urrutiap

Flash Gordon the Movie
Mantinee
Star Wars
Eight Legged Freaks
Night of the Comet
The Stuff
Invaders from Mars
Monster Squad basically
Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones Temple of Doom

Ash Ketchum

The Godfather
The Godfather II
Farewell, My Lovely
American Graffiti
Grease

Mabuse

Matinee was the ‘60s. It took place during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Mabuse

Indiana Jones was the ‘30s.

Mabuse

Star Wars?!?!?!

Bluelitespecial

Back to the Future

Mike86

I don’t get some of the qualifiers going by the OP’s post. Night of the Comet is an 80’s film. Star Wars is a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I mean it’s got the vibes of serials from the 30’s or 40’s I suppose, but otherwise doesn’t fit the specific time frame.

I’ll throw out a favorite- That Thing You Do!

majorjoe23

Isn’t That Thing You Do set in the 60s?

dhmac

"That Thing You Do!" is straight-up early/mid-'60s nostalgia, specifically for Beatlemania

dhmac

The Rocketeer may be set in the late '30s but it's definitely '40s war era nostalgia too

OldBoy

Casablanca

Mondo Kane

American Hot Wax
Radio Days
Crime Wave
Hope and Glory
The Lords Of Flatbush
Lady Sings The Blues
Hey Good Lookin’
Zoot Suit

majorjoe23

That 70’s Show.

Mike86

Doh! My mistake, I totally thought it was 50’s for some reason. Has a similar-ish vibe to the mid-late 50’s in some ways though I feel.

Mondo Kane

You're not alone. American Graffiti is always labeled as a 50's movie, but the film's tagline is "Where were you in '62?" That era is tough to distinguish.

Mabuse

That’s a good one.

GoldenJCJ

So, at this point we’re just listing movies that take place in the 40s or 50s then. Since the OP didn’t seem to give us any qualifiers I’ll say:

Pleasantville
Every WWII movie ever made.

davidh777

Inventing the Abbotts
Stand by Me
Mischief
Flipped

It’s true that it’s easy to list anything taking place then, but coming-of-age stuff would seem to especially qualify. Cold War might not count as pleasant nostalgia.

John Pannozzi

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is set in 1947.

Hail, Caesar! is set in 1951.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, love it or hate it, takes place in 1957.

In Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a character talks about being raised on 1950s nostalgia, specifically mentioning Grease, Happy Days and American Graffiti.

Cast a Deadly Spell and Witch Hunt were set in the 1940s and 1950s, respectively. They were described as being like Roger Rabbit but with witches and monsters instead of cartoon characters.

dhmac

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The early '60s were still a lot like the '50s

Mondo Kane

Yeah, another one that I was almost quick to mention was The Wanderers. Total 50's vibe. But the movie ends with Bob Dylan's career about to take off.

mwbmis

The Experts

dhmac

The Iron Giant is set in the late '50s and definitely evokes the era.

dhmac

October Sky is about American boys in the '50s who were inspired by Sputnik to build homemade rockets.


(An odd trivia fact about this movie is it's based on a book titled "Rocket Boys" which is an anagram of "October Sky")

dom56

Can't believe no one mentioned L.A. Confidential which was set in the '50.