Highest-Rated Movies about '1850s'

Django Unchained (2012), Red River (1948), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Little Big Man (1970), Jezebel (1938), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best 1850s movies.

#16. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)

Storyline: A chronicle of events that led to the British involvement in the Crimean War against Russia and which led to the siege of Sevastopol and the fierce Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 which climaxed with the heroic, but near-disastrous cavalry charge made by the British Light Brigade against a Russian artillery battery in a small valley which resulted in the near-destruction of the brigade due to error of judgment and rash planning on part by the inept British commanders.—matt-282

Plot Keywords: british army, british empire, 1850s, british soldier, violence, british history, battlefield ...

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#17. Dimples (1936)

Storyline: Dimples is a busker - a street entertainer, and lives in mid-19th century New York City's Bowery with her kindhearted but pickpocketing Grandfather, Prof. Eustace Appleby. Dimples is a talented child and is hired to perform at a party in the home of Mrs. Caroline Drew, an elderly widow living in Washington Square. Dimples delights the gathering and charms not only the elderly mistress of the house but her nephew Allen as well, a theatrical producer betrothed to a lovely society belle. Allen engages Dimples to perform the role of Little Eva in his production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" while Mrs. Drew makes it possible for Dimples to remain in her genteel home and enjoy its benefits. Various complications ensue and Dimples bravely makes the decision to sacrifice her happiness to return to her slum dwelling Grandfather. Mrs. Drew traces Dimples's whereabouts and convinces Prof. Appleby that his lovely granddaughter deserves something better than a life of poverty and crime in the Bowery. The situation is resolved to everyone's satisfaction and the film ends with Dimples performing in New York City's first minstrel show.—eamon

Plot Keywords: character name in title, robbery, scam, theft, young love, one word title, manhattan new york city ...

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#18. Shipwrecked (1990)

Storyline: Haakon Haakonsen didn't want to go to sea so young, but when his father, a Norwegian sailor, comes home with a badly wounded foot in the 1850s, the Haakonsen family finances require him to enlist as ship boy aboard a British ship under Royal Navy authority. After some hazing he buckles up to learn the hard work and gets accepted by the rough crew. Then Royal Navy lieutenant John Merrick is welcomed to take charge of security on a long voyage to Sidney and Calcutta, through pirates-infested waters, but Haakon distrusts him after finding out that he packed concealed weapons; indeed Merrick secretly poisons the captain. Haakon and his guardian angel, his father's best mate Jens, were about to feel the claw of the cat for helping a stowaway when a rock wrecks the ship. Haakon washes up an island where he finds a pirates treasure and weapons.—KGF Vissers

Plot Keywords: log, poisoned drink, poisoning, rifle, cognac, sailing ship, shot in the chest ...

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#19. The Woman in White (1948)

Storyline: A young painter stumbles upon an assortment of odd characters at an English estate where he has been hired to give art lessons to beautiful Laura Fairlie. Among them are Anne Catherick, a strange young woman dressed in white whom he meets in the forest and who bears a striking resemblance to Laura; cunning Count Fosco, who hopes to obtain an inheritance for nobleman Sir Percival Glyde, whom he plans to have Laura marry; Mr. Fairlie, a hypochondriac who can't stand to have anyone make the slightest noise; and eccentric Countess Fosco who has her own dark secret. The artist also finds himself drawn to Marion Halcomb, a distant relation to Laura whom the Count also has plans for.—Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>

Plot Keywords: mysterious woman, murder, 1850s, cousin cousin relationship, male female relationship, dual role, eavesdropping ...

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#20. Band of Angels (1957)

Storyline: Living in Kentucky prior to the Civil War, Amantha Starr is a privileged young woman. Her widower father, a wealthy plantation owner, dotes on her and he sends her to the best schools. When he dies suddenly however, Amantha's world is turned upside down. She learns that her father had been living on borrowed money and that her mother was actually a slave and her father's mistress. The plantation is to be sold to pay off her father's debts and as the daughter of a slave, Amantha is also to be sold as property. She is bought by a Louisiana plantation owner, Hamish Bond and over time she grows to love him until she learns he was a slave-trader. She tries again to become part of white society but realizes that her future lies elsewhere.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: southern belle, 1850s, racism, based on novel, race relations, prejudice, new orleans louisiana ...

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#21. In Search of the Castaways (1962)

Storyline: An earthquake, a flash flood, an avalanche, a volcano, alligators, jaguars, mutineers, and a man-eating Maoris dog the steps of a shipping company owner, a scientist, and the two children of a lost sea Captain as they circle the Earth along the 37th parallel per instructions in a bottled note the scientist has recovered from a shark's stomach. Only certain facts are discerned from the stained note, especially the words "37 parallel". Teenage Mary Grant (Hayley Mills), her younger brother, Robert (Keith Hamshere), and the scientist, French Professor Jacques Paganel (Maurice Chevalier), trick their way aboard the grand yacht, "Persevero II", during a bon voyage party to see the owner of the shipping company, Lord Edward Glenarvan (Wilfrid Hyde-White), the epitome of British aloofness. With the urging of his own son, John (Michael Anderson, Jr.), Glenarvan's luxurious side-wheeler sets sail for the coastal town of Concepcion, Chile in the search for the missing Captain Grant (Jack Gwillim).—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: singer, shaving, glasgow scotland, sneezing, horse and carriage, father son relationship, magnifying glass ...

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#22. The Bright Shawl (1923)

Storyline: Charles Abbott is a wealthy adventurer in Cuba of the 1850s. He is in love with Narcissa but goes after La Clavel to obtain information on the Spanish. He becomes implicated in the death of his friend Escobar, brother of Narcissa.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Plot Keywords: 1850s, cigarette smoking, violence, death of brother, damsel in distress, deception, cabaret ...

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#23. King of the Khyber Rifles (1953)

Storyline: Freshly arrived Sandhurst-trained Captain Alan King, better versed in Pashtun then any of the veterans and born locally as army brat, survives an attack on his escort to his Northwest Frontier province garrison near the Khyber pass because of Ahmed, a native Afridi deserter from the Muslim fanatic rebel Karram Khan's forces. As soon as his fellow officers learn his mother was a native Muslim which got his parents disowned even by their own families, he falls prey to stubborn prejudiced discrimination, Lieutenant Geoffrey Heath even moves out of their quarters, except from half-Irish Lt. Ben Baird. Brigadier general J. R. Maitland, whose policy is full equality among whites, learns King knew Kurrum Khan as a boy and charges him with training and commanding native cavalry, which comes along fine. The general's egalitarian daughter Susan Maitland takes a fancy to King, even falls in love but the general decides to send her safely home to England after a kidnapped attempt when King saved her. King volunteers to take out Khurram Khan, the only man who can bring the normally dived local tribes together in revolt, pretending to have deserted...—KGF Vissers

Plot Keywords: character name in title, father daughter relationship, hostage, knife throwing, military officer, military, murder ...

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#24. The Water Babies (1978)

Storyline: This story is about a 12-year-old boy who discovers a complex underwater world where young children are held prisoner by an evil shark and an eel. Before he can return to the surface and clear his name, however, he must help the Water Babies leave their enclosed lake and reach the free waters of the ocean.—Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

Plot Keywords: underwater scene, orphan, mansion, lobster, kidnapping, fortress, estate ...

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#25. Sap ji sang ciu (2012)

Storyline: Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan) leads a mercenary team to recover several lost artifacts from the Old Summer Palace, the bronze heads of the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals which was looted by foreigners in the 1800s. Assisted by a Chinese student and a Parisian lady, Hawk stops at nothing to accomplish the mission.

Plot Keywords: vault, treasure, boathouse, relic, castle, pirate, kung fu ...

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#26. The Invisible Woman (2013)

Storyline: In the 1850s, Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones) is a minimally talented actress who catches the eye of the hailed British author, Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes). Bored with his intellectually unstimulating wife, Catherine (Joanna Scanlan), Charles takes the educated Nelly as his mistress with the cooperation of her mother, Mrs. Frances Ternan (Dame Kristin Scott Thomas). What follows is a stormy relationship with this literary giant who provides her with a life few women of her time can enjoy. Yet, Nelly is equally revolted by Charles' emotional cruelty and determination to keep her secret. In that conflict, Nelly must judge her own role in her life and decide if the price she pays is bearable.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Plot Keywords: older man younger woman relationship, based on true story, obesity, poverty, adulterous husband, scandal, false name ...

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#27. The Riot Club (2014)

Storyline: SPOILER: Alistair and Miles, both with aristocratic connections, start their first year at Oxford University though they are very different, Miles is down to earth and happy to have a girlfriend, Lauren, from a lower background whilst Alistair is a snob with aspirations to follow his uncle, a Tory MP. The common bond is that both become members of the Riot Club, a long established elite drinking club priding itself on hedonism and the belief that money can buy anything. Having been barred from most establishments in Oxford they have their annual dinner at the function room in a country pub, where their rowdy behavior angers other patrons though they reimburse Chris, the landlord. They hire a prostitute but she refuses to perform group sex, then one of them rings Lauren, whom they importune to Max's horror. Getting progressively more drunk and ingesting drugs they start to trash the room and, when Chris comes to complain, Alistair savagely assaults him, landing him in hospital. Though ...

Plot Keywords: oxford university, violence, initiation rite, debauchery, prostitute, breaking a glass, based on play ...

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#28. The Legend of Zorro (2005)

Storyline: In 1850--against the backdrop of political unrest, as the scheming Jacob McGivens tries to stop California from joining the Union--the mysterious black-caped masked swordsman, Alejandro de la Vega, aka Zorro, finds himself in an unavoidable predicament. Having spent almost a decade protecting his people and fighting injustice, Alejandro's wife, Elena, insists that he gives up the black mask, and become a true father to their eight-year-old son, Joaquin. However, when Elena leaves him for the French count, Armand, it becomes evident that the conceited aristocrat is up to no good. Can Zorro, the legendary defender of the innocent, save both his marriage and the country?

Plot Keywords: sword duel, train crash, pigeon, murder, mansion, horse, heroine ...

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#29. Field of Lost Shoes (2014)

Storyline: Based on a true story of the American Civil War, culminating at the Battle of New Market, May 1864. A group of teenage cadets sheltered from war at the Virginia Military Institute must confront the horrors of an adult world when they are called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley. Leaving behind their youth, these cadets must decide what they are fighting for.—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: slave auction, civil war, based on true story, 1850s, teenage boy, u.s. civil war, american civil war ...

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