Movies like The Cheap Detective (1978)
The best movies like The Cheap Detective (1978) are The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), The Private Eyes (1980) and My Favorite Brunette (1947). If The Cheap Detective hooked you with its comedy and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Thin Man (1934)7.5/10 from 569 votes
- NewestRadioland Murders (1994)Released 1994
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes... and exposed backsides.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Private Eyes (1980)
The lord and lady of a capacious manor are killed, and the lord's ghost seems to have returned to knock off the staff one by one, causing Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart to investigate the wacky house and its inhabitants.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Favorite Brunette (1947)
Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeeper (1975)
A detective is hired to locate a girl adopted 30 years earlier whose birth father wants to bequeath her his fortune.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Murder by Death (1976)
Lionel Twain invites the world's five greatest detectives to a 'dinner and murder'. Included are a blind butler, a deaf-mute maid, screams, spinning rooms, secret passages, false identities and more plot turns and twists than are decently allowed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977)
John Cleese is hilarious as the descendant of Sherlock Holmes in this modern detective drama of international power politics and intrigue. Unlike his illustrious grandfather however, he only succeeds in bungling every job he organizes. Also stars Arthur Lowe as the "bionic" grandson of Dr. Watson, Stratford Johns as the Commissioner of Police, and Connie Booth as Mrs. Hudson.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Anxiety (1977)
A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Late Show (1977)
An over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRevenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is dead. At least that is what the world—and Charles Dreyfus—believe when a dead body is discovered in Clouseau's car after being shot off the road. Naturally, Clouseau knows differently and, taking advantage of not being alive, sets out to discover why an attempt was made on his life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrail of the Pink Panther (1982)
The Pink Panther diamond is stolen once again from Lugash and the authorities call in Chief Inspector Clouseau from France. His plane disappears en-route. This time, famous French TV reporter Marie Jouvet sets out to solve the mystery and starts to interview everybody connected to Clouseau.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisFletch (1985)
When investigative reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher goes undercover to write a piece on the drug trade at a local beach, he's approached by wealthy businessman Alan Stanwyk, who offers him $50,000 to murder him. With sarcastic wit and a knack for disguises, Fletch sets out to uncover Stanwyk's story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Shot in the Dark (1964)
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTop Secret! (1984)
Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFoul Play (1978)
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHanky Panky (1982)
Naïve Michael Jordon is drawn into a web of government secrets when a girl carrying a mysterious package gets into a taxi with him. When she's later murdered, Michael becomes the chief suspect and goes on the run.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Thin Man (1934)
Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
The famous Pink Panther jewel has once again been stolen and Inspector Clouseau is called in to catch the thief. The Inspector is convinced that 'The Phantom' has returned and utilises all of his resources – himself and his Asian manservant – to reveal the identity of 'The Phantom'.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCurse of the Pink Panther (1983)
Inspector Clouseau disappears, and the Surete wants the world's second best detective to look for him. However, Clouseau's enemy, Dreyfus, rigs the Surete's computer to select, instead, the world's WORST detective, NYPD Sgt. Clifton Sleigh. Sleigh obtusely bungles his way past assassins and corrupt officials as though he were Clouseau's American cousin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRadioland Murders (1994)
A series of mysterious crimes threatens the existence of a new radio network.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisWho's Harry Crumb? (1989)
Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFletch Lives (1989)
Fletch is a fish out of water in small-town Louisiana, where he's checking out a tumbledown mansion he's inherited. When a woman he flirts with turns up dead, he becomes a suspect and must find the killer and clear his name.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Crime (1992)
On their way to Monte Carlo, Monaco, Marilyn and her husband, Neil, meet several other married couples, including Julian and Phoebe, who are traveling with a lost dog they plan to return to its wealthy owner for a large reward. But, when the dog's mistress is murdered, the travelers become the prime suspects, and Inspector Bonnard is determined to track them all down.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Charles Dreyfus, who has finally cracked over inspector Clouseau's antics, escapes from a mental institution and launches an elaborate plan to get rid of Clouseau once and for all.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWithout a Clue (1988)
Sherlock Holmes is as dashing as ever, but with a little secret: Dr. Watson is the brains behind the operation. When Reginald Kincaid, the actor he has hired to play Holmes becomes insufferable, Watson fires him and tries to go out on his own, but finds that he has done too good a job building Holmes up in the public's mind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
To the Los Angeles elite, Ford Fairlane is known as "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll Detective." This loudmouthed ladies' man serves an exclusive rock star clientele, who depend on his keen eye and smug discretion. So when a heavy-metal musician dies mid-concert, Fairlane is on the case before the lights come up. But things turn shocking when radio personality Johnny Crunch hires Fairlane to find a missing groupie mere hours before he is electrocuted live on air.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
Bumbling lieutenant Frank Drebin is out to foil the big boys in the energy industry, who intend to suppress technology that will put them out of business.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConfidentially Yours (1983)
After he's implicated in several murders, a real estate agent goes on the lam while his intrepid secretary does some private investigating of her own to locate the killer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)
Fu Manchu's 168th birthday celebration is dampened when a hapless flunky spills Fu's age-regressing elixir vitae. Fu sends his lackeys to round up ingredients for a new batch of elixir, starting with the Star of Leningrad diamond, nabbed from a Soviet exhibition in Washington. The FBI sends agents Capone and Williams to England to confer with Nayland Smith, an expert on Fu.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe In-Laws (1979)
In preparation for his daughter's wedding, dentist Sheldon Kornpett meets Vince Ricardo, the groom's father. Vince, a manic fellow who claims to be a government agent, then proceeds to drag Sheldon into a series of chases and misadventures from New York to Central America.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like The Cheap Detective and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Cheap Detective?
The closest matches to The Cheap Detective are The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), The Private Eyes (1980) and My Favorite Brunette (1947). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Cheap Detective?
People who watched The Cheap Detective most often go on to The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), The Private Eyes (1980) and My Favorite Brunette (1947).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Cheap Detective?
The Thin Man (1934), rated 7.5/10 by 569 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Cheap Detective?
Radioland Murders (1994) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Cheap Detective?
Yes: The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), The Private Eyes (1980) and My Favorite Brunette (1947).
How are movies similar to The Cheap Detective chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Cheap Detective, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.