Films about the Age of the Revolutionary Wars

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 included for this period are:

  • American Revolutionary Wars (1775–83)
  • French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars War (1792–15)
  • Latin American Wars of Independence (1810–30)

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Director(s): Michael Curtiz
Year of Publication: 1939
Abstract:

This short film, winner of the Academy Award for Best Short, relays the story of the unselfish loyalty and devotion of Haym Salomon to General Washington and the fight for freedom in the American Revolution (1775-1783). Having immigrated to New...

Director(s): Lamata, Luis Alberto
Year of Publication: 2010
Major Wars:
Abstract:

This film recounts the life of Jose Tomás Boves, whose rebellion against Simón Bolívar led to the fall of the 2nd Republic of Venezuela. Although Spanish by birth, Boves led a group of slaves, mulattoes, Indians and mestizos who remained outside...

Director(s): Stuart Gillard
Year of Publication: 1993
Abstract:

Independent Nell Prescott gets involved in intrigue and heroism during the American Revolution and meets Benjamin Franklin along the way.

Director(s): Korda, Alexander
Year of Publication: 1941
Major Wars:
Abstract:

That Hamilton Woman, also known as Lady Hamilton, is a 1941 black-and-white historical film drama. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the film tells the story of the rise and fall of Emma Hamilton (1765–1815), dance-hall girl and ...

Director(s): Lisa Bourgoujian
Year of Publication: 1994
Abstract:

Thorough documentary of how the American Colonies rebelled during th American Revolution (1865-1883) against England, which culminated in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1883), and the personalities involved in the creation of the new...

Director(s): Katzin, Lee
Year of Publication: 1978
Abstract:

Phillipe Charboneau is the illegitimate son of an English duke. When he travels from France to England to claim his inheritance, he incurs the wrath of his father's family, and is forced to flee to America. He changes his name to Philip Kent and ...

Director(s): Virgo, Clement
Year of Publication: 2015
Abstract:

Inspired by real life events, this six-part, limited television series uncovers the history of Black Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. Aminata, enslaved at age 11, becomes a central figure in preparing the Book of Negroes...

Director(s): Kevin Reynolds
Year of Publication: 2002
Major Wars:
Abstract:

The Count of Monte Cristo is an adaptation of the Alexander Dumas (1802–70) tale by the same name completed in 1844. The story takes place in France, Italy, and the islands in the Mediterranean during the historical events between 1815...

Director(s): Harmon, Robert
Year of Publication: 2000
Abstract:

Directed by Robert Harmon, this historical film dramatizes General George Washington's (1732–99) perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the Hessian forces at Trenton in 1776. His Continental Army was on the brink of utter...

Director(s): Eric Bruno Borgman
Year of Publication: 2003
Abstract:

The Deserter, shot in the style of a silent comedy from the 1920's, takes place during the American Revolution in the late 1700's. A loyal British drummer accidentally drops his canteen into a stream while trying to fill it. A British...

Director(s): Jones, David
Year of Publication: 1987
Abstract:

Based on the George Bernard Shaw play of the same title, initially published in 1897, two men switch identities during the American Revolutionary War. Outcast, rake, and godless Dick Dudgeon unexpectedly inherits his father's estate, and the only...

Director(s): Scott, Ridley
Year of Publication: 1977
Major Wars:
Abstract:

This historical drama, directed by Ridely Scott, is set during the age of the Napoleonic Empire (1803–15). The Duellists is based on a story written by the Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad (1857–1927), which, according to the author,...

Director(s): Doug Shultz
Year of Publication: 2005
Major Wars:
Abstract:

On July 14, 1789, angry Parisians stormed the Bastille and seized the king’s military stores. A decade of idealism, war, murder, and violence followed, bringing about the end of feudalism and the rise of equality and a new world order. The French...

Director(s): Lloyd, Frank
Year of Publication: 1940
Abstract:

The Howards of Virginia is a 1940 American film directed by Frank Lloyd, and based on the book The Tree of Liberty written by Elizabeth Page. A young man from colonial Virginia fulfills his father's dream of moving West at the...

Director(s): J. Christian Ingvordsen
Year of Publication: 1995
Abstract:

James Todd is a young boy growing up in the hostile American wilderness–a rugged and dangerous land also inhabited by the Native Americans. His peaceful life is shattered when the treacherous British troops suddenly storm through the countryside...

Director(s): Emmerich, Roland
Year of Publication: 2000
Abstract:

This historical drama depicts the story of an American colonist, nominally loyal to the British Crown, who is reluctantly swept into the American Revolutionary War. After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War (1753–...

Director(s): Kramer, Stanley
Year of Publication: 1957
Major Wars:
Abstract:

The Pride and the Passion is a 1957 Napoleonic era war film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, which tells the story of a British Royal Navy artillery officer (Cary Grant), who has orders to retrieve a huge siege cannon from Spain...

Director(s): Mayberry, Russ
Year of Publication: 1979
Abstract:

Philip Kent takes part in the American Revolution and the newly formed congress.

The Rebels is based on the historical novel of the same title written by John Jakes, published in 1975, which is the second book in a series known as...

Director(s): Peter Schnall
Year of Publication: 2006
Abstract:

13-part documentary chronicles the 26-year-long effort of the 13 American colonies to achieve independence from Great Britain. The Revolution uses a blend of live-action re-enactments, illustrations, and documents from the period,...

Director(s): Sturges, John
Year of Publication: 1955
Abstract:

The Scarlet Coat is a 1955 American historical drama and swashbuckler, based upon the events in the American Revolution (1775–1783) in which Benedict Arnold (1741–1801) offered to surrender the fort at West Point to the British in...

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