I think that what you might get out of these movies is a sense of aristocratic style and attitudes, things next to impossible to get across in a lecture; and of course an idea of what things looked like.
One warning: Many of the movies below were made from modern stories. The Three Musketeers, for instance, is a 19th-century novel. Rob Roy is a 19th-century novel. Barry Lyndon is a 19th-century novel. Get the picture? Big 19th-century historical novels have had a very big and continuing influence on the way we visualize the past.
Movies about 16th-century England
A Man for All Seasons There are two versions of this movie, which is based on a modern play: The older one dates from the 1960s, and is a great film. I have not seen that version in the rental shops, but only a 1980s remake (with a stellar cast, so it may be good, too). The film/play tells the story of Thomas More, who suffered imprisonment and execution rather than agree to Henry VIII's break with Rome. A profound exploration of conscience and politics.
Anne of a Thousand Days. A biography of Anne Boleyn, the woman for whom Henry VIII broke with Rome. As Anne has a bit part in A Man for All Seasons, Thomas More has a bit part here. I saw this in conjunction with the older AMFAS on TV, and was surprised at how well this lesser film held up. Another gripping view of royal politics in the time of the Reformation.
Elizabeth. It's been a couple of years since I saw it, and it has left no distinct and lasting impression!
Movies about 16th-century France
The Return of Martin Guerre. Look in the foreign films section. Dissatisfied peasant runs away from his young wife to go to war. Then he comes home and everyone is happy. Then his uncle claims that he's not Martin at all, but a fraud. Trouble! Good story, good acting, good detail of daily life, though the Guerre's house was too big for me to believe as a peasant's family house. There is an American re-make of the story, set in the Civil War, called "Somersby." which I haven't seen.
Movies about 17th century France:
The Three Musketeers. Be careful to get the 1974 version, not the 1990s one, which is terrible -- a bad cartoon, except it's live action. The '74 version is brilliant and fun and gives an extraordinarily detailed look at daily life in the period -- on the edges and in the background of all the swashbuckling action. The period depicted is the 1630s, when Richelieu was the most important person in France, and the Duke of Buckingham the most important in England. The store I visited does not appear to have the Four Musketeers, which is really just the second half of this movie. Look for it if you enjoy the first one.
Cyrano de Bergerac. Again a 19th-century story. I've only seen it once, but as I remember it, it gives an impression of the social and intellectual atmosphere of the period as well as a famous love story.
Movies about 18th- century France:
Dangerous Liasons. This is actually a movie version of an 18th-century story. Tells you about nothing but aristocratic life, but a very good story for that purpose. Another version of the same story, called Valmont, was made at the same time, and had quite a different interpretation. I haven't seen Valmont, but have heard several good reviews.
The Wild Child. A Truffaut film and a classic in its own right, this is a study of the feral child who appeared in 18th-Century France, smack in the middle of Rousseauian controversies about "natural man". Available on video?
The Night of Varennes. Two years after the fall of the Bastille, King Louis XVI and his family tried to leave France to escape from the Revolution. They were stopped at the village of Varennes, and returned to Paris in disgrace. This French movie (c. 1989) about the incident, if you can find it, is worth watching, though it takes considerable liberties, turning, for instance, Thomas Paine into an existentialist! Marcello Mastrioani plays an aged Casanova in the most memorable part of the movie.
Jefferson in Paris. A sumptuous Merchant-Ivory production that tries to capture the contradictions of the revolutionary period in America and France, and of Thomas Jefferson, democrat and slaveowner. There is some good acting and some very good scenes, but the movie is slow and thematically a bit confused.
Movies about 17th-century Britain:
Restoration. The story of a physician who tries to succeed at court in the time of Charles II. It reminded me of the movie version of Moll Flanders (see below): a sympathetic character tries to find happiness and human decency in a complex and wicked world. I enjoyed it a great deal, and was sorry I hadn't seen some of the scenes (especially the palace interiors) on the big screen.
Movies about 18th-century Britain:
Barry Lyndon. I saw this in the theater when it came out. It was, on the wide screen, an astonishing visual treat if you don't mind long movies. If you do like long movies, it was a prize. It looks better than I thought it would on the small screen. The story is about the struggle of a hotheaded and not very likeable Irishman to rise in the very stratified society of the late 18th century.
Rob Roy. Derived from a Walter Scott novel. Gives an idea of daily life at various levels of Scottish society, and the tensions around the issue of Jacobism (loyalty to the line of James II, particularly influential in Scotland).
Tom Jones. I didn't actually find this one, but if you can, grab it. It is a great 1960s movie version of a great 18th century novel (one of the earliest English novels, as a matter of fact). It's the funny version of Barry Lyndon. If you can't locate the movie, you could read the book. A very recent BBC miniseries version has got good reviews.
Joseph Andrews. Fielding, the author of Tom Jones, wrote another novel, and this movie was made from it. I haven't seen it myself.
The Draughtman's Contract. An attempt to recreate the mental atmosphere of Restoration-Georgian England. Notable for its visual detail, and its portrayal of aristocratic intrigue.
Moll Flanders. As the film-makers say straightforwardly at the beginning, this movie is only loosely based on the character and novel of that name created by Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe). The novel is much grimmer than the movie (believe it or not!). I think the film catches some of the flavor of the original, and the visual re-creation is excellent.
The Madness of King George. "The state of monarchy and the state of lunacy share a common frontier," says the doctor treating the insane King George III. This is a fine movie, which explores character, royal family dynamics, and Parliamentary politics with subtlety and style.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Slightly later than 1800 and therefore not early modern (by a hair). It is a brilliant adaptation of a brilliant set of historical novels by Patrick O'Brian (the first book is "Master and Commander"). The filmmakers succeeded in showing life in the British Navy of the Napoleonic Wars era better than anyone else has done.
Movie about 18th-century Germany:
Amadeus. A fictional story of the life and death of Mozart, including much material on court life, noble patronage of music, the development of popular theatre, etc., etc. But first and foremost this is a great movie full of glorious music and unforgettable imagery. If you haven't seen it, rent it immediately.
Movies about the New World:
Black Robe. This is about Canada. It's about here -- the north, the fur trade, and 17th century exploration. It's about Jesuit missionaries and Indians and voyageurs. It's great. It was made by an Australian. Figures.
The Mission. The plot concerns the efforts of Jesuits in what is now Paraguay to protect Indian converts from settler exploitation, set against the background of Spanish and Portuguese intrigue against the powerful Jesuit order. Big budget, well acted, lots of pictoral detail of Indian and settler life. The movie give s you a more sympathetic than usual view of Christian missionaries and the Jesuit order.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God. This German film chronicling the obsessive death march of a Conquistador in South America attracted a lot of attention in the 1970s for its bizarre imagery.
Jefferson in Paris. See above, under "Movies about 18th-century France."
Unclassifiable movie:
Orlando. Is this a historical movie? Based on Virginia Woolf's story, it is about a person who travels through time, changing sexes. Gives you a taste of several different periods, and is very enjoyable.
In the NU A/V collection.
Thomas Paine, Witness to Yesterday. This tape is from a CBC series of the late 60s or early 70s in which Patrick Watson interviewed a variety of famous people from the past. In this episode he talks to the author of Common Sense. It's pretty good, but be warned -- it's in black and white!
I think we also have Leonardo da Vinci in Witness to Yesterday.
If you can think of anything else, let me know.