History is a mystery
by AVGlists | created - 20 Mar 2013 | updated - 03 Mar 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Bel Ami (2012)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, History
A chronicle of a young man's rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city's wealthiest and most influential women.
Directors: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci
Votes: 19,273 | Gross: $0.12M
2. The Merchant of Venice (2004)
R | 131 min | Drama, Romance
In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 38,240 | Gross: $3.77M
3. Atonement (2007)
R | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Thirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Saoirse Ronan
Votes: 299,701 | Gross: $50.93M
4. Anna and the King (1999)
PG-13 | 148 min | Drama, History, Romance
The story of the romance between the King of Siam and widowed British schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens, during the 1860s.
Director: Andy Tennant | Stars: Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat, Bai Ling, Tom Felton
Votes: 38,970 | Gross: $39.26M
5. The Duchess (2008)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was revered for her extravagant political and personal life.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 87,253 | Gross: $13.82M
6. Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Jordi Mollà
Votes: 75,041 | Gross: $16.29M
7. Marie Antoinette (2006)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, History
The retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 14 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen, and ultimately the fall of Versailles.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rip Torn, Steve Coogan
Votes: 121,830 | Gross: $15.96M
8. 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: 707,761 | Gross: $138.80M
9. The Young Victoria (2009)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 66,362 | Gross: $11.00M
10. The Skin of Sorrow (2010 TV Movie)
98 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A naive young man and his deal with the devil.
Director: Alain Berliner | Stars: Thomas Coumans, Annabelle Hettmann, Julien Honoré, Mylène Jampanoï
Votes: 655
11. Onegin (1999)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
Russia, 1820s: Onegin inherits his uncle's country estate and moves there from St. Petersburg. He befriends his neighbor, Lensky, and meets Tatyana through him. She falls in love with Onegin but he just wants friendship.
Director: Martha Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler, Toby Stephens, Lena Headey
Votes: 8,304 | Gross: $0.21M
12. The Dreamers (2003)
NC-17 | 115 min | Drama, Romance
A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green, Anna Chancellor
Votes: 131,496 | Gross: $2.53M
13. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2011)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
A vulnerable teenager with a deep perception of the world and no idea how to live in it.
Director: Roberto Faenza | Stars: Toby Regbo, Marcia Gay Harden, Peter Gallagher, Lucy Liu
Votes: 2,777
14. Easy Virtue (2008)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.
Director: Stephan Elliott | Stars: Jessica Biel, Ben Barnes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth
Votes: 22,451 | Gross: $2.66M
15. Wilde (1997)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The turmoil in poet/playwright Oscar Wilde's life after he discovers his homosexuality.
Director: Brian Gilbert | Stars: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle
Votes: 18,122 | Gross: $2.16M
16. Anna Karenina (I) (2012)
R | 129 min | Drama, Romance
In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen
Votes: 106,494 | Gross: $12.82M
17. My Week with Marilyn (2011)
R | 99 min | Biography, Drama
Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).
Director: Simon Curtis | Stars: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Julia Ormond
Votes: 89,589 | Gross: $14.60M
18. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 330,485 | Gross: $38.41M
19. The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon
Votes: 24,728 | Gross: $8.38M
20. Jane Eyre (2011)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Su Elliot
Votes: 92,996 | Gross: $11.24M
21. Persuasion (2007 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 93 min | Action, Drama, Family
Anne was in love with Frederick, who was rejected by her snobby parents 8 years ago. They've now hit hard times and rent out their mansion to his brother-in-law. He returns a Royal Navy captain. Will he remember Anne?
Director: Adrian Shergold | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Alice Krige, Anthony Head, Julia Davis
Votes: 16,498
22. Northanger Abbey (2007 TV Movie)
PG | 84 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.
Director: Jon Jones | Stars: Geraldine James, Michael Judd, Julia Dearden, Gerry O'Brien
Votes: 16,186
23. Australia (2008)
PG-13 | 165 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Shea Adams, Eddie Baroo
Votes: 129,717 | Gross: $49.55M
24. Bertie and Elizabeth (2002 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A chronicle of the life of George VI, who was forced to become King following the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, and his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth.
Director: Giles Foster | Stars: James Wilby, Alan Bates, Eileen Atkins, Dolly Wells
Votes: 704
25. Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
PG-13 | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.
Director: Peter Webber | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt
Votes: 82,641 | Gross: $11.63M
26. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama, History
Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.
Director: Justin Chadwick | Stars: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess
Votes: 119,936 | Gross: $26.81M
27. Quills (2000)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama
In a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine
Votes: 56,715 | Gross: $7.06M
28. The Great Gatsby (2013)
PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Romance
A writer and wall street trader, Nick Carraway, finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his mysterious millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby, amid the riotous parties of the Jazz Age.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire
Votes: 596,567 | Gross: $144.84M
29. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
PG | 136 min | Drama, Romance
Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 125,657 | Gross: $43.18M
30. Sense and Sensibility (1981)
TV-PG | 174 min | Drama, Romance
Two sisters of opposing temperaments find love and some heartbreak in Jane Austen's 18th century classic.
Stars: Irene Richard, Tracey Childs, Annie Leon, Robert Swann
Votes: 1,011
31. Sense & Sensibility (2008)
TV-14 | 58 min | Drama, Romance
The sisters Eleanor and Marianne Dashwood try to find love and security in the 1800's. These two sisters coudn't be more different. Where Eleanor is calm and always acts proper Marianne is passionate and usally forgets herself.
Stars: Dominic Cooper, Charity Wakefield, Hattie Morahan, Janet McTeer
Votes: 12,978
32. North & South (2004)
TV-PG | 235 min | Drama, Romance
North and South is a four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story of Margaret Hale, a middle-class southerner who is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.
Stars: Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack
Votes: 34,939
33. The Age of Innocence (1993)
PG | 139 min | Drama, Romance
A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Linda Faye Farkas
Votes: 67,742 | Gross: $32.20M
34. Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
PG | 132 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-heartedly grasping uncle.
Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Bell, Christopher Plummer, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 13,659 | Gross: $1.59M
35. The Queen (2006)
PG-13 | 103 min | Biography, Drama
After the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Alex Jennings
Votes: 115,965 | Gross: $56.44M
36. Our Mutual Friend (1998)
88 min | Drama
Intertwining tales of love, greed, and secret identities in Charles Dickens's 1860s London.
Stars: Paul McGann, Keeley Hawes, Dominic Mafham, David Bradley
Votes: 2,690
37. War and Peace (2007)
394 min | Drama, History, Romance
The story of five aristocratic families in Russia during the Napoleonic Wars of 1812
Stars: Clémence Poésy, Alessio Boni, Alexander Beyer, Malcolm McDowell
Votes: 2,098
38. War and Peace (1956)
PG | 208 min | Drama, Romance, War
Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.
Director: King Vidor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Vittorio Gassman
Votes: 10,861 | Gross: $12.50M
39. Doktor Zhivago (2006– )
416 min | Drama
In Doctor Zhivago, the life of a young doctor is intertwined with the fate of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Yuri Zhivago is orphaned at a young age, and his uncle brings him ... See full summary »
Stars: Oleg Menshikov, Chulpan Khamatova, Varvara Andreeva, Sergey Garmash
Votes: 568
40. Mansfield Park (1999)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Fanny, born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas, his wife and their four children, where she'll be brought up for a proper introduction to society.
Director: Patricia Rozema | Stars: Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola, Hannah Taylor Gordon
Votes: 25,831 | Gross: $4.76M
41. To the Ends of the Earth (2005)
267 min | Drama
In 1812, young British aristocrat Edmund Talbot travels by ship to Australia, and learns more about himself and about life than he had ever bargained for.
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jared Harris, Jamie Sives, Richard McCabe
Votes: 2,595
42. Dangerous Beauty (1998)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A Venetian courtesan becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft.
Director: Marshall Herskovitz | Stars: Catherine McCormack, Rufus Sewell, Oliver Platt, Fred Ward
Votes: 19,630 | Gross: $4.53M
43. That Hamilton Woman (1941)
Passed | 125 min | Drama, History, Romance
The story of courtesan and dance-hall girl Emma Hamilton, including her relationships with Sir William Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson and her rise and fall, set during the Napoleonic Wars.
Director: Alexander Korda | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Alan Mowbray, Sara Allgood
Votes: 5,058
44. The Story of Adele H (1975)
PG | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Adèle Hugo's unrequited love for a lieutenant.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson, Sylvia Marriott, Joseph Blatchley
Votes: 8,969
45. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
R | 99 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of his early years serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody
Votes: 886,130 | Gross: $59.10M
46. Shame (1968)
R | 103 min | Drama
In the midst of a civil war, former violinists Jan and Eva Rosenberg, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Sigge Fürst, Gunnar Björnstrand
Votes: 15,001
47. Bright Star (2009)
PG | 119 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox
Votes: 28,687 | Gross: $4.44M
48. Little Women (1994)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Family, Romance
The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America.
Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes
Votes: 63,554 | Gross: $50.08M
49. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 498,962
50. The Imitation Game (2014)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
During World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Allen Leech
Votes: 824,627 | Gross: $91.13M
51. The Book of Negroes (2015)
265 min | Drama, History, War
Kidnapped in Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate a revolution in New York, isolation in Nova Scotia, and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone, in an attempt to secure her freedom in the eighteenth century.
Stars: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Lyriq Bent, Ben Chaplin, Allan Hawco
Votes: 2,268
52. Beau Brummell: This Charming Man (2006 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 78 min | Drama, History
George 'Beau' Brummel, a penniless but witty London gentleman, maintains a refined lifestyle with his loyal servant, cook Robinson. Only the friendship of the unpopular Hanoverian heir and ... See full summary »
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe | Stars: James Purefoy, Hugh Bonneville, Phil Davis, Elliot Levey
Votes: 698
53. Impromptu (1991)
PG-13 | 107 min | Biography, Comedy, Music
In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.
Director: James Lapine | Stars: Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters
Votes: 5,509 | Gross: $4.08M
54. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1995)
G | 360 min | Drama, Family
An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.
Stars: Michael Benz, Betsy Brantley, George Baker, Bernadette Shortt
Votes: 205
55. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980 TV Movie)
103 min | Drama, Family, Romance
An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental Lord, who oversees the trust.
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Ricky Schroder, Alec Guinness, Eric Porter, Colin Blakely
Votes: 5,254
56. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
Passed | 102 min | Drama, Family
An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello, C. Aubrey Smith, Guy Kibbee
Votes: 2,519
57. The Courage to Love (2000 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama, History, Romance
In 19th century New Orleans creole Henriette must choose between love and devotion to the church. Neither choice is going to be easy, as there is great opposition to her ideas of breaking traditions.
Director: Kari Skogland | Stars: Vanessa Williams, Gil Bellows, Karen Williams, Lisa Bronwyn Moore
Votes: 531
58. Barry Lyndon (1975)
PG | 185 min | Adventure, Drama, War
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
Votes: 182,978
59. Never Let Me Go (2010)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Izzy Meikle-Small
Votes: 153,208 | Gross: $2.43M
60. The Conformist (1970)
R | 113 min | Drama
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio
Votes: 33,675 | Gross: $0.54M
61. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
G | 181 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon
Votes: 47,840 | Gross: $80.50M
62. Macbeth (I) (2015)
R | 113 min | Drama, History, War
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan, Frank Madigan
Votes: 59,489 | Gross: $1.11M
63. Dunkirk (2017)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Drama, History
Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy
Votes: 739,642 | Gross: $188.37M
64. The Favourite (2018)
R | 119 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
In early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 233,181 | Gross: $34.37M
65. Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
Mary Stuart's (Saoirse Ronan's) attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.
Director: Josie Rourke | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn
Votes: 55,299 | Gross: $16.47M
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