# The best movie set in every year... but not made in that year **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457 "2013-05-15T22:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/481 "2018-09-04T02:06:09Z")
“1900” - Bernardo Bertolucci; 5 hours, 17 mins. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/482 "2018-09-04T02:45:54Z")
_[American Zion](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457530/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3)_ (2005) is set in 1833. It’s a sequel to _The Work and the Glory_ (2004). The movies are about a family in the early years of the LDS church. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/483 "2018-09-04T02:45:56Z")
Could also add: 33 AD - The Last Temptation of Christ ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/484 "2018-09-04T03:06:23Z")
_ca._ 1900 _The Valley of Gwangi_. The greatest Western ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/485 "2018-10-30T20:33:58Z")
Bumped. Here are some more, not already listed above: 1849 Cloud Atlas 1863 Free State of Jones 1891 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution 1918 Sergeant York 1926 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 1936 Cloud Atlas 1940 Darkest Hour 1943 The Bridge over the River Kwai / Sophie Scholl: The Final Days 1944 36 Hours / Where Eagles Dare 1945 Battleground 1951 Hail, Caesar! 1954 Phantom Thread / Point of Order 1955 Angel Heart 1961 Inside Llewyn Davis 1962 The Shape of Water / Bridge of Spies 1963 On the Beach 1964 Doubt / All The Way 1969 First Man 1971 The Post 1972 Last Man on the Moon 1973 Cloud Atlas 1974 Nixon 1981 Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened 1985 Dallas Buyers Club 1994 I, Tonya 1995 Rabin In His Own Words 2008 God Knows Where I Am 2009 Sully 2011 Concussion 2012 Cloud Atlas 2013 Weiner 2035 The Martian 2144 Cloud Atlas 2311 Cloud Atlas ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/486 "2021-11-12T15:44:08Z")
Bumped with another film: 1935 Murder on the Orient Express ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/487 "2021-11-12T16:17:25Z")
_ **Casablanca** _. Filmed in 1942, set in 1941. _ **Zulu** _. Filmed in 1964, set in 1879. _ **The Dawn Patrol** _. Filmed in 1930 _and_ 1938, set in 1915. _ **The Charge of the Light Brigade** _. Filmed in 1936, set in 1854. _ **The Blue Max** _. Filmed in 1966, set in 1918. _ **The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly** _. Filmed in 1966, set in 1862. _ **Sahara** _. Filmed in 1943, set in 1942. _ **The African Queen** _. Filmed in 1951, set in 1914. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/488 "2021-11-12T18:19:53Z")
1773—_Barry Lyndon_ (Barry and Lady Lyndon married June 15, 1773 ) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/489 "2023-05-11T20:10:16Z")
Bumped. 1895 We’re No Angels 1935 We’re No Angels The remake was set 40 years later, and moved from French Guiana to upstate New York. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/490 "2023-05-12T01:03:06Z")
Has _ **Double Indemnity** _ been mentioned yet? Set in 1938, filmed in 1944. What about _ **Meet Me in St Louis** _? Set in 1904, also filmed in 1944. _ **Easter Parade** _? Set in 1912, filmed in 1948. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/491 "2023-05-12T04:01:51Z")
The Best Years of Our Lives was made in 1946 but I think was set earlier in 1944 or 1945. A 1944 article on the difficulties of servicemen returning from the war inspired the screenplay although the film could be considered to take place in 1946. I believe King Rat was depicting the already crowded year 1945. IMHO this is a film of remarkable quality, depicting the human suffering of WWII POWs imprisoned in Singapore. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/492 "2023-05-12T09:42:17Z")
**Psycho** (1960, directed by Alfred Hitchcock) hasn’t been mentioned. According to IMDB, it takes place in December of 1959. Upthread, **Diner** has been suggested for that year. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/493 "2023-05-12T23:20:08Z")
Filling in the big gap for movies set between 1818 and 1826: Mr. Malcolm’s List (2022) - set in 1818 Peterloo (2019) - set in 1819 First Cow (2019) - set in 1820 Lost Illusions (2021) - set in 1821 Van Diemen’s Land (2009) - set in 1822 The Revenant (2015) - set in 1823 Vanina Vanini (1961) - set in 1824 The Nightingale (2018) - set in 1825 The Stranglers of Bombay (1960) - set in 1826 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/494 "2023-05-13T02:38:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The Best Years of Our Lives was made in 1946 but I think was set earlier in 1944 or 1945. A 1944 article on the difficulties of servicemen returning from the war inspired the screenplay although the film could be considered to take place in 1946. Doubtful. The war ended in September 1945, and the weather was balmy when the veterans returned home. Assuming they lived in someplace like California, that would put them there probably sometime in late October or early November 1945, at the earliest. (I don’t think any mention was made of the upcoming Holiday season.) Many GIs weren’t demobbed until much later. _ **Stalag 17** _, on the other hand, was explicitly set in December 1944 and filmed in 1953. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457.md?page=24)