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Little Caesar poster

Movies that feel likeLittle Caesar (1931)

A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?

If you loved Little Caesar, the closest films we have are The Public Enemy (1931), The Wrong Man (1956) and Straight Time (1978). All three share Little Caesar's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Blue Collar (1978).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Mervyn LeRoycontemplativegritty
5 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Criterion Channel · Film Movement Plus

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If Little Caesar hit the spot, these will too

The Public Enemy poster
The Public Enemy
1931 · dir. William A. Wellman
🍅 100%★ 7.6crime · drama

Common ground in both: gangster and organized crime

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.

The Wrong Man poster
The Wrong Man
1956 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 93%★ 7.4crime · dramaMax

One thread runs through both: robbery

The difference: 25 years apart, and the 1950s show

In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.

Straight Time poster
Straight Time
1978 · dir. Ulu Grosbard
🍅 82%★ 7.4crime · drama

Common ground: murder

After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at the hands of a power-hungry parole officer.

The Ox-Bow Incident poster
The Ox-Bow Incident
1943 · dir. William A. Wellman
🍅 90%★ 8western

Drama built on grit, twice over

The difference: Trades the stillness of Little Caesar for an angle of its own

A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.

Fort Apache poster
Fort Apache
1948 · dir. John Ford
🍅 100%★ 7.4western

Gritty crime in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into western than Little Caesar does

Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.

Blue Collar poster
Blue Collar
1978 · dir. Paul Schrader
🍅 96%★ 7.5drama · crime

The same preoccupation in both: robbery

Fed up with mistreatment at the hands of both management and union brass, and coupled with financial hardships on each man's end, three auto assembly line workers hatch a plan to rob a safe at union headquarters.

The Young and the Damned poster
The Young and the Damned
1950 · dir. Luis Buñuel
🍅 91%★ 8.2drama · crime

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent life in the infamous slums of Mexico City; among them Pedro, whose morality is gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.

The Roaring Twenties poster
The Roaring Twenties
1939 · dir. Raoul Walsh
🍅 100%★ 7.9crime · drama · thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: gangster

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Little Caesar does

After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

My Name Ain't Johnny poster
My Name Ain't Johnny
2008 · dir. Mauro Lima
★ 7.2crime · drama

Crime with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The true story of João Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s.

R poster
R
2010 · dir. Tobias Lindholm
🍅 91%★ 7.1crime · drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Imprisoned for violent assault, Rune is placed in the hardcore ward, where his survival depends on quickly learning the prison's parallel world of rules, honor, and obligations.

Green Fish poster
Green Fish
1997 · dir. Lee Chang-dong
★ 7drama · crime

Crime with a pulse of grit, in both cases

Returning home and finding his town drastically changed, a former soldier falls in with gangsters.

A Short Film About Killing poster
A Short Film About Killing
1988 · dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
🍅 91%★ 7.9crime · drama

Both are built on the same subject: murder

Jacek climbs into the taxi driven by Waldemar, tells him to drive to a remote location, then brutally strangles him, seemingly without motive.

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The best-reviewed films that share Little Caesar’s defining feeling.