Material History of American Religion Project

Selected Filmography of American Films

Project scholar Judith Weisenfeld has found that religion everywhere in American movies. Here are some films where she has found religion is particularly important.

Agnes of God (Jewison, 1985)

Alien 3 (Fincer, 1992)

Angel Heart (Parker, 1987)

Angels with Dirty Faces (Curtiz, 1938)

The Apostle (Duvall, 1998)

Barabbas (Fleischer, 1962)

The Believers (Schlesinger, 1987)

Beloved (Demme, 1998)

The Bells of St. Mary’s (McCarey, 1945)

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Niblo, 1926)

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Wyler, 1959)

The Bishop’s Wife (Koster, 1947)

The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Capra, 1933)

Blood of Jesus (Williams, 1941)

Brigham Young: Frontiersman (Hathaway, 1940)

Broken Blossoms (Griffith, 1919)

Cabin in the Sky (Minnelli, 1943)

Change of Habit (Graham, 1970)

The Chosen (Kagan, 1981)

The Crucible (Hytner, 1996)

Come to the Stable (Koster, 1949)

Contact (Zemeckis, 1997)

Crossing Delancey (Micklin Silver, 1988)

Daughters of the Dust (Dash, 1993)

Dead Man Walking (Robbins, 1995)

David and Bathsheba (King, 1951)

Dogma (Smith,1999)

Elmer Gantry (Brooks, 1960)

The Exorcist (Friedkin, 1973)

The Frisco Kid (Aldrich, 1979)

Gabriel Over the White House (La Cava, 1933)

Gandhi (Attenborough, 1982)

Gentleman’s Agreement (Kazan, 1947)

Go Down, Death (Williams, 1944)                   

Godspell (Greene, 1973)

Going My Way (McCarey, 1944)

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Stevens, 1965)

The Green Pastures (Connelly / Keighley, 1936)

Guys and Dolls (Mankiewicz, 1955)

Hallelujah (Vidor, 1929)

Heaven (Keaton, 1987)

Heaven Help Us (Dinner, 1985)

Hester Street (Micklin Silver, 1975)

Household Saints (Savoca, 1993)

Hypocrites (Weber, 1915)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Spielberg, 1984)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Spielberg, 1989)

Inherit the Wind (Kramer, 1956)

Intolerance (Griffith, 1916)

The Jazz Singer (Crosland, 1980)

Jesus Christ Superstar (Jewison, 1973)

Joan of Arc (Fleming, 1949)

Keeping the Faith (Norton, 2000)      

Keys of the Kingdom (Stahl, 1944)

King of Kings (Ray, 1961)

Kundun (Scorcese, 1997)

The Last Temptation of Christ (Scorcese. 1988)

Lilies of the Field (Nelson, 1963)

Little Buddha (Bertolucci, 1993)

Leap of Faith (Pearce, 1992)

A Man Called Peter (Koster, 1955)

Mass Appeal (Jordan, 1984)

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (Brahm, 1952)

The Miracle Woman (Capra, 1931)

The Mission (Joffe, 1986)

Mississippi Masala (Nair, 1991)

My Family/Mi Familia (Nava, 1995)

Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)

The Nun’s Story (Zinnemann, 1959)

Of Human Hearts (Brown, 1938)

Oh God! (Reiner, 1977)

The Omega Code (Marcarelli, 1999)

The Omen (Donner, 1976)

The Preacher’s Wife (Marshall, 1996)

Prince of Egypt (Chapman / Hickner1998)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981)

The Rapture (Tolkin, 1991)

Regeneration (Walsh, 1915)

The Robe (Koster, 1953)

Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski,1968)    

Saint Joan (Preminger, 1957)

Salome (Dieterle, 1953)

Samson and Delilah (De Mille, 1949)

The Scarlet Letter (Sjostrom, 1926)

The Scarlet Letter (Joffe, 1995)

Seven Years in Tibet (Annaud, 1997)

The Seventh Sign (Schultz, 1988)

The Singing Nun (Koster, 1966)

Sister Act (Ardolino, 1992)

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (Duke, 1993)

The Song of Bernadette (King, 1943)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Shatner, 1989)

The Story of Ruth (Koster, 1960)

A Stranger Among Us (Lumet, 1992)

The Ten Commandments (De Mille, 1956)

Thief of Badgad (Walsh, 1924)

Ticket to Heaven (Thomas, 1981)

The Trouble With Angels (Lupino, 1966)

We’re No Angels (Jordan, 1989)

Wise Blood (Huston, 1979)

Witness (Weir, 1985)

Yentl (Streisand, 1983)

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