Movies like The Pursuit of Happiness (1934)
The best movies like The Pursuit of Happiness (1934) are Let's Make Love (1960), To Be or Not to Be (1942) and It's Always Fair Weather (1955). If The Pursuit of Happiness hooked you with its comedy and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTo Be or Not to Be (1942)7.8/10 from 886 votes
- NewestLove Is in the Air (2023)Released 2023
Let's Make Love (1960)
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Be or Not to Be (1942)
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt's Always Fair Weather (1955)
Three World War II buddies promise to meet at a specified place and time 10 years after the war. They keep their word only to discover how far apart they've grown. But the reunion sparks memories of youthful dreams that haven't been fulfilled -- and slowly, the three men reevaluate their lives and try to find a way to renew their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fighting Temptations (2003)
Darrin Hill, a slick-talking but down-on- his-luck NYC advertising exec, returns to his hometown in Georgia to claim the inheritance his aunt left him. But before Darrin can collect the money, he must fulfill his aunt's final wish -- to create a local choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisPlatinum Blonde (1931)
Ann Schuyler is an upper-crust socialite who bullies her reporter husband into conforming to her highfalutin ways. The husband chafes at the confinement of high society, though, and yearns for a creative outlet. He decides to write a play and collaborates with a fellow reporter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello, Dolly! (1969)
Dolly Levi is a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to see the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended, and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York City.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Is in the Air (2023)
A fiercely independent pilot fighting to keep her family business afloat starts to fall for the man sent by corporate to ground her operation forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pirate (1948)
A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpeedway (1968)
A race car driver tries to outrun the beautiful tax auditor out to settle his account.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhat's Love Got to Do with It? (2023)
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilk Stockings (1957)
After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris, the beautiful, ultra-serious Ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them. She starts out condemning the decadent West, but gradually falls under its spell—with the help of an American movie producer. A remake of Ninotchka (1939).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou'll Never Get Rich (1941)
A Broadway choreographer gets drafted and coincidentally ends up in the same army base as the boyfriend of his object of affection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisG.I. Blues (1960)
Stationed in West Germany, soldier Tulsa McLean hopes to open a nightclub once he's discharged. Although he may lack the capital for such a venture, a chance to raise the cash comes his way through a friendly wager. Local dancer Lili is a notorious ice queen, and Tulsa bets everything he has that a friend of his can earn her affections. But when the friend is dispatched to Alaska, it's up to Tulsa to melt Lili's heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Grass Is Greener (1960)
Victor and Hillary are down on their luck to the point that they allow tourists to take guided tours of their castle. But Charles Delacro, a millionaire oil tycoon, visits, and takes a liking to more than the house. Soon, Hattie Durant gets involved and they have a good old fashioned love triangle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' in hopes of raising her spirits, where she watches dashing archaeologist Tom Baxter time and again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Merry Widow (1934)
A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
Millie Dillmount, a fearless young lady fresh from Salina, Kansas, determined to experience Life, sets out to see the world in the rip-roaring Twenties. With high spirits and wearing one of those new high hemlines, she arrives in New York to test the "modern" ideas she had been reading about back in Kansas: "I've taken the girl out of Kansas. Now I have to take Kansas out of the girl!"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMade of Honor (2008)
Tom and Hannah have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her 'maid' of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEasy Virtue (2008)
A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Without Borders (2021)
The three siblings Eva, Lieke and Maarten are going through a rough patch. Eva has cancer, but she doesn't want the rest of the family to know. She only confides in young Luke, a cancer patient in the same hospital. Her brother Maarten also has a secret: although he is married to Sanne, he has fallen in love with his friend Hugo and doesn't quite know how to deal with it. In Lieke's case, it is her father Ferry who is causing stress. Because he is not at all happy about his daughter's choice of partner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Wonderful Town (1958)
Ruth Sherwood and her sister, Eileen, have moved to 1935 Greenwich Village. They're surrounded by colorful Village characters (including an out-of-work football player known as the Wreck, and Mr. Appopolous, a modern painter and their landlord) and embark on various New York adventures. Ruth, who's trying to make it as a writer, meets up with a sleazy newspaper writer named Chick and a kindly editor named Bob, both of whom take an interest in both her career and her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000)
In 1970s Germany, Léopold, a 50-year-old businessman, picks up and seduces 20-year-old Franz, who swiftly moves into his apartment. The dynamic between them intensifies with the sudden arrival of their ex-girlfriends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiving It Up (1954)
Homer Flagg is a railroad worker in the small New Mexico town of Desert Hole. One day, he finds an abandoned automobile at an old atomic proving ground. His doctor and best friend, Steve Harris, diagnoses him with radiation poisoning and gives Homer three weeks to live. A big city reporter hears of Homer's plight and convinces her editor to provide an all-expenses paid trip to New York.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Reckless (1984)
Teenager Johnny Rourke is reckless. Born on the wrong side of the tracks, he breaks the law and girls' hearts with equal cool. Cheerleader Tracey Prescott is reckless too. She dumps her conventional life and boring boyfriend to follow Johnny wherever his dangerous path leads.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
The Year of the Wolf (2007)
Sari is a young, beautiful and intelligent girl who is busy studying at university,but she suffers from epilepsy and has to face death on a daily basis. Mikko is hersomewhat older university teacher, who is tired of life, and who one day decides toabandon his wife, children and idea of a perfect life. Both characters have been tooscared to live their lives to the brim for too long. But they meet, and in spite oftheir prejudices and reserved natures, they manage to create a dramatic and movingmodern romance which confronts numerous taboos. While the imagery explores theboundary between life and death in a most poetic way, the odd couple's romance istold with both bite and humour. Society - be it in the shape of angry ex-wives,overprotective parents, conservative aunts or embittered colleagues - is doing whatit can to put a spanner in the works."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Dinner at Eight (1933)
An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoeing, Boeing (1965)
Living in Paris, journalist Bernard has devised a scheme to keep three fiancées: Lufthansa, Air France and British United. Everything works fine as long as they only come home every third day. But when there's a change in their working schedule, they will be able to be home every second day instead. Bernard's carefully structured life is breaking apart
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMajor Barbara (1941)
Idealistic young Barbara is the daughter of rich weapons manufacturer Andrew Undershaft. She rebels against her estranged father by joining the Salvation Army. Wooed by professor-turned-preacher Adolphus Cusins, Barbara eventually grows disillusioned with her causes and begins to see things from her father's perspective.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like The Pursuit of Happiness and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pursuit of Happiness?
The closest matches to The Pursuit of Happiness are Let's Make Love (1960), To Be or Not to Be (1942) and It's Always Fair Weather (1955). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pursuit of Happiness?
Start with Let's Make Love (1960), the closest match to The Pursuit of Happiness.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pursuit of Happiness?
To Be or Not to Be (1942), rated 7.8/10 by 886 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pursuit of Happiness?
Love Is in the Air (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Pursuit of Happiness?
Yes: Let's Make Love (1960), To Be or Not to Be (1942) and It's Always Fair Weather (1955).
How are movies similar to The Pursuit of Happiness chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pursuit of Happiness, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.