Movies like The Gay Retreat (1927)
The best movies like The Gay Retreat (1927) are What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), Shoulder Arms (1918) and Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). If The Gay Retreat hooked you with its comedy and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedKelly's Heroes (1970)7.4/10 from 879 votes
- NewestThe Codes of War (2025)Released 2025
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisShoulder Arms (1918)
An American doughboy, stationed in France during the Great War, goes on a daring mission behind enemy lines and becomes a hero.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOh! What a Lovely War (1969)
The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the five boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarry On Sergeant (1958)
Sergeant Grimshawe wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very last platoon of newly called-up National Servicemen. But a motley bunch they turn out to be, and it's up to Grimshawe to put the no-hopers through their paces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
Topper Harley is found to be working as an odd-job-man in a monastery. The CIA want him to lead a rescue mission into Iraq, to rescue the last rescue team, who went in to rescue the last rescue team—who went in to rescue hostages left behind after Desert Storm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuck Privates (1941)
Petty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor. A rich young man and his former working class chauffeur are not only in the same unit, they're vying for a pretty girl who seems attracted to both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968)
When 5 allied generals are captured in Italy in WWII, it is a propaganda nightmare for the allies. The generals are all 1 star and refuse to take orders from each other in order to plan an escape. Harry Frigg is a private who has escaped from the guard house dozens of times. He is promoted to Major General and ordered to get the generals out once he is captured. Harry is willing to escape, but then he meets the countess...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKelly's Heroes (1970)
A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHot Shots! (1991)
The gang that created Airplane! and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this spoof. Topper Harley is a talented but unstable fighter pilot with an axe to grind: clearing the family name. His mission is to avenge his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers. He also gets involved in a relationship with Ramada Thompson, a woman with an unusually talented stomach. Hot Shots! makes fun of a variety of other films, from Dances with Wolves to The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell Hath No Fury (2021)
Branded a traitor by her countrymen, French national Marie DuJardin is rescued by American soldiers on one condition: to survive, she must lead them to a cache of gold - before the Nazis return to claim it for themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSahara (1995)
After the fall of Tobruk in June 1942, U.S. Army sergeant Joe Gunn leads his tank into the Sahara desert, in order to evade advancing Rommel's forces and reach Allied lines. Along the way he picks up few Allied soldiers, but soon they are running out of water. They find water at the ancient well, but the well is a goal of an entire German battalion. Despite the impossible odds, Sergeant Gunn decides to defend the well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBehind the Line: Escape to Dunkirk (2020)
Occupied France, 1940. A Nazi Commander discovers one of his prisoners, Danny is a champion boxer. He forces him to fight for his company's entertainment. But the POWs realise they can use these contests, as cover for an audacious breakout, before they re sent to Germany, where escape will be almost impossible. Their fate and freedom may all come down to how long Danny can keep fighting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWolf Hound (2022)
Inspired by the real-life German special operations unit KG 200 that shot down, repaired, and flew Allied aircraft as Trojan horses, "Wolf Hound" takes place in 1944 German-occupied France and follows the daring exploits of Jewish-American fighter pilot Captain David Holden. Ambushed behind enemy lines, Holden must rescue a captured B-17 Flying Fortress crew, evade a ruthless enemy stalking him at every turn, and foil a plot that could completely alter the outcome of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFun with Dick and Jane (1977)
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Codes of War (2025)
War stories about family, ethics and honor include the true story of two U.S. Marines who in a span of six seconds, must stand their ground to stop a suicide truck bomb, a Navy Corpsman who attempts to hold on to his humanity, and a WW2 soldier who gets separated from his squad and is forced to re-evaluate his code.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Time for Sergeants (1958)
Georgia farm boy Will Stockdale is about to bust with pride. He’s been drafted. Will’s ready. But is Uncle Sam ready for Will?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJarhead: Law of Return (2019)
Major Ronan Jackson, an accomplished fighter pilot for the Israel Defense Forces and son of a U.S. Senator, is shot down while flying through Syrian airspace. After miraculously surviving the crash, Jackson is taken captive by a group of Hezbollah militiamen. A squad of elite soldiers, led by Gunnery Sergeant Dave Torres, risk their own lives in the hopes of saving an ally they've never met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoudica (2023)
Inspired by events in A.D. 60, Boudica follows the eponymous Celtic warrior who rules the Iceni people alongside her husband Prasutagus. When he dies at the hands of Roman soldiers, Boudica’s kingdom is left without a male heir and the Romans seize her land and property. Driven to the edge of madness and determined to avenge her husband’s death, Boudica rallies the various tribes from the region and wages an epic war against the mighty Roman empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Eastern Front (2020)
A dwindling group of German soldiers battle to return to their lines on the harsh Eastern Front.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrivate Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008)
When fluffy, bubble gum movie star Megan Valentine suddenly finds herself broke and humiliated in the public eye, she wanders from the wreckage of a car accident and witlessly enlists in the U.S. Army hoping in vain that it will change her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBill's Opportunity (1918)
Bill Zuursnik works as a shop assistant in a department store. His wife wants him to go into the oil business. He convinces his wife that he is doing just that, while in fact he is working in the lingerie department while his boss is away. He does so well in this department that he is promoted. When his wife finds out, she is furious at first, but after the initial shock she is quite happy with his promotion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Fourflusher (1928)
Young and ambitious but so far unsuccessful shoe clerk Andy Whittaker meets June Allen and tries to impress her by pretending to be an important businessman, she discovers his deception but before too long because of complications and luck good fortune finds its way to the pair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
A Man of Action (1923)
Wealthy Bruce MacAllister, goaded by his fiancée, Helen, into proving that he is a man of action rather than a pampered youth tells his estate administrator, Eugene Preston, that he is going east for a meeting. Instead, Bruce dons a disguise and infiltrates the San Francisco underworld. Mistaken for master criminal "The Chicago Kid", he finds himself leading the gang in a robbery of his own fortune in diamonds. Discovering Eugene's intention to steal the jewels for himself he engineers it so the loot changes hands many times. Getting wise, Helen summons the police, the criminals are apprehended, and she sees Bruce in a new light.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Reckless Romance (1924)
Jerry Warner (Barnes) and Edith Somers (Breamer) are in love, but her father Judge Somers (Marshall) will not allow them to marry because he sees Jerry as a poor prospect. When Jerry's uncle sends him ten thousand dollars to set up a business Judge Somers tells him if he has that money at the end of six months, he can marry Edith. After several close calls all turns out all right for the lovebirds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Trouble (1922)
Danny, a ragamuffin orphan, is adopted by a brutal plumber and his frail wife. His fear of hunger, resulting from his foster father's indifference, at one point leads him to substitute for the plumber in repairing a leak, but he causes a flood. Later, Danny is instrumental in saving a policeman's life and in sending the plumber to jail. He finds new happiness with his foster mother on her parents' farm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Marrying Money (1915)
Ted Vandeveer, a lawyer without clients, receives notice that he has been included in his rich uncle's will, he and his partner, James Sweeney, are excited, then they find that Ted's cousin Archie inherited nearly everything. With the $700 left after paying their creditors, Ted and James go to a fashionable resort, where the hotel clerk mistakenly puts them in the exclusive suite reserved for Archie. Passing for a wealthy man, Ted attracts many eligible girls, among them Mildred Niles, the daughter of a wealthy broker.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Under the Black Eagle (1928)
A German Shepherd Dog and the people he loves are entangled in World War One.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Oh, Doctor (1937)
A hypochondriac is afraid he will die before he gets an inheritance that will "cure" him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
A Race for Life (1928)
Rinty becomes the best pal of juvenile "human" hero Danny O'Shea. Their devotion to one another is proven beyond doubt when Danny is threatened by kidnappers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Witch of the Everglades (1911)
White Cloud, the war chief of the Seminoles of the Everglades, in the beginning of the last century, starts a war on the "whites," for the brutal and unprovoked murder of his brother. The first victim, Seth Thomas, a young settler, is killed, and Dora, his wife, becomes insane as she discovers the death of her husband and the loss of her two-year-old baby, carried away by the squaw of White Cloud. Dora has been left for dead by the Indians. Fifteen years elapse and Dora has been haunted by one idea, to kill every Seminole she could. She is called the "Witch of the Everglades," and is an object of superstitious terror to the Indians.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like The Gay Retreat and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Gay Retreat?
The closest matches to The Gay Retreat are What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), Shoulder Arms (1918) and Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Gay Retreat?
Start with What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), the closest match to The Gay Retreat.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Gay Retreat?
Kelly's Heroes (1970), rated 7.4/10 by 879 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Gay Retreat?
The Codes of War (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Gay Retreat?
Yes: What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), Shoulder Arms (1918) and Oh! What a Lovely War (1969).
How are movies similar to The Gay Retreat chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Gay Retreat, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.