The great awakening in the Colonies in the spring of 1775; the patriotic activities of Samuel Adams and John Hancock; the midnight ride of Paul Revere; the gathering of the Minute Men and the battle of Lexington, all these important details of Colonial history are shown as a prelude to the intense war romance woven around the situation at Valley Forge during the terrible winter of 1777, when the cause of Liberty looked next to Betty, daughter of a Minute Man who was killed in the battle of Lexington, is stopping at the inn of her uncle, a Tory sympathizer, near the winter camp of Washington's army at Valley Forge.
Revolutionary War heroine Betsy Ross finds herself in competition with her sister for the affections of a British soldier.
Speculative historical essay defending the theory, sustained by Spanish historian Celso García de la Riega (1844-1914) and his followers, that the famous explorer Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was born in a small village near the city of Pontevedra, in the region of Galicia, Spain. (A new version was released in 1930.)
Elisabeth of Austria is a German movie with Lil Dagover as royalty Elisabeth who has many men to choose from.
An animator is in the process of creating a series of three drawings of prominent historical figures. As the animator goes about his drawings, a narrator tells some stories about the historical figure in question. The drawings come to life as the narrator tells some anecdotes about the historical figure. As each drawing nears its completion and as the story about that figure nears its end, it becomes more and more apparent who the historical figure in question is.
Brought to Versailles as the companion of courtier D'Aigullon, former street waif Madame du Barry charms her way into the heart of gouty King Louis XV.
20th Century Fox's highly fabricated film biography of circus showman P. T. Barnum stars Wallace Beery (as Barnum), Virginia Bruce (as Jenny Lind), Janet Beecher and Adolphe Menjou. Released in 1934.
King Richard the Lionhearted launches a crusade to preserve Christianity in Jerusalem.
After healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth, responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, perpetrated on April 14, 1865, during a performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington; Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, considered part of the atrocious conspiracy, is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the sinister Shark Island Prison.
In 1775, Daniel Boone settles Kentucky, despite menacing Indians and renegade whites.
A character study depicting the life of Rembrandt Van Rijn at the height of his fame in the mid 1600s. Beginning with the death of his wife, Rembrandt's work takes a dark turn, which offends many of his patrons.
Biopic of the famous French writer Emile Zola and his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair.
A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to support Polish independence.
The Venetian traveler Marco Polo meets Kublai Khan and foils a plotter with fireworks in medieval China.
Alexander Graham Bell falls in love with deaf girl Mabel Hubbard while teaching the deaf and trying to invent means for telegraphing the human voice. She urges him to put off thoughts of marriage until his experiments are complete. He invents the telephone, marries and becomes rich and famous, though his happiness is threatened when a rival company sets out to ruin him.
The story of Sam Houston, hero of the Texas revolution, statesman, and first president of the Republic of Texas.
Abe Lincoln in Illinois is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of the life of Abraham Lincoln from his departure from Kentucky until his election as President of the United States.
Inventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and scientific experiments usually end up causing disastrous results. As a result, the towns folk all think Tom is crazy, and creating a strained relationship between Tom and his father. Tom's only solace is his understanding mother who believes he's headed to do great things.
In flashback, fifty years after inventing the light bulb, an 82-year-old Edison tells his story starting at age twenty-two with his arrival in New York. He's on his way with the invention of an early form of the stock market ticker.
The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.