if that one Christmas the German Luftwaffe (air force) hadn't shot him down “reindeer, sleigh and all.”

Classic scene: The German Sargent (Schultz) comes into the barracks to find all the prisoners facing towards a prisoner standing in front holding a copy of 'Mein Kampf” while giving a hilarious impression of Hitler. The prisoner then puts the book down to reveal a fake Hitler-style mustache. The whole barracks then turn about to show that they all have the same while they 'Sieg Heil" the Sargent.

In Love and War

There are multiple versions, I like the 2001 version. British commando Eric Newby takes part in an ill-conceived raid on the Italian coast and ends up being captured with the rest of his unit. While in prison, Italy deposes Mussolini with the intent of ending its part in the war. Eric and his fellow prisoners are set free. Their freedom does not however last long, as the Germans quickly move in to shore up the Italian front and the POWs hurry to make good their escape. When Eric is separated from his unit, he must rely on the kindness of Italians who hate the Fascists. And yes, this is a love story.

This movie does a very good job of portraying life in Mussolini's tyranny. Eric, as well as the local citizens, fear the 'Black Shirts,' Mussolini's equivalent of the Nazis. One sees the beginning of an Italian resistance and come to appreciate the risks they took and why they resisted.

Inside Germany

The Mortal Storm

A Jimmy Stewart movie from 1940 taking place in Germany as the Nazis gain power. The film begins with a birthday party with Stewart's character (Martin) being there for the father of the family of friends of his. However, Hitler comes to power and all his friends join the Nazis. By the end of the film, Martin and the sister had fled the country and the father is in a concentration camp. The last scene has the boys looking at the empty house and reflecting what had happened.

The movie paints a very good picture of the rise of the Nazis and how they transformed Germany.

Content alert: Being a 1940 film, nothing will be really bad. The only intense scene is when Nazi thugs work over a young lady for information. The act of violence itself is not shown. What is shown are jackets hanging up outside a door, some sounds coming from inside the room and a young lady outside screams when she realizes what is going on.

Twilight Zone: He's Alive

OK, the Twilight Zone is a TV series, not a movie. Yet this episode is worth the watch anyway.

Peter Vollmer is the leader of a small-time Nazi-style group and, despite his efforts, he and his small group of followers cannot gain any traction with the public. That is, until a mysterious man with an accent enters the scene. While remaining cloaked in shadows he begins teaching Peter and the group begins to be successful. Only part-way through does the mysterious man step out of the shadows to reveal who he is – Adolf Hitler.

This episode showcases very well the types of techniques employed by the Nazis to gain control over Germany.

Classic quotes:

1 - "Mr. Vollmer! I was making speeches before you could read them. I was fighting battles when your only struggle was to climb out of a womb! I was taking over the world when your universe was a crib! As for being in darkness, Mr. Vollmer, I INVENTED DARKNESS!" [Steps into the light and reveals who he is ]

2 - “I did not pick you, Mr. Vollmer. You picked me! ”

Aside: On the subject of the face of tyranny, another excellent Twilight Zone episode is "The Obsolete Man." This takes place in a futuristic tyranny, but all the Nazi-type characteristics are still there.

The Seventh Cross

Seven men escape a concentration camp (a' la 1944). So confident is the camp Kommandant of recapture that he immediately orders seven crosses made to hang the escapees when captured. Six are caught, the story is about the seventh.

The seventh escapee, George Heisler, escapes the camp a hardened man, bitter at the world. In desperation, he turns to his friend Paul. Paul takes him in and ends up helping him make good his escape. In the process, George finds a cause to fight for and a new lease on his view of humanity.

Content alert: Near the end of the film George spends the night waiting for a boat to take him out of the country. With him a young lady he has feelings for spends the night in the room. Being 1944 there is nothing bad to be seen, but one might infer actions.

The Plot to Kill Hitler

This 1990 film portrays one of a long list of assassination attempts against Hitler.

The movie begins with Count Claus von Stauffenberg being an officer in the Afrika Korps when a bomb explosion costs him an arm and an eye. A religious man, he returns to Germany and decides something must be done to eliminate Hitler and the Nazis. The plot develops with co-conspirators to use a bomb to kill Hitler, remove the Nazis from government power and negotiate a peace. Sadly, the explosion only ends up wounding Hitler in the arm (it will never be right again), and he recovers. The plot attempt falls apart and Clause is executed along with the other conspirators.

There are several moving scenes in the movie – a young son who is terrified of the bombings, a wife who loses her husband in a failed attempt to kill Hitler and an execution scene where Claus speaks hopefully for Germany just as God offered to spare Sodom for a few righteous. This is rebuffed by a fellow prisoner who glumly quips “Nobody cares.”

The closest thing to content to be careful about comes on the night before Claus leaves for his failed plot attempt. Husband and wife are close and touch each other but nothing more is shown.

Hitler: The Last Ten Days

It might seem weird to watch a film devoted to Adolf Hitler. Why watch a movie about an evil man? Yet there is value in understanding him as a person in history. Also, this is a very well-done film that does a very good job of putting you in Hitler's bunker for his last ten days, starting with his birthday on April 20^th, 1945. Great pains were taken to produce a very historically accurate storyline. For example for the final scene after Hitler and Eva take their own life (not shown) everyone starts smoking. At first, I thought it some kind of metaphor, but I learned that it really happened (Hitler was very anti-smoking, having quit a heavy smoking habit early in life).

Hitler is played by none other than Sir Alec Guinness (aka the original Obi-Wan Kenobi) to great effect. Watching him portray him looked just like a colorized version of old war movies. It is somewhat amusing to see him throw tantrums at his generals and cowering them against the wall.

The film leads in with a short documentary about the rise of Nazis in Germany followed by the opening credits. During the credits, a map of Europe is shown with the Nazi-controlled region highlighted. As the credits go on this region at first expands, then shrinks down to just Berlin.

The movie is in color when in the bunker, outside the bunker it is all sepia like an old war movie. Occasionally old photo stills are interjected to contrast bunker life with the realities outside. In one scene, after Hitler realized the war is lost, it shows a black and white scene of Nazi banners – I presume he is remembering better days for him.

This movie is well worth the watch, but there are some content alerts to be aware of:

1 – At the very start a man is talking to Hitler about being promoted and asking if he approved. At that point, some images from concentration camps are flashed across the screen and Hitler comments that he did "good work." Yeah, chilly.

2 – Some of the images can be a bit disturbing, yet none of them last long.

3 – In one scene Hitler unleashes on Evan Braun, calling her some very rude names.

4 – Sex is referred to a couple of times. But the instance to be most careful about comes near the end. Personal in the bunker sense the end is near and have a big fling. A man and woman are shown being intimate, fortunately, the scene lasts 2 – 3 seconds and is easily skipped over.

The Bridge

The version I watch is a 1959 version filmed in Germany but with English subtitles. Being filmed just 14 years after the war ended it provides an accurate view of life in Germany the last month of the war.

It is April 1945 in a small town in Germany. A group of teenage boys go to school, managing life in the war and looking forward to joining the army. It is interesting to see the boys cope in wartime Germany as boys do. In one scene one of the boys comments that they wish the allies would bomb the school before math class and another proposes giving Churchill their school schedule.

Things take a turn after they enlist in the army. After only one day of training they are sent out to fight, without having the chance to learn to salute, one soldier quips. They are sent back to defend their towns bridge, but things get rougher when their commander is mistaken for a dissenter and shot. They must defend the bridge alone. Meanwhile, they see the battered remains of the German army retreating from the Americans.

In the end, there is a touching moment when, during the battle, when one hears an American soldier yelling to the teens to "Go Home!" Sadly, they do not listen.

Content alert: A boy sees a woman getting dressed after being with his father – only her feet are shown. Another boy finds out his father is having an affair and confronts both the father and the other woman about it. Nothing is shown.

The Pacific

Father Goose

A comical war-era film starring Cary Grant. It is 1942 and the Japanese are advancing throughout the Pacific. The British need a coast watcher, someone positioned on an island to spy on Japanese movements, and are hard up. In comes Walter Eckland (played by Grant), a beachcomber with a boat and zero ambitions. He gets "persuaded" to volunteer. Things get crazier when he goes to fetch his replacement to find the replacement had died, and instead, there is a woman in charge of a group of girls from a private girls school. Things do get zany.

This is an entertaining movie that not only highlights the efforts of coast watchers in the war as well as how badly the war in the Pacific began for the allies.

Bridge on the River Kwai

This fictional film is based on a real project by the Japanese to build what is called the Burma railroad, a plan to expand a rail system through Southeast Asia using POWs as forced labor. This movie strikes a fine balance between depicting the cruel treatment of the POWs at the hands of the Japanese and keeping the movie suitable for a general audience.

Commander Shears is an American POW (Prisoner of War) at the camp with the prisoners being used to build a bridge on the new railroad. Against all odds, he manages to escape and is rescued. However, he is soon 'recruited' to join a team of commandos being sent in to blow up the bridge.

Meanwhile back at camp, the British commander played by Sir Alec Guinness (yes, him again) decided to have his mean build a proper bridge to boost the morale of his men. Actually, he becomes a bit obsessed with it.

The final scene is a total classic and alone makes the movie worth watching. If you haven't seen it, I won't give it away!

The home front and coming home

Mrs. Miniver

Classic World War II era film about an English family, the Minivers – particularly the wife. The movie begins when war breaks out with Germany and carries the family through the battle for Britain. In the process, they live through the rescue at Dunkirk, a hostile downed German pilot, the death of loved ones and surviving bombing in a bomb shelter.

Bridge to the Sun

Based on a true story. In 1935 Gwen Harold from Tennessee meets, falls in love with and marries a Japanese man attached to the embassy in Washington. When war breaks out she decides she and their children should stay with him as he is sent back to Japan. Being an American with half-American children in wartime Japan makes for some interesting and moving experiences. My favorite/poignant one happens when she is on a train in Japan and she passes a gang of British POWs working on the railroad. A prisoner sees her and glares at her with a look that says 'Traitor!'

A good movie.

Since you went away

The Hilton family must manage on their own when the Father enlists in the U.S. Army. This movie shows very clearly life on the American home front during the war – missing or losing loved ones, rationing, etc. A definite must-see.

The Best Years of Our Lives

Film showing life for soldiers returning from the war. Three ex-servicemen share an airplane returning to their mutual hometown and become fast buddies. Yet each one has their own trial returning to civilian life.

Fred Derry – Returning bombardier has war experiences to overcome before able to readjust and find employment. Adding to this is his wife that he had quickly married and now she has difficulties helping him with his struggles. His own marriage struggling, he takes an interest in the daughter of his friend Al.

Al Stephenson – Returning Sargent from the Pacific. Prior to the war, he was a banker, and his former boss wants him to return. The problem is, he hates the thought of returning to the bank but returns anyway. He then struggles with a drinking problem. He has the best line in the movie when he mockingly quips "Last year, kill Japs. This year, make money!"

Homer Parrish – a Returning sailor who lost both arms in the war. Both his family and he face an adjustment to his new pair of hooks. He has a girlfriend named Wilma who loves him and wants to marry him with our without arms. Finally, he shows her what life would be like dealing with him and his loss, but she tells him it doesn't matter and still wants to get married.

A moving, and sweet scene.

I was a Male War Bride

Another comic movie with Cary Grant, this time based on a true story.

Captain Henri Rochard is a French officer who falls in love with and marries an American servicewoman Catherine Gates after the war in Europe had ended. Unfortunately, on their wedding night, she receives word that her unit is being sent home. Unwilling to be parted, he decides to follow her home. The difficulties lie in that the only legal route for him is via a legal loophole in the law allowing for war brides – the loophole being that the law did not specifically mention the bride being female. The antics ensue as Henri goes through a process inherently designed to import wives only.

Don't miss out on future posts! Sign up for our email list and like us on Facebook!

Check out more hot topics, go back to Home Page