1950s War Movies
The 40 most popular 1950s war movies on Flickfolio, ranked by popularity. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.

Dong Cunrui
1955 · 1h 40m
country: China
This war film tells the story of a martyr who gave his life in order to save his comrades. It pays tribute to Dong at the same time as it glorifies the communist revolution and provides a model hero for the audience to emulate.

The Long March
1959 · 1h 35m
country: China
A general depiction of the famous 1930's Long March of the Chinese Red Army.

Ethnic Hui Detachment
1959 · 1h 31m
country: China
No overview available

Paths of Glory
1957 · 1h 28m
country: United States
A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.

The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957 · 2h 42m
country: United Kingdom
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

Helen of Troy
1956 · 2h 1m
country: United States
Prince Paris of Troy, shipwrecked on a mission to the king of Sparta, meets and falls for Queen Helen before he knows who she is. Rudely received by the royal Greeks, he must flee...but fate and their mutual passions lead him to take Helen along. This gives the Greeks just the excuse they need for much-desired war.

Battle on the Lake
1955
country: China
No overview available

The Long March
1950 · 2h 8m
country: Indonesia
It tells the story of an Indonesian revolutionary who falls in love with one of his Dutch prisoners.

Five heroes on Langya Mountain
1958
country: China
Five soldiers of the Eighth Route Army fight heroically to cover the evacuation of local people from border area between Shanxi and Hebei provinces as the Japanese attack.

The Cow and I
1959 · 1h 58m
country: France
In 1942, a French prisonner of war in Germany decide to escape to France using a cow hold by a lunge as a decoy. He cross all Germany in this way.

War and Peace
1956 · 3h 28m
country: Italy
The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

The Cranes Are Flying
1957 · 1h 37m
country: Soviet Union
Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.

Battle on Shangganling Mountain
1956 · 2h 3m
country: China
The film follows a group of Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers who are holding Triangle Hill for several days against US forces. Short of both food and water, they hold their ground until the relief troops arrive. The movie portray the battle as a Chinese victory over an American invasion, and the People's Volunteer Army soldiers were shown as Chinese war heroes."

From Here to Eternity
1953 · 1h 58m
country: United States
In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.

Moment of Decision
1955 · 1h 41m
country: Yugoslavia
A story set in a Slovenian town during WW2. The White Guardists bring a wounded partisan to doctor Koren, but he kills their lieutenant, thus helping them both to escape.

Forbidden Games
1952 · 1h 27m
country: France
Orphaned after a Nazi air raid, Paulette, a young Parisian girl, runs into Michel, an older peasant boy, and the two quickly become close. Together, they try to make sense of the chaotic and crumbling world around them, attempting to cope with death as they create a burial ground for Paulette's deceased pet dog. Eventually, however, Paulette's stay with Michel's family is threatened by the harsh realities of wartime.

Emergency Landing
1952 · 1h 40m
country: Norway
An American bomber is shot down on the Norwegian coast during World War II. The airmen bail out and land at different locations. In spite of the German search for them, the Norwegian resistance picks them up and hides them in the attic of the local church, a center of operations. Things become tense, however, when the hideout is spotted by a notorious collaborator, and soon the protagonist, Hans, has to get the airmen to Sweden.

Stalag 17
1953 · 2h
country: United States
After two American prisoners are killed by guards in the act of escaping from a German POW camp in World War II, barracks black marketeer J.J. Sefton is suspected of being an informer.

The Enemy Below
1957 · 1h 37m
country: United States
The crew of the American destroyer escort, the USS Haynes, detects a German U-Boat—resulting in a prolonged, deadly battle of wits.

Guerrillas on the Plain
1955
country: China
A guerrilla group led by Li Xiangyang are ambushed by the Japanese invasion army during the War of Resistance.

Fate of a Man
1959 · 1h 43m
country: Soviet Union
The story of a man whose life was ruthlessly crippled by World War II. His wife and daughters were killed during the bombing of his village, he spent some time as a prisoner, and his only son was killed in action only a few days before the victory...

Solomon and Sheba
1959 · 2h 19m
country: United States
Near death, King David has a vision that his poet son, Solomon, should succeed him, rather than hot-headed Adonijah. Furious, Adonijah departs the court, swearing he will become king. Other rulers are concerned that Solomon's benevolent rule and interest in monotheism will threaten their tyrannical, polytheistic kingdoms. The Queen of Sheba makes an agreement with the Egyptian pharaoh to corrupt Solomon for their mutual benefit.

South Pacific
1958 · 2h 37m
country: United States
Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama.

Operation Petticoat
1959 · 2h 4m
country: United States
A World War II submarine commander finds himself stuck with a damaged sub, a con-man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.

Ballad of a Soldier
1959 · 1h 29m
country: Soviet Union
During World War II, earnest young Russian soldier Alyosha Skvortsov is rewarded with a short leave of absence for performing a heroic deed on the battlefield. Feeling homesick, he decides to visit his mother. Due to his kindhearted nature, however, Alyosha is repeatedly sidetracked by his efforts to help those he encounters, including a lovely girl named Shura. In his tour of a country devastated by war, he struggles to keep hope alive.

Rita
1958 · 1h 21m
country: Soviet Union
The last summer of World War II in a Latvian fishing village. Ten-year-old Rita risks her life to care for and provide everything necessary for four prisoners of war rescued by fishermen—a Frenchman, a Russian, and two Latvians—who are hidden in the attic of a school converted into a warehouse by the German army.

The Enemy Cut down the Ways
1959 · 1h 34m
country: Turkey
Set in the period of the Turkish War of Independence, the film depicts the smuggling of arms and ammunition from Istanbul to Ankara.it is also an intelligent, brilliantly written multiple character study with rich psychological depth.

Distant Drums
1951 · 1h 41m
country: United States
After destroying a Seminole fort, American soldiers and their rescued companions must face the dangerous Everglades and hostile Indians in order to reach safety

The Bridge
1956 · 1h 35m
country: Soviet Union
A small Lithuanian town. The young engineer Algirdas Araminas completed the construction of the new bridge. On the day the opening was supposed to take place, the bridge was destroyed by German bombs. The war has begun. Algirdas is depressed, he gets down and starts drinking. However, when the Germans began to rebuild the bridge, he agrees to work.

Bouboulina
1959 · 1h 24m
country: Greece
The life and action of Laskarina Bouboulina. Captain Lascarina decides to organize the revolution in Spetses and to participate herself, despite her double widowhood. In the struggle for the liberation of Greece, she gives all her property and fighting along with her lads.

The Wind
1959 · 1h 39m
country: Soviet Union
Filmed in the context of the fortieth anniversary of the creation of the Komsomols, the League of Young Communists, tells the story of three youth delegates from the League in 1918, who must make the dangerous journey to Moscow during the civil war to participate in League’s congress.

Alexander the Great
1956 · 2h 16m
country: Spain
An engrossing spectacle set in the 4th-century BC, in which Alexander of Greece leads his troops forth, conquering all of the known world, in the belief that the Greek way of thinking will bring enlightenment to people. The son of the barbaric and ruthless King Philip of Macedonia, Alexander achieved glory in his short but remarkable life.

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
1957 · 1h 48m
country: United States
A Roman Catholic nun and a hard-bitten US Marine are stranded together on a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific during World War II. Under constant threat of discovery by a ruthless enemy, they hide in a cave and forage for food together. Their forced companionship and the struggle for survival forge a powerful emotional bond between them.

The Letter with Feathers
1954
country: China
Twelve-year-old Hai Wa sends a secret letter containing Japanese military information to the Eight Route Army during the anti-Japanese war.

The Horse Soldiers
1959 · 1h 55m
country: United States
A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail supply center. Along with them is sent a doctor who causes instant antipathy between him and the commander. The secret plan for the mission is overheard by a southern belle who must be taken along to assure her silence.

Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
1951 · 1h 57m
country: United Kingdom
Captain Horatio Hornblower leads his ship HMS Lydia on a perilous transatlantic voyage, during which his faithful crew battle both a Spanish warship and a ragged band of Central American rebels.

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
1951 · 1h 28m
country: United States
The life and career of Erwin Rommel and his involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler.

The Daughter of the Party
1958
country: China
The story of Yu Mei, a female communist who sacrifices her life for the good of her people.

Red Children
1958 · 1h 36m
country: China
The story of village children in the 1930s who do their part to help overthrow the White forces in semi-feudal China and bring the Reds to power.

Beat back
1956 · 1h 24m
country: South Korea
It is a dramatization about Major Kim Man-il's service during the Korean War. The Korean forces dispatch two military units to defend the Baeti Heights led by Kim. Although it is hard to do so, Kim and his senior, Kim Mu-cheol (Choe Bong), and other soldiers do their best. Kim even risks his life to save his juniors, but many die as the enemy forces approach. Meanwhile, Lee Kang-no (Yun Il-bong), a communications officer, reads a letter from his wife - missing her and his daughter. Encouraged by it, Lee risks his life to make successful communication between his military unit and the headquarters. His unit wins. Commander Kim Man-su gathers a small number of his subordinates because many had died, and encourages them to do their best toward the enemy off.