Movies like Criminal Lawyer (1951)
The best movies like Criminal Lawyer (1951) are Illegal (1955), The File on Thelma Jordon (1949) and The Web (1947). If Criminal Lawyer hooked you with its crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAnatomy of a Murder (1959)7.8/10 from 1,247 votes
- NewestThe Consequences of "The Premiere of "The Making of "The Lumberjack's Daughter""" (2025)Released 2025
Illegal (1955)
A hugely successful DA goes into private practice after sending a man to the chair -- only to find out later he was innocent. Now the drunken attorney only seems to represent criminals and low lifes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
Cleve Marshall, an assistant district attorney, falls for Thelma Jordon, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. When Thelma becomes a suspect in her aunt's murder, Cleve tries to clear her name.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Web (1947)
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Angel (1946)
A falsely convicted man's wife, Catherine, and an alcoholic composer and pianist, Martin, team up in an attempt to clear her husband of the murder of a blonde singer, who is Martin's wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParty Girl (1958)
Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not until he meets a lovely showgirl at a mob party that he realizes that there's more to life than winning trials. Farrell tries to quit the racket, but mob boss Rico Angelo threatens to hurt the showgirl if Farrell leaves him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter the Fox (1966)
A criminal mastermind sets up a phony film production as part of a plan to smuggle stolen gold.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Only Live Once (1937)
Based partially on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who cannot get a break after being released from prison. When he is framed for murder, Taylor is forced to flee with his wife Joan Graham and baby. While escaping prison after being sentenced to death, Taylor becomes a real murderer, condemning himself and Joan to a life of crime and death on the road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Blue Heaven (1990)
FBI agent Barney Coopersmith is assigned to protect former Mafia figure turned informant Vincent Antonelli. In the witness protection program one is supposed to keep a low profile, but that is something that Antonelli has trouble doing. Coopersmith certainly has his hands full keeping Antonelli away from the Mafia hitmen who want to stop him testifying, not to mention the nightclubs...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKnock on Any Door (1949)
An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
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
SnoozefestMovies like thisPlunder Road (1957)
A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightfall (1956)
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder Most Foul (1964)
A murderer is brought to court and only Miss Marple is unconvinced of his guilt. Once again she begins her own investigation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLegal Eagles (1986)
Assistant District Attorney Tom Logan is set for higher office, at least until he becomes involved with defence lawyer Laura Kelly and her unpredictable client Chelsea Deardon. It seems the least of Chelsea's crimes is the theft of a very valuable painting, but as the women persuade Logan to investigate further and to cut some official corners, a much more sinister scenario starts to emerge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Shot in the Dark (1964)
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)
A veteran homicide detective who has witnessed his socialite girlfriend kill her husband sees his inexperienced brother assigned to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubway in the Sky (1959)
Berlin provides the backdrop for this crime drama that centers on a military doctor falsely accused of dealing illegal drugs. Determined to prove his innocence, he escapes from the MPs and ends up holing up in the apartment his wife rented. He doesn't know that she has sublet the flat to a nightclub singer. When he finds out, he begs the singer to assist him. She is attracted to him and agrees. The doctor believes that his wife is behind the black-market dealings, but in the end, they find the real culprit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959)
Career criminals and a local youth carefully plan and rehearse the robbery of a Missouri bank.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPort of New York (1949)
Two narcotics agents go after a gang of murderous drug dealers who use ships docking at the New York harbor to smuggle in their contraband.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Class Action (1991)
A liberal activist lawyer alienated his daughter Maggie years ago when she discovered his many affairs. Now a conservative corporate lawyer, Maggie agrees to go up against her father in court. To gain promotion, she must defend an auto manufacturer against charges that their explosion-prone station wagons are unsafe. As her mother begs for peace, Maggie takes on her dad in a trial that turns increasingly personal and nasty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Consequences of "The Premiere of "The Making of "The Lumberjack's Daughter""" (2025)
A movie premiere gone awry leads to an equally chaotic trial to determine the fate of four amateur filmmakers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Spellbinder (1939)
Jed Marlowe is a brilliant, scheming, unscrupulous criminal lawyer whose specialty is defending criminal he knows is guilty but gets them off through loop-holes or bribery. Then his daughter, misled by her father’s courtroom performance, but unaware of his back-room tactics, marries the killer her father has just unjustly save from the electric chair. What’s a poor father to do?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Long Knife (1958)
Young nurse Jill Holden gets involved with an extortion gang targeting Mrs Cheam, one of her patients. When Mrs. Cheam is murdered, Jill becomes a suspect and must clear her name.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
Ralph Cotter, a ruthless criminal, escapes violently from a farm prison. Then, he seduces a dead inmate’s sister, gets back quickly into the crime business, faces corrupt local cops who run the city’s underworld and meets a powerful tycoon’s whimsical daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Criminal Lawyer?
The closest matches to Criminal Lawyer are Illegal (1955), The File on Thelma Jordon (1949) and The Web (1947). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Criminal Lawyer?
Start with Illegal (1955), the closest match to Criminal Lawyer.
What is the highest-rated movie like Criminal Lawyer?
Anatomy of a Murder (1959), rated 7.8/10 by 1,247 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Criminal Lawyer?
The Consequences of "The Premiere of "The Making of "The Lumberjack's Daughter""" (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Criminal Lawyer?
Yes: Illegal (1955), The File on Thelma Jordon (1949) and The Web (1947).
How are movies similar to Criminal Lawyer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Criminal Lawyer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.