Movies like Waterfront (1939)
The best movies like Waterfront (1939) are The Naked City (1948), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and The Mechanic (1972). If Waterfront hooked you with its action and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Notebook (2004)7.9/10 from 13,042 votes
- NewestOscar Shaw (2026)Released 2026
The Naked City (1948)
After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Mechanic (1972)
Arthur Bishop is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem like accidents, thinks himself an artist. It's made him very rich, but as he hits middle age, he's so depressed and lonely that he takes on one of his victim's sons, Steve McKenna, as his apprentice. Arthur puts him through a rigorous training period and brings him on several hits. As Steven improves, Arthur worries that he'll discover who killed his father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar Shaw (2026)
After retiring from the police force, a relentless detective haunted by the tragic loss of his closest friend sets out on a perilous quest for vengeance, seeking redemption and fighting to restore justice to the streets he once swore to protect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForce of Evil (1950)
Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOdd Man Out (1947)
Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Blue Lamp (1950)
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Interview (1998)
A duel between a suspected murderer and a detective pressed by people who want results. But whose skin is really wanted?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Without Pity (1957)
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locket (1946)
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJeopardy (1953)
A woman is kidnapped when she goes to get help for her husband who is trapped on a beach with the tide coming in to surely drown him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Way Out (1950)
Two hoodlum brothers are brought into hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one dies, the other accuses their Black doctor of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe FBI Story (1959)
A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBirth of the Dragon (2017)
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Chinatown, this cross-cultural biopic chronicles Bruce Lee’s emergence as a martial-arts superstar after his legendary secret showdown with fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisKid Galahad (1962)
After completing military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Roaring Twenties (1939)
After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Roy and Gilbert's fishing trip takes a terrifying turn when the hitchhiker they pick up turns out to be a sociopath on the run from the law. He's killed before, and he lets the two know that as soon as they're no longer useful, he'll kill again. The two friends plot an escape, but the hitchhiker's peculiar physical affliction, an eye that never closes even when he sleeps, makes it impossible for them to tell when they can make a break for it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Past (1948)
A gang hold a family hostage in their own home. The leader of the escaped cons is bothered by a recurring dream that the doctor of the house may be able to analyze.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · 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 action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Siege: Archangel One (2024)
The first civil guardsman rises to the task of apprehending a dangerous serial killer before his city descends into chaos. Set ten years before the events of 'The Siege'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Breathless (1960)
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPolice Story 2 (1988)
The Hong Kong super-cop must stop a group of blackmailing bombers at the same time that the villains of the first Police Story are out for revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIntacto (2001)
An enigmatic tale of four people whose lives are intertwined by destiny are subject to the laws of fate. They discover that luck is something they cannot afford to be without as they gamble with the highest stakes possible in a deadly game from which only one of them will emerge intact.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Siege 2 (2021)
In the wake of Kuruc Péter's demise, Zalán and Luca find themselves on the run, fearing retaliation from the fallen kingpin's forces. Meanwhile, underworld leaders seek to leverage the events, including the eager Áron Székely.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
King of the Rocket Men (1949)
Prof. Millard pretends to be dead and helps Jeff King ferret out Vulcan, the evil traitor at the science academy. Donning his Rocket Man costume King goes from one hair raising rescue to the next in order to keep the newly invented Decimator out of the clutches of Vulcan and his minions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
D'Artagnan's Daughter (1994)
It is 1654, in the South of France. When horsemen follow a runaway slave into the convent where he's taken sanctuary and kill both the fugitive and the Mother Superior, they little realise that one of the novices is the spirited daughter of retired musketeer D'Artagnan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Notebook (2004)
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBarfly (1987)
Downtrodden writer Henry and distressed goddess Wanda aren't exactly husband and wife: they're wedded to their bar stools. But, they like each other's company—and Barfly captures their giddy, gin-soaked attempts to make a go of life on the skids.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Waterfront?
The closest matches to Waterfront are The Naked City (1948), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and The Mechanic (1972). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Waterfront?
Start with The Naked City (1948), the closest match to Waterfront.
What is the highest-rated movie like Waterfront?
The Notebook (2004), rated 7.9/10 by 13,042 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Waterfront?
Oscar Shaw (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Waterfront?
Yes: The Naked City (1948), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and The Mechanic (1972).
How are movies similar to Waterfront chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Waterfront, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.