Movie: Riding the Rails

Top 1 Billed Cast

Richard Thomas
Richard Thomas

Narrator

  • HomePage

  • Overview

    Riding the Rails offers a visionary perspective on the presumed romanticism of the road and cautionary legacy of the Great Depression. The filmmakers relay the experiences and painful recollections of these now-elderly survivors of the rails. Forced to travel more by economic necessity than the spirit of adventure, the film's subjects dispel romantic myths of a hobo existence and its corresponding veneer of freedom. Riding the Rails recounts the hoboes' trade secrets for survival and accounts of dank miseries, loneliness, imprisonment, death, and dispossession. Sixty years later, the filmmakers transport their subjects back to the tracks, where the surging impact of sound and movement resuscitates memories of a shattered adolescence and devastating rite of passage.

  • Release Date

    1997-01-01

  • Average

    5.7

  • Rating:

    2.9 starts
  • Tagline

  • Genres

  • Languages:

  • Keywords

Recommendations Movies

Killing Your Daughter
47%

Killing Your Daughter(en)

2019-10-01

When a DNA test helps Candace connect with her birth parents, she realizes some family histories are better left untold.

12 Angry Men
85%

12 Angry Men(en)

1957-04-10

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

Nosferatu
67%

Nosferatu(en)

2024-12-25

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
71%

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes(en)

2024-05-08

Several generations following Caesar's reign, apes – now the dominant species – live harmoniously while humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all he's known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Interstellar
85%

Interstellar(en)

2014-11-05

The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.

The Godfather Part II
86%

The Godfather Part II(en)

1974-12-20

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

Catch Me If You Can
80%

Catch Me If You Can(en)

2002-12-16

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.

Whiplash
84%

Whiplash(en)

2014-10-10

Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

Hacksaw Ridge
82%

Hacksaw Ridge(en)

2016-10-07

WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Hidden Figures
81%

Hidden Figures(en)

2016-12-10

The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

The Intouchables
83%

The Intouchables(fr)

2011-11-02

A true story of two men who should never have met – a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects.

Léon: The Professional
83%

Léon: The Professional(fr)

1994-09-14

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

The Shawshank Redemption
87%

The Shawshank Redemption(en)

1994-09-23

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

The Godfather
87%

The Godfather(en)

1972-03-14

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
68%

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1(en)

2014-11-19

Katniss Everdeen reluctantly becomes the symbol of a mass rebellion against the autocratic Capitol.

La La Land
79%

La La Land(en)

2016-12-01

Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
73%

Star Wars: The Force Awakens(en)

2015-12-15

Thirty years after defeating the Galactic Empire, Han Solo and his allies face a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren and his army of Stormtroopers.

Titanic
79%

Titanic(en)

1997-11-18

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

The Big Short
74%

The Big Short(en)

2015-12-11

The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.

V for Vendetta
79%

V for Vendetta(en)

2006-02-23

In a world in which Great Britain has become a fascist state, a masked vigilante known only as “V” conducts guerrilla warfare against the oppressive British government. When V rescues a young woman from the secret police, he finds in her an ally with whom he can continue his fight to free the people of Britain.

Similar Movies

The Massie Affair
60%

The Massie Affair(en)

2005-04-18

In the waning days of summer 1931, Honolulu's tropical tranquility was shattered when a young Navy wife made a drastic allegation of rape against five nonwhite islanders. What unfolded in the following days and weeks was a racially-charged murder case that would make headlines across the nation, enrage Hawai'i's native population, and galvanize the island's law enforcers and the nation's social elite.

The Money Masters
73%

The Money Masters(en)

1996-01-01

A documentary that traces the origins of the political power structure that rules our nation and the world today. The modern political power structure has its roots in the hidden manipulation and accumulation of gold and other forms of money.

Nanking
72%

Nanking(en)

2007-02-10

The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
69%

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story(en)

2018-06-06

The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.

Hitler's Games, Berlin 1936
67%

Hitler's Games, Berlin 1936(fr)

2016-08-23

Summer 1936 - The Berlin Olympics, organized by the Nazi regime on the eve of World War II, acted as a grand showcase for a Germany that was athletic, peaceful and rejuvenated. The violence and hate that until then had reigned in the streets of Berlin suddenly vanished. Adolf Hitler became the triumphant host of European countries he would soon try to invade or face in a deadly global conflict.

Poland 1939: When German Soldiers Became War Criminals
80%

Poland 1939: When German Soldiers Became War Criminals(de)

2019-08-31

September 1st, 1939. Nazi Germany invades Poland. The campaign is fast, cruel and ruthless. In these circumstances, how is it that ordinary German soldiers suddenly became vicious killers, terrorizing the local population? Did everyone turn into something worse than wild animals? The true story of the first World War II offensive that marks in the history of infamy the beginning of a carnage and a historical tragedy.

After Mein Kampf?
0%

After Mein Kampf?(en)

1961-08-01

By combining actual footage with reenactments, this film offers both a documentary and fictional account of the life of Adolf Hitler, from his childhood in Vienna, through the rise of the Third Reich, to his final act of suicide in the waning days of WWII. The film also provides considerable, and often shocking, detail of the atrocities enacted by the Nazi regime under Hitler's command.

Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home
0%

Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home(en)

2006-07-12

Every American who has listened to the radio knows Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." The music of the folk singer/songwriter has been recorded by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to U2. Originally blowing out of the Dust Bowl in Depression-era America, he blended vernacular, rural music and populism to give voice to millions of downtrodden citizens. Guthrie's music was politically leftist, uniquely patriotic and always inspirational.

Moje Praha
0%

Moje Praha(cs)

2002-11-01

Otakar Vávra walks through Prague in front of the camera and with the camera, and remembers those who in the 1930s determined the pulse of the cultural and political life of that time.

I Betrayed Hitler
67%

I Betrayed Hitler(fr)

2016-03-27

During the worst days of World War II, the British government asks the mathematician Alan Turing to unravel the mysteries of the German Enigma encryption machine, an impossible task to accomplish without the invaluable information that Hans-Thilo Schmidt, a disenchanted but greedy German citizen, had been handing over to the French secret services since 1931.

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
65%

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts(it)

2017-06-14

The story of Italian cinema under Fascism, a sophisticated film industry built around the founding of the Cinecittà studios and the successful birth of a domestic star system, populated by very peculiar artists among whom stood out several beautiful, magnetic, special actresses; a dark story of war, drugs, sex, censorship and tragedy.

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story
75%

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story(en)

1999-10-08

There's not a person in the world who wouldn't recognize Mickey Mouse. But until now, not many knew the man who originally gave shape, movement and personality to the world's most beloved icon. "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story" takes you behind the scenes to meet Walt Disney's best friend and chief animator.

The American Hobo: History of the Railriding Worker
65%

The American Hobo: History of the Railriding Worker(en)

2003-01-01

Documentary - Ernest Borgnine, star of the classic train movie Emperor of the North, hosts and narrates this remarkable examination of the uniquely American Hobo.

Mário Eloy - A Runaway Painter
65%

Mário Eloy - A Runaway Painter(pt)

1998-03-13

Documentary about the life and work of Mário Eloy, one of the greatest painters of the second generation of modernism in Portugal.

Hitler: A Career
74%

Hitler: A Career(de)

1977-07-08

A keen chronicle of the unlikely rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and a dissection of the Third Reich (1933-1945), but also an analysis of mass psychology and how the desperate crowd can be deceived and shepherded to the slaughterhouse.

Voyage of the Nautilus
55%

Voyage of the Nautilus(en)

2006-02-25

A photographic journey compiled from journals, archival footage and photographs of an Australian military photographer, Sir Hubert Wilkins in 1931 as he went from New York to the North Pole in an old WWI submarine to explore the Arctic Ocean. Included on dvd are a brief history of the submarine and photographic gallery of Wilkins.

Slovo House
70%

Slovo House(uk)

2017-11-09

Chain-smoking artists, poets and playwrights were among the colourful array of intellectuals living in the ‘Slovo House’ in 1920s Ukraine. The communist paradise was built under Stalin's approval, but it quickly became a prison. The brutal Soviet regime spied on the inhabitants, destroying their eccentric way of life and sealing their fate. This fascinating film explores the extraordinary story of the building and its residents.

Swastika
67%

Swastika(en)

1974-01-17

Comprised of video shot during the Nazi regime, including propaganda, newsreels, broadcasts and even some of Eva Braun's colorized personal home movies, we explore the way in which the Third Reich infiltrated the lives of the German population, from 1933 to 1945.

A War in Hollywood
68%

A War in Hollywood(es)

2009-10-16

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) caused a great impression on the lives of most of the American artists of that era, so many movies were made in Hollywood about it. The final defeat of the Spanish Republic left an open wound in the hearts of those who sympathized with its cause. The eventful life of screenwriter Alvah Bessie (1904-1985), one of the Hollywood Ten, serves to analyze this sadness, the tragedy of Spain and its consequences.