Movies like Swingin' on a Rainbow (1945)
The best movies like Swingin' on a Rainbow (1945) are Soul Men (2008), The Big Store (1941) and Footlight Parade (1933). If Swingin' on a Rainbow hooked you with its comedy and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)8.0/10 from 459 votes
- NewestA Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)Released 2025
Soul Men (2008)
Two former backup soul singers, Louis and Floyd, have not spoken to each other in 20 years, and reluctantly agree to travel across the country together to a reunion concert to honor their recently-deceased lead singer. Cleo, a beautiful young woman who is believed to be Floyd's daughter, accompanies them as a new singer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Store (1941)
A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFootlight Parade (1933)
A fledgling producer finds himself at odds with his workers, financiers and his greedy ex-wife when he tries to produce live musicals for movie-going audiences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe After Party (2018)
When an aspiring rapper goes viral for the wrong reasons, he thinks his career is sunk. But a wild party gives him one more chance to make it right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Mighty Wind (2003)
Three eclectic, never-quite-famous folk bands come together for the first time in decades following the death of their manager to put on an reunion concert in his honor, at the request of his son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Song Is Born (1948)
The story of seven scholars in search of an expert to teach them about swing music. They seem to have found the perfect candidate in winsome nightclub singer Honey Swanson. But Honey's gangster boyfriend doesn't want to give her up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Crazy (1983)
Mega-promoter Colin Beverly plans to sabotage the New Year's 1983 concert of small-time operator Max Wolfe. Wolfe's assistants Neil Allen and Willie Loman find romance while trying to save the drugs, violence, and rock and roll from Beverly's schemes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBo Burnham: What. (2013)
Left brain and right brain duke it out and then belt out a tune in comedian Bo Burnham's quick and clever one-man show. As intelligent as he is lanky, Burnham cynically pokes at pop entertainment while offering unadulterated showmanship of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Day at the Races (1937)
Doctor Hugo Hackenbush, Tony, and Stuffy try and save Judy's sanitarium by winning a big race with a finicky horse owned by Judy's boyfriend Gil. There are a few problems. Hackenbush, who was recently put in charge of the sanitarium, isn't really a doctor, he's a veterinarian.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnimal Crackers (1930)
The well-known explorer and hunter Captain Spaulding has just returned from Africa, and is being welcomed home with a lavish party at the estate of influential society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse when a valuable painting goes missing. The intrepid Captain Spaulding attempts to solve the crime with the help of his silly secretary Horatio Jamison, while sparring with the anarchic Signor Emanuel Ravelli and his nutty sidekick The Professor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)
Combining his trademark wit and self-deprecating humor with original music, Bo Burnham offers up his unique twist on life in this stand-up special about life, death, sexuality, hypocrisy, mental illness and Pringles cans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBack to the Beach (1987)
A former beach boy and his wife go to California to visit their daughter and become part of the new beach scene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisCB4 (1993)
A "rockumentary", covering the rise to fame of MC Gusto, Stab Master Arson, and Dead Mike: members of the rap group "CB4". We soon learn that these three are not what they seem and don't appear to know as much about rap music as they claim... but a lack of musical ability in an artist never hurts sales, does it? You've just got to play the part of a rap star...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBo Burnham: Words, Words, Words (2010)
Bo Burnham is back with a new one-man show full of his patented songs and wordplay, as well as haikus, dramatic readings, blasphemy, and so much more in his first hour-long special, shot live in his home town of Boston.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)
Kevin, Nick, and Joe Jonas face a series of escalating obstacles as they struggle to make it from London to New York in time to spend Christmas with their families.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Happy (1949)
The Marx Brothers help young Broadway hopefuls when they get mixed up with gangsters due to a tin of sardines containing Romanoff diamonds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisBye Bye Birdie (1963)
A singer goes to a small town for a performance before he is drafted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Cocoanuts (1929)
During the Florida land boom, the Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land and thwart a jewel robbery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuava Island (2019)
Deni Maroon, a musician and dock worker is determined to pull off a music festival against the interests of the local factory owner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung at Heart (1954)
The lives and romances of three sisters in a musical family; the youngest daughter's life is complicated by the subsequent arrival of a charming composer and a cynical music arranger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHelsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987)
A Finnish taxi driver in Berlin gets in over his head when he accepts a fare from two men with briefcases full of money stolen from ruthless gangsters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Night and Day (1946)
When his first stage show fails, songwriter Cole Porter goes off to fight in WWI until, injured, he lands in a hospital. He impresses nurse Linda Lee with his creativity, but their budding romance must wait as Cole heads home. Back in New York, he mounts a series of popular shows, and when his work brings him back to Europe, he eventually marries Linda. But success doesn't spare him from marital complications or bad news about a beloved relative.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroadway Gondolier (1935)
A taxi driver travels to Venice and poses as a gondolier to land a radio singing job.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Tanks Are Coming (1941)
Educational short about the status of battle tanks and tank training in the U.S. Army in pre-War 1941, featuring a comical Army trainee from the Bronx.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued (2014)
A documentary that goes behind the scenes with some of today's most talented songwriters as they make new music based on long-lost, newly discovered lyrics from Bob Dylan's legendary Basement Tapes sessions. T Bone Burnett brings Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Marcus Mumford together in a dramatic two-week studio session in the basement of Capitol Records. Features an exclusive interview with Bob Dylan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Sugar, Honey and Pepper (1980)
Three episodes. In the first episode Valerio is mistaken for a notorious criminal. Very beautiful journalists succeed to bring him to her house for an exclusive interview. She tries to seduce him. In the second episode Giuseppe, an unlucky and ugly man, gets a job as a maid. His mistress falls in love for him. In the third episode, Plinio is a taxi driver who loves his cab above all. But at one point he is involved with the kidnapping of a woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWanting (2014)
On a cold winter night, a taxi driver helps a young couple look for a love motel around Santiago Centro. As the search is prolonged into the early morning, the tedium of the situation pushes them to reconsider what they are searching, and what they ultimately want.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The World on a Dove's Wing (1989)
Reda, a taxi driver, drives the wealthy widow Imane who has just returned from abroad. She lets him drive her to run errands, and he helps her break her sweetheart, the engineer Hassan, out from a mental hospital.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Man with the Screaming Brain (2005)
The brains of a Russian taxi driver and a wealthy businessman are brought together in one body by a mad scientist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Swingin' on a Rainbow?
The closest matches to Swingin' on a Rainbow are Soul Men (2008), The Big Store (1941) and Footlight Parade (1933). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Swingin' on a Rainbow?
Start with Soul Men (2008), the closest match to Swingin' on a Rainbow.
What is the highest-rated movie like Swingin' on a Rainbow?
Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016), rated 8.0/10 by 459 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Swingin' on a Rainbow?
A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Swingin' on a Rainbow?
Yes: Soul Men (2008), The Big Store (1941) and Footlight Parade (1933).
How are movies similar to Swingin' on a Rainbow chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Swingin' on a Rainbow, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.