Movies like Desert Passage (1952)
The best movies like Desert Passage (1952) are The Westerner (1940), The Law and Jake Wade (1958) and Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013). If Desert Passage hooked you with its western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)8.0/10 from 1,423 votes
- NewestThe Frog (2026)Released 2026
The Westerner (1940)
Drifter Cole Harden is accused of stealing a horse and faces hanging by self-appointed Judge Roy Bean, but Harden manages to talk his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star Lillie Langtry, with whom the judge is obsessed, even though he has never met her. Tensions rise when Harden comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders who Judge Bean is trying to drive away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Law and Jake Wade (1958)
Jake Wade breaks Clint Hollister out of jail to pay off an old debt, though it's clear there is some pretty deep hostility between them. They part, and Jake returns to his small-town marshal's job and his fiancée only to find he has been tracked there by Hollister. It seems they were once in a gang together and Jake knows where the proceeds of a bank hold-up are hidden. Hollister and his sidekicks make off into the hills, taking along the trussed-up marshal and his kidnapped bride-to-be to force the lawman to show them where the loot is.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAin't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
Bob Muldoon and Ruth Guthrie, an impassioned young outlaw couple on an extended crime spree, are finally apprehended by lawmen after a shootout in the Texas hills. Although Ruth wounds a local officer, Bob takes the blame. But four years later, Bob escapes from prison and sets out to find Ruth and their daughter, born during his incarceration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Harder They Fall (2021)
Gunning for revenge, outlaw Nat Love saddles up with his gang to take down enemy Rufus Buck, a ruthless crime boss who just got sprung from prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Missouri Breaks (1976)
When vigilante land baron David Braxton hangs one of the best friends of cattle rustler Tom Logan, Logan's gang decides to get even by purchasing a small farm next to Braxton's ranch. From there the rustlers begin stealing horses, using the farm as a front for their operation. Determined to stop the thefts at any cost, Braxton retains the services of eccentric sharpshooter Robert E. Lee Clayton, who begins ruthlessly taking down Logan's gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashpoint (1984)
Two Texas border guards find a jeep buried in the desert, with a skeleton, a scoped rifle, and a box with $800,000 in cash. Before they decide whether to keep the money or report it, they privately investigate the clues and unravel a decades old mystery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrom Noon Till Three (1976)
Bank robber Graham Dorsey spends a few hours with beautiful widow Amanda Starbuck, in which time his gang takes part in a disastrous holdup. Learning of his comrades' demise, Dorsey goes on the lam. Believing her short-term lover was killed by the law, Amanda decides to make the most of having had a liaison with the supposedly deceased desperado by writing a book about him. Much to his confusion, the still-living Dorsey watches as his name becomes legendary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisThere Was a Crooked Man... (1970)
A charming but ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison, where he enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Man Called Sledge (1970)
James Garner is Luther Sledge, the leader of a pack of rebels who are planning to steal a stash of gold. But after the thieves actually manage to get away with the bounty, they soon discover that the enemy lies within their midst. As they begin to bicker over who should get the biggest cut, the stage is set for a deadly showdown. Claude Akins and John Marley co-star in this Italian Western directed by Vic Morrow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Five (2023)
A scorned woman enlists the help of five strangers to execute a bank robbery. Tensions rise as the men anxiously await her arrival with the money, leaving the crew to wonder if they have been betrayed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisBandidas (2006)
When a ruthless robber baron takes away everything they cherish, a rough-and-tumble, idealistic peasant and a sophisticated heiress embark on a quest for justice, vengeance…and a few good heists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Comancheros (1961)
Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves known as Comancheros.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBilly Two Hats (1974)
After a bank robbery, runaway Scottish outlaw Arch Deans and his young half-breed Kiowa partner Billy Two Hats develop a father-son relationship, but Sheriff Henry Gifford is determined to capture or kill them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Proud Rebel (1958)
Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, providing that he works it off on her ranch. He soon finds himself involved in the woman's struggle to keep her ranch from a local landowner who wants it--and whose sons were responsible for the man being framed for the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarquero (1970)
Jake Remy leads a gang of outlaw cutthroats making their escape toward Mexico from a successful robbery. Barring their way is a river--crossable only by means of a ferry barge. The barge operator, Travis, refuses to be bullied into providing transport for the gang and escapes across river with most of the local populace--leaving Remy and his gang behind, desperately seeking a way across. A river-wide stand-off begins between the gang and the townspeople, both groups of which have left people on the wrong side of the river.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVirginia City (1940)
Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead for a Dollar (2022)
In 1897, veteran bounty hunter Max Borlund is deep into Mexico where he encounters professional gambler and outlaw Joe Cribbens — a sworn enemy he sent to prison years before. Max is on a mission to find and return Rachel Kidd, the wife of a wealthy businessman, who as the story is told to Max, has been abducted by Buffalo Soldier Elijah Jones. Max is ultimately faced with a showdown to save honor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisExtreme Prejudice (1987)
Lean, mean Texas Ranger Jack Benteen locks horns with a former friend, Cash Bailey, now a ruthless drug kingpin. Though they're on opposite sides of the law, they share a love interest in the sensual Sarita. When a crew of rogue soldiers descends upon the border town for an off-the-books mission, all roads lead to a bloody, to-the-death showdown, as loyalties shift and the lines between good and evil are blurred.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
Outlaw and self-appointed lawmaker Judge Roy Bean rules over an empty stretch of the West that gradually grows, under his iron fist, into a thriving town, while dispensing his his own quirky brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLonely are the Brave (1962)
A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood Money (2024)
Three friends decide to rob a bank. Little do they know that the consequences of the heist will haunt them for years to come.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Salvation (2014)
In 1870s America, a peaceful American settler kills his family's murderer which unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader. His cowardly fellow townspeople then betray him, forcing him to hunt down the outlaws alone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisColorado Territory (1949)
After escaping from jail, outlaw Wes McQueen is convinced by his old partner in crime to do one last heist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Banker's Bounty (2026)
An English banker travels into the crime-infested West in a desperate attempt to finance his son’s life-saving treatment overseas. But in a world ruled by outlaws and greed, survival is never guaranteed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)
On the run from her violent husband, a woman witnesses a train robbery and is taken prisoner by a frontier outlaw gang, led by a bandit who’s hiding a secret of his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)
Duke Fergus falls for Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry in the Barbary Coast in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. He loses money to crooked gambler Boss Tito Morell, goes home, learns to gamble, and returns. After he makes a fortune, he opens his own place with Flaxen as the entertainer; but the 1906 quake destroys his place.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Kaffee & Kippen (TBA)
1972, a lonely backwater on the prairie. Bruno, the village’s longtime police officer, senses his chance to crack a big case when a real estate agent shows up at the local bar one day. Determined to expose the stranger, Bruno throws himself into the case. The only problem is that no one trusts him...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Two jobless Americans convince a prospector to travel to the mountains of Mexico with them in search of gold. But the hostile wilderness, local bandits, and greed all get in the way of their journey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIn The Cards (2025)
Damien embarks on a harrowing journey to fix his own devastating mistake...without taking an ounce of responsibility.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Desert Passage?
The closest matches to Desert Passage are The Westerner (1940), The Law and Jake Wade (1958) and Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Desert Passage?
Start with The Westerner (1940), the closest match to Desert Passage.
What is the highest-rated movie like Desert Passage?
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), rated 8.0/10 by 1,423 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Desert Passage?
The Frog (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Desert Passage?
Yes: The Westerner (1940), The Law and Jake Wade (1958) and Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013).
How are movies similar to Desert Passage chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Desert Passage, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.