World War II in Chronological Order
List activity
56 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
238 titles
- StarsPeter StormareFriedrich von ThunPeter O'TooleA profile of the life of Adolf Hitler with a unique slant, as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National Socialist German Workers Party prior to World War II.Begins 1914.
The Nazi leader gains power after World War I as his hatred of Jews becomes central to his political mission. - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHideaki AnnoHidetoshi NishijimaMiori TakimotoJiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.From 1918 to end of war.
A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi (Hideaki Anno), whose storied career includes the creation of the A6M World War II fighter plane. - DirectorLeslie HowardStarsLeslie HowardDavid NivenRosamund JohnAircraft designer/patriot R. J. Mitchell, alarmed at growing German militarism, works to perfect a defense against the German Messerschmidt at the cost of his health.From 1922 to the Battle of Britain in 1940.
Several years after successfully designing a revolutionary high-speed monoplane, famed British aviator R.J. Mitchell (Leslie Howard) travels to early Nazi Germany for a vacation with his friend Geoffrey Crisp (David Niven), a test pilot. There, while watching a group of German gliders, Mitchell realizes that German air technology is rapidly advancing, and that the fate of Britain could hang in the balance. Despite serious illness, Mitchell sets out to develop a new warplane for Britain. - CreatorHenk HandloegtenTom TykwerAchim von BorriesStarsVolker BruchLiv Lisa FriesLars EidingerColognian commissioner Gereon Rath moves to Berlin, the epicenter of political and social changes in the Golden Twenties.Begins 1929.
Police commissioner Gereon Rath is transferred from Cologne to Berlin, the epicenter of political and social change in the Golden Twenties. Shellshocked from his service during World War I, he uncovers a dangerous web of intrigue while investigating one of Berlin's biggest pornography rings. There's an even bigger conspiracy unfolding, though, when Soviet rebels hijack a train as part of a mission hatched by Trotsky supporters in the city. - DirectorBob FosseStarsLiza MinnelliMichael YorkHelmut GriemA female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.Begins 1931.
In Berlin in 1931, American cabaret singer Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) meets British academic Brian Roberts (Michael York), who is finishing his university studies. Despite Brian's confusion over his sexuality, the pair become lovers, but the arrival of the wealthy and decadent playboy Maximilian von Heune (Helmut Griem) complicates matters for them both. This love triangle plays out against the rise of the Nazi party and the collapse of the Weimar Republic. - DirectorFrank BorzageStarsMargaret SullavanJames StewartRobert YoungThe Roth family leads a quiet life in a small village in the German Alps during the early 1930s. After the Nazis come to power, the family is divided and Martin Breitner, a family friend, is caught up in the turmoil.Begins Jan 30, 1933 - the day Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
Professor Victor Roth (Frank Morgan) enjoys a tranquil life with his family in Germany. His daughter Freya (Margaret Sullavan) is courted both by Martin (James Stewart) and Fritz (Robert Young). However, when the Nazis take control of the country, all their lives are shaken. Martin must flee to Austria because of his political stance. Victor loses his job and is sent to a concentration camp when he speaks out against Hitler. Meanwhile, Fritz joins the Nazis and is obliged to hunt down Freya. - DirectorStanley KramerStarsVivien LeighSimone SignoretJosé FerrerA varied group of passengers boarding a ship bound for pre-WWII Germany represents a microcosm of early 1930s society.1933.
When an eclectic group of passengers boards a cruise ship bound for prewar Germany, they form a microcosm of 1930s society. One passenger, a mysterious countess (Simone Signoret), is headed for a German prison camp. The charming Dr. Schumann (Oskar Werner) harbors a debilitating heart condition. Then there's American divorcée Mary Treadwell (Vivien Leigh), who vainly attempts to outrun time itself. During their weeks at sea, the group forges bonds and rivalries, and unearths secrets. - DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsAdolf HitlerHermann GöringMax AmannThe infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.1934.
Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's controversial masterwork is an artful work of propaganda showcasing German chancellor and Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally. Edited from over 60 hours' worth of raw footage shot over the course of the rally's four days, the film is visually remarkable in the way it captures the event's enormous scale. Riefenstahl's portentous filming from low angles (to make the small-framed Hitler look imposing and majestic) is often copied and parodied. - DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsAlbert FinneyVanessa RedgraveJim BroadbentWinston 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.1934 to September 3, 1939.
A view on Winston Churchill's pre-war years and the daring lengths to which he went to warn the British people of the threat posed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. The film explores Churchill's return from the brink of political obscurity after his exile from government, and the price he paid in his private life before re-emerging as the nation's leader during World War II. - DirectorKoldo SerraStarsJames D'ArcyMaría ValverdeJack DavenportThe 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.April 26, 1937.
As the Spanish Civil War rages on, an American journalist falls for a woman in charge of censoring all news being sent out of the country. When German forces invade, the press becomes a more vital weapon than ever before. - DirectorJames IvoryStarsRalph FiennesNatasha RichardsonVanessa RedgraveIn 1930s Shanghai, a blind American diplomat develops a curious relationship with a young Russian refugee who works odd--and sometimes illicit--jobs to support members of her dead husband's aristocratic family.Culminates in August 1937 with the Japanese invasion of Shanghai.
In 1930s Shanghai, blind American ex-diplomat Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes) is a frequenter of the city's seamy underbelly of nightclubs and gambling houses. Todd is infatuated with Sofia (Natasha Richardson), a once-wealthy countess who has taken to dancing and prostitution in order to support herself. With earnings from a horse race, Todd opens an upscale nightclub to cater to Shanghai's wealthy elite, installing Sofia - "The White Countess" - as its hostess and spiritual muse. - DirectorHu GuanStarsZhizhong HuangJunyi ZhangHao OuIn 1937, 800 Chinese soldiers fight under siege from a warehouse in the middle of the Shanghai battlefield, completely surrounded by the Japanese army.October 1937.
In 1937 a group of Chinese soldiers and draft dodgers puts up a four-day defense of a Shanghai warehouse complex just as Japanese forces are overwhelming China. - DirectorFlorian GallenbergerStarsUlrich TukurDaniel BrühlSteve BuscemiA true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.November to December 1937.
The Nanjing Massacre/Rape of Nanking.
In 1937, the Japanese Army laid siege to the then capital of China, Nanking. John Rabe was a man who stood up and took action. Rabe lead thousands of innocent people to safety. - DirectorChuan LuStarsYe LiuWei FanHideo NakaizumiIn 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.December 1937 to January 1938.
The Nanjing Massacre/Rape of Nanking.
Japanese forces invaded Nanjing, the former capital of the Republic of China on December 9th 1937. Throughout the following six weeks, soldiers raped thousands of women and annihilated hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians - with mass executions, crowds mown down by firing squads and victims digging their own graves. - DirectorYimou ZhangStarsChristian BaleNi NiXinyi ZhangAn American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.December 1937 to January 1938.
The Nanjing Massacre/Rape of Nanking.
An American (Christian Bale) tries to protect a group of Chinese students and prostitutes from Japanese soldiers in 1937 Nanjing. - DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.Culminates with the March 1938 Anschluss, Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria.
A tuneful, heartwarming story, it is based on the real life story of the Von Trapp Family singers, one of the world's best-known concert groups in the era immediately preceding World War II. Julie Andrews plays the role of Maria, the tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey who becomes a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children, and brings a new love of life and music into the home. - DirectorEttore ScolaStarsSophia LorenMarcello MastroianniJohn VernonTwo neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.May 8, 1938.
In Rome, fascist supporter Emanuele (John Vernon) attends a parade commemorating Adolf Hitler's historic meeting with Italian leader Benito Mussolini, leaving his apolitical wife, Antonietta (Sophia Loren), to tend to household duties. Antonietta encounters a man, Gabriele (Marcello Mastroianni), who appears surprisingly nonplussed by the political event. Over the course of the day, the two forge a close friendship that will forever change their perceptions of life, love and politics. - DirectorChristian SchwochowStarsGeorge MacKayJannis NiewöhnerJeremy IronsA 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.September 1938.
The Munich Agreement.
Set in the fall of 1938, Hitler prepares to invade Czechoslovakia, and the government of Neville Chamberlain desperately seeks a peaceful solution. A British civil servant and a German diplomat, former classmates, travel to Munich to discuss peace. - DirectorJuraj HerzStarsMark WaschkeKarel RodenBen BeckerA mill owner in the Sudetenland and his family's lives are changed as Europe heats up in 1938.Begins 1938.
A mill owner living in the Sudetenland has his life changed drastically as Europe heats up in 1938. - StarsJoseph BottomsTovah FeldshuhRosemary HarrisThe saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.Begins 1938.
- StarsRobert MitchumAli MacGrawJan-Michael VincentThe trials of the Henry and Jastrow families in the early years of World War II.April 1939 to Pearl Harbor, December 1941.
The ultimate epic miniseries. Spanning the earliest years of World War II, from the Nazi blitzkrieg of Poland in 1939 to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941. Starring Ralph Bellamy. - DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe 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.Culminates on September 3, 1939, the day Britain declares war.
England's Prince Albert (Colin Firth) must ascend the throne as King George VI, but he has a speech impediment. Knowing that the country needs her husband to be able to communicate effectively, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) hires Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian actor and speech therapist, to help him overcome his stammer. An extraordinary friendship develops between the two men, as Logue uses unconventional means to teach the monarch how to speak with confidence. - DirectorStanislaw RózewiczStarsZygmunt HübnerArkadiusz BazakTadeusz SchmidtDramatization of the first battle of World War II. The first target of German troops in the invasion of Poland is a small garrison at Westerplatte. Outnumbered and out-gunned, the Poles mount a fierce defense against an overwhelming enemy.Begins September 1, 1939.
On August 31, 1939, the Polish guard-post of Westerplatte at the mouth of the Vistula River, with just 182 civilians and infantry, stands ready to defend against the German battleship moored at port. - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring 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.Begins September 3, 1939.
In this adaptation of the autobiography "The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945," Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Polish Jewish radio station pianist, sees Warsaw change gradually as World War II begins. Szpilman is forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, but is later separated from his family during Operation Reinhard. From this time until the concentration camp prisoners are released, Szpilman hides in various locations among the ruins of Warsaw. - DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsAndrzej ChyraMaja OstaszewskaArtur ZmijewskiAn examination of the Soviet slaughter of thousands of Polish officers and citizens in the Katyn forest in 1940.Begins September 17, 1939 - the first day of the Soviet invasion of the eastern half of Poland.
In 1940, at the beginning of World War II, Soviet soldiers conduct a mass execution of captured Polish officers. With Hitler's forces rapidly advancing into Eastern Europe, a surviving Polish officer, Lt. Jerzy (Andrzej Chyra), at great risk to his own life, chooses to stay behind with his wife, Anna (Maja Ostaszewska). As the Germans round up Lt. Jerzy and other officers, propaganda efforts cover up the truth about the Soviet soldiers' shocking brutality.