DVDs About 17�Թ�s

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DVDs About 17�Թ�s

Updated January 03, 2025

While it is not a long list, movies set in private schools include several classics such as the Harry Potter series and Dead Poets Society.

What do Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Alec Baldwin, Greer Garson, Rodney Dangerfield, Sean Connery, Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton and George C. Scott all have in common? They have made movies set in private schools.

There are several classic movies which are set in private schools. Aside from lovely shots of manicured campuses and grand buildings, most of these films don't represent private schools accurately. But then, that was not their intent.

For example, the Harry Potter series gives a romanticized view of life in an English boarding school. The dining hall and faculty gowns still exist in many English schools. Everything else is delightful fantasy. Goodbye Mr. Chips! is a two tissue tear jerker. Dead Poets Society always leaves a lump in your throat. School Ties shows the kind of nasty prejudice which was the norm way back when.

Hollywood tends to view private schools the way media does in general. It plays private schools as bastions of privilege and wealth. Military schools are an easy backdrop for shoot 'em ups. In any case there is much more to private schools than those themes. Here are a few titles to add to your collection.

The List

with Cliff Gorman, Susan Tyrrell, Dick Shawn
with Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Marilyn Lightstone
with Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette
with Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis
with DJ Qualls, Rachel Blanchard, Colin Fox
with Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner
with Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke
with AnnaSophia Robb, Uma Thurman, Isabelle Fuhrman
with Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch and Joel Gretsch
) with Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård
with Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham
with Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn
with Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley
(1950) with Alastair Sim, Margaret Rutherford, John Turnbull
with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Richard Harris
with Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Daniel Brocklebank
with Mariel Hemingway, Michael Caloz, Ben Cook
with David Keith, Robert Prosky, G.D. Spratlin
) with Piper Perabo, Jessica Paré, Mischa Barton
with Shawn Hatosy, Amy Smart, Alec Baldwin
with Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray
with Phoebe Cates, Betsy Russell, Matthew Modine
with Edward Burns, Jennifer Ehle, Thomas Gibson
with Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams
with Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin
with Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn
with Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack
with Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell
with George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton
with Dominique Swain, Brad Renfro, Bijou Phillips

Got a movie or TV series set in or having something to do with a private school? Please let us know via Facebook. @privateschoolreview

Additional Resources [+]

"10 Misconceptions About 17�Թ�s" available at /blog/10-misconceptions-about-private-schools

"Military Schools" available at /blog/military-schools
"The 17�Թ� Survival Guide for Parents" available at /blog/the-private-school-survival-guide-for-parents

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