Iron Jawed Angels (2004)

Million Dollar Babe Hilary Swank plays an activist in the women’s suffrage movement in HBO’s Iron Jawed Angels (2004), a Golden Globe-winning historical drama. Alice Paul (Swank) led a crucial fight in the early years of the twentieth century that eventually led to a constitutional amendment ensuring women the right to vote. A Quaker and an early feminist, Paul’s life story is no less inspiring when filmed from a modern-day perspective. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a cast brimming with genuine girl power. Though Swank doesn’t get in on the scantily clad fun, co-stars Jolene Carroll, Vera Farmiga, and Frances O’Connor all demonstrate that the turn of the century wasn’t as stodgy as one might expect.