Movies like Joy of Living (1938)
The best movies like Joy of Living (1938) are The Merry Widow (1934), High Society (1956) and The Pirate (1948). If Joy of Living hooked you with its comedy and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)7.3/10 from 1,126 votes
- NewestA Winter's Song (2025)Released 2025
The Merry Widow (1934)
A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Society (1956)
With socialite Tracy Lord about to remarry, her ex-husband - with the help of a sympathetic reporter - has 48 hours to convince her that she really still loves him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pirate (1948)
A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLes Girls (1957)
After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil Wren is sued for libeling her fellow dancer Angele. A Rashômon style narrative presents the story from three points of view where Sybil accuses Angele of having an affair with Barry, while Angele insists that it was actually Sybil who was having the affair. Finally, Barry gives his side of the story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
Millie Dillmount, a fearless young lady fresh from Salina, Kansas, determined to experience Life, sets out to see the world in the rip-roaring Twenties. With high spirits and wearing one of those new high hemlines, she arrives in New York to test the "modern" ideas she had been reading about back in Kansas: "I've taken the girl out of Kansas. Now I have to take Kansas out of the girl!"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Hawaii (1961)
Just discharged GI Chad Gates returns to Hawaii, where he becomes a tour guide, defying his mother's wishes for him to join the family business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpeedway (1968)
A race car driver tries to outrun the beautiful tax auditor out to settle his account.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisRoad to Singapore (1940)
Two playboys try to forget previous romances in Singapore – until they meet a beautiful dancer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiss Me Kate (1953)
A pair of divorced actors are brought together to participate in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a great deal like the characters they play, and they must work together when mistaken identities get them mixed up with the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarry Me (2022)
After finding out about her fiancé's cheating ways, a pop superstar impulsively marries a total stranger. They must soon decide if two people from such different worlds can find true love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Good Woman (2004)
Fleeing 1930s New York and leaving behind a chequered past, the giltzy divorcee Mrs Stella Erlynne travels to Italy's sun-dappled Amalfi coast. Mrs Erlynne's appearance causes a stir amongst the visiting aristocracy. Based on the Oscar Wilde play "Lady Windemere's Fan."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much to the disapproval of Gus' rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw, Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone, a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnchors Aweigh (1945)
Two sailors on shore leave head out for four days of partying – only to become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer and her precocious nephew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet's Make Love (1960)
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouth Pacific (1958)
Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResort to Love (2021)
Aspiring pop star Erica ends up as the entertainment at her ex-fiancé’s wedding after reluctantly taking a gig at a luxurious island resort while in the wake of a music career meltdown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhisky Galore (2016)
The story of the inhabitants of the isolated Scottish island of Todday, in the Outer Hebrides, where gloom sets in as their wartime rationing of whisky runs out. When cargo ship the SS Cabinet Minister runs aground the shrewd islanders run rings around the buffoonish English Home Guard commander Captain Waggett and conspire to hide away cases of the precious amber nectar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWalking on Sunshine (2014)
Set to the music of popular hit 1980s songs. A beautiful coastal village, present day Italy. After a whirlwind romance, Maddie is preparing to marry gorgeous Italian Raf, and has invited her sister Taylor to the wedding. Unbeknownst to Maddie, however, Raf is Taylor's ex-holiday flame, and the love of her life...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Hour with You (1932)
Andre and Colette Bertier are happily married. When Colette introduces her husband to her flirtatious best friend, Mitzi, he does his best to resist her advances. But she is persistent, and very cute, and he succumbs. Mitzi's husband wants to divorce her, and has been having her tailed. Andre gets caught, and must confess to his wife. But Colette has had problems resisting the attentions of another man herself, and they forgive each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHair (1979)
Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Winter's Song (2025)
When aspiring singer Liana is given a three week deadline to create a record demo, she travels to Armenia to find inspiration. Along the way she discovers a world of music, culture and love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Bulimia: The Musical (2014)
BULIMIA: THE MUSICAL follows a young girl's journey from first vomit to last breath, in fifteen minutes of laugh-out-loud, puke-your-guts-out song and dance, all wrapped up with a positive message.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
The Light in the Piazza: Live from Lincoln Center (2006)
In the summer of 1953, Margaret Johnson, the wife of an American businessman, is touring Italy with her daughter, Clara. While sightseeing, Clara—a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman—loses her hat in a sudden gust. As if guided by an unseen hand, the hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode, charged with coincidence and fate, sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Disney Hall of Villains (2019)
Superstar host Meg Donnelly takes you on a journey down a haunted hallway where behind every door awaits a villain-tastic surprise!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
History of the World: Part I (1981)
An uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadonna: Truth or Dare (1991)
From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPootie Tang (2001)
Pootie Tang, the musician/actor/folk hero of the ghetto, is chronicled from his early childhood to his battles against the evil Corporate America, who try to steal his magic belt and make him sell out by endorsing addictive products to his people. Pootie must learn to find himself and defeat the evil corporation for all the young Black children of America, supatime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisSt Trinian's (2007)
When their beloved school is threatened with closure should the powers that be fail to raise the proper funds, the girls scheme to steal a priceless painting and use the profits to pull St. Trinian's out of the red.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Joy of Living?
The closest matches to Joy of Living are The Merry Widow (1934), High Society (1956) and The Pirate (1948). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Joy of Living?
Start with The Merry Widow (1934), the closest match to Joy of Living.
What is the highest-rated movie like Joy of Living?
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), rated 7.3/10 by 1,126 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Joy of Living?
A Winter's Song (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Joy of Living?
Yes: The Merry Widow (1934), High Society (1956) and The Pirate (1948).
How are movies similar to Joy of Living chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Joy of Living, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.