Classic Dramas on Netflix
Last updated April 28, 2024
Fiddler on the Roof
1971 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsDirector Norman Jewison chronicles the trials of Jewish peasant Tevye, the humble father of three strong-willed daughters and husband to oft-objecting wife Golde in pre-revolutionary Russia.
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Lawrence of Arabia
1962 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis Oscar-winning epic tells the true story of T.E. Lawrence, who helped unite warring Arab tribes to strike back against the Turks in World War I. This lush, timeless classic underscores the clash between cultures that changed the tide of war.
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Patton
1970 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsGen. George S. Patton (George C. Scott) earned the nickname "Blood and Guts" for his determination on the battlefield. This epic-scale production follows the commander as he guides his troops across Africa and Europe, illuminating a man whose life was defined by war. Director Franklin J. Schaffner's multiple Oscar winner is a character study masquerading as a World War II film, with astonishing combat scenes and reflection on Patton's inner life.
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The Grapes of Wrath
1940 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsTom Joad, a Depression-era everyman, leads his poor family on a harrowing journey from Oklahoma's Dust Bowl to the promised land of California in this adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel.
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Cleopatra
1963 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis epic saga of love, greed and betrayal stars Elizabeth Taylor as the Egyptian queen who's determined to hold on to the throne and seduces Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general.
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Rocky
1976 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsWhen world heavyweight boxing champ Apollo Creed announces he'll give an unknown fighter a shot at the title as a publicity stunt, his handlers pick palooka Rocky Balboa, an uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark.
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Miracle on 34th Street
1955 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThe holiday spirit is alive and well in this televised take on the 1947 film that earned Edmund Gwenn an Oscar for his portrayal of Kris Kringle. In this version, Thomas Mitchell dons Santa's suit to play a man who could be capable of miracles. Sandy Descher stars as the little girl who hangs on to her skepticism, with Teresa Wright co-starring as her mother, a hardworking woman with no time in her schedule to believe.
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Kagemusha
1980 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThree warlord clans are battling for control of medieval Japan. When the leader of the Takeda clan, Lord Shingen (Tatsuya Nakadai), is mortally wounded, he orders that his death be kept secret from his enemies. The clan searches for a "shadow warrior," an exact double, to take his place. Now, a thief named Kagemusha (Nakadai in a double role) must fight for an empire in this stunning film from legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
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Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsNamed for the Japanese phrase that signals the start of an attack, Tora! Tora! Tora! tells both the American and Japanese versions of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor that catapulted the United States into World War II.
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The Agony and the Ecstasy
1965 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsCharlton Heston stars as Renaissance artist Michelangelo, who begrudgingly paints the Sistine Chapel for imperious Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) in this epic adaptation of Irvine Stone's novel directed by Carol Reed. While the novel covers Michelangelo's life from birth to death, the film focuses on the battle of wills between the perfectionist artist and the impatient Pope who commissions (and eventually commands) him to paint the famed chapel.
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Charlie Chaplin Collection
1914 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsSilent-film legend Charlie Chaplin dishes out long laughs in this collection of comedic shorts that finds the mischievous Tramp portraying a waiter, a drunk and a man mistakenly accused of shoplifting, among many other characters.
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Charlie Chaplin Collection: Shorts
1914 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsSilent-film legend Charlie Chaplin dishes out long laughs in this collection of comedic shorts that finds the mischievous Tramp portraying a waiter, a drunk and a man mistakenly accused of shoplifting, among many other characters.
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Gentleman's Agreement
1947 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsEnterprising reporter Phil Green (Gregory Peck), eager to blow the lid off anti-Semitism, accepts an assignment to pen a series of frank exposés for a progressive magazine. Looking for a new angle, Green poses as a Jew and soon endures the full spectrum of bigotry -- from being denied a job and use of public facilities to his son suffering a beating. Little by little, the journalist comes to understand the cruel effects of prejudice.
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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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The Robe
1953 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsHardened Roman Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) oversees the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. But problems arise when Marcellus wins Christ's robe in a dice game, played beneath the dying man. Haunted by guilt, Marcellus hopes that destroying the garment -- now in the possession of his escaped slave (Victor Mature) -- will cure his hallucinations. The film won Oscars for Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction and Best Set Decoration.
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Anastasia
1956 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn 1928 Paris, a pair of Russian émigrés coaches a troubled girl to impersonate Anastasia, the presumed-dead daughter of Czar Nicholas II, in order to collect a reward. As the hoax unfolds, the conspirators suspect they've found the real Anastasia.
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1776
1972 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsPeter Stone's Pultizer Prize-winning musical (starring much of the original Broadway cast) about the internecine congressional squabbling that led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence makes a glorious transition to the big screen. William Daniels is John Adams, Ken Howard is a statuesque Thomas Jefferson, and Howard Da Silva is hilarious as wit-cracker Ben Franklin. A very funny -- and poignant -- history lesson with a great score.
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Catch-22
1970 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsCapt. Yossarian (Alan Arkin) tries to escape the travesties of World War II by convincing his Air Force commanders that he's crazy. Hilarity ensues -- but so does reality as he watches his close friends (Martin Sheen and Art Garfunkel) die in the ridiculousness of war. Mike Nichols directs this cinematic adaptation of Joseph Heller's scathing black comedy about a small group of flyers in the Mediterranean in 1944.
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The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
1951 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThis classic World War II drama chronicles the life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (nicknamed the Desert Fox), focusing on his military career in North Africa, his connection to a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and his lonely demise.
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Midnight Cowboy
1969 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsTo earn cash as a freelance sex stud and work toward his dream of becoming a kept man, hayseed hustler Joe Buck heads to New York City, where an improbable friendship blossoms when he meets seedy con man Ratso Rizzo.
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Julia
1977 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsA case of writer's block and a chance to reconnect with lifelong friend Julia prompt American dramatist Lillian Hellman to journey to 1930s Europe. Julia, once a young woman of privilege, recruits Lillian for a risky undertaking.
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The Last Picture Show
1971 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThere's not much to do in the windswept Texas hamlet of Anarene, where the town's only cinema is about to close forever. So high schoolers Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) lust after incorrigible flirt Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd) while trying to chart their uncertain futures. When Duane heads for Korea after joining the service and Jacy gets shipped off to college, Sonny is left behind in a veritable ghost town.
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The House on Telegraph Hill
1951 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsRobert Wise's tense drama tells the story of a Nazi concentration camp survivor who assumes the identity of her dead best friend when the war ends. She moves to San Francisco, where she finds herself godmother to a young boy and heir to a fortune.
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Morituri
1965 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsA perilous game of cat and mouse ensues when a German defector -- employed by the British -- poses as a Nazi officer to gain entry onto a freighter to disarm explosives on the vessel, which is carrying a valuable load of crude rubber.
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Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
1955 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTragedy is in the offing when widowed Eurasian doctor Han Suyin falls for dashing American war correspondent Mark Elliot. Despite insurmountable obstacles, Han and Mark's love deepens till he's sent to cover the "police action" in Korea.
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