Best 25 History Movies Fan Favorites from 1940

Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for an attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills with the sword. Learn about The Sea Hawk / IMDB / YouTube

Langdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected. Details on Northwest Passage / IMDB / YouTube

Under the guise of a brutally honest documentary, this malevolent propaganda film aims to be an indispensable tool in the hands of the Aryan race, designed to depict the true Jew when the masks of Western civilization fall off. Read about Der ewige Jude / IMDB / YouTube

Infamous anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda historical drama about Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg and his treasurer Süß Oppenheimer. Read about Jud Süß / IMDB / YouTube

Humble Abraham Lincoln gains the respect of his Illinois neighbors, growing in stature and respect until he is elected President in 1860 and departs for Washington. Details on Abe Lincoln in Illinois / IMDB / YouTube

Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end. Get info on The Fighting 69th / IMDB / YouTube

82-year-old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty-year career of scientific achievement. Check out Edison, the Man / IMDB / YouTube

Just prior to the American War of Independence, aristocratic Virginian Jane Peyton marries unsophisticated rustic farmer and surveyor Matt Howard who takes her to his Shenandoah Valley plantation and later goes to war. Learn about The Howards of Virginia / IMDB / YouTube

In 1844, after the assassination of Mormon leader Joseph Smith by an angry mob in Illinois, the Mormons choose Brigham Young as their new leader and follow him to a new promised land in Utah. Details on Brigham Young / IMDB / YouTube

Starting with a small flock of carrier pigeons, nineteenth-century entrepreneur Julius Reuter turns his small company into Europe's most respected news wire service. Check out A Dispatch from Reuters / IMDB / YouTube

The life story of the musical star from her discovery in 1890 by bandleader Tony Pastor until her retirement in 1912, when she married newspaperman Alexander Moore. Details on Lillian Russell / IMDB / YouTube

A country boy joins a circus in the 1840s and falls in love with Albany, the star equestrian rider. Later, he falls in love with Caroline, another runaway who becomes the circus' new bareback rider. Get info on Chad Hanna / IMDB / YouTube

Steamboat inventor Robert Fulton shows up in New York in 1807. Tavern keeper Pat O'Day believes in him, but her boyfriend doesn't. All seems lost after sailors, afraid of losing their jobs, burn his boat. Learn about Little Old New York / IMDB / YouTube

Three young Australians join the army at the beginning of World War I and are assigned to the Australian Light Horse cavalry, which is serving in Palestine. The three eventually take part in the attack during the Battle of Beersheba, which was the last cavalry charge in modern warfare. Check out 40,000 Horsemen / IMDB / YouTube

After the Germans invade Czechoslovakia the four sons of a Czecho-German family follow different paths: Czech patriot, Nazi supporter, artist in America, and heroic German soldier. Read about Four Sons / IMDB / YouTube

Picking up where Victoria the Great (1937) left off, this sequel has Anna Neagle return to the role of Queen Victoria in another colorful account of the revered British monarch's reign. This film offers a stellar chronicle of Victoria's relationship with Prince Albert (Anton Walbrook) as well as the political and military upheavals that characterized her time as Queen. Learn about Queen of Destiny / IMDB / YouTube

An interne witnesses the death of a young mother in a maternity hospital delivery room. Disturbed that he might have overlooked something that could have prevented the death, he goes to a maternity clinic in a city slum in order to learn more about the mortality of motherhood and to find new ways to prevent it. More about The Fight for Life / IMDB / YouTube

The story of Mozart and his wife Constance, set against a background of court intrigue and professional jealousy, with music conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. Explore Mozart / IMDB / YouTube