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Movies: Best "war propaganda" Movies

A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will adopt the position promoted by the propagator and eventually take action towards making those ideas widely accepted. Propaganda films are popular mediums of propaganda due to their ability to easily reach a large audience in a short amount of time. They are also able to come in a variety of film types such as documentary, non-fiction, and newsreel, making it even easier to provide subjective content that may be deliberately misleading. Propaganda is the ability "to produce and spread fertile messages that, once sown, will germinate in large human cultures". However, in the 20th century, a "new" propaganda emerged, which revolved around political organizations and their need to communicate messages that would "sway relevant groups of people in order to accommodate their agendas". First developed by the Lumiere brothers in 1896, film provided a unique means of accessing large audiences at once. Film was the first universal mass medium in that it could simultaneously influence viewers as individuals and members of a crowd, which led to it qui... ()

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71 movies found (page 1/3):

The Iron Lady(2011)

FSK: 6+ years
| 1h 45min | History, Drama
3.2/5 (with 772 votes)

A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.

Katyn(2007)

FSK: 16+ years
| 2h 2min | Drama, History, War
3.4/5 (with 101 votes)

On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invades Poland, unleashing World War II. On September 17th, the Soviet Red Army crosses the border. The Polish army, unable to fight on two fronts, is defeated. Thousands of Polish men, both military and government officials, are captured by the invaders. Their fate will only be known several years later.

Sergeant York(1941)

FSK: 12+ years
| 2h 14min | History, Romance / Love, War
3.7/5 (with 82 votes)

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

Their Finest(2017)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 57min | Romance / Love, War, Drama
3.4/5 (with 182 votes)

During the Blitz of World War II, a female screenwriter (Gemma Arterton) works on a film celebrating England's resilience as a way to buoy a weary populace's spirits. Her efforts to dramatise the true story of two sisters (Lily Knight and Francesca Knight) who undertook their own maritime mission to rescue wounded soldiers are met with mixed feelings by a dismissive all-male staff.

Sky Hunter(2017)

1h 58min | Action
3.5/5 (with 23 votes)

An elite group of Chinese pilots must take part in a dangerous mission to thwart a terrorist plot and resolve a hostage situation.

49th Parallel(1941)

3.5/5 (with 44 votes)

In the early days of World War II, a German U-boat is sunk in Canada's Hudson Bay. Hoping to evade capture, a small band of German soldiers led by commanding officer Lieutenant Hirth attempts to cross the border into the United States, which has not yet entered the war and is officially neutral. Along the way, the German soldiers encounter brave men such as a French-Canadian fur trapper, Johnnie, a leader of a Hutterite farming community, Peter, an author, Philip and a soldier, Andy Brock.

San Pietro(1945)

32min | War, Documentary
3.1/5 (with 28 votes)

This documentary movie is about the battle of San Pietro, a small village in Italy. Over 1,100 US soldiers were killed while trying to take this location, that blocked the way for the Allied forces from the Germans.

Directed by John Huston - With Mark W. Clark, John Huston

Night Train to Munich(1940)

1h 36min | Drama, Thriller, War
3.7/5 (with 32 votes)

Czechoslovakia, March 1939, on the eve of World War II. As the German invaders occupy Prague, inventor Axel Bomasch manages to flee and reach England; but those who need to put his knowledge at the service of the Nazi war machine, in order to carry out their evil plans of destruction, will stop at nothing to capture him.

Propaganda: Engineering Consent(2018)

3.6/5 (with 6 votes)

How can the masses be controlled? Apparently, the American publicist Edward L. Bernays (1891-1995), a pioneer in the field of propaganda and public relations, knew the answer to such a key question. The amazing story of the master of manipulation and the creation of the engineering of consent; a frightening true story about advertising, lies and charlatans.

Directed by Jimmy Leipold

Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi(1943)

3.5/5 (with 30 votes)

A propaganda film during World War II about a boy who grows up to become a Nazi soldier.

Directed by Clyde Geronimi

Reason and Emotion(1943)

8min | Animation
3.2/5 (with 8 votes)

A World War II propaganda film about the need to remain calm and logical during wartime.

Directed by Bill Roberts

The Ducktators(1942)

3.0/5 (with 17 votes)

A wartime cartoon that satirizes the Axis leaders of World War II.

Directed by Norman McCabe
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One Minute to Zero(1952)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 45min | War, Drama, Romance / Love
3.3/5 (with 6 votes)

An idealistic United Nations official learns the harrowing truth about war when she falls in love with an American officer charged with the evacuation of civilians. As hostilities escalate, the officer and his small detachment are left to hold the line until allied forces can be brought into action.

Curtiz(2019)

1h 38min | Drama, History
3.1/5 (with 9 votes)

Hollywood, 1942. The US government pressures Hungarian-born film director Michael Curtiz, who is about to finish shooting Casablanca, to accentuate the film's propaganda message in order to sway public opinion in favor of the country's intervention in the European war.

Directed by Tamás Yvan Topolánszky - With Ferenc Lengyel, Evelin Dobos, Declan Hannigan, Scott Alexander Young, József Gyabronka, Nikolett Barabás, ...

Seeing Hands(1943)

11min | War, Drama
2.7/5 (with 3 votes)

This serious Pete Smith Specialty series entry encourages industry to hire people with disabilities to help with the war effort. As a boy, Ben Helwig was blinded in an accident while playing baseball. He eventually acquired a guide dog and now works in a defense plant.

The Old Army Game(1943)

6min | Animation
2.8/5 (with 10 votes)

The old shell game gets a new face as Donald stays off-base past "Taps" and has to try to sneak back in with out alerting Pete.

Directed by Jack King

Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler In Action(1941)

38min | Documentary
2.9/5 (with 1 vote)

Chronicles combat action of Hitler's elite bodyguard regiment from 1940 to 1941. From Rotterdam to Greece, German frontline cameramen captured footage of early victorious campaigns. Scenes of camp life and ceremonies convey an impression of the comradeship, pride, and elan of this mighty military formation.

The Phoney War(2019)

1h 32min | History, Documentary, War
4.0/5 (with 2 votes)

September 3rd, 1939. Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany, only two days after the Wehrmacht invades Poland. This day, the sad date when the fate of the world changed forever, the Phoney War began: eight months of uncertainty, preparations, evacuations and skirmishes.

Red Nightmare(1962)

3.0/5 (with 3 votes)

A man takes his American freedoms for granted, until he wakes up one morning to find out that the United States Government has been replaced with a Communist system. The basis for this short film, narrated by Jack Webb, is the alleged Soviet re-creation of US communities for the purpose of training infiltrators, spies, and moles.

The Negro Soldier(1944)

3.1/5 (with 12 votes)

Documentary focusing on the contributions to the American war effort of African-American soldiers.

Directed by Stuart Heisler - With Carlton Moss

Death Mills(1945)

22min | War, Documentary
3.2/5 (with 3 votes)

Originally made with a German soundtrack for screening in occupied Germany and Austria, this film was the first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder. The film includes accounts of the economic aspects of the camps' operation, the interrogation of captured camp personnel, and the enforced visits of the inhabitants of neighboring towns, who, along with the rest of their compatriots, are blamed for complicity in the Nazi crimes - one of the few such condemnations in the Allied war records.

Death Mills(1945)

22min | War, Documentary
3.3/5 (with 5 votes)

Originally made with a German soundtrack for screening in occupied Germany and Austria, this film was the first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder. The film includes accounts of the economic aspects of the camps' operation, the interrogation of captured camp personnel, and the enforced visits of the inhabitants of neighboring towns, who, along with the rest of their compatriots, are blamed for complicity in the Nazi crimes - one of the few such condemnations in the Allied war records.

Red and Black(1942)

1h 20min | Drama, War
3.0/5 (with 5 votes)

Since childhood, Luisa and Miguel have always been good friends; but several years later, as adults, when Spain faces the abyss of the Civil War (1936-1939), they support ideologically opposed camps.

Directed by Carlos Arévalo

Stalin and the Katyn Massacre(2020)

3.2/5 (with 3 votes)

The Katyn massacre, carried out by the Soviet NKVD in 1940, was only one of many unspeakable crimes committed by Stalin's ruthless executioners over three decades. The mass murder of thousands of Polish officers was part of a relentless purge, the secrets and details of which have only recently been partially revealed.

Panama Hattie(1942)

1h 19min | Comedy
2.0/5 (with 1 vote)

Sailors and spies mingle in between the acts at Hattie's nightclub in the Canal Zone.

Inflation(1942)

17min | War, Drama
2.5/5 (with 1 vote)

The Devil works with Adolf Hitler to cause inflation in the United States.

All Together(1942)

3min | Animation
2.3/5 (with 4 votes)

The entire Disney menagerie appears in a parade urging the purchase of war bonds.

Directed by Jack King

Rainbow Hill(1938)

53min | Comedy

A half brother and sister work at a hotel in Hakone respectively as a porter and a souvenir shop clerk. They are close. One day a woman named Hasegawa checks into the hotel in order to recuperate in a calm environment with fresh air. She is the mother of the store employee. The mother and daughter were separated due to the Kanto earthquake. The girl was practically raised by her older half brother.

Food Will Win the War(1942)

2.7/5 (with 6 votes)

World War II propaganda film on the importance of American farming. A morale booster film stressing the abudance of American agricultural output.

Directed by Hamilton Luske

Food and Magic(1943)

2.5/5 (with 3 votes)

A sideshow barker uses magic and visual aids to alert the public that proper food management is both a resource and a weapon that could be to America's advantage if conserved properly in winning the then current World War.

Directed by Jean Negulesco - With Jack Carson
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