Movies like The Big Shakedown (1934)
The best movies like The Big Shakedown (1934) are Little Caesar (1931), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Pitfall (1948). If The Big Shakedown hooked you with its drama and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPaper Moon (1973)7.9/10 from 892 votes
- NewestNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)Released 2019
Little Caesar (1931)
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGlengarry Glen Ross (1992)
An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office. Unscrupulous salesmen try to hawk dubious real estate to suckers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPitfall (1948)
An insurance man wishing for a more exciting life becomes wrapped up in the affairs of an imprisoned embezzler, his model girlfriend, and a violent private investigator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Thief (2003)
An aging gambler on a losing streak attempts to rob a casino in Monte Carlo. But someone's already tipped off the cops before he even makes a move.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this5 Against the House (1955)
Former war-time Army buddies now students in college decide to rip off a Reno casino.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Set-Up (1949)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPushover (1954)
A police detective falls for the bank robber's girlfriend he is supposed to be tailing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (1992)
At the insistence of Ruth Van Rydock, an old schoolfriend who is convinced that there is something wrong, Miss Marple agrees to visit 'Stonygates', the country house of Ruth's sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder in Three Acts (1986)
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForce of Evil (1950)
Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe FBI Story (1959)
A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhirlpool (1950)
The wife of a psychoanalyst falls prey to a devious quack hypnotist when he discovers she is an habitual shoplifter. Then one of his previous patients now being treated by the real doctor is found murdered, with her still at the scene, and suspicion points only one way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lineup (1958)
In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisT-Men (1947)
Two T-men, U.S. Treasury agents, go undercover in Detroit, and then Los Angeles, in an attempt to break a U.S. currency counterfeiting ring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNancy 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHollow Triumph (1948)
Pursued by the big-time gambler he robbed, John Muller assumes a new identity—with unfortunate results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaper Moon (1973)
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSlightly Scarlet (1930)
Passing herself off as a countess, glamorous Lucy Stavrin hobnobs with the rich and famous along the French Riviera. Aware that Lucy is a phony, jewel-thief Malatroff blackmails Lucy into helping him steal the valuable necklace owned by the young wife of phlegmatic American businessman Sylvester Corbett.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Runaway Bride (1930)
Mary Gray elopes to Atlantic City, NJ, but begins having second thoughts about the marriage. Then she becomes inexplicably locked in her hotel room, and a series of cops, robbers and kidnappers passes through. Desperate, Mary trusts the shifty chambermaid Clara who whisks her away to the mansion of wealthy George Blaine. There, Mary must pretend to be a lowly cook, but that seems better than sticking with the guy she was engaged to.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Blondie Johnson (1933)
A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Smart Money (1931)
Two brothers' trip to the big city to do a little gambling results in a fateful turn of events.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Public Enemy (1931)
Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScarface (1932)
In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this0.5 mm (2014)
Sawa Yamagishi worked as a nursing-care helper. The family for an old man asked Sawa to sleep with him, which led her to lose her job. Now, she has nowhere to go. Sawa finds elderly people in trouble and gets involved in their lives. Meeting them, Sawa's own wounds start to heal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wendell Baker Story (2005)
Luke Wilson plays a good-hearted ex-con who gets a job in a retirement hotel. Three elderly residents help him win back his girlfriend as he lends them a hand in fighting hotel corruption.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThunder Below (1932)
Story of an unhappy wife of oil rigger who labors in a Central American oil field. The bored Susan falls in love with Walt's good friend Ken but keeps her husband in the dark about her feelings... until he's plunged into darkness for real when he loses his eyesight. Susan finds her attentions then wandering yet another man, Davis, and Ken urges her to return to Walt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Big Shakedown and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Big Shakedown?
The closest matches to The Big Shakedown are Little Caesar (1931), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Pitfall (1948). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Big Shakedown?
Start with Little Caesar (1931), the closest match to The Big Shakedown.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Big Shakedown?
Paper Moon (1973), rated 7.9/10 by 892 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Big Shakedown?
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Big Shakedown?
Yes: Little Caesar (1931), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Pitfall (1948).
How are movies similar to The Big Shakedown chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Big Shakedown, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.