HISTORY AND LEGEND ON FILM AND TV
The following titles are a mixture of history, historical fiction and legend. While they are not in any particular order, each one of them is worth watching.
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- 25 titles
- StarsAndrew CrawfordTim GoodmanKenneth IvesThree trappers protect a British colonel's daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War.The absolute best and most faithful adaptation of Cooper's novel I have ever seen! A bit wordy at times and the productions values aren't up to much by today's standards, but the acting is superb!
- DirectorMichael MannStarsDaniel Day-LewisMadeleine StoweRussell MeansThree Mohican trappers agree to protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.Of the film versions of Cooper's novel, this one is heads and shoulders above all the rest! Liberties are taken with the story and characters, but if you're not too much of a purist this film should be a part of your historical fiction library!
- DirectorPeter H. HuntStarsWilliam DanielsHoward Da SilvaKen HowardA musical retelling of the American Revolution's political struggle in the Continental Congress to declare independence.The film version of the Broadway musical, and not only using almost all of the original actors from the stage version but also using events that really happened and lines the actual historical characters spoke! Now in a completely restored version.
- StarsKeith MichellAnthony QuaylePatrick TroughtonA six-episode dramatization of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.In my opinion, Keith Michell completely supplanted Charles Laughton as the "perfect" Henry VIII!
- StarsGlenda JacksonRonald HinesRobert HardyThe life of Queen Elizabeth I, from her early years as a princess to her long reign as the final Tudor monarch.Just as Keith Michell was the "perfect" Henry VIII, Glenda Jackson for many years was the ideal Queen Elizabeth I!
- DirectorCharles JarrottStarsVanessa RedgraveGlenda JacksonPatrick McGoohanDuring the sixteenth century, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots engages in over two decades of religious and political conflict with her cousin, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England, amidst political intrigue in her native land.This was the perfect battle of rival queens, with Glenda Jackson re-creating her role as Elizabeth and Vanessa Redgrave bringing life to Mary. Of course, some historical facts have been altered, but that's just being picky.
- CreatorRichard CarpenterStarsPeter Llewellyn WilliamsRay WinstoneMark RyanA forest mystical being appoints two men in succession as the legendary outlaw defender of the oppressed.When I first saw this series, I was a bit bothered at the mysticism that the series brought to the character and legend of Robin Hood, but the music of Clannad and the performances (not to mention how the writers reconciled the problem of two different Robin Hood legends) won me over at last!
- StarsMartin PotterDiane KeenWilliam MarloweA story of the life of a legendary heroic outlaw.I remember this as a public television mini-series, but it was close to the traditional stories I read as a child, and as always the BBC provides actors and acting of incredible quality (especially Paul Darrow of BLAKE'S 7 fame as the slimy Sheriff of Nottingham!).
- StarsDerek JacobiJohn HurtSiân PhillipsThe personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.No historical fiction library should be without THIS! An all-star cast, writing and acting of the highest quality and enough blood, sex and violence to satisfy anybody, all set against the grandeur, glory, might and decadence of Imperial Rome! I do advise that you read the two Robert Graves books it was based on before seeing the mini-series.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsCharles LaughtonMerle OberonEmlyn WilliamsThe life and times of the Roman Emperor Claudius (10 B.C. to 54 A.D.).While this film is considered lost, enough scenes and clips have been found and put into a documentary about it ito assure me that this would have been a masterpiece if ever completed! Charles Laughton was fantastic as Claudius, as was Flora Robson as Livia. The documentary can be found as one of the extras on the BBC mini-series DVD set, and I strongly recommend that you see it.
- DirectorMichael Lindsay-HoggStarsAidan QuinnJared HarrisRic ReidIn 1976, John Lennon and Paul McCartney have a chat about their lives and discuss whether The Beatles will ever reunite.This is one of those "What-If" films, in this case what would have happened if John Lennon and Paul McCartney had gotten together just before John's death. While purely fictyional, I think this film is good enough to be classfied as Historial Fiction and definitely worth seeing.
- StarsLeVar BurtonRobert ReedJohn AmosA dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.DEFINITLEY ANOTHER MUST-HAVE! This mini-series speaks for itself without any help from me! The acting is wonderful, the stories are rivetting and the production is unbelieveable! This is not just about history ... this IS history!
- CreatorErnest KinoyStarsDebbi MorganDorian HarewoodPaul KosloThe dramatization of Alex Haley's family line from post Civil War America to the writer's search for his roots.See ROOTS above.
- DirectorKevin HooksStarsLouis Gossett Jr.LeVar BurtonAvery BrooksOn Christmas Eve 1770, a young African warrior, who three years prior had been captured and sold into slavery in America, leads a desperate group of runaway slaves as they attempt to reach freedom in the North.See ROOTS and ROOTS: THE NEXT GENERATIONS. While a separate production from the mini-series, it's definitely a keeper!
- DirectorMichael CrichtonStarsSean ConneryDonald SutherlandLesley-Anne DownEngland, 1850s. A master criminal aims to rob a train of a large sum of gold. Security is incredibly tight and the task seems an impossible one. However, he has a plan and just the right people to carry it out.The facts are mostly true; only the details have been changed! There actually WAS a robbery from a moving train; only author/director Michael Crichton fictionalized the facts and details. Despite this, both the book and film are accurate representations of life in Victorian England and the performances of Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley Anne-Down keep everyone entertained.
- StarsRobert MitchumAli MacGrawJan-Michael VincentThe trials of the Henry and Jastrow families in the early years of World War II.Another Must-have for a historical fiction library!
- StarsRobert MitchumJane SeymourHart BochnerThe trials of the Henry and the Jastrow families amidst the events after the U.S.'s entry into World War II.See THE WINDS OF WAR.
- DirectorHerbert WiseStarsDanny KayeJohn RubinsteinCarl ReinerA dramatization of the controversial trial concerning the right for Neo-Nazis to march in the predominately Jewish community of Skokie.If only for the performance of Danny Kaye, this is a keeper! More powerful performances I have rarely seen!
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.While personally not one of my favorite historical fiction dramas, I have to give the devil his due: this film is a masterfully done giant canvas captures the world of South during the Civil War at its best and its worst.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsAlbert FinneySusannah YorkGeorge DevineThe romantic and chivalrous adventures of adopted bastard Tom Jones in 18th-century England.You might not be able to get through the entire book by Henry Fieldling, but this film and the performances in it will help you get a lot more than just the gist! It earned every award it ever won!
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsKeith CarradineHarvey KeitelAlbert FinneyFrance, 1801. Due to a minor perceived slight, mild-mannered Lieutenant d'Hubert is forced into a duel with the hot-headed and irrational, Lieutenant Feraud; their disagreement ultimately resulting in scores of duels spanning several years.During the Napoleonic Wars, a duel fought between two officers from different backgrounds for no discernible reason turns into an obsession lasting years. The performances of Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine are beautiful (there's no other word for it!) and the time periods the feud covers are portrayed in a way that definitely shows that war in any time period is an ugly business.
- StarsRoger ReesAlun ArmstrongDavid ThrelfallA young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-hearted, grasping uncle.The RSC outdid themselves when they brought Charles Dickens' novel to life! Dickens himself would have loved how his characters have been brought to life on stage in a way that no film version has matched before or since! In this stage production, all of the dirt, grime, and darkness rub shoulders with the light, upperclass finery and upperclass manners, and there are scenes that will touch your heart and shock you to the core as well as make you cheer at the downfall of the villains!
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsNigel TerryHelen MirrenNicholas ClayMerlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.The best adaptation of the King Arthur legend I've ever seen!
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsEverett McGillRon PerlmanNicholas KadiThis story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.Must be seen, if only for the original language created by Anthony Burgess and for its representations of the different levels of primitive/prehistoric Man.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsGérard DepardieuWojciech PszoniakAnne AlvaroIn 1793, as the Terror begins in France, Georges Danton, a champion-of-the-people, returns to clash against Maximilien Robespierre and his extremist party.A marvelous dramatization of the conflicts between Danton and Robespierre during the French Revolution that would end in the destruction of one of them. One of Gerard Depardieu's lesser known works, but still one that shows his prowess with historical and literary roles.
