Movies like Why Girls Leave Home (1945)
The best movies like Why Girls Leave Home (1945) are King Creole (1958), Dreamgirls (2006) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). If Why Girls Leave Home hooked you with its drama and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedClouds (2020)8.2/10 from 1,072 votes
- NewestClouds (2020)Released 2020
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 thisDreamgirls (2006)
A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 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 thisMarked Woman (1937)
In the underworld of Manhattan, a woman dares to stand up to one of the city's most powerful gangsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrivate 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrong Man (1956)
In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohnny Eager (1941)
A charming racketeer seduces the DA's stepdaughter for revenge, then falls in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Thief (2003)
An aging gambler on a losing streak attempts to rob a casino in Monte Carlo. But someone's already tipped off the cops before he even makes a move.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
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 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 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 thisJudy (2019)
Thirty years after starring in 'The Wizard of Oz', beloved actress and singer Judy Garland arrives in London to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. While there, she reminisces with friends and fans and begins a whirlwind romance with musician Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisPitfall (1948)
An insurance man wishing for a more exciting life becomes wrapped up in the affairs of an imprisoned embezzler, his model girlfriend, and a violent private investigator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarlet Street (1945)
Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCigarettes & Coffee (1993)
At a desert diner, the lives of five strangers become linked through a single twenty-dollar bill. Shot for $20,000 and starring Philip Baker Hall, the short premiered at Sundance and later inspired Anderson’s debut feature Hard Eight (1996).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisClouds (2020)
Young musician Zach Sobiech discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRounders (1998)
Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGatwick Gangsters (2017)
Shampagne borrowed £100 Million from the London mob but a crook stole it. Things get worse for the mob boss of Gatwick after robberies and bank heists go bad. And there's a bomb, too...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Shooting Straight (1930)
A gambler wanted for murder hides under the guise of a clergyman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Bugsy (1991)
New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dead Pool (1988)
Dirty Harry Callahan returns for his final film adventure. Together with his partner Al Quan, he must investigate the systematic murder of prominent figures. By the time Harry learns that the murders are part of a sick game to predict such deaths, it may be too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuicide Kings (1997)
Carlo, a former mobster, is abducted by five privileged young men desperate to raise a $2 million ransom to save the sister of a friend. As Carlo plays mind games, however, his captors splinter -- each wondering whether one of their own had a hand in the crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Client (1994)
A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMenace II Society (1993)
A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhite Men Can't Jump (1992)
Two street basketball hustlers try to con each other, then team up for a bigger score.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlickering Lights (2000)
Four small gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they take over 4,000,000 kroner which they were supposed to bring him. Trying to escape to Barcelona they are forced to stop in the countryside, in an old, wrecked house, hiding there for several weeks. Slowly, one after another, they realize, that they would like to stay there, start a new life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Why Girls Leave Home?
The closest matches to Why Girls Leave Home are King Creole (1958), Dreamgirls (2006) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Why Girls Leave Home?
Start with King Creole (1958), the closest match to Why Girls Leave Home.
What is the highest-rated movie like Why Girls Leave Home?
Clouds (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 1,072 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Why Girls Leave Home?
Clouds (2020) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Why Girls Leave Home?
Yes: King Creole (1958), Dreamgirls (2006) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955).
How are movies similar to Why Girls Leave Home chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Why Girls Leave Home, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.