Classic War Films.
Some masterpieces included. Being more of a fan of the old British War films, my list shall include mostly those.
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- DirectorLeslie NormanStarsJohn MillsRichard AttenboroughBernard LeeA dramatization of the British Expeditionary Force's 1940 retreat to the beaches of France and the extraordinary seaborne evacuation that saved it from utter destruction by Nazi Germany.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsM.E. Clifton JamesJohn MillsCecil ParkerDuring World War II, a British actor impersonates Field Marshal Montgomery in order to confuse German intelligence.
- DirectorNoël CowardStarsNoël CowardJohn MillsBernard MilesThis "story of a ship", the British destroyer H.M.S. Torrin, is told in flashbacks by survivors as they cling to a life raft.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddMichael RedgraveUrsula JeansDrama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.
- DirectorJack LeeIan DalrympleStarsLeo GennDavid TomlinsonAnthony SteelTrue story of three British POWs and their attempt to escape from Nazi Germany.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsLeslie BanksC.V. FranceValerie TaylorAn English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.Proves what can be achieved on a fairly small scale.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsDirk BogardeDenholm ElliottKay CallardDuring World War II, British commandos are sent to destroy a Luftwaffe airfield on a Greek island.
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsJack HawkinsDonald SindenJohn StrattonThe World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsJohn GregsonAnthony QuaylePeter FinchIn the first major naval battle of World War II, the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.
- DirectorPhilip LeacockStarsDirk BogardeIan HunterDinah SheridanWar drama about the dangerous and stressful work of Lancaster bomber British crews during World War II.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsMichael RedgraveDirk BogardeBonar ColleanoIn the North Sea in 1944, passengers of a downed Royal Air Force transport aircraft talk about their lives while awaiting rescue in their dinghy.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsJohn MillsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDuring World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSean ConneryRyan O'NealMichael CaineOperation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
- DirectorKen AnnakinAndrew MartonGerd OswaldStarsJohn WayneRobert RyanRichard BurtonThe events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineTrevor HowardHarry AndrewsIn 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsDavid NivenGregory PeckAnthony QuinnA team of Allied saboteurs is assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held Greek island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsHarrison FordRobert ShawEdward FoxDuring World War II, several oddly assorted military experts are teamed in a mission to raid and destroy a bridge vital to enemy strategy.
- DirectorPeter UstinovStarsRalph RichardsonRaymond HuntleyJohn LaurieDuring World War II, on the eve of the Battle of Britain, British scientists develop the first radar systems to be employed against the German Luftwaffe.
- DirectorSidney GilliatFrank LaunderStarsPatricia RocEric PortmanGordon JacksonA young woman called into service at a factory during World War II falls in love with a member of the RAF.
- DirectorPen TennysonStarsClive BrookJohn ClementsEdward ChapmanA tale of the highs and lows of life protecting the vital convoys between America & England during WWII.
- DirectorGeorge More O'FerrallStarsJack HawkinsMichael DenisonAndrew OsbornThe story of an RAF fighter squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveJohn MillsRosamund JohnThe wartime daily routine on a British bomber base in southeastern England is revealed through the eyes of newly arrived Flying Officer Peter Penrose (Sir John Mills).
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsMichael RedgraveRachel KempsonFrederick LeisterIn 1940, a concentration camp escapee assumes the identity of a dead British officer, only to become a prisoner of war.
- DirectorJosé FerrerStarsJosé FerrerTrevor HowardDora BryanDuring World War II, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsDavid NivenStanley HollowayJames DonaldWorld War II drama that follows a group of British draftees, starting with their rigorous basic training, and ending with their deployment in North Africa.
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsMichael CaineNigel DavenportNigel GreenDuring World War II a group of British commandos in North Africa disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital German oil depot.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsMichael CaineCliff RobertsonIan BannenA reluctant hero, American Lieutenant Sam Lawson, is seconded to a motley British unit tasked with destroying a Japanese radio on a Philippine island.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsJohn MillsEric PortmanChristopher RhodesAllied prisoners - British, Dutch, French and Polish - pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from the "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz".
- DirectorLeslie NormanStarsRichard ToddLaurence HarveyRichard HarrisIn 1942, a group of British soldiers is sent on a mission in the Malaysian jungle and gets lost into the Japanese controlled zone.
- DirectorWalter GraumanStarsCliff RobertsonGeorge ChakirisMaria PerschyA RAF squadron is assigned to knock out a German rocket fuel factory in Norway. The factory supplies fuel for the Nazi effort to launch rockets on England during D-Day.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJohn MillsNigel PatrickPeter HammondThe crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued before they run out of air?
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreMuriel PavlowLyndon BrookBiopic of RAF Group Captain Douglas Bader who, after having lost both legs, flew a British fighter plane during WWII.
- DirectorVernon SewellGordon WellesleyStarsRalph RichardsonGoogie WithersEsmond KnightJaap van Leyden (Sir Ralph Richardson) is in charge of a shipyard in newly occupied Holland. At first he collaborates with the Germans because it is the easiest course to follow. Later, a child's rhyme reminds him of his patriotic duty, but how best to resist the Germans without endangering his wife and fellow workers?
- DirectorHarold FrenchStarsHugh WilliamsGriffith JonesDeborah KerrOn the eve of WWII, a British journalist is sent to neutral Norway to report on the possible Nazi intentions there; later he's tasked with a secret combat mission after Germany invades that country.
- DirectorAdrian BrunelBrian Desmond HurstMichael PowellStarsMerle OberonRalph RichardsonJune DuprezA look at the current might of the Royal Air Force. Place - Great Britain, time - two months after the start of World War ll.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsHardy KrügerColin GordonMichael GoodliffeA cocky German fighter pilot is shot down over England in 1940 and makes numerous attempts to escape to fight again.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsVirginia McKennaPaul ScofieldJack WarnerDuring World War II, a recently widowed young woman is recruited to work as a spy in France.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleTrevor HowardMarius GoringDuring WW2, a French woman living in England volunteers to work for British Intelligence in Nazi-occupied France.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsRoger LiveseyDeborah KerrAnton WalbrookFrom the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSteve McQueenJames GarnerRichard AttenboroughAllied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsGodfrey TearleEric PortmanHugh WilliamsDuring a raid on Germany a British bomber crew is forced to bail out after their plane is damaged. They land in Holland and are aided by Dutch civilians.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsDavid BowieTom ContiRyuichi SakamotoDuring WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasRichard HarrisUlla JacobssonNorwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during World War II.
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsRock HudsonGeorge PeppardNigel GreenA Canadian POW major is rescued by a special British military unit made up of Germans to help lead an attack on a major German fuel depot in Tobruk, Libya.
- DirectorWilliam FairchildStarsLaurence HarveyDawn AddamsMichael CraigDuring WW2, Italian Navy divers use underwater chariots to mine the keels of British warships, forcing the British to send underwater demolition expert Lionel Crabbe and his team to counter these enemy actions.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsRichard LonsdaleStanley MaxtedThomas ScullionA re-enactment of the Battle of Arnhem during the Second World War which was later lavishly remade as A Bridge Too Far (1977).
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsJohn MillsLouis BradfieldRonald MillarAll leave is cancelled so that a British submarine can be sent after a new German warship. They chase it so far that they have no fuel to get home.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDirk BogardeMarius GoringDavid OxleyLed by British officers, partisans on Crete plan to kidnap the island's German commander and smuggle him to Cairo, Egypt to embarrass the occupiers.
- DirectorRonald NeameStarsClifton WebbGloria GrahameRobert FlemyngIn order to fool the Germans into thinking the Allied invasion of Sicily will take place elsewhere, British Military Intelligence comes up with a cunning ruse.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsDirk BogardeMaria PerschyAlfred LynchBritish N.C.O. Sergeant Major Charles Coward (Sir Dirk Bogarde) escapes from the Stalag VIII-B P.O.W. camp, and is mistakenly awarded with the Iron Cross by the Germans.
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsJack HawkinsGia ScalaErik SchumannA long-entrenched British agent planted in the German Army is urged to continue his work during the Second World War, but struggles to keep secret his true identity from the Third Reich.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsSophia LorenGeorge PeppardTrevor HowardAllied agents attempt to infiltrate a German rocket research site.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryHarry AndrewsIan BannenIn a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsOliver ReedJohn AldertonMichael J. PollardA British prisoner of war working at a zoo gets the chance to escape from the Germans, so he does and takes with him the elephant that he's been caring for. Together, they head for the Swiss border and freedom.
- DirectorLeslie HowardStarsLeslie HowardDavid NivenRosamund JohnAircraft designer/patriot R. J. Mitchell, alarmed at growing German militarism, works to perfect a defense against the German Messerschmidt at the cost of his health.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsAnthony Steel1942 and the island of Malta is battling for survival. The threat of invasion by Axis forces is increasing as air raids wear down its defence. Entering this maelstrom is Flight Lieutenant Peter Ross, an RAF photo-reconnaissance pilot.
- DirectorGuy GreenStarsRichard AttenboroughJohn GregsonMichael CraigSent to destroy a German petrol dump in the North African desert, a British commando team unexpectedly discovers a large German tank unit, and must inform headquarters in time.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsDonald SutherlandKate NelliganStephen MacKennaA ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.
- DirectorLamont JohnsonStarsBrian KeithHelmut GriemIan HendryDuring WW2, German POWs in Britain plot to escape from their prison camp in Scotland.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsLeslie BanksAlastair SimJeanne De CasalisAllied spies and Nazi Agents insinuate themselves at a Scottish cottage (converted to a wartime hospital) with interests on an inventor's nearly perfected bomb sight.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsEdward UnderdownRalph ClantonHelen CherryThe story of men in the Guards Armoured Division in WWII, from basic training through to battle.
- DirectorJeffrey DellStarsClive BrookClifford EvansJane BaxterWartime commando story based on fact. Allied airman risks return (on the ground) to occupied Belgium for the honour of his regiment.
- DirectorHarold FrenchStarsHugh WilliamsJames MasonCarla LehmannThree British spies and a French resistance fighter sneak into occupied France to gather information about the German forces for a planned invasion.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsStanley BakerGuy RolfeLeo McKernIn World War II, during the Japanese invasion of Burma, the lost remnant of a British Army Brigade HQ, led by the ruthless Captain Alan Langford, escapes through the jungle toward the British lines.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsAlan LaddLeo GennSusan StephenIn 1940, an American claiming to be Canadian volunteers for the British Army's paratroop school.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsLeslie HowardLaurence OlivierRichard GeorgeA World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsEmlyn WilliamsJohn ClementsConstance CummingsA visiting American woman is shown how the people of an English village responded to invasions and threats through four historical vignettes.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsDeborah KerrTrevor HowardRaymond HuntleyA young Irish woman hates England so much she becomes a spy for Germany.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsIan CarmichaelTommy SteeleBenny HillA comedy drama set in a WWII British Army Searchlight Squad. They are an odd bunch of misfits but somehow manage to get the job done.
- DirectorCharles FrendRobert HamerStarsArthur YoungWalter FitzgeraldRalph MichaelRescue of the tanker MV San Demetrio by parts of her own crew after she had been set afire in the middle of the Atlantic by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and then had been abandoned.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid FarrarJack HawkinsMichael GoughAs the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsPhyllis CalvertFlora RobsonPatricia RocWomen in a French internment camp conceal downed British airmen from German soldiers, and try to help them escape. Produced by Edward Black. Written and directed by Frank Launder.
- DirectorSidney GilliatStarsJohn MillsStewart GrangerAlastair SimA drama set during World War II. A tale of adultery and desertion.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsMervyn JohnsJohn ChandosNova PilbeamWartime propaganda piece giving the warning "Be like Dad, Keep Mum". A gossipy housewife is overheard talking about what her son is doing by a Nazi spy.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsJames CaanDavid SumnerNorman BowlerDuring World War II, the British Royal Navy used experimental midget submarines to raid German warships in Norway.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsSarah MilesDavid HaymanSebastian Rice-EdwardsBill, a young boy living on the outskirts of London experiences the exhilaration of World War II. During this period, Bill learns about sex, death, love, hypocrisy, and the faults of adults as he prowls the ruins of bombed houses.
- DirectorBernard MilesCharles SaundersStarsBernard MilesRosamund JohnNiall MacGinnisJimmy Bancroft, a fighter pilot, who is recovering from injuries sustained during the Battle of Britain, and his nurse Hazel Broome, come across a pair of rare birds nestling in a field. After a run-in with the army and a couple of thieves, they, with the cooperation of the village people and the Ornithology Society, help the eggs to hatch. A wonderful look at life in a small village during World War II.
- DirectorLeslie HowardMaurice ElveyStarsJoan GatesJean GillieJoan GreenwoodThis film tells the stories of seven 'gentle' British girls who decide to "do their bit" and help out during World War II.
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStarsPhilip DicksonGeorge GravettFred GriffithsA tale of firefighters in London during the Blitz.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsTommy TrinderJames MasonPhilip FriendComedian Tommy Trinder plays it straight in this tribute to the wartime AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service), the dedicated band who kept the fires of London under control during the blitz and fire bombings of WWII.
- DirectorMaurice ElveyLeslie HowardStarsRosamund JohnStewart GrangerGodfrey TearleA tribute to the important work of female nurses during World War II.
- DirectorPhilip BrandonStarsEthel RevnellGracie WestLesley OsmondLand girls unmask black marketeers.
- DirectorHarry WattStarsJack LambertGrant SutherlandGordon JacksonThe Nine men of the title are a British WWII Army patrol stuck in a desert fort during the African campaign. The Men must defend the fort against the Italian and German troops until they cam be relieved.
- DirectorNorman CohenStarsArthur LoweJohn Le MesurierClive DunnThe misadventures of a ragtag group of elderly Home Guard local defense volunteers at the onset of WW2.
- DirectorMichael McCarthyStarsPeter FinchEva BartokTony BrittonWhen Germany invades Holland in 1940, a British intelligence officer and two Dutch diamond merchants go to Amsterdam to persuade the Dutch diamond merchants to evacuate their diamond supplies to England.
- DirectorJack LeeStarsSuzy ParkerBradford DillmanHarry AndrewsUnbeknownst to him, a soldier is sent on a doomed mission because of the high likelihood of him divulging secrets if captured and tortured.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsAndré MorellCarl MöhnerWalter FitzgeraldDeep in Malaya, as World War II is rapidly coming to an end, men, women and children, trapped by the Japanese invasion, are held captive in the Blood Island prison camp. Knowing that Yamamitsu, the sadistic commandant, will murder them all when he learns of his country's defeat, Dutch, a Dutch planter, smashes the camp radio. British officer Lambert and, in the women's prison, the recently-widowed Kate, join Dutch in arming the prisoners.
- DirectorEdward LudwigStarsJohn WayneSusan HaywardDennis O'KeefeDuring WW2, the U.S. Navy implements a new idea of forming construction battalions that also are fighting units, in case of Japanese attack.
- DirectorJohn FordRobert MontgomeryStarsRobert MontgomeryJohn WayneDonna ReedA Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsCharlton HestonHenry FondaJames CoburnA dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
- DirectorRichard FleischerKinji FukasakuToshio MasudaStarsMartin BalsamSô YamamuraJason RobardsThe story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsMichael CaineDonald SutherlandRobert DuvallA German plot to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanJoan LeslieA Tennessee farmer and marksman is drafted in World War I, and struggles with his pacifist inclinations before becoming one of the most celebrated war heroes.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnRonald ReaganNancy ColemanWhen the crew of a downed British bomber escape from their Nazi captors with Top Secret intelligence, they make a desperate journey to get out of Germany alive.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsJohn WayneJohn CarrollAnna LeeCapt. Jim Gordon's command of the famed American volunteer fighter group in China is complicated by the recruitment of an old friend who is a reckless hotshot.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn GarfieldJohn RidgelyGig YoungThe crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrian DonlevyWalter BrennanAnna LeeAfter the German administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed.