Movies like Detective Story (1951)
The best movies like Detective Story (1951) are The Big Combo (1955), Nocturne (1946) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). If Detective Story 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 ratedWhere the Sidewalk Ends (1950)7.2/10 from 215 votes
- NewestBrooklyn's Finest (2010)Released 2010
The Big Combo (1955)
Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNocturne (1946)
In 1940s Los Angeles, when womanizing composer Keith Vincent is found dead, the inquest concludes it was a suicide but police detective Joe Warne isn't so sure.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
A police detective's violent nature keeps him from being a good cop.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRogue Cop (1954)
A police detective on the take tries to catch his brother's killer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Cry of the City (1948)
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShield for Murder (1954)
A crooked police detective masterminds a robbery then fights to keep the stolen money.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Chicago Deadline (1949)
On Chicago's South Side reporter Ed Ames finds the body of a dead girl. Her address book leads to a host of names of men frightened by her death but claiming never to have known her. Ames comes to know quite a lot, dangerously so.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
He Walked by Night (1949)
Roy Martin aka Roy Morgan is a burglar and former war-time Radio & Electronics Engineer who listens in to radio police calls, allowing him to stay one step ahead of the cops.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInterpol (1957)
Spurred on by the death of his drug-addicted sister at the hands of ruthless narcotics kingpin Frank McNally, U.S. drug enforcement agent Charles Sturgis embarks on an investigation that takes him from New York to London, Lisbon, Rome, Naples and finally Athens in pursuit of McNally's shapely associate, Gina Broger.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
City That Never Sleeps (1953)
Chicago cop Johnny Kelly, dissatisfied with his job and marriage, would like to run away with his stripper girlfriend Angel Face, but keeps getting cold feet. During one crowded night, Angel Face decides she's had enough vacillation, and crooked lawyer Biddel has an illegal mission for Johnny that could put him in a financial position to act. But other, conflicting schemes are also in progress...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Borderline (1950)
The Los Angeles police know that Pete Ritchie has been bringing drugs into the city, but they can't pin a single piece of evidence on him. After many botched attempts to get at the crook, they resort to having cop Madeleine go undercover and seduce her way into Ritchie's circle. Before she can get anywhere, she's abducted by Johnny, a government agent posing as a thug. But Johnny and Madeleine have no idea they're on the same side of the law.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Crimson Kimono (1959)
Two detectives clash over the hunt for a burlesque dancer’s killer in Los Angeles’ Japanese district.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn Dangerous Ground (1951)
A big-city cop is reassigned to the country after his superiors find him too angry to be an effective policeman. While on his temporary assignment he assists in a manhunt of a suspected murderer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNew York Confidential (1955)
Story follows the rise and subsequent fall of the notorious head of a New York crime family, who decides to testify against his pals in order to avoid being killed by his fellow cohorts.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)
Rocky and Dan, war buddies, are prowl car cops on night duty. Dan is a cynic who views all lawbreakers as scum; Rocky feels more lenient. Both are attracted to the radio voice of communicator Kate Mallory; but in person, Kate proves reluctant to get involved with men who just might stop a bullet. By lucky chance, Rocky and Dan cause big trouble for murderous racketeer Ritchie Garris; but when he swears vengeance, Kate's fears may prove justified.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
A newspaper publisher, wanting to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence, talks his possible son-in-law Tom into a hoax in an attempt to expose ineptitude of the city's hard-line district attorney. The plan is to have Tom plant clues leading to his arrest for killing a female nightclub dancer. Once Tom is found guilty, he is to reveal the setup and humiliate the DA.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeadline - U.S.A. (1952)
New York City newspaper The Day is in trouble. Even though editor Ed Hutcheson has worked hard running the paper, its circulation has been steadily declining. Now the publisher's widow wants to sell the paper, which will most likely mean its end. Hutcheson's only hope is to finish his exposé on a dangerous gangster before the sale is finalized.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFollow Me Quietly (1949)
When it rains in the city, a serial killer known as "The Judge" looks for his next strangling victim. For months, the madman has been stalking at night, leaving behind clues, but police efforts have been fruitless. Constructing a life-size dummy of the murderer, police Lt. Harry Grant is growing obsessed with capturing him, and always following Grant is the relentless reporter Ann Gorman looking to break the story, but the hunt continues.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
Private Hell 36 (1954)
In New York City, a bank robbery of $300,000 goes unsolved for a year, until some of the marked bills are found in a Los Angeles drugstore theft. Police detectives Cal Bruner and Jack Farnham investigate and are led from the drugstore to a nightclub, where singer Lilli is another recipient of a stolen bill. With Lilli's help, the partners track down the remaining money, but both Lilli and Jack are dismayed when Cal decides he wants to keep part of it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHighway Dragnet (1954)
Ex-Marine Jim Henry, on the lam from a murder charge, hitches a ride with a glamour-magazine photographer, who is journeying cross-country with her principal model. Tensions rise, however, when the women realize their traveling companion may be a killer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Scene of the Crime (1949)
A cop investigates the shooting of another policeman... that may have been involved in crooked activities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Killer's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark City (1950)
War hero Danny Haley fleeces out-of-town dupes in a rigged poker game. He and his pals see Arthur Winant as an easy mark, but they've reckoned without Winant's homicidal brother, who wants revenge after Arthur commits suicide.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Underworld Story (1950)
A blacklisted reporter brings his shady ways to a small-town newspaper after being fired from a big city daily.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
The Street with No Name (1948)
After two gang-related killings in "Center City," a suspect (who was framed) is arrested, released on bail...and murdered. Inspector Briggs of the FBI recruits a young agent, Gene Cordell, to go undercover in the shadowy Skid Row area (alias George Manly) as a potential victim of the same racket. Soon, Gene meets Alec Stiles, neurotic mastermind who's "building an organization along scientific lines." Stiles recruits Cordell, whose job becomes a lot more dangerous.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCall Northside 777 (1948)
In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal to look into the case. For some time, McNeal continues to believe Frank guilty. But when he starts to change his mind, he meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Detective (1968)
New York City Police detective Joe Leland investigates the grisly murder of Teddy Leikman, the gay son of a politically influential department store owner. While investigating, he discovers links to official corruption in NYC in this drama that delves into a world of sex and drugs, homophobia, homosexuality and bisexuality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Prowler (1951)
Los Angeles, California. A cop who, unhappy with his job, blames others for his work problems, is assigned to investigate the case of a prowler who stalks the home of a married woman.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrooklyn's Finest (2010)
Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD's sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers struggle with the sometimes fine line between right and wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Detective Story?
The closest matches to Detective Story are The Big Combo (1955), Nocturne (1946) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Detective Story?
People who watched Detective Story most often go on to The Big Combo (1955), Nocturne (1946) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950).
What is the highest-rated movie like Detective Story?
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950), rated 7.2/10 by 215 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Detective Story?
Brooklyn's Finest (2010) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Detective Story?
Yes: The Big Combo (1955), Nocturne (1946) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950).
How are movies similar to Detective Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Detective Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.