Movies like Ladies of the Big House (1931)
The best movies like Ladies of the Big House (1931) are Ladies They Talk About (1933), Won't Back Down (2012) and Woman of Straw (1964). If Ladies of the Big House hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedVera Drake (2004)7.2/10 from 430 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
Ladies They Talk About (1933)
A moll, imprisoned after participating in a bank robbery, helps with a breakout plot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWoman of Straw (1964)
Anthony Richmond schemes to get the fortune of his tyrannical, wheelchair-using tycoon uncle Charles Richmond by persuading Maria, a nurse he employs, to marry him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big House (1930)
Convicted of manslaughter for a drunken driving accident, Kent Marlowe is sent to prison, where he meets vicious incarcerated figures who are planning an escape from the brutal conditions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locket (1946)
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Want to Live! (1958)
Brazen perpetual offender Barbara Graham tries to go straight but she finds herself implicated in a murder and sent to death row.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYield to the Night (1956)
Locked in her cell, a murderer reflects on the events that have led her to death row.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFramed (1947)
Truck driver Mike Lambert is a down-and-out mining engineer searching for a job. When his rig breaks down in a small town, he happens upon a venomous seductress. When her boyfriend robs a bank, they intend to frame Lambert.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn (2011)
Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKid Galahad (1962)
After completing military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver of Grass (1995)
Cozy, a dissatisfied housewife, meets Lee at a bar. A drink turns into a home break-in, and a gunshot sends them on the run together, thinking they've committed murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Vibrations (2012)
The story of music legend Terri Hooley, a key figure in Belfast's punk rock scene. Hooley founded the Good Vibrations store from which a record label sprung, representing bands such as The Undertones, Rudi and The Outcasts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShooting Straight (1930)
A gambler wanted for murder hides under the guise of a clergyman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
In Gay Madrid (1930)
Ricardo, a young law student in his home town of Madrid, is a carefree playboy who loves nightclubs and courting pretty girls. His father hopes to instill a more serious attitude in his son by transferring him to a school in the rural town of Santiago. At Santiago, his father's old friend is to be his guardian. When Ricardo arrives at Santiago he joins a fraternity, and continues his carefree lifestyle while serenading and courting his guardian's daughter, Carmina.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Vera Drake (2004)
Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain – a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Doorway to Hell (1930)
A vicious crime lord decides that he has had enough and much to the shock of his colleagues decides to give the business to his second in command and retire to Florida after marrying his moll. Unfortunately, he has no idea that she and the man are lovers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Two Seconds (1932)
A condemned murderer, in the process of being executed, relives the events that led to his being sentenced to die in the electric chair. Told in flashback, we witness a sleazy dancehall girl dupe a high rise riveter into marriage so she can live off of him. But when he loses his job and his marbles, she ends up supporting him with money from her side man--and misses no opportunity to rub it in his face that she's now supporting him in his emasculated state. As the animosity grows and things get more and more unbearable, he is eventually driven to desperate measures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Thunderbolt (1929)
A criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl, without knowing of their relationship. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Baby Face (1933)
A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Unholy Three (1930)
A trio of former sideshow performers double as the "Unholy Three" in a scam to nab some shiny rocks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Thunder Below (1932)
Story of an unhappy wife of oil rigger who labors in a Central American oil field. The bored Susan falls in love with Walt's good friend Ken but keeps her husband in the dark about her feelings... until he's plunged into darkness for real when he loses his eyesight. Susan finds her attentions then wandering yet another man, Davis, and Ken urges her to return to Walt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Madea Goes to Jail (2009)
After a high-speed car chase, Madea winds up behind bars because her quick temper gets the best of her. Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Josh Hardaway lands a case that's too personal to handle: that of a young prostitute and former drug addict named Candace, also a childhood friend. When Candace winds up in jail, Madea takes the young woman under her protective wing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ladies of the Big House?
The closest matches to Ladies of the Big House are Ladies They Talk About (1933), Won't Back Down (2012) and Woman of Straw (1964). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ladies of the Big House?
Start with Ladies They Talk About (1933), the closest match to Ladies of the Big House.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ladies of the Big House?
Vera Drake (2004), rated 7.2/10 by 430 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ladies of the Big House?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ladies of the Big House?
Yes: Ladies They Talk About (1933), Won't Back Down (2012) and Woman of Straw (1964).
How are movies similar to Ladies of the Big House chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ladies of the Big House, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.