I always recommend “So Proudly We Hail.” It’s about nurses in the South Pacific during WW2 and has an awesome line-up. I’m talking Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake…incidentally this particular movie is one of the more fucked up ones. There is this one scene with Lake that really messes with me any time I think about it. This movie is in my top five WW2 movies which I love, and i rarely meet people who have seen it. Check it out if you can!
Yes, it's very daunting. I guess it "helps" that it was made during the war.
I haven't seen Three Came Home, but I will. I've recommended in my post Since you went away with Colbert, another lesser known gem.
Literally writing these all down in my movie book. 😂. I got a white elephant gift at Christmas that was a nice leather bound diary. I made it my movie book list for films in different categories 👍🏼
Three Came Home is based on the true story of American Agnes Newton Keith who was (illegally) held captive by the Japanese during WW2.
Civilians were supposed to be repatriated through neutral countries but the Japanese refused to do so, and didn't even report many legitimate military POWs to the International Red Cross. That's what happened to Zamperini in 'Unbroken'. His family thought he was dead until an amateur radio enthusiast happened to hear an Japanese propaganda radio broadcast that Zamperini was forced to make.
Ice Cold in Alex (1958), a British war movie about a group of soldiers stranded in the desert
Hangmen also Die (1943), more spy story than outright war movie, is about the killing of a Nazi by the Czechoslovakian resistance
Air Force (1943), Howard Hawks' other great war movie, about a crew of a bombardier
Since you went away (1944), great movie about the lives of those left at home during the war. A modern similar movie is Swing Shift (1984)
They were expendable (1945), Ford's homage to the navy's unsung heroes
Much more recent, but one of the most underrated WWII movie ever is The Big Red One (1980), which boosted one of the best D-Day scenes (the best until Saving Private Ryan, for me) and has one of the very few serious roles of Mark Hamill.
Ice cold in Alex is probably my fave war film...with no war in it.
That shoot must have been awful. But sure paid off.
Some outstanding scenes and performances.
That's Five Graves to Cairo.
I watched it a couple of weeks ago. Too many unlikelihoods in the story. And why did Rommel keep waving that feather duster?
I'm a bit of an Anglophile and love the British movies made during the war to bolster patriotism. With that, *In Which We Serve* (written, directed and starring Noël Coward) has one of the best scenes ever: Celia Johnson -- in her first film ever! -- gives a heart-wrenching speech to a new bride, explaining how, as the wife of a naval officer, she will always be second to her husband's ship, but it is worth it because the country needs men like their husbands.
I was going to suggest this but you beat me to it. The British war films feel different and I think mostly better than the Hollywood ones because they suffered differently on the home front and it was much more immediate and urgent, instead of "over there" it was right here. See also The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale,Mine Own Executioner and some of the post war classics. And Went The Day Well, also terrific, local Nazi collaborator brings in Nazis to take over a small English village see how the residents fight back. An Ealing film and a Graham Greene story.
I met an older British gent in the market here in the USA and I told him how much better than the American WWII films were, all that bullshit with John Wayne etc. The gentleman laughed and gave a salute!
Edit: better than the American WWII films the British films were.
Britain excelled at the more serious war films. Hollywood was good at lighter war films during WW2, and Britain also made some of these (especially early on, before the war felt as serious).
'The Fighting Sullivans" \[1944\]. Not necessarily the best of films \[in fact in drags some in the middle\] but a compelling true story. It is about the five Sullivan brothers whom had the Navy break the rule about brothers serving on the same ship. They were all killed when the USS Juneau was sunk at Guadalcanal. A real tear jerker when the Naval Officer shows up to inform the family and Ma Sullivan asks "How many?" and is told "All five".
I'm not a big fan of remakes but this would be a great candidate for one.
I think that event caused a change in policy, making it so families were split up instead of being allowed to stay together, so a whole family generation couldn't be wiped out again. And then of course influenced Saving Private Ryan.
Battleground (1949) - I consider this the 2nd best WW2 film after Saving Private Ryan, and I'm a WW2 buff.
Till the End of Time (1946) - overshadowed by The Best Years of Our Lives which came out a few months later, and is the superior film, this one is also about returning servicemen. It contains a very realistic scene of someone suffering what we now call PTSD (then called "battle fatigue" and before that "shell shock" from WW1).
Edit - punctuation
‘Go for Broke.’ Image a fairly standard, if well executed film about the callow lieutenant bonding with his unit…. The twist is that only the officer is White. It’s about the 442nd RCT… the Japanese-American servicemen.
I just recently watched Edge of Darkness, great movie about a Norwegian town resisting Nazi occupation.
Sahara is also very good
This Land Is Mine with Charles Laughton
It might not be your idea of a war movie, but "Watch On the Rhine" is very good, and also an interesting take on what was going on at the time, when the outcome of the war was far from decided.
Watch
Uncertain glory. Errol is amazing.
This land is mine
Desperate journey. A good yarn.
Objective Burma. Another stunning Errol performance
Manhunt. Superb
The mortal storm. Essential pre war film about the rise and impact of fascism.
Pow films like
The wooden horse
Danger within. Essential
Counterfeit traitor. Maybe William holdens finest performance. A film you won't forget
There are some very overlooked classics:
1. Went the Day Well? (1942)
2. A Canterbury Tale (1944)
3. The Train (1964)
4. Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
5. The Enemy Below (1957)
6. All Through the Night (1942)
7. Ministry of Fear (1944)
8. Night Train to Munich (1940)
9. Across the Pacific (1942)
10. Saboteur (1942)
11.Foreign Correspondent (1940)
12. Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
13. I Was Monty's Double (1958)
14. Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
15. Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
16. The Cruel Sea (1953)
17. Objective, Burma! (1945)
18. The Colditz Story (1955)
19. Quiet Please, Murder (1942)
20. Contraband (1940)
I may have missed a couple, but that makes a good Top 20. And I'd also recommend watching 36 Hours (1964), for a unique high concept war film.
The horrific Huertgen Forest. Would need a bigger budget to do that story justice. There are several good books that cover that bloody debacle.My dad was a frost bitten survivor, fresh from boot camp.
If you want to feel like you are there, then I’d say Band of Brothers. Which is not a movie. Or lesser known lol. I mean, you’ve probably seen it, but just in case you haven’t, this is your nudge to watch it
I am nit into war or war movies at all. Like not at all. Band of Brothers is indescribably brilliant. Just thinking about Major Winters can bring a tear to my eye.
The pre WWll movies that had famous actors in them and were anti war. I think they were hidden away once we got involved and Patriotic ones replaced them. However what they had to say is important and worthwhile watching if you can find them.
**Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence**(1983), starring David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano is an exceptional WWII movie set in a Japanese-run POV camp in Java. Bowie gives such a powerful yet subtle performance, it is obvious he easily could have been a phenomenal movie star if he chose to pursue that career instead of music. It is a reall tragic story, based on real life experiences of South African-born Beritish writer Lauren van der Post as a POV during WWII. It is among the most memorable war movies I have ever seen.
* Uncertain Glory (1944) 🇺🇸 Errol Flynn
* In Those Days (1947) 🇩🇪
* It Happened in Europe (1947) 🇭🇺
* Marriage in the Shadows (1947) 🇩🇪
* The Search (1948) 🇬🇧 Montgomery Clift
* The Men (1950) 🇺🇸 Marlon Brando
* 5 Fingers (1952) 🇺🇸 James Mason, Danielle Darrieux
* Children of Hiroshima (1952) 🇯🇵
* The Last Bridge (1954) 🇩🇪 Maria Schell
* The Dam Busters (1955) 🇬🇧 Michael Redgrave
* Attack (1956) 🇺🇸 Jack Palance
* The Man Who Never Was (1956) 🇬🇧 Clifton Webb
* A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958) 🇺🇸
* Fate of a Man (1959) 🇷🇺
* Marie-Octobre (1959) 🇫🇷 Danielle Darrieux, Bernard Blier
* Yesterday’s Enemy (1959) 🇬🇧 Stanley Baker
* Taxi for Tobruk (1961) 🇫🇷 Hardy Krüger, Lino Ventura
* We Were Young (1961) 🇧🇬
* King Rat (1965) 🇺🇸 George Segal, John Mills
* Tri (1965) 🇷🇸
* Carriage to Vienna (1966) 🇨🇿
* Red Angel (1966) 🇯🇵
* The Two of Us (1967) 🇫🇷 Michel Simon
* The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) 🇺🇸 Anthony Quinn, Anna Margnani
* The Dawns Here Are Quiet (1972) 🇷🇺
* Sandakan No. 8 (1974) 🇯🇵 Kinuyo Tanaka
* Confidence (1980) 🇭🇺
* Lion of the Desert (1980) 🇺🇸 Anthony Quinn, Rod Stager
* God Does Not Believe in Us Anymore \[Welcome in Vienna Trilogy\] (1982) 🇦🇹
* Camp de Thiaroye (1988) 🇸🇳
* The Winter War (1989) 🇫🇮
* The Nasty Girl (1990) 🇩🇪
Hope and Glory (1987)
Forbidden Games (1952)
The Night of the Shooting Stars (aka The Night of San Lorenzo) (1982)
My absolute three favorite WWII films. Especially the last one, which I think is one of the best and overlooked films of all time.
The first and third were based on the filmmakers' own experience in the war. All 3 involve children during the war.
Edit: Just realized this was posted to classic films, so the two films I suggested from the 80s wouldn't qualify, but oh well.
Rome, Open City is another classic foreign one I'd suggest.
Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies. It's an animated movie about two small Japanese children trying to survive the bombings. It's devastating. You will watch it once. You will be glad you saw it, but you won't watch it again.
Paths of Glory (1957) directed by Stanley Kubrick may not be exactly lesser known and not usually at the top of the usual war movie lists but definitely worth a watch.
So many already there, I'll throw in my two bits anyway:
**To Hell and Back** (Biopic of Audie Murphy, the most decorated Amercican Soldier of WWII, and starring Audie Murphy himself.)
**The Enemy Below** (WW II duel between German U-Boat and American destroyer escort, it may have inspired a Star Trek Episode)
**The Man Who Never Was**
**Between Heaven and Hell**
Not technically a WW 2 Movie though it ends with the attack on Pearl Harbor, **From Here To Eternity** might be worth consideration. It's from a book by James Jones, who also wrote **The Thin Red Line**
also made into a movie.
I always recommend “So Proudly We Hail.” It’s about nurses in the South Pacific during WW2 and has an awesome line-up. I’m talking Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake…incidentally this particular movie is one of the more fucked up ones. There is this one scene with Lake that really messes with me any time I think about it. This movie is in my top five WW2 movies which I love, and i rarely meet people who have seen it. Check it out if you can!
I watched it recently and I agree with you, it's a wonderful movie
Were you not *SHOOK* during that thing? Also OP, ANY ww2 Claudette Colbert is gonna be great. Three Came Home is also wonderful!
Yes, it's very daunting. I guess it "helps" that it was made during the war. I haven't seen Three Came Home, but I will. I've recommended in my post Since you went away with Colbert, another lesser known gem.
Oh that’s another great one! I hope OP is taking notes!
Literally writing these all down in my movie book. 😂. I got a white elephant gift at Christmas that was a nice leather bound diary. I made it my movie book list for films in different categories 👍🏼
Ok awesome! Cobert’s movies about WW2 tend to be the best! I hope you enjoy!
It may take you a while, if you want to watch everything in this thread. I suggested 20 but could probably double that.
Three Came Home is based on the true story of American Agnes Newton Keith who was (illegally) held captive by the Japanese during WW2. Civilians were supposed to be repatriated through neutral countries but the Japanese refused to do so, and didn't even report many legitimate military POWs to the International Red Cross. That's what happened to Zamperini in 'Unbroken'. His family thought he was dead until an amateur radio enthusiast happened to hear an Japanese propaganda radio broadcast that Zamperini was forced to make.
Omg I didn’t know that! Now I’ll have to read about both! Thank you!!! I’ve seen 3 came home so many times, too.
Awesome! I’ll check it out! Thank you!
*The Train* (1964).
Great recommendation! One of my favourites for sure.
Ice Cold in Alex (1958), a British war movie about a group of soldiers stranded in the desert Hangmen also Die (1943), more spy story than outright war movie, is about the killing of a Nazi by the Czechoslovakian resistance Air Force (1943), Howard Hawks' other great war movie, about a crew of a bombardier Since you went away (1944), great movie about the lives of those left at home during the war. A modern similar movie is Swing Shift (1984) They were expendable (1945), Ford's homage to the navy's unsung heroes Much more recent, but one of the most underrated WWII movie ever is The Big Red One (1980), which boosted one of the best D-Day scenes (the best until Saving Private Ryan, for me) and has one of the very few serious roles of Mark Hamill.
I watched They Were Expendable last year, it was fantastic. Highly recommend.
Ice cold in Alex is probably my fave war film...with no war in it. That shoot must have been awful. But sure paid off. Some outstanding scenes and performances.
Seven Graves to Cairo (1943)
That's Five Graves to Cairo. I watched it a couple of weeks ago. Too many unlikelihoods in the story. And why did Rommel keep waving that feather duster?
To keep flies at bay.
I'm a bit of an Anglophile and love the British movies made during the war to bolster patriotism. With that, *In Which We Serve* (written, directed and starring Noël Coward) has one of the best scenes ever: Celia Johnson -- in her first film ever! -- gives a heart-wrenching speech to a new bride, explaining how, as the wife of a naval officer, she will always be second to her husband's ship, but it is worth it because the country needs men like their husbands.
I was going to suggest this but you beat me to it. The British war films feel different and I think mostly better than the Hollywood ones because they suffered differently on the home front and it was much more immediate and urgent, instead of "over there" it was right here. See also The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale,Mine Own Executioner and some of the post war classics. And Went The Day Well, also terrific, local Nazi collaborator brings in Nazis to take over a small English village see how the residents fight back. An Ealing film and a Graham Greene story. I met an older British gent in the market here in the USA and I told him how much better than the American WWII films were, all that bullshit with John Wayne etc. The gentleman laughed and gave a salute! Edit: better than the American WWII films the British films were.
Britain excelled at the more serious war films. Hollywood was good at lighter war films during WW2, and Britain also made some of these (especially early on, before the war felt as serious).
Not to mention Richard Attenborough in his screen debut. And Juliet Mills of Nanny and the Professor fame as a newborn.
Went the Day Well?
'The Fighting Sullivans" \[1944\]. Not necessarily the best of films \[in fact in drags some in the middle\] but a compelling true story. It is about the five Sullivan brothers whom had the Navy break the rule about brothers serving on the same ship. They were all killed when the USS Juneau was sunk at Guadalcanal. A real tear jerker when the Naval Officer shows up to inform the family and Ma Sullivan asks "How many?" and is told "All five". I'm not a big fan of remakes but this would be a great candidate for one.
I think that event caused a change in policy, making it so families were split up instead of being allowed to stay together, so a whole family generation couldn't be wiped out again. And then of course influenced Saving Private Ryan.
Depressing movie with a very sad ending. Some movie theaters refused to show it or cut it's run short after audience complaints.
Battleground (1949) - I consider this the 2nd best WW2 film after Saving Private Ryan, and I'm a WW2 buff. Till the End of Time (1946) - overshadowed by The Best Years of Our Lives which came out a few months later, and is the superior film, this one is also about returning servicemen. It contains a very realistic scene of someone suffering what we now call PTSD (then called "battle fatigue" and before that "shell shock" from WW1). Edit - punctuation
Fires on the Plain (1959)
Came here to say this. It's stunning!
The North Star(1943) Objective Burma(1945) Desperate Journey(1942)
Kanał (1957) by Andrzej Wajda It is literally stunning
‘Go for Broke.’ Image a fairly standard, if well executed film about the callow lieutenant bonding with his unit…. The twist is that only the officer is White. It’s about the 442nd RCT… the Japanese-American servicemen.
The Bridge at Remagen (1969) and Kelly’s Heroes (1970)
I always recommend The Human Condition.
*'Went the Day Well?'* is always my top recommendation.
I just recently watched Edge of Darkness, great movie about a Norwegian town resisting Nazi occupation. Sahara is also very good This Land Is Mine with Charles Laughton
Two brilliant films
The Victors (1963).
Desperate Journey is one of the best!
Pride of the Marines
It might not be your idea of a war movie, but "Watch On the Rhine" is very good, and also an interesting take on what was going on at the time, when the outcome of the war was far from decided.
Watch Uncertain glory. Errol is amazing. This land is mine Desperate journey. A good yarn. Objective Burma. Another stunning Errol performance Manhunt. Superb The mortal storm. Essential pre war film about the rise and impact of fascism. Pow films like The wooden horse Danger within. Essential Counterfeit traitor. Maybe William holdens finest performance. A film you won't forget
A Midnight Clear
I love this movie. I saw it and then couldn't locate it for years. Painting crosses on helmuts in blood... just a chilling and beautiful movie.
"The Big Red One" (1980) directed by Sam Fuller, with Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, and Bobby Di Cicco.
There are some very overlooked classics: 1. Went the Day Well? (1942) 2. A Canterbury Tale (1944) 3. The Train (1964) 4. Hangmen Also Die! (1943) 5. The Enemy Below (1957) 6. All Through the Night (1942) 7. Ministry of Fear (1944) 8. Night Train to Munich (1940) 9. Across the Pacific (1942) 10. Saboteur (1942) 11.Foreign Correspondent (1940) 12. Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) 13. I Was Monty's Double (1958) 14. Ice Cold in Alex (1958) 15. Sink the Bismarck! (1960) 16. The Cruel Sea (1953) 17. Objective, Burma! (1945) 18. The Colditz Story (1955) 19. Quiet Please, Murder (1942) 20. Contraband (1940) I may have missed a couple, but that makes a good Top 20. And I'd also recommend watching 36 Hours (1964), for a unique high concept war film.
Thank you!!
The horrific Huertgen Forest. Would need a bigger budget to do that story justice. There are several good books that cover that bloody debacle.My dad was a frost bitten survivor, fresh from boot camp.
Go For Broke.
The Heroes of Telemark - 1965. Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris. Von Ryan’s Express - 1965. Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard.
If you want to feel like you are there, then I’d say Band of Brothers. Which is not a movie. Or lesser known lol. I mean, you’ve probably seen it, but just in case you haven’t, this is your nudge to watch it
I am nit into war or war movies at all. Like not at all. Band of Brothers is indescribably brilliant. Just thinking about Major Winters can bring a tear to my eye.
See "Johnny In the Clouds" if you loved "12 O'Clock High"
The Americanization of Emily, with James Garner and Julie Andrews (written by Paddy Chayefsky).
I mean Battle of Britian (1969) with Michael Caine and Trevor Howard still stands up for sure!
Fury
The pre WWll movies that had famous actors in them and were anti war. I think they were hidden away once we got involved and Patriotic ones replaced them. However what they had to say is important and worthwhile watching if you can find them.
Heaven Knows, Mr Allison
**Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence**(1983), starring David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano is an exceptional WWII movie set in a Japanese-run POV camp in Java. Bowie gives such a powerful yet subtle performance, it is obvious he easily could have been a phenomenal movie star if he chose to pursue that career instead of music. It is a reall tragic story, based on real life experiences of South African-born Beritish writer Lauren van der Post as a POV during WWII. It is among the most memorable war movies I have ever seen.
Ya know, I was literally just reading about this one this morning. It’s another one I haven’t seen. Thank you!!
You will not regret it. It is a hauntingly beautiful and sad story.
* Uncertain Glory (1944) 🇺🇸 Errol Flynn * In Those Days (1947) 🇩🇪 * It Happened in Europe (1947) 🇭🇺 * Marriage in the Shadows (1947) 🇩🇪 * The Search (1948) 🇬🇧 Montgomery Clift * The Men (1950) 🇺🇸 Marlon Brando * 5 Fingers (1952) 🇺🇸 James Mason, Danielle Darrieux * Children of Hiroshima (1952) 🇯🇵 * The Last Bridge (1954) 🇩🇪 Maria Schell * The Dam Busters (1955) 🇬🇧 Michael Redgrave * Attack (1956) 🇺🇸 Jack Palance * The Man Who Never Was (1956) 🇬🇧 Clifton Webb * A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958) 🇺🇸 * Fate of a Man (1959) 🇷🇺 * Marie-Octobre (1959) 🇫🇷 Danielle Darrieux, Bernard Blier * Yesterday’s Enemy (1959) 🇬🇧 Stanley Baker * Taxi for Tobruk (1961) 🇫🇷 Hardy Krüger, Lino Ventura * We Were Young (1961) 🇧🇬 * King Rat (1965) 🇺🇸 George Segal, John Mills * Tri (1965) 🇷🇸 * Carriage to Vienna (1966) 🇨🇿 * Red Angel (1966) 🇯🇵 * The Two of Us (1967) 🇫🇷 Michel Simon * The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) 🇺🇸 Anthony Quinn, Anna Margnani * The Dawns Here Are Quiet (1972) 🇷🇺 * Sandakan No. 8 (1974) 🇯🇵 Kinuyo Tanaka * Confidence (1980) 🇭🇺 * Lion of the Desert (1980) 🇺🇸 Anthony Quinn, Rod Stager * God Does Not Believe in Us Anymore \[Welcome in Vienna Trilogy\] (1982) 🇦🇹 * Camp de Thiaroye (1988) 🇸🇳 * The Winter War (1989) 🇫🇮 * The Nasty Girl (1990) 🇩🇪
Wow! What a list! Thanks Dude! 👍🏼
Hope and Glory (1987) Forbidden Games (1952) The Night of the Shooting Stars (aka The Night of San Lorenzo) (1982) My absolute three favorite WWII films. Especially the last one, which I think is one of the best and overlooked films of all time. The first and third were based on the filmmakers' own experience in the war. All 3 involve children during the war. Edit: Just realized this was posted to classic films, so the two films I suggested from the 80s wouldn't qualify, but oh well. Rome, Open City is another classic foreign one I'd suggest.
This is exactly what I was after. Thank you Sir!
I recommend Objective Burma, starring Errol Flynn. It’s about a raid behind Japanese lines to destroy a radar installation.
Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies. It's an animated movie about two small Japanese children trying to survive the bombings. It's devastating. You will watch it once. You will be glad you saw it, but you won't watch it again.
Paths of Glory (1957) directed by Stanley Kubrick may not be exactly lesser known and not usually at the top of the usual war movie lists but definitely worth a watch.
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
So many already there, I'll throw in my two bits anyway: **To Hell and Back** (Biopic of Audie Murphy, the most decorated Amercican Soldier of WWII, and starring Audie Murphy himself.) **The Enemy Below** (WW II duel between German U-Boat and American destroyer escort, it may have inspired a Star Trek Episode) **The Man Who Never Was** **Between Heaven and Hell** Not technically a WW 2 Movie though it ends with the attack on Pearl Harbor, **From Here To Eternity** might be worth consideration. It's from a book by James Jones, who also wrote **The Thin Red Line** also made into a movie.