Highest-Rated Movies about '1920s'

The Godfather: Part II (1974), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Shining (1980), Lion of the Desert (1980), Aparajito (1956), Citizen Kane (1941), Singin' in the Rain (1952) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best 1920s movies.

#1. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Storyline: The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

Plot Keywords: revenge, bloody body of child, corrupt politician, mafia, moral corruption, brutality, dysfunctional family ...

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#2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Storyline: George Bailey has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel but never had the opportunity in order to prevent rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents him from doing so is George's modest building and loan company, which was founded by his generous father. But on Christmas Eve, George's Uncle Billy loses the business's $8,000 while intending to deposit it in the bank. Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it from Billy. When the bank examiner discovers the shortage later that night, George realizes that he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse, finally allowing Potter to take over the town. Thinking of his wife, their young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide. But the prayers of his loved ones result in a gentle angel named Clarence coming to earth to help George, with the promise of earning his ...

Plot Keywords: guardian angel, christmas, alternate history, second chance, drugstore, rescue from drowning, falling through ice ...

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#4. The Shining (1980)

Storyline: Signing a contract, Jack Torrance, a normal writer and former teacher agrees to take care of a hotel which has a long, violent past that puts everyone in the hotel in a nervous situation. While Jack slowly gets more violent and angry of his life, his son, Danny, tries to use a special talent, the "Shining", to inform the people outside about whatever that is going on in the hotel.

Plot Keywords: labyrinth, identical twins, hotel, breaking down a door, snow, typewriter, based on the works of stephen king ...

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#5. Lion of the Desert (1980)

Storyline: In Fascist Italy pre-World War II, the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani is directly assigned by Benito Mussolini to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab nation. However, his troops are frequently defeated by the national leader Omar Mukhtar and his army of Bedouins. But the Butcher of Ethiopia and Libya uses a dirty war against the natives, slaughtering women, children, and aged people, to subdue Mukhtar.

Plot Keywords: arab, muslim, rebel, world war two, 1920s, 1930s, execution ...

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#6. Aparajito (1956)

Storyline: After living awhile in Benares, 10 year old Apu and his mother move in with her uncle in a small Bengali village. Apu enters a local school, where he does well. By the time he graduates, he has a scholarship to study at a college in Calcutta. So off he goes. His mother is torn by his leaving, and by his growing independence. She loves her son very much and wants him to succeed, but she does not want to be left alone.—John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

Plot Keywords: mother son relationship, college student, loss of mother, loss of father, family relationships, temple, fireworks ...

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#7. Citizen Kane (1941)

Storyline: A group of reporters are trying to decipher the last word ever spoken by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud". The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the top of the world.

Plot Keywords: new york, journalist, marriage, new york city, adultery, suicide attempt, newspaper publisher ...

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#8. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Storyline: 1927 Hollywood. Monumental Pictures' biggest stars, glamorous on-screen couple Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood, are also an off-screen couple if the trade papers and gossip columns are to be believed. Both perpetuate the public perception if only to please their adoring fans and bring people into the movie theaters. In reality, Don barely tolerates her, while Lina, despite thinking Don beneath her, simplemindedly believes what she sees on screen in order to bolster her own stardom and sense of self-importance. R.F. Simpson, Monumental's head, dismisses what he thinks is a flash in the pan: talking pictures. It isn't until The Jazz Singer (1927) becomes a bona fide hit which results in all the movie theaters installing sound equipment that R.F. knows Monumental, most specifically in the form of Don and Lina, have to jump on the talking picture bandwagon, despite no one at the studio knowing anything about the technology. Musician Cosmo Brown, Don's best friend, gets hired as Monumental's ...

Plot Keywords: raincoat, recording studio, straw hat, pianist, femme fatale, pearl necklace, dancing ...

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#9. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Storyline: Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster.

Plot Keywords: mexico, birdcage, blood, brandy, burial, cactus, campfire ...

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#10. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

Storyline: Having returned from fighting in World War I, James Allen doesn't want to settle into a humdrum life and decides to set off to find his fortune. He travels the length and breadth of America, working as a skilled tradesman in the construction industry. When times get tough however, he finds himself living in a shelter where an acquaintance suggests they go out for a hamburger. What the friend really has in mind is to rob the diner and Allen soon finds himself working on a chain gang with a long jail sentence. Allen manages to escape however and heads to Chicago where over several years he slowly but surely works his way up the ladder to become one of the most respected construction engineers in the city. His past catches up with him and despite protestations from civic leaders and his many friends in Chicago, he finds himself again on the chain gang. Escaping for a second time, he accepts that to survive, he must lead a life of crime.

Plot Keywords: blackmail, escaped prisoner, prison, world war one veteran, forced marriage, gold digger, false accusation ...

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#11. Some Like It Hot (1959)

Storyline: When two Chicago musicians, Joe and Jerry, witness the the St. Valentine's Day massacre, they want to get out of town and get away from the gangster responsible, Spats Colombo. They're desperate to get a gig out of town but the only job they know of is in an all-girl band heading to Florida. They show up at the train station as Josephine and Daphne, the replacement saxophone and bass players. They certainly enjoy being around the girls, especially Sugar Kane Kowalczyk who sings and plays the ukulele. Joe in particular sets out to woo her while Jerry/Daphne is wooed by a millionaire, Osgood Fielding III. Mayhem ensues as the two men try to keep their true identities hidden and Spats Colombo and his crew show up for a meeting with several other crime lords.

Plot Keywords: sex comedy, comedy of errors, 1920s, disguise, farce, organized crime, prohibition ...

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#12. The Circus (1928)

Storyline: The Tramp finds himself at a circus where he is promptly chased around by the police who think he is a pickpocket. Running into the Bigtop, he is an accidental sensation with his hilarious efforts to elude the police. The circus owner immediately hires him, but discovers that the Tramp cannot be funny on purpose, so he takes advantage of the situation by making the Tramp a janitor who just happens to always be in the Bigtop at showtime. Unaware of this exploitation, the Tramp falls for the owner's lovely acrobatic stepdaughter, who is abused by her father. His chances seem good, until a dashing rival comes in and Charlie feels he has to compete with him.

Plot Keywords: ring, face slap, fainting, falling, father in law son in law relationship, fear, fight ...

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#13. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)

Storyline: China in the 1920's. After her father's death, nineteen year old Songlian is forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerful family. Fifty year old Chen has already three wives, each of them living in separate houses within the great castle. The competition between the wives is tough, as their master's attention carries power, status and privilege. Each night Chen must decide with which wife to spend the night and a red lantern is lit in front of the house of his choice. And each wife schemes and plots to make sure it's hers. However, things get out of hand...

Plot Keywords: 1920s, power struggle, tradition, intrigue, injection, infidelity, illness ...

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#14. Inherit the Wind (1960)

Storyline: Teacher B.T. Cates is arrested for teaching Darwin's theories. Famous lawyer Henry Drummond defends him; fundamentalist politician Matthew Brady prosecutes. This is a very thinly disguised rendition of the 1925 "Scopes monkey trial" with debates between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan taken largely from the transcripts.

Plot Keywords: courtroom drama, based on play, 1920s, religious zealot, jury, evolution, lawyer ...

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#15. The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002)

Storyline: Bhagat was born in British India during the year 1908. As a child he witnessed numerous atrocities committed on fellow Indians by their British rulers, who came to trade under the guise of the East India Company, but ended up controlling most of the nation, and permitting tyrants such as General Dyer to massacre thousands of innocent men, women and children in Jallianwala Baug. As a child he was impressed by Mohandas K. Gandhi, especially his call to launch the non-cooperation movement, which led to thousands of people burning British-made clothing, giving up schools, &amp; college studies, and government jobs - only to be let down by Gandhi himself when he called off the movement. Undaunted, Bhagat decided to be a revolutionary, starting with getting into petty fights, then as a grown-up joining the Hindustan Republic Association. When Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten to death by the police, Bhagat, along with Shivram Rajguru, Sukhdev, and others daringly carried out the assassination of a ...

Plot Keywords: character name in title, independence, laboratory, lawyer, martyr, movie theater, patriotism ...

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