Movies like A Small Town Idol (1921)
The best movies like A Small Town Idol (1921) are Shanghaied (1915), Police (1916) and A Woman (1915). If A Small Town Idol hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)7.9/10 from 259 votes
- NewestSpa Weekend (2026)Released 2026
Shanghaied (1915)
A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPolice (1916)
Charlie is released from prison and immediately swindled by a fake parson. A fellow ex-convict convinces Charlie to help burglarize a house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Woman (1915)
Mother, father and daughter go to the park. The women doze off on a bench while the father plays a hide-and-seek game with a girl, blindfolded. Charlie leads him into a lake. Both dozing ladies on the bench fall for Charlie and invite him for dinner. The father returns home with a friend. Charlie rushes upstairs and dresses like a woman, shaving his mustache. Both men fall for Charlie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDough and Dynamite (1914)
Pierre and Jacques are working as waiters at a restaurant where the cooks go on strike. When the two are forced to work as bakers, the striking cooks put dynamite in the dough, with explosive results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Wife's Relations (1922)
Buster and a woman are mistakenly married and her initially unfriendly family begins to treat him nicely when they come to believe he has a large inheritance awaiting him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Chaplin Revue (1959)
Three Chaplin silent comedies "A Dog's Life", "Shoulder Arms", and "The Pilgrim" are strung together to form a single feature length film. Chaplin provides new music, narration, and a small amount of new connecting material. "Shoulder Arms" is now described as taking place in a time before "the atom bomb".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhy Worry? (1923)
A hypochondriac vacations in the tropics for the fresh air - and finds himself in the middle of a revolution instead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDriver's Ed (2026)
A group of teens hit the road in a stolen driver's ed car, racing against time to help a lovesick high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOliver the Eighth (1934)
Barbershop owners Stan and Ollie answer an ad in the newspaper from a wealthy widow looking for a husband. Ollie only mails in his response and is invited to the widow's mansion. Stan discovers his unmailed letter and insists on tagging along. At the mansion, the widow's creepy butler informs them that the woman is crazy. She was once jilted by an Oliver and now her hobby is marrying Olivers and then slitting their throats. Now the boys must figure out how to escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGrandma's Boy (1922)
A meek young man must find the courage within when a rogue tramp menaces his hometown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Bones (2001)
A medicine man is sent looking for the son of his tribal king, and brings back an American golfer and a host of goons intent on keeping him in the golf tournament.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Errand Boy (1961)
Paramutual Pictures wants to know where all the money is going so they hire Morty to be their spy. Morty works for Mr. Sneak and gets a job in the mail room so that he can have access to the lot. But all that Morty ever finds is that he can cause havoc no matter what he does.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpa Weekend (2026)
Four lifelong friends escape to a luxury spa retreat to reconnect, unwind and rediscover themselves, but their weekend of relaxation soon turns into a series of wild adventures and bad decisions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeau Hunks (1931)
Stan and Ollie join the French Foreign Legion after Ollie's sweetheart rejects him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaking Care of Business (1990)
An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly ends up in the hands of a friendly convict who poses as him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tramp (1915)
The Little Fellow finds the girl of his dreams and work on a family farm. He helps defend the farm against criminals, and all seems well, until he discovers the girl of his dreams already has someone in her life. Unwilling to be a problem in their lives, he takes to the road, though he is seen skipping and swinging his cane as if happy to be back on the road where he knows he belongs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)
John Mulaney relays stories from his childhood and "SNL," eviscerates the value of college and laments getting older in this electric comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOne Night at McCool's (2001)
On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a tussle with her criminal boyfriend, who she then shoots dead, later persuading Randy to take the rap for her. But this isn't the end of it, as both Randy's cousin Carl and the detective assigned to the murder case also fall for Jewel's charms and find themselves caught up in the ensuing events. It seems that any man who meets Jewel falls instantly in love with her, and she's going to use this fully to her own advantage, leaving a trail of havoc in her wake. It also seems that she is going to get away with it - that is, until Randy decides to hire a hitman...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisJosh's Suicide (1911)
Josh doesn't like the way things go at home and decides to quit and get out. Later, his wife gets what purports to be his farewell letter, which is intended to lead her to believe he has committed suicide. He, however, goes to New York to have a good time, and he does, "by gosh." The wife, believing herself a widow, makes a trip to New York with her admirer. Well, you may guess the rest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Le mogli e le arance (1917)
Le mogli e le arance is characterized by a wonderful sereneness. It is the kind of quietude which many of us connect immediately with the south. Everything seems to be in its perfect place, and time is just passing. In the setting of a sanatorium a nobleman is practicing idleness and slow-motion mind games. Does it sound boring? Yes, it does. But it is not, the uneventfulness is definitively enthralling. The film director tries to narrate time, time itself, as such, for its own sake: a rare experiment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Out of the Inkwell (1919)
Max Fleischer draws the upper and lower halves of the Clown's body, which dance around separately before coming together. Max interacts with his creation before ultimately washing the Clown off the page with water.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Just a Husband (1927)
Newlyweds Warren and Helen have an unplanned honeymoon in Death Valley.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Careful Please (1926)
A bill collector working in a tough neighborhood manages to rescue a young socialite from kidnappers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Diplomacy (1916)
The story takes place in Monte Carlo, where the impoverished Julian proposes marriage to the wealthy Dora, only to be turned down by the girl's mercenary mother. Several years later, Julian manages not only to obtain a huge fortune, but also a prominent position in the British diplomatic service. Now a suitable husband for Dora, Julian marries the girl. Alas, their happiness is short-lived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Buen Provecho (2022)
Christian prepares a surprise dinner for his girlfriend, but he ends up being the one surprised.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
King of the Circus (1924)
Max suffers from drunkenness, but gets serious after he falls for the daughter of a circus director - who forbids her romance with an outsider.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
The just-out-of-college, effete son of a no-nonsense steamboat captain comes to visit his father whom he's not seen since he was a child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Paleface (1922)
A butterfly collector unwittingly wanders into an Indian encampment while chasing a butterfly, but the tribe has resolved to kill the first white man who enters their encampment because white oil tycoons are trying to force them from their land.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Small Town Idol?
The closest matches to A Small Town Idol are Shanghaied (1915), Police (1916) and A Woman (1915). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Small Town Idol?
Start with Shanghaied (1915), the closest match to A Small Town Idol.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Small Town Idol?
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018), rated 7.9/10 by 259 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Small Town Idol?
Spa Weekend (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Small Town Idol?
Yes: Shanghaied (1915), Police (1916) and A Woman (1915).
How are movies similar to A Small Town Idol chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Small Town Idol, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.