20th Century Period Pieces on Netflix
Last updated January 22, 2025
Titanic
1997 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis cinematic spectacle -- winner of 11 Oscars -- follows society girl Rose and penniless artist Jack as they fall in love just as tragedy strikes. Rereleased for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, the stirring romance remains timeless.
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Dirty Dancing
1987 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsExpecting the usual tedium of summer in the mountains with her family, 17-year-old Frances is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional dancer -- and falling in love with the resort's free-spirited dance instructor.
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The Cider House Rules
1999 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsA surrogate son and protégé to a kindly physician who runs an orphanage in rural Maine, itchy Homer Wells sets off wide-eyed to see the world -- but cold reality soon intrudes on his youthful idealism and moral certitude.
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Water for Elephants
2011 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsIn this captivating Depression-era melodrama, impetuous veterinary student Jacob Jankowski joins a celebrated circus as an animal caretaker but faces a wrenching dilemma when he's transfixed by angelic married performer Marlena.
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The Red Baron
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsBased on the true story of the notorious World War I flying ace, this drama explores the life of Manfred von Richthofen -- aka the Red Baron -- from his childhood fascination with flying to his renowned career in the German Luftwaffe.
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Dirty Girl
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsWhen promiscuous teen Danielle is sentenced to special ed for making sexually charged comments in class, she befriends gay, overweight Clarke, who agrees to join her on a search to find her father -- in part so he can get away from his own.
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Bottle Shock
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsFrance's position as the world's top wine producer went unchallenged until 1976, when the Montelena Winery put California wines on the map -- a story delightfully told in this full-bodied tale about the heady early days of Napa Valley's success.
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Across the Universe
2007 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIn this musical mix of live action and animation featuring songs by the Beatles, Liverpool dock worker Jude falls for Lucy on an excursion to America in the 1960s. But when Lucy's brother is drafted, Jude and Lucy take a stand as anti-war activists.
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Shining Through
1992 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsNew York secretary Linda Voss (Melanie Griffith) suspects that her boss, Ed Leland (Michael Douglas), is an American spy. When the United States enters World War II and Ed's key operative in Berlin is killed, Linda convinces her boss to let her go undercover. Linda is dropped behind enemy lines to penetrate the household of a high-ranking enemy official. Will she make it out alive? Also stars Liam Neeson, John Gielgud and Joely Richardson.
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An Education
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsJenny's (Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan) Oxford-bound teen life is a bore in 1961 London until she's given a different kind of education after being immersed in the beguiling but hazardous world of much-older David (Peter Sarsgaard). Even Jenny's parents, Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour), are intrigued by him, but her unimpressed teacher (Olivia Williams) works to keep Jenny's entire future from crumbling under David's influence.
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The Great Raid
2005 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIn World War II, a battalion goes on a daring rescue mission to liberate the Americans and Filipinos who've been captured by the Japanese and thrown into brutal POW camps in the city of Cabanatuan.
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Floating City
2012 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAbandoned in 1940s Hong Kong, an ostracized blue-eyed Asian boy works his way up from lowly laborer to an esteemed engineer and eventually marries a beautiful wife. Yet he remains haunted by his painful past.
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The Damned United
2009 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsDirector Tom Hooper's fictionalized biopic chronicles the colorful career of Brian Clough, the fiercely strong-willed and outspoken soccer manager who served a famously short tenure at the helm of England's reigning champs, Leeds United, in 1974.
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Winter in Wartime
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsThis sumptuously photographed drama focuses on 14-year-old Michiel as he wrestles with family loyalties, painful choices between safety and courage, and the harsh realities of the last, desperate winter of World War II.
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Miller's Crossing
1990 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsTrusted adviser to 1920s Irish crime boss Lee O'Bannon, Tom Reagan's loyalty is tested when he takes up with O'Bannon's gal pal, Verna Bernbaum. Meanwhile, rivals Johnny Caspar and Eddie Dane threaten O'Bannon's racket. Gabriel Byrne, John Turturro, Albert Finney, Steve Buscemi, Jon Polito, J.E. Freeman and Marcia Gay Harden star in this marvelously crafted, unnerving crime-era epic helmed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
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Chocolat
2000 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsA single mother and her young daughter move into a peaceful French village and open a chocolate shop during the height of Lent. At first, the shop's rich, sensuous desserts scandalize the town. But the villagers soon learn to savor the sweetness.
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Flame and Citron
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsThis fact-based drama explores the less-than-heroic side of World War II Danish Resistance fighters Flame and Citron, who, after taking orders from a Resistance leader, systematically assassinated Danish collaborators and Nazi officers.
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Frida
2002 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsJulie Taymor directs this Oscar-winning biopic of painter Frida Kahlo, focusing on her often rocky relationship with husband Diego Rivera and her controversial political and sexual reputation (she was a communist and openly bisexual).
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Carlos
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIlich Ramírez Sánchez -- aka Carlos the Jackal -- is an elusive Venezuelan terrorist who executed scores of assassination plots, abductions and bombings across Europe and the Middle East. This biopic follows Carlos from 1973 to 1994.
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Christopher and His Kind
2011 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsThis intimate adaptation of acclaimed novelist Christopher Isherwood's memoir conjures the young explorer's 1931 arrival, with poet W.H. Auden, on Berlin's decadent cabaret scene, along with the hearts he gained and lost in that anything-goes era.
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Nowhere Boy
2009 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsRaised by his aunt since he was a young boy, charismatic teen John Lennon is reunited with his mother, which ignites a bitter battle between the two sisters for John's affections. Along the way, John befriends fellow Liverpool lad Paul McCartney.
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Bride Flight
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsSet in the 1950s, this lush epic centers on Ada, Marjorie and Esther, Dutch brides-to-be flying to New Zealand to take up married life. On the trip, they form a bond and meet a dashing cowboy who alters their lives in unseen ways.
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Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsWhen 9-year-old Chiyo is sold to a geisha house, she endures harsh treatment from the owners and the haughty head geisha, who's envious of Chiyo's beauty. Chiyo eventually blooms in her role, but World War II threatens to change her life forever.
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Von Ryan's Express
1965 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAt the height of World War II, a group of Allied POWs escapes an Italian prison with the help of an idealistic American leader (Frank Sinatra), whose style clashes with that of his second in command (Trevor Howard). Just a few steps from freedom, the men are captured again -- this time by German troops. A series of twists and turns drives them to commandeer the very train that's transporting them to certain death.
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Flyboys
2006 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsFarm boy Blaine Rawlings and his fellow soldiers become the world's first fighter pilots when they join the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of Americans who are volunteering for the French military at the dawn of World War I.
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