war – Old Movies – Free & Full

Morocco (1930)

Charlotte Movies — Wed, 06 May 2026 10:11:50 +0000

1h 28min. // A weary French Foreign Legion column tramps back into the port city of Mogador, its soldiers caked in dust and bravado. Among them is Private Tom Brown, a laconic American whose easy charm barely conceals a deep-rooted cynicism. At the same time, a ship docks bearing Amy Jolly, a disillusioned nightclub singer fleeing a mysterious past in Europe, hoping the North African outpost will offer anonymity, if not salvation.

Amy quickly becomes the sensation of a local cabaret, captivating the jaded expatriate crowd with her cool poise and androgynous allure. Onstage in a tuxedo and top hat, she toys with convention, crossing gender lines with a sly smile and a stolen kiss that leaves the room buzzing. In the audience, Tom watches her with a mixture of amusement and recognition, sensing in her the same emotional fatigue that haunts him.

Their paths intertwine in smoky nightclubs and moonlit streets, where flirtation gives way to a fragile, dangerous intimacy. Complicating matters is the presence of the wealthy, worldly Monsieur La Bessière, who offers Amy the one thing Tom cannot: security and a life free from the constant shadow of war. As the Legion is called back to the front and the political tensions of the Rif War close in, Amy is forced to choose between a comfortable future and a reckless, all-consuming love.

Amid swirling desert sands and baroque shadows, their story unfolds as a study in sacrifice and desire. The film builds to an unforgettable final image that crystallizes the central question: how far will a person go, and what will they surrender, for a love that may be doomed from the start?

Directed by: Josef von Sternberg

Writing Credits: Jules Furthman, Benno Vigny

Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Émile Chautard, Adolphe Menjou, Francis McDonald

*********************

Awards:

WON. National Board of Review: Top Ten Films. Category. Morocco (1930).
Academy Awards. Nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Marlene Dietrich), Best Director (Josef von Sternberg), Best Art Direction (Hans Dreier), and Best Cinematography (Lee Garmes).
United States National Film Registry. Selected for preservation by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Photo Gallery:

Hell’s Angels (1930)

Charlotte Movies — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:01:22 +0000

2h 7min. // Two brothers at Oxford could not be more different: Roy is dutiful and idealistic, while Monte is a carefree womanizer who dodges responsibility at every turn. Their rivalry, simmering beneath the surface, sharpens when they both fall under the spell of the same woman, the dazzling and morally ambiguous Helen. As Europe edges toward catastrophe, personal betrayals and romantic illusions collide with the gathering storm of war.

When the First World War erupts, the brothers are swept into the British Royal Flying Corps, trading campus pranks and drawing-room flirtations for the brutal reality of aerial combat. High above the trenches, they face not only enemy fire but the terrifying fragility of their own courage, as fragile biplanes become coffins in the sky. Monte’s instinct for self-preservation clashes with Roy’s sense of honor, and the tension between them deepens with every mission.

Their story reaches its peak in a daring, near-suicidal assignment behind enemy lines, where loyalty is tested in the starkest possible terms. The spectacle of massed dogfights and flaming aircraft is matched by the intimate drama of two men forced to decide what brotherhood, sacrifice, and duty actually mean. On the ground, Helen’s true nature is revealed, shattering Roy’s romantic ideals and underscoring how war strips away comforting illusions as ruthlessly in love as it does in battle.

Amid roaring engines and clouds lit by tracer fire, the film weaves together epic war spectacle with a deeply personal drama. The combination of pre-Code frankness, romantic disillusionment, and astonishing aerial photography creates a portrait of a generation hurled from youthful decadence into the crucible of modern warfare.

Directed by: Howard Hughes, Edmund Goulding, James Whale

Writing Credits: Howard Estabrook, Harry Behn, Joseph Moncure March

Starring: Jean Harlow, Marian Marsh, Jane Winton, James Hall, Lucy Doraine

Photo Gallery:

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Charlotte Movies — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:19:18 +0000

2h 16min. // A classroom of eager German schoolboys listens as their patriotic teacher paints war as a noble adventure, urging them to enlist for glory and fatherland. Swept up in the feverish rhetoric, Paul Bäumer and his friends volunteer for service, imagining heroism and camaraderie at the front. Their illusions begin to crumble almost immediately under the brutal regimen of training, where a petty drill instructor revels in humiliating them and the first hints of dehumanization take root.

Arriving at the Western Front, the boys are plunged into the mud, terror, and chaos of trench warfare. Shells scream overhead, bodies fall without warning, and the front line becomes a nightmarish landscape of barbed wire and craters. Under the gruff guidance of seasoned veteran Katczinsky, Paul learns how to survive—scavenging for food, dodging artillery, and confronting the agonizing reality of watching friends die in senseless assaults that gain only a few yards of ground.

As the months drag on, the war strips away every trace of youthful idealism. Paul witnesses the psychological unraveling of his comrades, the callousness of officers far from danger, and the bitter divide between those at the front and civilians at home who still cling to romantic notions of honor. Even a brief leave fails to restore him; the world away from the trenches feels alien and blind to the suffering he has endured.

Returning to the front, Paul is no longer the wide-eyed student who once marched off to battle. Surrounded by dwindling ranks, haunted by the faces of the dead, he struggles to reconcile the propaganda that sent him to fight with the meaningless slaughter that defines his daily existence. In the end, the war’s final cruelty is not just death, but the quiet, indifferent way it claims lives that once burned with hope and promise.

Directed by: Lewis Milestone, Nate Watt

Writing Credits: Maxwell Anderson, George Abbott, Erich Maria Remarque, Lewis Milestone, C. Gardner Sullivan

Starring: Fred Zinnemann, Wolfgang Staudte, ZaSu Pitts, Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres

*********************

Awards:

WON. Academy Award for Best Picture. Category. All Quiet on the Western Front.
WON. Academy Award for Best Director. Category. Lewis Milestone.
WON. National Board of Review: Top Ten Films. Category. All Quiet on the Western Front.

Photo Gallery:

The Dawn Patrol (1930)

Charlotte Movies — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:07:07 +0000

1h 35min. // In the mud and mist of the Western Front, a Royal Flying Corps squadron staggers through each day knowing tomorrow’s dawn may be their last. Young pilots, some barely out of school, are thrown from the safety of the officers’ mess into rickety biplanes that must face seasoned German aces. To keep their nerves from shattering, they cling to nightly rituals of drinking, singing, and brittle jokes, masking the terror that comes with every morning patrol.

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Writing Credits: Howard Hawks, Seton I. Miller, John Monk Saunders

Starring: Howard Hawks, Frank McHugh, Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Neil Hamilton

*********************

Awards:

WON. Academy Award for Best Story. Category. John Monk Saunders.

Photo Gallery:

Wings (1927)

sergio — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 11:34:25 +0000

2h 21min. // Two small-town young men, Jack Powell and David Armstrong, find their carefree lives upended when the Great War erupts and both enlist in the U.S. Air Service. Once friendly rivals for the same girl back home, they carry their competition into the skies of Europe, where flying is as new and dangerous as the war itself. Their training transforms them from eager boys into daring combat pilots, and the cockpit becomes the arena where courage, jealousy, and loyalty collide.

As Jack and David are shipped to the front, the film plunges into the chaos of aerial warfare, with sweeping dogfights and perilous bombing runs that push early special effects to astonishing heights. On the ground, the story is anchored by Mary, the spirited girl-next-door who quietly loves Jack and follows him overseas as an ambulance driver. Amid swirling biplanes, roaring engines, and bursting shells, the three young lives become entangled in a poignant triangle, where unspoken feelings and misunderstandings carry as much weight as enemy fire.

The brutal reality of war strips away illusions of glory. Jack and David’s rivalry slowly deepens into a hard-won camaraderie forged under fire, even as fate conspires to test that bond in the cruelest possible way. The film builds toward a devastating climax in the clouds, where a tragic case of mistaken identity turns victory into heartbreak. In its closing moments, the story returns home, haunted by loss yet searching for reconciliation, capturing both the exhilaration and the terrible cost of the first great age of aviation combat.

Blending intimate romance with large-scale spectacle, the film showcases the dawning power of cinema to put audiences right inside the cockpit, while never losing sight of the human faces behind the uniforms and goggles. Its mix of technical bravura and emotional sincerity still resonates with viewers who appreciate silent-era storytelling at its most ambitious.

Directed by: William A. Wellman, Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast

Writing Credits: Julian Johnson, Hope Loring, Louis D. Lighton

Starring: Gary Cooper, George Irving, Clara Bow, Hedda Hopper, William A. Wellman

Enjoy The Movie!

*********************

Awards:

WON. Academy Award for Best Picture 1929. Best Picture. Wings.
WON. Academy Award for Best Engineering Effects 1929. Best Engineering Effects. Wings.

Photo Gallery:

Enjoy The Movie!

Watch the movie

Go For Broke (1951)

Charlotte Movies — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 13:08:01 +0000

1h. 32min. // The story of Japanese-American soldiers who fought in Europe during World War II.

Directed by: Robert Pirosh

Writing Credits: Robert Pirosh (screenplay)

Starring: Van Johnson (as Lt. Michael Grayson), Lane Nakano (as Sam) and George Miki (as Chick)

Enjoy The Movie!

*********************

Awards:

NOMINATED. Academy Awards, USA 1952. Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. Robert Pirosh.

Photo Gallery:

Enjoy The Movie!

The Way Ahead (1944)

Charlotte Movies — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:07:01 +0000

1h 31min. // WW2 drama that follows a group of British conscripts, starting with their rigorous basic training and ending with their deployment in North Africa.

Directed by: Carol Reed

Writing Credits: Eric Ambler (screenplay and story)

Starring: David Niven (as Lt. Jim Perry), Stanley Holloway (as Pte. Ted Brewer) and James Donald (as Pte. Evan Lloyd).

Enjoy The Movie!

*********************

Awards:

WON. National Board of Review, USA 1945. Top Ten Films.

Photo Gallery:

Enjoy The Movie!

The More The Merrier (1943)

Charlotte Movies — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 13:05:22 +0000

1h 44min. // Due to lack of housing in Washington D.C. during World War II, Connie Milligan rents part of her apartment to Benjamin Dingle, a wealthy retiree, and soldier Joe Carter. Although Connie is engaged, she falls in love with Joe.

Directed by: George Stevens

Writing Credits: Robert Russell (story and screenplay), Frank Ross (story and screenplay), Richard Flournoy (screenplay), Lewis R. Foster (screenplay)

Starring: Jean Arthur (as Connie Milligan), Joel McCrea (as Joe Carter), Charles Coburn (as Benjamin Dingle)

Enjoy The Movie!

*********************

Awards:

WON. Academy Awards, USA 1944. Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Charles Coburn.

WON.New York Film Critics Circle Awards 1943. Best Director. George Stevens.

NOMINATED. Academy Awards, USA 1944. Best Picture.

NOMINATED. Academy Awards, USA 1944. Best Actress in a Leading Role. Jean Arthur.

NOMINATED. Academy Awards, USA 1944. Best Director. George Stevens.

NOMINATED. Academy Awards, USA 1944. Best Writing, Original Story. Robert Russell (story and screenplay), Frank Ross (story and screenplay).

NOMINATED. Academy Awards, USA 1944. Best Writing, Screenplay. Robert Russell (story and screenplay), Frank Ross (story and screenplay), Richard Flournoy (screenplay), Lewis R. Foster (screenplay).

Photo Gallery:

Enjoy The Movie!

I Wanted Wings (1941)

Charlotte Movies — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 13:05:01 +0000

2h 15min. // Story follows the training and personal lives of three recruits in the Army Air Corps — a wealthy playboy, a college jock and an auto mechanic. Love interest is supplied by a female photographer and a sultry blonde.

Directed by: Mitchell Leisen

Writing Credits: Richard Maibaum (screenplay), Beirne Lay Jr. (screenplay), Sig Herzig (screenplay), Eleanore Griffin (story) and Frank Wead (story)

Starring: Ray Milland (as Jeff Young), William Holden (as Al Ludlow), Wayne Morris (as Tom Cassidy) and Brian Donlevy (as Capt. Mercer)

Enjoy The Movie!

*********************

Awards:

WON. Academy Awards, USA 1942. Best Effects, Special Effects. Farciot Edouart (photographic), Gordon Jennings (photographic) and Louis Mesenkop (sound).

Photo Gallery:

Enjoy The Movie!

A Farewell to Arms (1957)

Charlotte Movies — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:04:01 +0000

2h 32min. // An English nurse and an American soldier fall in love when he is wounded while serving on the Italian front during World War I.

Directed by: Charles Vidor, John Huston (uncredited)

Writing Credits: Ben Hecht (screenplay), Ernest Hemingway (novel)

Starring: Rock Hudson (as Lt. Frederick Henry), Jennifer Jones (as Catherine Barkley) and Vittorio De Sica (as Major Alessandro Rinaldi)

Enjoy The Movie!

*********************

Awards:

WON. National Board of Review, USA 1957. Top Ten Films.

NOMINATED. Academy Awards, USA 1958. Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Vittorio De Sica

NOMINATED. Bambi Awards, 1958. Best Actor – International. Rock Hudson