Opening a New Frontier

Schindler's List

December 1993 •English

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

September 1927 •German

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

June 1896 •French

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Hitler's Steel Beast

January 2017 •French

Trace the history of Hitler's armored private train, a 15-car mobile headquarters boasting state-of-the-art communications and anti-aircraft cannons.

Last Train Home

June 2009 •Chinese

A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 130 million other peasant workers to reunite with their distant family, and to revive their love and dignity as China soars as the world's next super power.

Great Balls of Fire!

June 1989 •English

The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unconventional lifestyle often brought him into conflict with others in the industry, and even earned him the scorn and condemnation of the public.

Max Manus: Man of War

December 2008 •Norwegian

Max Manus is a Norwegian 2008 biographic war film based on the real events of the life of resistance fighter Max Manus (1914–96), after his contribution in the Winter War against the Soviet Union. The story follows Manus through the outbreak of World War II in Norway until peacetime in 1945.

Last of the Giants

January 1959 •English

A Union Pacific production outlining the Big Boy locomotive and the history of the last great steam engine to rule the rails

Flight of the Century

January 1935 •English

The story of the most famous train in the world

End of an Era

March 1962 •English

A documentary on the passing of the steam locomotive as the primary means of transportation in the United States

A Great Railroad at Work

January 1942 •English

A documentary outlining railroad work and the effects on the lives impacted by the iron horse

Big Trains Rolling

January 1955 •English

A production of the association of American Railroads outlining the wonders of America's rail system.

Mainline U.S.A.

January 1957 •English

A documentary on the railroads of America produced by the Association of American Railroads

The Freight Train

January 1954 •English

EB Films presents a documentary on the life of the freight train in America.

Rolling the Freight

January 1947 •English

Film on the movement of material from the Chicago and Northwestern System.

Stamp of Character

January 1995 •English

Discover the "character" of one of Missouri's oldest tie and lumber operations through this archival black-and-white film that documents one of the last railroad tie drives on the Black River made by the T.J. Moss Tie Company of St. Louis in the 1920s. Thanks to release of the film by the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation, the rare footage in "Stamp of Character" takes us through the entire process of making railroad ties, at a time when forests covered almost two-thirds of the state. The original silent motion picture was shown in movie theaters as an advertisement by the T.J. Moss Tie Company. Using digitally edited narration and realistic sound effects, this video makes the past live again.

The Boat Is Full

January 1981 •German

During World War II, Switzerland severely limited refugees: "Our boat is full." A train from Germany halts briefly in an isolated corner of Switzerland. Six people jump off seeking asylum: four Jews, a French child, and a German soldier. They seek temporary refuge with a couple who run a village inn. They pose as a family: the deserter as husband, Judith as his wife, an old man from Vienna as her father, his granddaughter and the French lad, whom they beg to keep silent, as their children. Judith's teenage brother poses as a soldier. The fabrication unravels through chance and the local constable's exact investigation. Whom will the Swiss allow to stay? Who gets deported?

The Little Foxes

August 1941 •English

In 1900, a clan attempts to strike a deal with a Chicago industrialist to get him to build cotton mills in their Deep South town.

Vlak č. 101

January 1947 •Czech

Once upon a Line

March 1947 •English

Model husbands prove that size isn't everything as they get steamed up over Lilliput locomotives.