Movies like Meet Danny Wilson (1952)
The best movies like Meet Danny Wilson (1952) are King Creole (1958), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and Beat Street (1984). If Meet Danny Wilson hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCléo from 5 to 7 (1962)7.7/10 from 824 votes
- NewestI Can Only Imagine 2 (2026)Released 2026
King Creole (1958)
Delinquent Danny Fisher flunks out of high school, quits his job as a nightclub busboy, and one night gets the chance to perform. Success is imminent and local crime boss Maxie Fields wants to hire him to perform at The Blue Shade. Danny declines, but Fields won't take no for an answer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
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 crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeat Street (1984)
An aspiring DJ, from the South Bronx, and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and culture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Can Only Imagine 2 (2026)
Following the breakout success of the song 'I Can Only Imagine', MercyMe's Bart Millard is living the dream—sold-out arenas, a devoted fanbase, and a thriving career. But behind the spotlight, Bart's past threatens the family he's built, especially the fragile bond with his son Sam. When hopeful newcomer Tim Timmons joins the band for their biggest tour yet, he unknowingly brings a renewed gratitude to Bart's life through their unlikely friendship. Bart soon discovers that Tim carries hardships—and secrets—of his own, forcing him to face his past and repair his relationships with Sam and his wife Shannon before fame costs him what matters most.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Got Served (2004)
At Mr. Rad's Warehouse, the best hip-hop crews in Los Angeles compete for money and respect. But when a suburban crew crashes the party, stealing their dancers — and their moves — two warring friends have to pull together to represent the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToo Late Blues (1961)
Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his masculinity is thrown into question following a violent brawl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoneydripper (2007)
In 1950s Alabama, the owner of the Honeydripper juke joint finds his business dropping off and against his better judgment, hires a young electric guitarist in a last ditch effort to draw crowds during harvest time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like this5 Against the House (1955)
Former war-time Army buddies now students in college decide to rip off a Reno casino.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBeyond the Sea (2004)
Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Bamboo (1955)
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Set-Up (1949)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Can Only Imagine (2018)
Growing up in Greenville, Texas, Bart Millard suffers physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father, Arthur. When Arthur becomes terminally ill, he finds redemption by embracing his faith and rediscovering his love for his son. Years later, Bart's troubled childhood and mended relationship with his dad inspires him to write the hit song "I Can Only Imagine" as singer of the Christian band MercyMe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohnny O'Clock (1947)
When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy, looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock, a suave partner in the underground casino. Selfish and non-committal by nature, Johnny slowly begins to return Nancy's affection and decides to run away with her, but conflict within his business threatens their plans. As Johnny tries to distance himself from the casino, his shady past comes back to haunt him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & 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 crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Roaring Twenties (1939)
After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Walk Alone (1947)
Bootleggers on the lam Frankie and Noll split up to evade capture by the police. Frankie is caught and jailed, but Noll manages to escape and open a posh New York City nightclub. 14 years later, Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. But Noll, who has no intention of being so equitable, uses his ex-girlfriend Kay to divert Frankie from his intended goal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlunder Road (1957)
A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wave (2025)
A music student’s testimony ignites a feminist uprising on her campus, where protest becomes performance and collective voice becomes an act of resistance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & drama
Paganini (1973)
Operetta concerning the love affair of Niccolò Paganini, the violinist, and Élisa Bonaparte, the younger sister of Napoleon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & drama
Inu-Oh (2022)
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Chorus Line (1985)
A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach. After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie, who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGolden Orchestra (2016)
When Chizuru joins as a teacher at Umega High School, she hears an amateur orchestra perform. Reminiscing her old days of playing the violin, she decides to enroll in one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMala Noche (1987)
Walt is a lonely convenience store clerk who has fallen in love with a Mexican migrant worker named Johnny. Though Walt has little in common with the object of his affections — including a shared language — his desire to possess Johnny prompts a sexual awakening that results in a tangled love triangle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cloth Peddler (1965)
Set in Baku at the turn of the 20th century, a young successful businessman Asgar wishes to marry. He wants his bride to be the choice of his heart, however, Azerbaijani tradition restricted him from communicating with the lady as a lover before marriage. So Asgar decides to disguise himself as a mere cloth peddler and the young woman Gulchohra falls in love with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
UglyDolls (2019)
In the adorably different town of Uglyville, weirdness is celebrated, strangeness is special and beauty is embraced as more than meets the eye. After traveling to the other side of a mountain, Moxy and her UglyDoll friends discover Perfection -- a town where more conventional dolls receive training before entering the real world to find the love of a child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Meet Danny Wilson?
The closest matches to Meet Danny Wilson are King Creole (1958), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and Beat Street (1984). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Meet Danny Wilson?
Start with King Creole (1958), the closest match to Meet Danny Wilson.
What is the highest-rated movie like Meet Danny Wilson?
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), rated 7.7/10 by 824 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Meet Danny Wilson?
I Can Only Imagine 2 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Meet Danny Wilson?
Yes: King Creole (1958), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and Beat Street (1984).
How are movies similar to Meet Danny Wilson chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Meet Danny Wilson, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.