Biography, Thriller (Sorted by Release Date Ascending)
1. Dillinger (1945)
Approved | 70 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
John Dillinger begins his life of crime as a petty thief, meets his future gang in prison and eventually masterminds a series of daring robberies.
Director: Max Nosseck | Stars: Lawrence Tierney, Edmund Lowe, Anne Jeffreys, Eduardo Ciannelli
Votes: 1,623 | Gross: $4.00M
2. The Iron Curtain (1948)
Approved | 87 min | Biography, Crime, History
The story of Soviet cypher-clerk Igor Gouzenko who was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa,Canada in 1943 and defected in 1945 to reveal the extent of Soviet espionage activities directed against Canada.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, June Havoc, Berry Kroeger
Votes: 705
3. '42 (1951)
156 min | Action, Biography, Thriller
Director: Hemen Gupta | Stars: Harimohan Bose, Manju Dey, Pradeep Kumar, Sombhu Mitra
Votes: 16
4. Spy for Germany (1956)
102 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Director: Werner Klingler | Stars: Martin Held, Nadja Tiller, Walter Giller, Viktor Staal
Votes: 29
5. Nine Lives (1957)
96 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
During World War II, nine members of the Norwegian Resistance trapped into a deadly Nazi ambush. Only one escapes on foot, and a fierce hunt through the ice desert has begun.
Director: Arne Skouen | Stars: Jack Fjeldstad, Henny Moan, Alf Malland, Joachim Holst-Jensen
Votes: 1,541
6. Compulsion (1959)
Approved | 103 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Two wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell, Diane Varsi, Bradford Dillman
Votes: 5,420
7. Murder, Inc. (1960)
Not Rated | 103 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The rise and fall of a 1930's Brooklyn crime syndicate, known as Murder Incorporated, led by mobster Lepke Buchalter.
Directors: Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Henry Morgan, Peter Falk
Votes: 1,121
8. Tyrant Yeonsan (1962)
192 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Continuing the story of the film, Prince Yeonsan, Yeonsan's grief and dissipated life leads him to become a cruel tyrant, ordering the decapitation of the court members who advised the ... See full summary »
Director: Sang-ok Shin | Stars: Eun-hie Choi, Nam-hyeon Choi, Kum-Bong Do, Jang-kang Heo
Votes: 8
9. Adham el charkawi (1964)
Biography, Drama, History
Director: Houssam El-Din Mustafa | Stars: Lobna Abdel Aziz, Abdulwareth Asar, Samiha Ayyoub, Tawfik El Deken
Votes: 22
10. The Secret Killer (1965)
89 min | Biography, Crime, Thriller
A true story of Peter Kurten, a serial killer who committed nine murders and many other offenses in Dusseldorf during the Great Depression era.
Director: Robert Hossein | Stars: Robert Hossein, Marie-France Pisier, Roger Dutoit, Annie Anderson
Votes: 226
11. De Sade (1969)
X | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
Hounded by the police on charges of inflammatory writing, the once handsome Marquis De Sade seeks refuge in an abandoned family mansion. This colorful movie depicts DeSade's life from ... See full summary »
Directors: Cy Endfield, Roger Corman, Gordon Hessler | Stars: Keir Dullea, Senta Berger, Lilli Palmer, Anna Massey
Votes: 480 | Gross: $1.25M
12. A Bullet for Pretty Boy (1970)
PG | 89 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The movie tells the biography of the gangster Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd who started his career young aged when he saw his father die and seeked out revenge by killing his murderer during a... See full summary »
Directors: Larry Buchanan, Maury Dexter | Stars: Fabian, Jocelyn Lane, Astrid Warner, Adam Roarke
Votes: 160
13. 10 Rillington Place (1971)
GP | 111 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on the real-life case of the British serial killer John Christie, and what happened to his neighbors Tim and Beryl Evans.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt, Pat Heywood
Votes: 6,853
14. The Assassination of Trotsky (1972)
R | 103 min | Biography, Drama, History
After having been forced to leave the Soviet Union 1929 Trotsky has ended up in Mexico 1940. He is still busy with politics, promoting socialism to the world. Stalin has sent out an ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Losey | Stars: Richard Burton, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Valentina Cortese
Votes: 1,499
15. Walking Tall (1973)
R | 125 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Based on the life of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser whom almost single-handily cleaned up his small town of crime and corruption, but at a personal cost of his family life and nearly his own life.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Joe Don Baker, Elizabeth Hartman, Leif Garrett, Dawn Lyn
Votes: 4,625
16. Serpico (1973)
R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire
Votes: 100,154 | Gross: $29.80M
17. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation, which turns into a hostage situation and a media circus.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar
Votes: 222,948 | Gross: $50.00M
18. Walking Tall Part II (1975)
PG | 109 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Sheriff Buford Pusser continues his one-man war against moonshiners and a ruthless crime syndicate after the murder of his wife in late 1960's Tennessee.
Director: Earl Bellamy | Stars: Bo Svenson, Luke Askew, John Davis Chandler, Robert DoQui
Votes: 1,037
19. All the President's Men (1976)
PG | 138 min | Biography, Drama, History
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
Votes: 95,295 | Gross: $70.60M
20. Black Journal (1977)
115 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Lea, a mature Neapolitan woman who runs a box office in the Lotto in a northern city, has had thirteen children, but all but one have died from abortion or after a few months of life. The ... See full summary »
Director: Mauro Bolognini | Stars: Shelley Winters, Max von Sydow, Renato Pozzetto, Alberto Lionello
Votes: 313
21. Midnight Express (1978)
R | 121 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli
Votes: 67,809 | Gross: $35.00M
22. El huerto del Francés (1978)
93 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Director: Paul Naschy | Stars: María José Cantudo, Ágata Lys, Paul Naschy, José Calvo
Votes: 75
23. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
PG | 112 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possible successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Jack Thibeau
Votes: 107,982 | Gross: $43.00M
24. The Legend of Alfred Packer (1980)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Based on a true story of Colorado's only convicted killer/cannibal Alfred Packer.
Director: James W. Roberson | Stars: Patrick Dray, Ronald Haines, Jim Dratfield, Bob Damon
Votes: 60
25. Hangar 18 (1980)
PG | 97 min | Action, Biography, Sci-Fi
Shortly after the launch of a satellite from a space shuttle the satellite collides with a UFO in front of the crew's eyes. Because of an election campaign some politicians try to hide the ... See full summary »
Director: James L. Conway | Stars: Darren McGavin, Robert Vaughn, Gary Collins, James Hampton
Votes: 2,064 | Gross: $6.00M
26. The Hunter (1980)
PG | 97 min | Action, Biography, Comedy
The story of professional bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson.
Director: Buzz Kulik | Stars: Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton
Votes: 4,486
27. Amin: The Rise and Fall (1981)
R | 91 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The chronicle of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and his tyranic rule from 1971 to his overthrow in 1979.
Director: Sharad Patel | Stars: Joseph Olita, Thomas Baptiste, Leonard Trolley, Geoffrey Keen
Votes: 379
28. Missing (1982)
PG | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
When an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.
Director: Costa-Gavras | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea
Votes: 17,048 | Gross: $14.00M
29. The White Rose (1982)
108 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
During the Second World War, a small group of students at Munich University begin to question the decisions and sanity of Germany's Nazi government. The students form a resistance cell ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Verhoeven | Stars: Lena Stolze, Wulf Kessler, Oliver Siebert, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 827
30. Hostage (I) (1983)
R | 93 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Horrific true tale set in late 1970s Australia and later West Germany about an abused wife who learns in horror that her sadistic German-born husband is actually a fanatical neo-Nazi.
Director: Frank Shields | Stars: Kerry Mack, Ralph Schicha, Gabriella Barraket, Judy Nunn
Votes: 128
31. Silkwood (1983)
R | 131 min | Biography, Drama, History
A worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson
Votes: 17,143 | Gross: $35.62M
32. The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
R | 131 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Pat Hingle, Joyce Van Patten
Votes: 9,893 | Gross: $17.10M
33. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Unrated | 83 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Henry, a drifter, commits a series of brutal murders, supposedly operating with impunity.
Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Mary Demas
Votes: 29,445 | Gross: $0.61M
34. Prisoner of Rio (1988)
R | 90 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
The story of the great train robber Ronald Biggs.
Director: Lech Majewski | Stars: Steven Berkoff, Paul Freeman, Peter Firth, Florinda Bolkan
Votes: 59
35. Romero (1989)
PG-13 | 102 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The life and work of Archbishop Oscar Romero who opposed, at great personal risk, the tyrannical repression in El Salvador.
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Raul Julia, Richard Jordan, Ana Alicia, Eddie Velez
Votes: 1,971 | Gross: $1.32M
36. Communion (1989)
R | 107 min | Biography, Drama, Horror
Oct.4 and Dec.26 the Strieber family drives from NYC to their cabin in the woods. Both nights there are some powerful lights outside and maybe aliens. The dad is mentally affected by the "bad dream", goes to the shrink and is hypnotized.
Director: Philippe Mora | Stars: Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse, Frances Sternhagen, Andreas Katsulas
Votes: 5,147 | Gross: $1.92M
37. China Cry: A True Story (1990)
PG-13 | 101 min | Biography, Drama, History
Drama set in the 1950s, based on a true story, about a young girl, Sung Neng Yee, who is brought as part of a wealthy Chinese family. She is eager to become part of Mao Tze Tung's "new ... See full summary »
Director: James F. Collier | Stars: Julia Nickson, France Nuyen, James Shigeta, Russell Wong
Votes: 471 | Gross: $4.21M
38. I Want to Live (1990)
Biography, Crime, Drama
Director: Mel Chionglo | Stars: Janice de Belen, Richard Gomez, Aga Muhlach, Ronaldo Valdez
39. In a Child's Name (1991)
Not Rated | 192 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
A true story about a woman who fights her brother-in-law's parents for custody of her deceased sister's baby upon learning that her brother-in-law murdered her sister.
Stars: Valerie Bertinelli, Michael Ontkean, Timothy Carhart, David Huddleston
Votes: 504
40.
In a Child's Name (1991)
Episode:
Episode #1.1
(1991)
Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Director: Tom McLoughlin | Stars: Valerie Bertinelli, Michael Ontkean, Timothy Carhart, David Huddleston
Votes: 7
41.
In a Child's Name (1991)
Episode:
Episode #1.2
(1991)
Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Director: Tom McLoughlin | Stars: Valerie Bertinelli, Michael Ontkean, Timothy Carhart, David Huddleston
Votes: 6
42. A Woman at War (1991 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
With the Occupation of Brussels by the Nazis, Helene could forget her ideas of a university degree. Her energy turned towards the hidden fight against the occupiers and gradually, ... See full summary »
Director: Edward Bennett | Stars: Martha Plimpton, Eric Stoltz, Jack Shepherd, Kika Markham
Votes: 133
43. To Catch a Killer (1992)
Unrated | 182 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
"To Catch a Killer" tells the true gruesome story of John Wayne Gacy - a good friend and helpful neighbour, a great child entertainer, a respectful businessman, and a violent serial killer ... See full summary »
Stars: Brian Dennehy, Michael Riley, Margot Kidder, Meg Foster
Votes: 2,209
44.
To Catch a Killer (1992)
Episode:
Part I
(1992)
Unrated | 120 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Director: Eric Till | Stars: Brian Dennehy, Michael Riley, Margot Kidder, Meg Foster
45.
To Catch a Killer (1992)
Episode:
Part II
(1992)
Unrated | 120 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Director: Eric Till | Stars: Brian Dennehy, Michael Riley, Margot Kidder, Meg Foster
46. Stalin (1992 TV Movie)
172 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The life and career of the brutal Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin.
Director: Ivan Passer | Stars: Robert Duvall, Julia Ormond, Maximilian Schell, Jeroen Krabbé
Votes: 2,195
47. Alive (1993)
R | 120 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A Uruguayan rugby team stranded in the snow swept Andes are forced to use desperate measures to survive after a plane crash.
Director: Frank Marshall | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton, Bruce Ramsay
Votes: 47,203 | Gross: $36.73M
48. The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993 TV Movie)
R | 99 min | Biography, Comedy, Thriller
Wanda Holloway tries to hire a hitman (through her ex's brother) to kill either or both a cheerleader and her mother. With the intended victims out of the way, Wanda's daughter gets the ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Holly Hunter, Beau Bridges, Swoosie Kurtz, Elizabeth Ruscio
Votes: 1,243
49. Shameful Secrets (1993 TV Movie)
105 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
A woman and her children live the idyllic suburban dream, but unknown to their neighbors and friends, the kids are being abused brutally by their father and his bad temper.
Director: David Carson | Stars: Joanna Kerns, Tim Matheson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Katherine Cortez
Votes: 200
50. Cannibal! The Musical (1993)
R | 95 min | Biography, Comedy, Musical
The sole survivor of an ill-fated mining expedition tells how his taste for gold was replaced by that of human flesh.
Director: Trey Parker | Stars: Trey Parker, Dian Bachar, Stephen Blackpool, Stan Brakhage
Votes: 11,333