Movies like Spencer's Mountain (1963)
The best movies like Spencer's Mountain (1963) are I Remember Mama (1948), Heidi (1968) and The Human Comedy (1943). If Spencer's Mountain hooked you with its drama and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEast of Eden (1955)7.5/10 from 849 votes
- NewestI Believe (2019)Released 2019
I Remember Mama (1948)
Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeidi (1968)
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
The Human Comedy (1943)
Teenager Homer Macauley stays at home in the small town of Ithaca, California to support his family while his older brother Marcus prepares to go to war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
The Yearling (1946)
Jody convinces his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Fugitive (1953)
After a prank makes Joey Norton believe he killed his older brother, he runs away from home and spends the day at Coney Island while his brother tries to find him before their mother gets home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDesert Bloom (1986)
The story involves Rose Chismore's youth. She flashes back and remembers her coming-of-age. Her recollections are sometimes less than sweet, particularly those of her troubled and alcoholic step-father. Her memories of Robin, her first-love, are much happier and she also recalls her colorful Aunt Starr -- who's visit is fun but also detrimental to her family's health. The setting of 1950s Las Vegas' bomb testing is increasingly significant to the development of the story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
National Velvet (1945)
Mi Taylor is a young wanderer and opportunist who finds himself in the quiet English countryside home of the Brown family. The youngest daughter, Velvet, has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHome from the Hill (1960)
The wealthiest man in a Texas town decides to teach his teenage son how to hunt to make a man out of him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Tiger Walks (1964)
A tiger escapes from a circus truck as it passes by a small town, and hides itself in the surrounding woods. This throws the town into a panic and everyone wants the animal killed immediately, except for the daughter of the sheriff. She wants to capture the tiger and put it in a zoo, thereby saving the tiger's life. Her determination starts a nationwide campaign among children to raise the money to buy the tiger from the circus, but first, she, her father and an Indian tiger trainer must find the tiger before the National Guard do, who have orders to kill it on sight.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
East of Eden (1955)
In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, how to get ahead in business and in life, and how to relate to his estranged mother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFollow Me, Boys! (1966)
Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general store of a small town. Trying to fit in, he volunteers to become scoutmaster of the newly formed Troop 1. Becoming more and more involved with the scout troop, he finds his plans to become a lawyer being put on the back burner, until he realizes that his life has been fulfilled helping the youth of the small town.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960)
Angered at stern Uncle Daniel, Toby Tyler runs away from his foster home to join the circus, where he soon befriends Mr. Stubbs, the frisky chimpanzee. However, the circus isn't all fun and games when the evil candy vendor, Harry Tupper, convinces Toby that his Aunt Olive and Uncle Daniel don't love him or want him back. Toby resigns himself to circus life, but when he finally realizes that Tupper lied to him, and that his aunt and uncle truly love him, Toby happily returns home once again.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
The Boy with Green Hair (1948)
Peter, an orphaned boy, is adopted by Gramp Frye after his parents are killed in Europe while doing war relief work. The boy feels safe with his new caretaker, but when he is taunted for being an orphan, he gets demoralized. The next day Peter wakes up with green hair. Embarrassed and further ridiculed, Peter seeks solace in a nearby forest. To his surprise, he finds other orphans in the woods, who encourage him to spread news of the injustices of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Tom Edison (1940)
Inventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and scientific experiments usually end up causing disastrous results. As a result, the towns folk all think Tom is crazy, and creating a strained relationship between Tom and his father. Tom's only solace is his understanding mother who believes he's headed to do great things.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Sandpiper (1965)
A free-spirited single mother forms a connection with the wedded headmaster of an Episcopalian boarding school in Monterey, California.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)
Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Those Calloways (1964)
Story of Cam Calloway and his family, who live in a densely wooded area in New England. Cam dreams of building a sanctuary for the geese that fly over the area each year, and he tries several schemes to buy a nearby lake for this santuary. He is thwarted at every attempt, it seems; he and his son try to get enough furs from their trapping venture to get the money, but the bottom falls out of the fur market. He uses the little money they get for a down payment on the lake, thereby losing their house when he can't make the mortgage payment. They move to the lake, where their friends help them build a cabin. A salesman stops in town, and tries to get the people to sell their land for a tourist venture; Cam is outraged at his tactics and takes desperate measures after he himself is tricked.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
The Champ (1931)
A broken-down alcoholic prizefighter struggles to keep custody of his adoring son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTea and Sympathy (1956)
A sensitive young man recalls his time in boarding school when the only person who seemed compassionate towards him was his housemaster's wife.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife with Father (1947)
A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer and Smoke (1961)
In a small Mississippi town in 1916, an eccentric spinster battles her romantic yearnings for the randy boy next door.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThird Man on the Mountain (1959)
Famous British mountaineer Winter wants to climb a difficult summit, the Citadel. He goes to a small village but no guide wants to accompany him. A young man from the village, Rudi Matt, whose father died fifteen years earlier during an attempt to climb the Citadel, is determined to accompany him, with the help of his uncle. Winter also manages to hire a guide from a neighboring village and competitor, Emil Saxo. The roped party of four men then begins the ascent of the still untouched summit.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Huw Morgan, the academically inclined youngest son in a proud family of Welsh coal miners, witnesses the tumultuous events of his young life during a period of rapid social change. At the dawn of the 20th-century, a miners' strike divides the Morgans: the sons demand improvements, and the father doesn't want to rock the boat.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Shack (2017)
A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGoal! (2005)
Like millions of kids around the world, Santiago harbors the dream of being a professional footballer... However, living in the Barrios section of Los Angeles, he thinks it is only that—a dream. Until one day an extraordinary turn of events has him trying out for Premiership club Newcastle United.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Call of the Wild (1972)
John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe (2019)
A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Unfinished Life (2005)
Stoic and heartbroken, Einar Gilkyson quietly lives in the rugged Wyoming ranchlands alongside his only trusted friend, Mitch Bradley. One day, the woman he blames for the death of his only son arrives at his door broke, desperate, and with a granddaughter he's never known. But even as buried anger and accusations resurface, the way is opened for unexpected connection, adventure, and forgiveness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995)
A young boy draws on the inspiration of legendary western characters to find the strength to fight an evil land baron in the old west who wants to steal his family's farm and destroy their idyllic community. When Daniel Hackett sees his father Jonas gravely wounded by the villainous Stiles, his first urge is for his family to flee the danger, and give up their life on a farm which Daniel has come to despise anyway. Going alone to a lake to try to decide what to do, he falls asleep on a boat and wakes to find himself in the wild west, in the company of such "tall tale" legends as Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, John Henry and Calamity Jane. Together, they battle the same villains Daniel is facing in his "real" world, ending with a heroic confrontation in which the boy stands up to Stiles and his henchmen, and rallies his neighbors to fight back against land grabbers who want to destroy their town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Spencer's Mountain?
The closest matches to Spencer's Mountain are I Remember Mama (1948), Heidi (1968) and The Human Comedy (1943). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Spencer's Mountain?
People who watched Spencer's Mountain most often go on to I Remember Mama (1948), Heidi (1968) and The Human Comedy (1943).
What is the highest-rated movie like Spencer's Mountain?
East of Eden (1955), rated 7.5/10 by 849 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Spencer's Mountain?
I Believe (2019) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Spencer's Mountain?
Yes: I Remember Mama (1948), Heidi (1968) and The Human Comedy (1943).
How are movies similar to Spencer's Mountain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Spencer's Mountain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.