Golden Age Hollywood Adventure Pictures
A list of adventure and fantasy films from the 1920s to very early 80s, films that invoke that feeling of a boy’s own adventure, before the modern age of blockbusters enhanced by or solely dependent on sophisticated technology.
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- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsDouglas FairbanksJulanne JohnstonSnitz EdwardsA recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
- DirectorAlbert ParkerStarsDouglas FairbanksBillie DoveTempe PigottSeeking revenge, an athletic young man joins the pirate band responsible for his father's death.
- DirectorHarry O. HoytStarsWallace BeeryBessie LoveLloyd HughesThe first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsHarry CareyEdwina BoothDuncan RenaldoTwo white traders in the darkest Africa of the 1870s find a missionary's daughter, who was captured as a child by a savage tribe and now worshiped as a goddess.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsJohnny WeissmullerNeil HamiltonC. Aubrey SmithA trader and his daughter set off in search of the fabled graveyard of the elephants in deepest Africa, only to encounter a wild man raised by apes.
- DirectorCedric GibbonsJames C. McKayJack ConwayStarsJohnny WeissmullerMaureen O'SullivanNeil HamiltonThe idyllic life of Tarzan and Jane is challenged by men on safari who come seeking ivory, and come seeking Jane as well.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsJohnny WeissmullerMaureen O'SullivanJohnny SheffieldTarzan finds a boy from a crashed plane and raises him with Jane in the jungle. A search party comes looking for the plane.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsSabuRaymond MasseyRoger LiveseyDuring the British Raj, Captain Carruthers works under cover to track smuggled shipments of arms on the restless Northwest Frontier of India. He fears a full-scale rebellion is brewing. To forestall this, the British governor signs a treaty with the friendly, peace-loving ruler of Tokot, a key kingdom in the region, which is described as four days' march northward from Peshawar. Meanwhile, the king's son, Prince Azim, befriends Carruthers and a British drummer boy, Bill Holder, who teaches him how to play the instrument.
- DirectorRobert StevensonGeoffrey BarkasStarsPaul RobesonCedric HardwickeRoland YoungWhite hunter Allan Quartermain and his enigmatic guide help a young Irish woman locate her missing father in unexplored Darkest Africa.
- DirectorLansing C. HoldenIrving PichelStarsHelen GahaganRandolph ScottHelen MackA group of explorers search of the legendary "flame of life," a mysterious force that bestows immortality.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyZoltan KordaStarsSabuW.E. HollowayWalter HuddThis black and white movie is based on Rudyard Kipling's "Toomai, of the Elephants", in which a small native lad claims he knows the congregating place of the elephant hordes.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandLionel AtwillAfter treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyFreddie BartholomewLionel BarrymoreA spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandBasil RathboneWhen Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.
- DirectorHenry KingOtto BrowerStarsSpencer TracyNancy KellyRichard GreeneTasked by his editor, American reporter Henry M. Stanley travels to a dangerous and uncharted region of East Africa to find the missing Scottish pioneer missionary Dr. David Livingstone.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsJohn ClementsRalph RichardsonC. Aubrey SmithA British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineVictor McLaglenIn 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnBrenda MarshallClaude RainsGeoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for an attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills with the sword.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsTyrone PowerLinda DarnellBasil RathboneA young Spanish aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California.
- DirectorLudwig BergerMichael PowellTim WhelanStarsConrad VeidtSabuJune DuprezAfter being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsSabuJoseph CalleiaJohn QualenA boy raised by wild animals tries to adapt to human village life.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerMaureen O'HaraLaird CregarAn ex-pirate contends with rowdy buccaneers and a love/hate relationship with an aristocratic woman who's tougher than she seems.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsErrol FlynnViveca LindforsRobert DouglasThe great lover Don Juan comes to the assistance of his queen.
- DirectorErnest B. SchoedsackStarsTerry MooreBen JohnsonRobert ArmstrongA young woman who has raised a giant gorilla from an infant brings him to Hollywood years later seeking her fortune.
- DirectorVictor SavilleStarsErrol FlynnDean StockwellPaul LukasDuring the British Raj, the orphan of a British soldier poses as a Hindu and is torn between his loyalty to a Buddhist mystic and aiding the English secret service.
- DirectorCompton BennettAndrew MartonStarsDeborah KerrStewart GrangerRichard CarlsonAdventurer Allan Quartermain leads an expedition into uncharted African territory in an attempt to locate an explorer who went missing during his search for the fabled diamond mines of King Solomon.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartKatharine HepburnRobert MorleyIn WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsBelinda LeeMichael CraigPatrick McGoohanBrothers compete for a woman's affection while danger lurks at every turn in an African wild game park.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsClark GableGrace KellyAva GardnerOn a Kenyan safari, white hunter Victor Marswell has a love triangle with seductive American socialite Eloise Kelly and anthropologist Donald Nordley's cheating wife Linda.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsBobby DriscollRobert NewtonBasil SydneyThe treasure seeking adventures of young Jim Hawkins and pirate captain Long John Silver.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanDouglas SirkStarsErrol FlynnMaureen O'HaraAnthony QuinnBrian Hawke of the Royal Navy versus the pirates of Madagascar.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsRobert TaylorElizabeth TaylorJoan FontaineA knight seeks to free the captive King Richard and put him back on the throne.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterNick CravatEva BartokDuring the 1700s, pirate Captain Vallo seizes a British warship and gets involved in various money-making schemes involving Caribbean rebels led by El Libre, British envoy Baron Jose Gruda, and a beautiful courtesan named Consuelo.
- DirectorEugène LouriéStarsPaul HubschmidPaula RaymondCecil KellawayA ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsEdward JuddMartha HyerLionel JeffriesWhen a spaceship lands on the moon, it is hailed as a new accomplishment, before it becomes clear that a Victorian party completed the journey in 1899, leading investigators to that mission's last survivor.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsKirk DouglasJames MasonPaul LukasA ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.
- DirectorNorman FosterStarsFess ParkerBuddy EbsenBasil RuysdaelAmerican frontiersman Davy Crockett fights in the Creek Indian War, is elected to the U.S. Congress and fights for Texas at the Alamo.
- DirectorNorman FosterStarsFess ParkerBuddy EbsenJeff YorkDavy and his friends leave for New Orleans to sell some fur pelts.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsElizabeth TaylorDana AndrewsPeter FinchThe young bride of a rich planter finds herself the only white woman at Elephant Walk tea plantation, British Ceylon.
- DirectorJerry HopperStarsCharlton HestonRobert YoungNicole MaureyAn adventurer searchers for hidden treasure in the Peruvian jungles.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsClayton MooreJay SilverheelsLyle BettgerWealthy rancher Reese Kilgore aims to grab silver-rich Indian land by skilfully pitting Indians against settlers but the suspicious territorial governor sends The Lone Ranger to investigate.
- DirectorKarel ZemanStarsVladimír BejvalZdenek HustakJosef LukásOne day a young boy finds a fossil of trilobite. Together with his three friends they set off on an adventurous journey through prehistory, up to the beginning of time.
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsKerwin MathewsKathryn GrantRichard EyerWhen a princess is shrunken by an evil wizard, Sinbad must undertake a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.
- DirectorHenry LevinStarsJames MasonPat BooneArlene DahlAn Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsKenneth MoreLauren BacallHerbert LomSet on the North West Frontier of colonial India in 1905. A British Army Officer, Captain Scott is sent to rescue a five year old Indian Prince and his American governess, Catherine Wyatt from certain death at the hands of rebel tribesman.
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsKerwin MathewsJudi MeredithTorin ThatcherA farmboy-turned-knight must protect a princess from the schemes of an evil wizard.
- DirectorPietro FrancisciStarsSteve ReevesSylva KoscinaFabrizio MioniThe muscular Hercules performs his Labors, sails with the Argonauts, and romances the fair Iole.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsGordon ScottRobert BeattyYolande DonlanTarzan leads five passengers from a downed airplane out of the jungle. En route, white hunter Hawkins tries to sell them to the Oparian chief. Captured by the Oparians and nearly sacrificed to their lion god, the party is saved by Tarzan.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsGordon ScottAnthony QuayleSara ShaneFour British villains raid a settlement to obtain explosives for use in a diamond mine. In doing so they nearly destroy the settlement, so and Tarzan pursues them to their mine.
- DirectorRobert DayStarsGordon ScottJock MahoneyBetta St. JohnA clever crook and a romantic triangle complicate Tarzan's efforts to bring a wanted criminal to justice.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsJohn MillsDorothy McGuireJames MacArthurA Swiss family must survive being shipwrecked on a deserted island.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsPeter FinchJames MacArthurBernard LeeIn Scotland in 1751, young David Balfour is shanghaied aboard a ship where he meets Jacobite rebel Alan Breck Stewart with whom he escapes to the Scottish Highlands, dodging the redcoats.
- DirectorKarel ZemanStarsMilos KopeckýRudolf JelínekJana BrejchováThe outrageous Baron Munchausen tells of his many adventures, from meeting the Man in the Moon to defeating a Turkish army all by himself.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsHayley MillsMaurice ChevalierGeorge SandersIn 19th century England, young Mary Grant and her brother, Robert, embark on a dangerous quest to find their missing father, a sea captain who vanished somewhere along the Chilean coast.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsMichael CraigJoan GreenwoodMichael CallanDuring the Civil War a group of Union soldiers, a Confederate and a civilian escape the stockade using a hot-air balloon and end up on a strange Pacific island.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneElsa MartinelliHardy KrügerA group of men trap wild animals in Africa and sell them to zoos before the arrival of a female wildlife photographer threatens to change their ways.
- DirectorJames HillTom McGowanStarsVirginia McKennaBill TraversGeoffrey KeenThe story of George and Joy Adamson and the orphaned lion cub, Elsa, they adopt.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsJames StewartRichard AttenboroughPeter FinchAfter an oil company plane crashes in the Sahara, the survivors are buoyed with hope by one of the passengers, an airplane designer who plans for them to build a flyable plane from the wreckage.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerStuart WhitmanSusannah YorkAfter a small aircraft crashes in the Kalahari Desert, one of the seven passengers decides that his survival chances would increase if he eliminates the other men in the group.
- DirectorRobert DayStarsUrsula AndressPeter CushingBernard CribbinsAn Edwardian archaeologist and two companions stumble upon a lost city in East Africa, run by a beautiful queen whose love holds the promise of immortality.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
- DirectorBasil DeardenEliot ElisofonStarsCharlton HestonLaurence OlivierRichard JohnsonIn the Sudan, in 1884 to 1885, Egyptian forces led by British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) defend Khartoum against an invading Muslim Army led by a religious fanatic, Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi (Sir Laurence Olivier).
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsPeter O'TooleJames MasonCurd JürgensAfter being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerJack HawkinsUlla JacobssonOutnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
- DirectorDon SharpStarsChristopher LeeAndrew KeirJohn CairneyA damaged privateer deserts the Spanish Armada and makes land for repairs near a village on the British coast, terrorizing the local inhabitants.
- DirectorIrvin S. Yeaworth Jr.StarsWard RamseyKristina HansonPaul LukatherAfter undersea explosions near a Caribbean island, prehistoric creatures are unleashed on the population. A boy teams up with a Neanderthal and an irritated dinosaur try to stop the dinosaurs.
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsRaquel WelchJohn RichardsonPercy HerbertPrehistoric man Tumak is banished from his savage tribe and meets pretty Loana, who belongs to a gentler coastal tribe, but he must fight caveman Payto to win her favors.
- DirectorJim O'ConnollyStarsJames FranciscusGila GolanRichard CarlsonA cowboy named Tuck Kirby seeks fame and fortune by capturing an Allosaurus living in a Mexican valley and putting it in a wild west show. His star attraction, called the Gwangi, turns out to have an aversion to being shown in public.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsVictoria VetriRobin HawdonPatrick AllenSanna escapes being sacrificed and meets Tara. Together, they live in a seaside tribe that worships the Sun God and survive the dangers of the creatures from the Mesozoic Era.
- DirectorKevin ConnorStarsDoug McClureJohn McEnerySusan PenhaligonDuring World War I, a German U-boat sinks a British ship and takes the survivors on board. After it takes a wrong turn, the submarine takes them to the unknown land of Caprona, where they find dinosaurs and neanderthals.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsDavid HartmanDonald SindenJacques MarinIn 1907, four explorers discover a lost colony of Vikings in the Arctic.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsMichael CaineTrevor HowardLawrence DouglasIn eighteenth century Scotland, during the Jacobite Rebellion, David Balfour claims his inheritance from his uncle who has him shanghaied on a ship where David meets fugitive Jacobite rebel Alan Breck.
- DirectorRichard LesterStarsOliver ReedRaquel WelchRichard ChamberlainA young swordsman comes to Paris and faces villains, romance, adventure and intrigue with three Musketeer friends.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSimon WardRobert ShawPeter CellierComplex family relationships, as well as a combat experience, form the personality of the future world-known politician.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsRichard BurtonRoger MooreRichard HarrisA British banker hires a group of British mercenaries to rescue a deposed African President from the hands of a corrupt African dictator.
- DirectorRichard LesterStarsMichael YorkRaquel WelchOliver ReedThe Four Musketeers defend the queen and her dressmaker from Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsSean ConneryMichael CaineChristopher PlummerIn 1880s India, two former British soldiers decide to set themselves up as Kings in Kafiristan, a land where no white man has set foot since Alexander the Great.
- DirectorJohn MiliusStarsSean ConneryCandice BergenBrian KeithA Berber chieftain triggers an international incident, drawing the involvement of Theodore Roosevelt, when he kidnaps an American widow and her children in 1900s Morocco.
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsTodd ArmstrongNancy KovackGary RaymondThe legendary Greek hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece.
- DirectorGordon HesslerStarsJohn Phillip LawCaroline MunroTom BakerSinbad and the vizier of Marabia, followed by evil magician Koura, seek the three golden tablets that can gain them access to the ancient temple of the Oracle of All Knowledge.
- DirectorSam WanamakerStarsPatrick WayneJane SeymourTaryn PowerSinbad the Sailor sails to deliver a cursed prince to a dangerous island in the face of deadly opposition from the powerful witch Zenobia, her son and their several monsters.
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsBurt LancasterPeter O'TooleSimon WardA dramatization of the Battle of Isandlwana, where the British Army met its match against the Zulu nation.
- DirectorKevin ConnorStarsChristopher LeeMilo O'SheaOliver TobiasAn evil magician seeks to gain power by obtaining a magic rose. A peasant boy and a Prince join forces to stop him.
- DirectorDesmond DavisStarsLaurence OlivierHarry HamlinClaire BloomPerseus must battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsNigel TerryHelen MirrenNicholas ClayMerlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
- DirectorJohn MiliusStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerJames Earl JonesMax von SydowA powerful warrior seeks to avenge the genocide of his people and the murder of his parents at the hands of a snake cult.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJudy DavisVictor BanerjeePeggy AshcroftCultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.
- StarsEdward FoxRobert PowellTrevor HowardA historical account on the life of the Zulu King Shaka.
- DirectorMoustapha AkkadStarsAnthony QuinnOliver ReedRod SteigerIn 1929, Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani as colonial governor to Italian Libya with orders to stamp-out all resistance from Libyan nationalists led by rebel guerrilla leader Omar Mukhtar.
- DirectorJohn MiliusStarsNick NolteNigel HaversFrank McRaeBorneo, 1942: An American soldier escapes WWII and becomes the king of the headhunters in the jungle. Two British soldiers are parachuted into the area to find local support for the battle against the Japanese.
- DirectorCornel WildeStarsCornel WildeGert van den BerghKen GampuDuring the 1800s, a safari guide, two elephant hunters and their crew run into trouble with the natives in the South African veld when they refuse to offer gifts to the tribesmen.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsMichael CainePeter UstinovKabir BediDr. Anansa Linderby (Beverly Johnson) is kidnapped in a medical mission in Africa by a slave trader. From this moment, her husband will do anything to recover her and to punish the bad guys, but that will be not an easy task.
- DirectorKurt NeumannStarsGeorge MontgomeryTaina ElgDavid FarrarAlan Quartermain's son comes to Africa to find the treasure his father was unable to bring home.
- DirectorJack CardiffStarsRod TaylorYvette MimieuxPeter CarstenA band of mercenaries led by Captain Curry travel through war-torn Congo across deadly terrain, battling rival armies, to steal $50 million in uncut diamonds. But infighting, sadistic rebels and a time lock jeopardize everything.
- DirectorPeter R. HuntStarsLee MarvinRoger MooreBarbara ParkinsDuring World War I, a British aristocrat, an American entrepreneur, and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battlecruiser, which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar.