Skip to content

Movies like The Alphabet Murders (1965)

The best movies like The Alphabet Murders (1965) are Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), Another Thin Man (1939) and Song of the Thin Man (1947). If The Alphabet Murders hooked you with its comedy and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

    While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of corruption, blackmail, gambling scandals, and criminal intrigue. As Nick investigates, he encounters suspicious bookmakers, dishonest officials, rival gangsters, and a mysterious killer determined to stay ahead of the law. Nora, as always, is never far from the action, bringing her quick wit and fearless curiosity to the case.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. Another Thin Man (1939)

    Nick and Nora Charles are back - and this time, they have a baby, a wealthy new client, and another murder to solve! Retired detective Nick is enjoying family life with Nora and their young son, Nick Jr., when eccentric industrialist Colonel MacFay asks for protection after receiving threatening messages. When MacFay is found dead at his isolated estate, Nick and Nora spring into action, questioning a houseful of suspicious guests and uncovering greed, blackmail, family secrets, and a dangerous inheritance plot. With their trademark wit and sophistication, the glamorous couple balances parenthood, parties, and peril as they race to expose the killer.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  3. Song of the Thin Man (1947)

    While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. The Cheap Detective (1978)

    A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  5. The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)

    After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes... and exposed backsides.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. A 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 comedy & mystery

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  7. Lady in the Lake (1946)

    Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. The Mirror Crack'd (1980)

    Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)

    Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. The Blue Gardenia (1953)

    Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

    London. A mysterious serial killer brutally murders young blond women by stalking them in the night fog. One foggy, sinister night, a young man who claims his name is Jonathan Drew arrives at the guest house run by the Bunting family and rents a room.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. Lured (1947)

    Sandra Carpenter is a London-based dancer who is distraught to learn that her friend has disappeared. Soon after the disappearance, she's approached by Harley Temple, a police investigator who believes her friend has been murdered by a serial killer who uses personal ads to find his victims. Temple hatches a plan to catch the killer using Sandra as bait, and Sandra agrees to help.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Deathtrap (1982)

    A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & comedy

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Without a Clue (1988)

    Sherlock Holmes is as dashing as ever, but with a little secret: Dr. Watson is the brains behind the operation. When Reginald Kincaid, the actor he has hired to play Holmes becomes insufferable, Watson fires him and tries to go out on his own, but finds that he has done too good a job building Holmes up in the public's mind.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. The 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 & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. The Maltese Falcon (1931)

    A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)

    During WWII several murders occur at a convalescent home where Dr. Watson has volunteered his services. He summons Holmes for help and the master detective proceeds to solve the crime from a long list of suspects including the owners of the home, the staff and the patients recovering there.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. Wrong Cops (2013)

    A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

    A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  20. 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956)

    Philip Hannon, a blind playwright living in London, overhears part of a conversation , that leads him into a desperate race, to find a kidnapped child. When he gets no help from the police, he along with his butler, and his ex fiancée, attempt to track down the crooks.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  21. Mystic River (2003)

    The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  22. La Dolce Vita (1960)

    Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  23. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

    Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  24. Shaft (2000)

    New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted -- especially since he's paid a drug kingpin to kill the witness.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  25. Wild at Heart (1990)

    Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  26. The Green Mile (1999)

    A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  27. Breathless (1960)

    A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  28. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

    Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  29. Double Bluff (2024)

    One man's attempts to defeat the tortures of his own mindscape come to a head in the midst of a game of poker, when a mysterious figure interjects the flow of things and everything takes a turn for the worst. As the audience and the protagonist experience the same horrors it leads them to ask the question - who's bluffing? Written and directed by Santino Benedetto, DB was brought to life by him and his fellow filmmaker and life long friend Thomas Dylan Gracey.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery

  30. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

    A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy

    Worth the HypeMovies like this

Like The Alphabet Murders and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Alphabet Murders?

The closest matches to The Alphabet Murders are Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), Another Thin Man (1939) and Song of the Thin Man (1947). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Alphabet Murders?

Start with Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), the closest match to The Alphabet Murders.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Alphabet Murders?

The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,828 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Alphabet Murders?

Double Bluff (2024) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like The Alphabet Murders?

Yes: Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), Another Thin Man (1939) and Song of the Thin Man (1947).

How are movies similar to The Alphabet Murders chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Alphabet Murders, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

↑ ↓ to move · Enter to open · Full search page