Movies like The Big Street (1942)
The best movies like The Big Street (1942) are The Rainmaker (1956), None But the Lonely Heart (1944) and Clash by Night (1952). If The Big Street hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFive Feet Apart (2019)8.2/10 from 6,026 votes
- NewestMaterialists (2025)Released 2025
The Rainmaker (1956)
Lizzie Curry is on the verge of becoming a hopeless old maid. Her wit and intelligence and skills as a homemaker can't make up for the fact that she's just plain plain! Even the town sheriff, File, for whom she harbors a secrect yen, won't take a chance --- until the town suffers a drought and into the lives of Lizzie and her brothers and father comes one Bill Starbuck ... profession: Rainmaker!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNone But the Lonely Heart (1944)
When an itinerant reluctantly returns home to help his sickly mother run her shop, they're both tempted to turn to crime to help make ends meet.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClash by Night (1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrapeze (1956)
A pair of men try to perform the dangerous "triple" in their trapeze act. Problems arise when the duo is made into a trio following the addition of a sexy female performer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Five Pennies (1959)
Dixieland cornetist Red Nichols runs into opposition to his sound, but breaks through to success. He marries a warm, patient woman and even finds time to raise a family. Then tragedy strikes when their daughter contracts polio.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
High School Confidential! (1958)
A tough kid comes to a new high school and begins muscling his way into the drug scene. This is a typical morality play of the era, filled with a naive view of drugs, nihilistic beat poetry, and some incredible '50s slang.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Up Close & Personal (1996)
Tally Atwater has a dream: to be a prime-time network newscaster. She pursues this dream with nothing but ambition, raw talent and a homemade demo tape. Warren Justice is a brilliant, hard edged, veteran newsman. He sees Tally has talent and becomes her mentor. Tally’s career takes a meteoric rise and she and Warren fall in love. The romance that results is as intense and revealing as television news itself. Yet, each breaking story, every videotaped crisis that brings them together, also threatens to drive them apart...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOf Human Bondage (1934)
A young man finds himself attracted to a cold and unfeeling waitress who may ultimately destroy them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBitter Moon (1992)
A passenger on a cruise ship develops an irresistible infatuation with an eccentric paraplegic's wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)
Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaterialists (2025)
A young, ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Sun (2018)
Katie, a 17-year-old, has been sheltered since childhood and confined to her house during the day by a rare disease that makes even the smallest amount of sunlight deadly. Fate intervenes when she meets Charlie and they embark on a summer romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Affair to Remember (1957)
A couple falls in love and agrees to meet in six months at the Empire State Building - but will it happen?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKitty Foyle (1940)
A hard-working, white-collar girl falls in love with a young socialite, but meets with his family's disapproval.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Mabel Longhetti, desperate and lonely, is married to a Los Angeles municipal construction worker, Nick. Increasingly unstable, especially in the company of others, she craves happiness, but her extremely volatile behavior convinces Nick that she poses a danger to their family and decides to commit her to an institution for six months. Alone with a trio of kids to raise on his own, he awaits her return, which holds more than a few surprises.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFive Feet Apart (2019)
Seventeen-year-old Stella spends most of her time in the hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. Her life is full of routines, boundaries and self-control — all of which get put to the test when she meets Will, an impossibly charming teen who has the same illness. There's an instant flirtation, though restrictions dictate that they must maintain a safe distance between them. As their connection intensifies, so does the temptation to throw the rules out the window and embrace that attraction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKid Galahad (1937)
Fight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNew York, New York (1977)
An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSee You Soon (2019)
A U.S. soccer star suffers a career-threatening injury in the run-up to the World Cup, and during his recovery, embarks on an epic romance with a Russian single mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCountry Strong (2010)
Soon after the rising young singer-songwriter Beau Williams gets involved with a fallen, emotionally unstable country star Kelly Canter, the pair embark on a career resurrection tour helmed by her husband/manager James and featuring a beauty queen-turned-singer Chiles Stanton. Between concerts, romantic entanglements and old demons threaten to derail them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJungle Fever (1991)
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoonlight (2016)
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBully (2001)
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Mão Direita (2024)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)
A young singer falls in love with his teacher’s daughter, but their romance is tested when the girl’s parents arrange her marriage with Vanraj, which takes three of them into an unexpected journey of love, sacrifice, and selflessness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Love You Phillip Morris (2010)
Steven Russell leads a seemingly average life – an organ player in the local church, happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force. That is until he has a severe car accident that leads him to the ultimate epiphany: he’s gay and he’s going to live life to the fullest – even if he has to break the law to do it. Taking on an extravagant lifestyle, Steven turns to cons and fraud to make ends meet and is eventually sent to the State Penitentiary where he meets the love of his life, a sensitive, soft-spoken man named Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts him to attempt (and often succeed at) one impossible con after another.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDostana (2008)
Two straight guys pretend to be a gay couple to secure a posh Miami apartment, but fall for their gorgeous roommate. Hilarity ensues as they strive to convince everyone of the ruse while secretly trying to win her heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Big Street?
The closest matches to The Big Street are The Rainmaker (1956), None But the Lonely Heart (1944) and Clash by Night (1952). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Big Street?
People who watched The Big Street most often go on to The Rainmaker (1956), None But the Lonely Heart (1944) and Clash by Night (1952).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Big Street?
Five Feet Apart (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 6,026 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Big Street?
Materialists (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Big Street?
Yes: The Rainmaker (1956), None But the Lonely Heart (1944) and Clash by Night (1952).
How are movies similar to The Big Street chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Big Street, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.