Best History Movies of 1977

Beginning before the Nativity and extending through the Crucifixion and Resurrection, this mini-series brings to life all of the sweeping drama in the life of Jesus, as told by the Gospels.

It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.

Acclaimed director Franco Zeffirelli and an all-star cast come together to deliver a powerful adaptation of the Gospels in 1977's Jesus Of Nazareth. From the Nativity to the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the life of Jesus (played by Robert Powell) is presented with stunning depth, gravity and emotion.

Passion, beauty, and brilliant storytelling are all on display in this six-hour-plus epic from Italian director Franco Zeffirelli. Robert Powell is superb in the title role, and with the overwhelming success of this TV movie throughout the world, has perhaps become what Jesus looks like in many people's minds. The story begins with the arrangements of the wedding between Joseph and Mary, and chronicles the nativity, the encounter with John the Baptist (a ferocious Michael York) and everything up to the crucifixion and resurrection.

The story of Louis XIV of France and his attempts to keep his identical twin brother Philippe imprisoned away from sight and knowledge of the public, and Philippe's rescue by the aging Musketeers, led by D'Artagnan.

The film portrays MacArthur's (Gregory Peck) life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War command by President Truman (Ed Flanders) for insubordination, and is recounted in flashback as he visits West Point.

In 1926 the tragic and untimely death of a silent screen actor caused female moviegoers to riot in the streets and in some cases to commit suicide...

The story of American track sprinter Wilma Rudolph, who overcame physical handicaps to win three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics.

The life story of Scott Joplin and how he became the greatest ragtime composer of all time.

A film-détournement biography of Mao Tse-tung in which the life of the recently deceased Great Helmsman is told in his own words, using quotes culled from various Red Guard publications. The rise to power of the film's namesake appears as the inevitable outcome of a dialectical logical. Or so the voice-over might lead one to believe. If the usual practice of détourned films is for the soundtrack to undermine the image, here the reverse occasionally takes place. The images critique Mao's words. They show that which, even in the official visual record of the times, the narrative elides. The film is dedicated to Li Yhi Zhe, the nominal author of a famous Democracy Wall critique of the Maoist state.

The files that escaped the shredder have become an incredible motion picture. From the Kennedys to Martin Luther King. From cab drivers to Congressmen. From housewives to hostesses. He had something on 58 million people. It was all in his files. Now you can see how he used it.

A thoroughly researched biopic of Charles Ives, America's greatest and most innovative composer (and insurance man). Includes narration taken directly from Ives's own writings, and reminiscence from those who knew him.

An investigation into the theory that Mt. Ararat in Turkey is the final resting place of Noah's Ark.

This historical costume drama is a mini-series on the life of Flemish first-rate Baroque painter Pieter Pauwel Rubens (1577-1640), whose artistic success throughout Europe not only made him a fortune allowing him to stock his Antwerp residence ('Rubenshuis' in Dutch) and a castle at Elewijt, in the countryside nearer Brussels, with numerous fashionable treasures, but also became an ennobled diplomat for the Spanish Hapsburg rulers of the Southern Low Countries (now Belgium), who often traveled, for painting commissions and/or diplomatic missions, to and worked in Italy, France, Spain, all Catholic powers, as well as protestant England and the United Provinces (mainly Holland), also allowing him to meet other prominent contemporaries such as artists. It further covers his marriages to Isabella Brandt and Hélène Fourment.

The life and works of 19th-century circuit rider Robert S. Sheffey.

This is Dr. Francis Schaeffer's spectacular series on the rise and decline of Western culture from a Christian perspective. The series presents profound truths in simple language and concludes that man's only hope is a return to God's Biblical absolute -- the Truth revealed in Christ through the Scriptures. Each 30-minute episode focuses on a significant era of history while presenting answers to modern problems: The Roman Age The Middle Ages The Renaissance The Reformation The Revolutionary Age The Scientific Age The Age of Non-reason The Age of Fragmentation The Age of Personal Peace & Affluence Final Choices

Experimental historical film, with documentary elements. A study of the conceptual development of the young hero Julio Antonio Mella, founder of the Communist Party of Cuba, from the process of the Student Reforms to his assassination in Mexico at the age of 25, in the arms of the Italian photographer Tina Modotti.

First transmitted in 1977, this documentary follows three months in the life of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Green Jackets (also known as the Black Mafia) as they move from their Dover barracks for a tour of duty at the Tower of London. The Royal Green Jackets are light infantry, trained to move fast. Above all they are riflemen and take pride in their reputation of being thinking fighting soldiers.

Dijon, in the time of Napoleon. Emilie Sagee begins her career as a schoolteacher - a career haunted by a mysterious handicap that led to her losing 18 jobs in 16 years. This reconstruction is based on the evidence of her pupils and covers the year she spent at a school in Latvia-a year which nearly brought the school to ruin and forced her at last to face the cause of her misfortunes.

One of Paik’s most overtly political and poignant statements, Guadalcanal Requiem is a performance/documentary collage that confronts history, time, cultural memory and mythology on the site of one of World War II’s most devastating battles.