Movies like The Doctor Prefers Sailors (1981)
The best movies like The Doctor Prefers Sailors (1981) are Room Service (1938), The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966) and Mystery Train (1989). If The Doctor Prefers Sailors hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFantozzi (1975)7.8/10 from 907 votes
- NewestRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)Released 2025
- In ItalianThe Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)Also in Italian
Room Service (1938)
Broke Gordon Miller tries to land a backer for his new play while he has to deal with with the hotel manager trying to evict him and his cast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)
An anthology presents three storylines, all set in the Italian town of Treviso: A husband pretends to be impotent as a cover for having an affair; a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress, but the rest of the town's husbands become jealous and unite to conspire against them; and local men all seduce a promiscuous young woman, but when her father eventually reveals that she is underage, they all face prosecution for statutory rape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMystery Train (1989)
In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric night clerk and a clueless bellboy, is visited by a young Japanese couple traveling in search of the roots of rock; an Italian woman in mourning who stumbles upon a fleeing charlatan girl; and a comical trio of accidental thieves looking for a place to hide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBuddy Buddy (1981)
During a high-profile Mafia testimony case in Riverside County, a hired killer checks into a hotel room near the courthouse, while his depressed neighbor contemplates suicide over marital problems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHenry's Crime (2010)
An aimless man is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, an ex-con targets the same bank he was sent away for robbing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisGoodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1976)
An episodic satire of the political and social status of Italy in the seventies, through the shows of one day of a television channel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRookie of the Year (1993)
When the cast comes off his once broken arm, a 12-year-old boy can throw a 100-mile-an-hour fastball, and the Chicago Cubs want him as their new pitcher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCa$h (2010)
A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan and his wife Leslie when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinister Pyke Kubic to their doorstep. As Pyke leads Sam and Leslie on a tumultuous adventure through the streets of Chicago, each are pulled deeper and deeper into a desperate spiral of deception and violence – all in the name of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisCriminal (2004)
Needing a new partner capable of intricate cons, Richard Gaddis, recruits Rodrigo, a crook with a perfect poker face. The two plan a big-time scam: selling a fake Silver Certificate to currency collector William Hannigan. Rodrigo distrusts his new associate, but needs money to help out his ill father. The situation becomes more complicated when Rodrigo falls for Gaddis' sister, Valerie, drawing another player into the game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTotòtruffa '62 (1961)
Antonio, a former variety actor, keeps his daughter in an excellent boarding school by organizing small scams with his friend and colleague Felice. Commissioner Malvasia good-naturedly persecuted him. When their respective unsuspecting children fall in love, the two fathers make peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Air Up There (1994)
Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Green Man (1956)
Unknown to everyone but his shady Middle Eastern bosses, watchmaker Hawkins is actually a professional hired assassin with a predilection for killing his targets with bombs. After disposing of a dictator and millionaire, Hawkins is assigned to kill a politician who is heading to a remote hotel, The Green Man, for a secret tryst with his secretary. There, however, Hawkins' plot is discovered by vacuum salesman William Blake, who determines to stop him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
The maniacal baby of the Griffin family, Stewie, meets his future self. In doing this he discovers that his future image is not what he has anticipated because of a near death experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhy Did You Pick On Me? (1980)
Following the events of The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid, Sheriff Hall and H-725 (using the official identity of Charlie Warren) still get no rest from the military - because the little alien has not yet grasped the meaning of keeping a low profile. They are constantly on the move, and H-725's father has had to pick them out of a tight spot too many times already.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFantozzi (1975)
A good-natured but unlucky Italian is constantly finding himself in difficult situations, but never losing his mood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIl conte Max (1957)
Alberto, a newspaper man, tries a one-time shot of living the good life with the help of his penniless mentor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAttachment Parenting (TBA)
A psychologist couple whose parenting philosophy is put to the ultimate test when they’re forced to counsel a crime boss's dysfunctional family while being held hostage at a hotel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Election (1999)
A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrench Fried Vacation (1978)
Holidaymakers arriving in a Club Med camp on the Ivory Coast are determined to forget their everyday problems and emotional disappointments. Games, competitions, outings, bathing and sunburn accompany a continual succession of casual affairs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExperience Preferred... But Not Essential (1982)
A shy, introverted young girl takes a summer job at a seaside resort in Wales, where she finds the staff, the owners and patrons unlike anyone she has ever met before.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Mother's Elling (2003)
Elling has lived with his mother all his life. Mom is the practical one, while Elling ponders the more theoretical aspects of life. He spends his time in their apartment reading books and looking at the neighbours through the living room window. Elling doesn't seem to need to be around others like most people. That's why Elling is less than enthusiastic when his mother suddenly decides to take her son on a beach vacation to Spain. Reluctantly, Elling agrees. After all, a lady at her age needs a good man by her side. But what Elling refuses to realize is that Mom is not only old, but also sick. Very sick. On her last vacation she tries to get Elling to see that life is bigger than their living room.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Carry On Girls (1973)
Local councillor Sidney Fiddler persuades the Mayor to help improve the image of their rundown seaside town by holding a beauty contest. But formidable Councillor Prodworthy, head of the local women's liberation movement, has other ideas. It's open warfare as the women's lib attempt to sabotage the contest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisLatin Male Wanted (1977)
A film in 5 segments. The first is about a trafficker who takes a German tourist to an illegal sex market in a working-class neighborhood. The second involves an elderly man courting a young adult film star. The third, a thief seduces a man's wife. The fourth involves an Italian immigrant in Germany who is fired and subsequently offered work as a porn actor. Finally the last segment involves a baron who convinces his wife into a swinging.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
California Suite (1978)
The misadventures of four groups of guests at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPink Motel (1982)
A couple who own and run a cheap motel have to put up with an assortment of weirdos and perverts who rent rooms there on a Friday night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Big Kahuna (1999)
Three salesmen working for a firm that makes industrial lubricants are waiting in the company's "hospitality suite" at a manufacturers' convention for a "big kahuna" named Dick Fuller to show up, in hopes they can persuade him to place an order that could salvage the company's flagging sales.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Doctor Prefers Sailors?
The closest matches to The Doctor Prefers Sailors are Room Service (1938), The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966) and Mystery Train (1989). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Doctor Prefers Sailors?
Start with Room Service (1938), the closest match to The Doctor Prefers Sailors.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Doctor Prefers Sailors?
Fantozzi (1975), rated 7.8/10 by 907 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Doctor Prefers Sailors?
Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like The Doctor Prefers Sailors?
Yes: The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966), Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1976) and Totòtruffa '62 (1961).
How are movies similar to The Doctor Prefers Sailors chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Doctor Prefers Sailors, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.