Best 1800S Movies & TV Shows

Pioneer Quest: A Year in the Real West was Canadian documentary television series which aired on History Television and the Public Broadcasting Service in 2001. It is the first entry of producer Jamie Brown's "Quest series" which includes Quest for the Bay, Klondike: The Quest for Gold and Quest for the Sea. It was filmed on a site just north of Argyle, Manitoba

Emily Dickinson. Poet. Daughter. Total rebel. In this coming-of-age story, Emily’s determined to become the world’s greatest poet.

When compulsive gambler Sir Giles Staverley has lost his estate and all his money playing dice, he realises that he only has one thing left of value: his daughter Serena. In a final game, he stakes his daughter's hand in marriage, convinced that this time he will not lose. Unfortunately, however, he does lose; to the evil Lord Wrotham. Unable to return home and tell his daughter that he has lost her in a game of dice, Sir Giles kills himself there and then. Lord Vulcan, who has witnessed the events, takes pity on Serena Staverley, although they have never met. He challenges Lord Wrotham to a game of dice in which the winner takes both Staverley Court and Miss Serena.

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.

Presenting the tale of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, this filmed version of the original Broadway smash hit is the story of America then, told by America now.

In the late 1800s, Miss Pilgrim, a young stenographer, or typewriter, becomes the first female employee at a Boston shipping office. Although the men object to her at first, she soon charms them all, especially the handsome young head of the company. Their romance gets sidetracked when she becomes involved in the Women's Suffrage movement.

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.

From bats to a slew of haunting surprises, the Blumberg family transforms an eerie 1800s Victorian funeral parlor into a weird and wonderful dream home, and it has them wondering if they're alone on this renovation adventure.

Historian Liz McIvor explores how Britain's expanding rail network was the spark to a social revolution, starting in the 1800s and continuing through to modern times.

Lone wolf, who is stirring up the Indians against the wishes of his elders, gets the job of scout at the fort. When he hears of the approval of the new reservation, he sends his men to trap Scott and his troop before they can deliver the information.

For thousands of years, the Great Plains were home to countless numbers of American bison, but in the late 1800s, the number of bison dropped from nearly 30 million to just a few hundred in less than 100 years. What happened to place this national icon on the brink of extinction? Join us as we detail the events that led to this mass extermination. Then follow the story of William Temple Hornaday, a chief taxidermist at the Smithsonian Institution who headed west to hunt bison for the museum, but ended up saving the species instead.

The Universal Language is a new documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Sam Green (The Weather Underground). This 30-minute film traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language that was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed that if everyone in the world spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome racism and war. Fittingly, the word “Esperanto” means “one who hopes.” During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people around the world spoke Esperanto and believed in its ideals. Today, surprisingly, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. In this first-ever documentary about Esperanto, Green creates a portrait of the language and those who speak it today that is at once humorous, poignant, stirring, and ultimately hopeful.

Historian Lucy Worsley visits the places and houses in England where Jane Austen spent time and which served as inspiration for the settings of her novels.

A gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who immigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful tongs.

The true story of America's iconic 16th president as told by weaving together both scripted dramatizations of important moments in his life and commentary by authoritative historians and public figures.

The lives of two families, one white American, one native American, become mingled through the momentous events of American expansion, between 1825 and 1890.

The history of the rise, rule and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the entire era it encompassed (1920-33). After nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve the lives of all citizens by protecting individuals, families and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse; but paradoxically it made millions of people rethink their definition of morality.

Adaptation of the Dickens novel.

Britain is in the grip of a chilling recession... falling wages, rising prices, civil unrest - only the bankers are smiling. It's 1783 and Ross Poldark returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, the family mine long since closed, his house wrecked and his sweetheart pledged to marry his cousin. But Ross finds that hope and love can be found when you are least expecting it in the wild but beautiful Cornish landscape.

The story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen, and General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.

As a wild stallion travels across the frontiers of the Old West, he befriends a young human and finds true love with a mare.

Edmond Dantés's life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are shattered when his best friend, Fernand, deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantés escapes with the help of a fellow inmate and plots his revenge, cleverly insinuating himself into the French nobility.

Acting Lieutenant Hornblower attempts to study for his promotion examination, but becomes distracted by the serious supply problems that face his crew.

An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.

A conspiracy thriller about one of the best known but least understood crimes in history. This is the astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln's assassination—as the fate of the country hangs in the balance.

Bold and irreverent drama following the fortunes of a group of servants in an 1850s English country house.

The Young Riders was an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War. The series premiered on ABC on September 20, 1989 and ran for three seasons until the final episode aired on July 23, 1992.

The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, whose chances at marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. When Henry Dashwood dies unexpectedly, his estate must pass on by law to his son from his first marriage, John and wife Fanny. But these circumstances leave Mr. Dashwood's current wife, and daughters Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, without a home and with barely enough money to live on. As Elinor and Marianne struggle to find romantic fulfillment in a society obsessed with financial and social status, they must learn to mix sense with sensibility in their dealings with both money and men.

When Letty Mason relocates to West Texas, she finds herself unsettled by the ever-present wind and sand. Arriving at her new home at the ranch of her cousin, Beverly, she receives a surprisingly cold welcome from his wife, Cora. Soon tensions in the family and unwanted attention from a trio of suitors leave Letty increasingly disturbed.

An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent personal life and his run-ins with the FBI.

A young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.

Louisa May Alcott's autobiographical account of her life with her three sisters in Concord Mass in the 1860s. With their father fighting in the civil war, the sisters: Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth are at home with their mother - a very outspoken women for her time. The story is of how the sisters grow up, find love and find their place in the world.

In the 1850s, Captain Charles Boone relocates his family of three children to his ancestral home in the small, seemingly sleepy town of Preacher’s Corners, Maine after his wife dies at sea. Charles will soon have to confront the secrets of his family’s sordid history, and fight to end the darkness that has plagued the Boones for generations.

An investigative reporter Nellie Bly, who’s on a mission to expose the deplorable conditions and mistreatment of patients at the notorious Women’s Lunatic Asylum, and feigns mental illness in order to be institutionalized to report from the inside. The movie is an account of actual events surrounding Nellie’s stay beginning after she has undergone treatment, leaving her with no recollection of how she came to the asylum or her real identity.

Set in the dark heart of Victorian London, Detective Inspector Rabbit is a hardened booze-hound who's seen it all. Rabbit's been chasing bad guys for as long as he can remember, but these days his heart keeps stopping at inopportune moments.

In 1800, as Napoleon Bonaparte rises to power in France, a rivalry erupts between Armand and Gabriel, two lieutenants in the French Army, over a perceived insult. For over a decade, they engage in a series of duels amidst larger conflicts, including the failed French invasion of Russia in 1812, and shifts in the political and social systems of Europe.

New York City, 1897. A little girl named Virginia O'Hanlon loves Christmas more than anything else in the world. When a schoolyard bully challenges her belief in Santa Claus, Virginia embarks on a quest across the city to prove he is real. Based on the true story of the most famous newspaper editorial of all time.

While newspaper writer Church struggles with the death of his wife, he receives a "special" assignment. He must answer a little girl's question about whether Santa Claus really exists.

Norfolk, England, 1770. The nephew of an innkeeper and the son of a reverend maintain a very close friendship until, after living a great adventure, they must separate their paths. The former will head his footsteps to London and bound his destiny to Lloyd's, a thriving insurance company; the latter will eventually become one of the greatest heroes in the history of the British Empire.

When private tutor Thomas Arnold (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) becomes headmaster at Rugby, a boy's preparatory school in England, he puts into place a policy of strict punishment for unruliness and bulying. Arnold finds an ally in Tom Brown (Jimmy Lydon), a new student who is subjected to hazing and abuse by a group of older boys and is pressured by his friends to keep quiet about it. Fed up, he leads his fellow classmates in an underground rebellion against their tormentors. But certain unspoken rules still apply at the school and Brown loses his hero status when he is accussed of breaking the Rugby code of silence.

In Arizona in the late 1800s, infamous outlaw Ben Wade and his vicious gang of thieves and murderers have plagued the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured, Civil War veteran Dan Evans, struggling to survive on his drought-plagued ranch, volunteers to deliver him alive to the "3:10 to Yuma", a train that will take the killer to trial.

Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Queen is the story about Easter, the illegitimate daughter of James Jackson, III and her lifelong affair with plantation owner Tim Daly, which would result in the birth of Queen. Queen's story revolves around her early years as a slave who yearns to know who her father is, and her condition as a fair skin mixed race woman who spends her life trying to figure out where exactly she fits in.

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

In 1850s Louisiana, the willfulness of a tempestuous Southern belle threatens to destroy all who care for her.

Don Diego Vega pretends to be an indolent fop as a cover for his true identity, the masked avenger Zorro.

Hornblower must deliver a French nobleman to a secret rendezvous near Brest, all while coping with enemy agents in his own ranks.

The story of courtesan and dance-hall girl Emma Hamilton, including her relationships with Sir William Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson and her rise and fall, set during the Napoleonic Wars.

1828 in the German port city of Bremen: Two very different women collide in an age that has no place for either of them. One strives for a career in law, at a time when women aren't even admitted to universities. The other has lived life outside the law and may now have to pay the tab. One of them needs to get her head together – while the other would do anything not to lose hers. -- Based on a true story.

Greg Wise (Sense and Sensibility) and Keeley Hawes (Karaoke) star in this sumptuous adaptation of Wilkie Collins' classic mystery, the first detective novel ever written. The Moonstone, a sacred Hindu diamond was stolen from the head of the Moon God, in its shrine by John Herncastle in 1799. The stone is said to be cursed if it is removed from the shrine. In 1848, a man named Franklin Blake announces to Rachel that the Moonstone has been bequeathed to her by Herncastle. Blake gives her the jewel on her birthday and offers to mount the jewel for her, in order that she might wear it. Inevitably, the jewel is found missing the next morning and Rachel believes Blake stole it. Determined to prove his innocence, Blake leaves in order to pursue the real truth behind the theft.