A History of WW2 in Movies 1937 - 1939
by philipglen | created - 8 months ago | updated - 8 months ago | PublicFollow the course of WW2 in movies, all of which depict or can be taken to represent an actual event. They are organised chronologically by month so that you can follow the course of the War. My other lists cover the other years. Only drama movies are included - no comedies, horror, musicals etc. Only movies in the English language or with English subtitles are featured. Enjoy!
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1. City of Life and Death (2009)
R | 133 min | Drama, History, War
In 1937, Japan occupied Nanjing, the Chinese capital. There was a battle and subsequent atrocities against the inhabitants, especially those who took refuge in the International Security Zone.
Director: Chuan Lu | Stars: Ye Liu, Wei Fan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Yuanyuan Gao
Votes: 11,721 | Gross: $0.12M
Japanese invasion of China January 1937
2. Guernica (2016)
R | 110 min | Drama, History, Romance
The fates of Henry - a cynical American correspondent who has lost his soul - and Teresa, one of the Republic's censors and in charge of overseeing the news that journalists can send abroad, cross in Gernika.
Director: Koldo Serra | Stars: James D'Arcy, María Valverde, Jack Davenport, Ingrid García Jonsson
Votes: 2,499
Bombing of Guernica April 1937
3. Tai Hang shan shang (2005)
117 min | History, War
As the Japanese troops sweep southwards from Manchuria to China proper, the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang ally to hold them back at Taihang Mountains. But their alliance proves fragile at best.
Directors: Jian Chen, Dong Shen, Lian Wei | Stars: Wufu Wang, Shusheng Li, Guangming Xu, Shikui Yan
Votes: 149
8th Route Army formed September 1937
4. The Eight Hundred (2020)
Not Rated | 149 min | Action, Drama, History
In 1937, 800 Chinese soldiers fight under siege from a warehouse in the middle of the Shanghai battlefield, completely surrounded by the Japanese army.
Director: Hu Guan | Stars: Zhizhong Huang, Junyi Zhang, Hao Ou, Xiaoguang Hu
Votes: 7,200 | Gross: $0.37M
Defence of the Sihang warehouse October 1937
5. The Angel with the Trumpet (1950)
98 min | Drama
In the nineteenth century, a young Austrian woman marries into a wealthy family and witnesses the country change through the course of four decades.
Director: Anthony Bushell | Stars: Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney, Norman Wooland, Maria Schell
Votes: 163
The Anschluss March 1938
6. Castles in the Sky (2014)
Not Rated | 90 min | Biography, Drama, History
Eddie Izzard stars in this funny, moving and inspiring factual drama about the pioneering work on radar by a little known team of scientists in the run up to the Second World War.
Director: Gillies MacKinnon | Stars: Eddie Izzard, Laura Fraser, Arran Tulloch, Lesley Harcourt
Votes: 1,210
Chain Home operational April 1938
7. Munich: The Edge of War (2021)
PG-13 | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History
A British diplomat travels to Munich in the run-up to World War II, where a former classmate of his from Oxford is also en route, but is working for the German government.
Director: Christian Schwochow | Stars: George MacKay, Jannis Niewöhner, Jeremy Irons, Liv Lisa Fries
Votes: 35,905
Munich Agreement September 1938
8. The Book Thief (2013)
PG-13 | 131 min | Drama, War
While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents.
Director: Brian Percival | Stars: Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Ben Schnetzer
Votes: 142,330 | Gross: $21.49M
Kristallnacht November 1938
9. Copenhagen (2002 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, History, War
A television adaptation of Michael Frayn's celebrated and award-winning stage play about the meeting between physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in 1941 Copenhagen. At this time the... See full summary »
Director: Howard Davies | Stars: Stephen Rea, Daniel Craig, Francesca Annis
Votes: 1,137
Unanverein formed April 1939
10. Voyage of the Damned (1976)
PG | 155 min | Drama, War
The tragic 1939 voyage of SS St. Louis carrying hundreds of German Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany that seemingly no nation is willing to save from certain doom.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Sam Wanamaker
Votes: 3,407
‘Voyage of the Damned’ May 1939
11. My Way (2011)
R | 137 min | Action, Drama, War
In World War II-era Korea, rival runners, one Korean (Jang Dong-gun) and one Japanese (Joe Odagiri), go to war together against the Soviets.
Director: Kang Je-kyu | Stars: Jang Dong-Gun, Joe Odagiri, Bingbing Fan, Kim In-kwon
Votes: 12,644 | Gross: $0.07M
The Nomonham Incident May 1939
12. The Land Girls (1998)
R | 111 min | Drama, Romance, War
Three young women from very different walks of life join the women's land army during World War II, and are sent to work together on a farm in Dorset, where the experience changes their lives forever.
Director: David Leland | Stars: Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh
Votes: 2,168 | Gross: $0.15M
Women’s Land Army formed June 1939
13. Dawn of War (II) (2020)
100 min | History, Thriller
A spy thriller about an Estonian intelligence officer, who has to track down a mysterious Soviet double agent on the eve of WWII.
Director: Margus Paju | Stars: Priit Võigemast, Kaspars Znotins, Agnese Budovska, Elmo Nüganen
Votes: 1,242
Non-aggression Pact signed August 1939
14. The Gleiwitz Case (1961)
70 min | Drama, History, Thriller
Re-enacted true story of successful assault by Nazis, posing as Poles, on a German border radio station so that Hitler could "justify" thereby his invasion of Poland.
Director: Gerhard Klein | Stars: Hannjo Hasse, Christoph Beyertt, Wolfgang Kalweit, Georg Leopold
Votes: 336
The Gleiwitz Incident August 1939
15. The Gathering Storm (2002 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
Winston Churchill's wilderness years prior to World War II, when only he could see the threat that Adolf Hitler and a rearmed Germany posed to Europe.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent, Linus Roache
Votes: 7,050
Churchill becomes First Lord of the Admiralty September 1939
16. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 912,779 | Gross: $32.57M
Invasion of Poland September 1939
17. 1939 Battle of Westerplatte (2013)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, History, War
September 1st, 1939. German battleship Schleswig-Holstein marks the start of World War II by firing on the garrison stationed at the Westerplatte peninsula in Poland.
Director: Pawel Chochlew | Stars: Michal Zebrowski, Robert Zoledziewski, Jan Englert, Piotr Adamczyk
Votes: 979
Battle of Westerplatte September 1939
18. The King's Speech (2010)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Votes: 708,110 | Gross: $138.80M
Britain declares war on Germany September 1939
19. The Cruel Sea (1953)
Approved | 126 min | Drama, War
The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, John Stratton, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 5,411
Battle of the Atlantic begins September 1939
20. 13 Minutes (2015)
R | 114 min | Biography, Drama, War
In November 1939, Georg Elser's attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler fails, and he is arrested. During his confinement, he recalls the events leading up to his plot and his reasons for deciding to take such drastic action.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaußner, Johann von Bülow
Votes: 10,070 | Gross: $0.16M
Attempted assassination of Hitler November 1939
21. The Winter War (1989)
199 min | Drama, History, War
In 1939, two Finnish brothers are conscripted in the army to fight in the war between Finland and the Soviet Union.
Director: Pekka Parikka | Stars: Taneli Mäkelä, Vesa Vierikko, Timo Torikka, Heikki Paavilainen
Votes: 8,730
Soviet invasion of Finland November 1939
22. Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the first major naval battle of World War II, the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch, Ian Hunter
Votes: 4,866
Battle of the River Plate December 1939
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