The best Orson Welles’s history movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Orson Welles’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Orson Welles.
King of Kings
7/10
Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.
A Man for All Seasons
7.7/10
A depiction of the conflict between King Henry VIII of England and his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, who refuses to swear the Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry Supreme Head of the Church in England.
Shogun
7.8/10
An English navigator becomes both pawn and player in the deadly political games in feudal Japan.
The Vikings
7/10
Einar, brutal son of Ragnar and future heir to his throne, tangles with Eric, a wily slave, for the hand of a beautiful English maiden.
The Magnificent Ambersons
7.6/10
The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
Chimes at Midnight
7.6/10
The culmination of Orson Welles’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare’s robustly funny and ultimately tragic antihero, Sir John Falstaff; the often soused friend of King Henry IV’s wayward son Prince Hal. Integrating elements from both Henry IV plays as well as Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Is Paris Burning?
6.8/10
Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.
Waterloo
7.3/10
After defeating France and imprisoning Napoleon on Elba, ending two decades of war, Europe is shocked to find Napoleon has escaped and has caused the French Army to defect from the King back to him. The best of the British generals, the Duke of Wellington, beat Napolean's best generals in Spain and Portugal, but now must beat Napoleon himself with an Anglo Allied army.
Austerlitz
6.3/10
The first half of this film covers Napoleon's coronation as Emperor and political manoeuvrings while the second half covers the actual battle.
The Black Rose
6.2/10
In the 13th century, Walter of Gurnie, a disinherited Saxon youth, is forced to flee England. With his friend, Tristram, he falls in with the army of the fierce but avuncular General Bayan, and journeys all the way to China, where both men become involved in intrigues in the court of Kublai Khan.
Royal Affairs in Versailles
6.8/10
Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocratic Louis XIV, whose personal affairs and amours, and those of his two successors, are followed in more detail to the start of the Revolution, after which the story is brought rapidly up to date. A huge cast plays mainly historical persons who appear briefly.
Start the Revolution Without Me
6.4/10
An account of the adventures of two sets of identical twins, badly scrambled at birth, on the eve of the French Revolution. One set is haughty and aristocratic, the other poor and somewhat dim. They find themselves involved in palace intrigues as history happens around them. Based, very loosely, on Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities," Dumas's "The Corsican Brothers," etc.
Genocide
7.3/10
The mass murder of Jewish people by the Nazi regime is chronicled, with a warning that anti-Semitism is on the rise and the events of the Holocaust could happen again. The history of European Jewish culture and events before and during the Holocaust are seen in newsreels, photographs, and animated segments. The words of the victims of the era are read, and footage from the liberation os a concentration camp is shown.
Prince of Foxes
6.9/10
In 1500, Duke Cesare Borgia hopes to marry his sister to the heir apparent of Ferrara, which impedes his conquest of central Italy. On this delicate mission he sends Andrea Orsini, his sister's lover and nearly as unscrupulous as himself. En route, Orsini meets Camilla Verano, wife of the count of Citta' del Monte, and sentiment threatens to turn him against his deadly master, whom no one betrays twice...
The Secret of Nikola Tesla
7.2/10
Life and times of Nikola Tesla, famous scientist whose inventions were stolen, but whose greatest contribution to mankind remain a mystery to this day.
Lafayette
6/10
Upon This Rock
6.8/10
Drama describing the story of the building of Saint Peter's Cathedral, Vatican, Rome.
A King's Story
7.2/10
A King's Story is a 1965 British documentary film directed by Harry Booth about the life of King Edward VIII, from his birth until abdication in 1936. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
