Films about Colonial Wars of the long 19th Century

This collection provides information on selected movies, TV productions and documentaries on the themes of gender, military and war in the period covered by the Oxford Handbook.

The most important wars for this period include:

  • Imperial Conquest of Africa (1880–1914)
  • Spanish–American War (1898)
  • Boer/South African War (1899–1902)
  • Philippine-American War (1899–1902)

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Director(s): Douglas, Gordon
Year of Publication: 1956
Major Wars:
Abstract:

Santiago, also known as The Gun Runner, is a 1956 film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring and co-produced by Alan Ladd set in 1898 Cuba against the background of the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). A hardened gun...

Director(s): Millin, David
Year of Publication: 1970
Abstract:

Shangani Patrol depicts a decisive defeat for the British in the First Matabele War (1893-1894), which provided them with a heroic narrative to push their colonization goals in Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe). Major Allan Wilson (Brian O'...

Director(s): Selman, David
Year of Publication: 1937
Major Wars:
Abstract:

The fictional cowboy Hopalong Cassidy rounds up horses for Roosevelt's Rough Riders in the Spanish American War in 1898. Outlaws threaten to derail his mission. 

Director(s): Powell, Michael
Year of Publication: 1943
Major Wars:
Abstract:

Widely considered a masterpiece, directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger explore the changing notions of modern warfare against the tradition of British military systems from the Boer War (1899–1902) to World War II. General Candy (Roger...

Director(s): Lang, Walter
Year of Publication: 1939
Major Wars:
Abstract:

The Little Princess is a 1939 American drama film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Ethel Hill and Walter Ferris is loosely based on the 1905 novel A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. When her father leaves to...

Director(s): Fleming, Victor
Year of Publication: 1927
Major Wars:
Abstract:

The Rough Riders (1927) is a silent film directed by Victor Fleming. The picture is fictional account of Theodore Roosevelt's military unit in Cuba, otherwise known as the Rough Riders. The Rough Riders were a special regiment that...

Director(s): Davis, Peter
Year of Publication: 1975
Major Wars:
Abstract:

Produced during the US involvement in the Vietnam War, this documentary is a half-hour satire about the United States' involvement in the Spanish-American War (April-December 1898), and then the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). Using...

Director(s): Sharp, Ian
Year of Publication: 2010
Major Wars:
Abstract:

A 2010 British-New Zealand action-thriller film directed by Ian Sharp set in 1903 New Zealand. Arjan van Diemen is a renowned Afrikaner commando leader of the Second Boer War, and a master tracker. After the end of the war, he immigrated to New...

Director(s): Seitz, George B.
Year of Publication: 1938
Major Wars:
Abstract:

Based on a true story, in 1898 Cuba, U.S. troops who have survived the Spanish-American War are now dying by the hundreds from yellow fever, known as "yellow jack." Major Walter Reed (1851–1902), an Army physician, struggles to find the cause of...

Director(s): Attenborough, Richard
Year of Publication: 1972
Major Wars:
Abstract:

Young Winston is a 1972 British biographical adventure drama war film covering the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1974-1965), based in particular on his 1930 book, My Early Life. The first part of the...

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