Movies like The Return of Frank James (1940)
The best movies like The Return of Frank James (1940) are Nevada Smith (1966), American Outlaws (2001) and Boss Nigger (1975). If The Return of Frank James 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 Big Country (1958)7.6/10 from 436 votes
- NewestSundown (2025)Released 2025
Nevada Smith (1966)
Nevada Smith is the alias of Max Sand, the son of an Indian mother and American father. When they are killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to avenge them. The young man is taken in by a gun merchant who shows him how to shoot, on time and correctly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Outlaws (2001)
When a Midwest town learns that a corrupt railroad baron has captured the deeds to their homesteads without their knowledge, a group of young ranchers join forces to take back what is rightfully theirs. They will become the object of the biggest manhunt in the history of the Old West and, as their fame grows, so will the legend of their leader, a young outlaw by the name of Jesse James.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisBoss Nigger (1975)
Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse James (1939)
After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOpen Range (2003)
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Revengers (1972)
The life of peaceful rancher John Benedict is torn apart when his family is massacred by a gang of marauding outlaws and his farm is destroyed. He assembles a team of mean, lawless convicts to act as his posse as he pursues the gang responsible for the deaths of his loved ones.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisYoung Guns II (1990)
Three of the original five "young guns" — Billy the Kid, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and Doc Scurlock — return in Young Guns, Part 2, which is the story of Billy the Kid and his race to safety in Old Mexico while being trailed by a group of government agents led by Pat Garrett.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDay of the Outlaw (1959)
Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The outlaws are held in check only by their notorious leader, but he is diagnosed with a fatal wound and the town is a powder keg waiting to blow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Left Handed Gun (1958)
When a crooked sheriff murders his employer, William "Billy the Kid" Bonney decides to avenge the death by killing the man responsible, throwing the lives of everyone around him into turmoil, and endangering the General Amnesty set up by Governor Wallace to bring peace to the New Mexico Territory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bravados (1958)
Jim Douglass arrives in the small town of Rio Arriba in order to witness the hanging of the four men he believes murdered his wife. When the convicts escape, Jim tracks them into Mexico, determined to see that justice is done. But the farther Jim goes in his quest for vengeance, the more merciless he becomes, losing himself in an unrelenting spiral of hatred and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbarosa (1982)
Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisForty Guns (1957)
An authoritarian rancher rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new Marshal arrives to set things straight, the cattle queen finds herself falling for the avowedly non-violent lawman. Both have itchy-fingered brothers, a female gunman enters the picture, and things go desperately wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunman's Walk (1958)
A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDecision at Sundown (1957)
A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunless (2010)
American gunslinger Sean Rafferty—aka The Montana Kid—is unable to find someone to duel in a Canadian town where no one understands the brutal code of the American Wild West.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRancho Notorious (1952)
A man in search of revenge infiltrates a ranch, hidden in an inhospitable region, where its owner, Altar Keane, gives shelter to outlaws fleeing from the law in exchange for a price.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBonanza: The Return (1993)
A man with a grudge against the late Little Joe seeks revenge on the Cartwrights and attempts to take over the Ponderosa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHombre (1967)
John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Way West (1967)
In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPursued (1947)
A boy haunted by nightmares about the night his entire family was murdered is brought up by a neighboring family in the 1880s. He falls for his lovely adoptive sister but his nasty adoptive brother and mysterious uncle want him dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Battle at Apache Pass (1952)
Major Jim Colton is a sympathetic leader who has a working relationship with Apache leader Cochise. Colton is undermined by corrupt and politically ambitious Indian agent Neil Baylor who sets up a false attack, and the abduction of a local farmer's son. While Colton is away investigating the matter, Baylor convinces Lieutenant Bascom that Cochise's band is to blame, and incites him to lead an expedition against the Apache band to return the boy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Susannah of the Mounties (1939)
This classic family drama stars Shirley Temple as young orphan Susannah Sheldon, the sole survivor of a brutal Indian attack who's befriended by Canadian Mountie Angus Montague (Randolph Scott) and his girlfriend, Vicky (Margaret Lockwood). The couple takes Susannah under their wing and soon learn that having a precocious child around can come in handy; when the Indians return, the girl uses her charm to broker peace.Shirley is the orphaned survivor of an Indian attack in the Canadian West. A Mountie and his girlfriend take her in...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Badman's Territory (1946)
After some gun play with a posse, the James Gang head for Quinto in a section of land which is not a part of America. Anyone there is beyond the law so the town is populated with outlaws. Next to arrive is Sheriff Rowley, following his brother whom the Gang have brought in injured. Rowley has no authority and gets on well enough with the James boys but is soon involved in other local goings-on, including a move to vote for annexation with Oklahoma which would allow the law well and truly in.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Young Billy Young (1969)
A peace-loving man named Ben Kane takes a job as deputy marshal of Lords, in the old West. Kane is no lawman, but he accepts the badge because he has an old score to settle with the town's chief trouble-maker. Once on the job, Kane must also deal with a young sharpshooter named Billy Young and a sharp and sassy saloon dancer, Lily.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Sundown (2025)
Three gold miners searching for riches find a forgotten town. To survive the night, they must obey its bizarre rules, where every mistake is fatal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Big Country (1958)
Retired wealthy sea captain Jim McKay arrives in the Old West, where he becomes embroiled in a feud between his future father-in-law, Major Terrill, and the rough and lawless Hannasseys over a valuable patch of land.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)
Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, the story is told through two unique perspectives: Charles Eastman, a young, white-educated Sioux doctor held up as living proof of the alleged success of assimilation, and Sitting Bull the proud Lakota chief whose tribe won the American Indians’ last major victory at Little Big Horn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTexas Rangers (2001)
Ten years after the Civil War has ended, the Governor of Texas asks Leander McNelly to form a company of Rangers to help uphold the law along the Mexican border. With a few veterans of the war, most of the recruits are young men who have little or no experience with guns or policing crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Legend of the Golden Gun (1979)
In Kansas during the middle of the Civil War, John Golden is left for dead and his family has been killed by the ruthless Confederate outlaw William Quantrill. Rescued by runaway slave Joshua Brown, Golden is determined to get revenge. With the help of a legendary gunfighter and a special gun, Golden must not only deal with Quantrill and his men, but has to dodge General Custer and his army, as well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Return of Frank James?
The closest matches to The Return of Frank James are Nevada Smith (1966), American Outlaws (2001) and Boss Nigger (1975). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Return of Frank James?
Start with Nevada Smith (1966), the closest match to The Return of Frank James.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Return of Frank James?
The Big Country (1958), rated 7.6/10 by 436 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Return of Frank James?
Sundown (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Return of Frank James?
Yes: Nevada Smith (1966), American Outlaws (2001) and Boss Nigger (1975).
How are movies similar to The Return of Frank James chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Return of Frank James, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.