Best History Movies of 1937

A way of life is dying on a remote Scottish island, but some of the inhabitants resist evacuating to the mainland.

China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.

A polish countess dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to make Poland independent.

British agent working in Russia is forced to remain longer than planned once the revolution begins. After being released from prison in Siberia he poses as a Russian Commissar. Because of his position among the revolutionaries, he is able to rescue a Russian countess from the Bolsheviks.

The film is a historical drama set during the reign of Elizabeth I (Flora Robson), focusing on the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, whence the title. In 1588, relations between Spain and England are at the breaking point. With the support of Queen Elizabeth I, British sea raiders such as Sir Francis Drake regularly capture Spanish merchantmen bringing gold from the New World.

Nina Maria Azara is the beautiful and alluring singing spy for Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. Her mission is to seduce French Officers, in order for them to reveal Napolean's intentions toward Spain. She is sent to Bayonne, France to gather military secrets. Prior to this, she meets, Don Diego while performing at a club. Unknown to her, Don Diego is actually Captain Andre, who is sent to Spain to spy on her. While in France, Nina discovers Diego's true identity, only after she has fallen in love with him. Nina Maria outwits her potential captors and returns to Spain, and goes into hiding. Napoleon's troops invade Spain, resulting in Nina's capture. In a strange twist of fate, Nina and Captain Andre are reunited, but, the 2 nations are now at war... Written by Kelly

In the face of rebellion in Russia, Czar Alexander II sends soldier Michael Strogoff 2,000 miles away, with a critical message for Grand Duke Vladimir. On the train journey, Michael befriends a traveler and comes into contact with a mysterious spy, who both unexpectedly aid him in his quest. Once behind enemy lines, Michael is near his hometown and his mother, whom he must avoid in order to fulfill his mission.

This Pete Smith Specialty tells how Glenn Morris trained for and won the 1936 Olympic decathlon event.

Spies on opposite sides fall in love in pre-revolutionary Russia.

After the American Civil War, Jim Fisk, a former peddler and cotton smuggler, arrives in New York, along with his partners Nick and Luke, where he struggles to make his way through the treacherous world of Wall Street's financial markets.

Romance of Radium is a 1937 American short film directed by Jacques Tourneur, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This short film tells the story of the discovery of radium and how it is used in medicine. In 1937, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (One-Reel) at the 10th Academy Awards

The 1937 film version of Bret Harte's story, starring Preston Foster.

This short explores the possibility that Louis XVII, son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, escaped death during the French Revolution and was raised by Indians in America.

A short historical drama about the Louisiana Purchase.

After John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, he escaped to Maryland and was discovered hiding in a barn. After he refused to surrender, the barn was set afire and Booth died in the blaze. However, in 1903 a Mr. David E. George, while on his deathbed in Enid, Oklahoma, claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. This MGM An Historical Mystery series short presents evidence of the possibility that Mr. George's claim was true.

The film biography of Queen Victoria focussing initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after Albert's death in 1861.

Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell struggles to free his country from English rule, but his relationship with married Katie O'Shea threatens to ruin all his dreams of freedom.

In the 1840s, Ramsey MacKay, the driver for the struggling Wells Fargo mail and freight company, will secure an important contract if he delivers fresh oysters to Buffalo from New York City. When he rescues Justine Pryor and her mother, who are stranded in a broken wagon on his route, he doesn't let them slow him down and gives the ladies an exhilirating ride into Buffalo. He arrives in time to obtain the contract and is then sent by company president Henry Wells to St. Louis to establish a branch office.

The Vicar of Bray is a satirical description of an individual fundamentally changing his principles to remain in ecclesiastical office as external requirements change around him. The religious upheavals in England from 1533 to 1559 and from 1633 to 1715 made it almost impossible for any individual to comply with the successive religious requirements of the state.

Servant of the People: The Story of the Constitution of the United States is a 1937 short directed by Edward Cahn.

Short comedic subject on the history of photography from the daguerrotype to modern amateur photographers.

This MGM Tabloid Musical short tells the story of how France's national anthem, "La Marseillaise", came to be written during the French Revolution.

In early spring of 1833, the smoldering resentment of American settlers in Texas against their oppression by Mexico dictator General Santa Anna/Ana coming to a head. When a decree is issued that no more Americans may enter Texas, William H. Wharton, fiery head of a faction determined on independence or nothing, warns Stephen F. Austin that the time for half-measures is past. Austin, responsible for bringing the Americans to Texas as colonists, reminds Wharton that a settler's revolt against Mexico would dishonor his name and the arrangements he had with the Mexican government. He gets the "Whartonites" to agree to a general convention of all colonists. Almerian Dickinson, biggest land owner in the settlement of Gonzales, deeply in love with his wife Anne, warns Wharton that a bloody revolt would endanger every wife and mother in the colony. He proposes they send Austin to Mexico City to ask Santa Anna to grant Texans a voice in their own government.

Not quite a western, not quite a historical drama, Under Strange Flags is a little bit of both, and a lot of former RKO Radio cowboy hero Tom Keene. The star is cast as Tom Kenyon, a roving adventurer in Mexico during the Revolution. Hoping to protect the silver mine owned by heroine Dolores De Vargas (Luana Walters), Tom receives unexpected assistance from none other than rebel leader Pancho Villa (Maurice Black).