North by Northwest (1959)
Great to learn more about the Cold War period, which polarized the world into two groups, each under the influence of the two great economic, political, and military powers of the time: the United States and the Soviet Union.
In the film, American publicist Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a Russian spy. From there, he engages in a great escape and is pursued by both the US government and spies. It's cool for the great action scenes. And you also understand the mood of paranoia in the US at that time: spies, government investigation, and the real "witch hunt" promoted, the "witches", in that context, being the "communists".
Topaz (1969)
In this, Andre is hired to check rumors of Russian missiles in Cuba and discover the NATO spy codenamed Topazio. Look at important topics that, every now and then, fall into the entrance exam! First, the film makes reference to the historical episode known as the "missile crisis", when the Soviet Union, in retaliation for the American missiles installed in Turkey, placed its own missiles in Cuba, a communist ally. Of course, the US interpreted that as a major threat, as Cuba is very close to the US coast.
Topazio also mentions NATO, an important international body that usually appears on history and geography tests: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created as a military alliance in 1949 and played a key role in the conflicts of the second half of the 20th century.
Interlude (1946)
A year after the end of World War II, Hitchcock ended up dealing, of course, with Nazism in his film.
In the story, a US government agent blackmails the daughter of a Nazi to force her to spy on a German agent who lives, lo and behold, in Rio de Janeiro! Just the reference to Brazil is already enough curiosity to see the film, but it is worth remembering some things about Nazism and the participation of the USA in World War II.
The film illustrates a common situation in the following years: members of the Nazi government who, after defeat in the war, ended up hiding in Brazil and other countries in South America.
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
In the story, an American journalist travels to Europe on the eve of the war to act as a correspondent for his newspaper. After witnessing the murder of a diplomat, he becomes involved in the plot and soon discovers that the victim is not actually dead. Then begins the conflict of reporting the episode to the newspaper at the same time that one is involved in it. Again, many spies and secret government plots. Hitchcock already predicted what would come from the 1950s.
