Movies that feel likeMonsieur Verdoux (1947)

Name: Monsieur Verdoux
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Genre: comedy, crime, drama
Released: 1947

The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.

If you loved Monsieur Verdoux, the closest films we have are The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Ladykillers (1955). All three share Monsieur Verdoux's playful and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Force of Evil (1950).

🍅 97% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Charlie Chaplinwitty playful gritty contemplative darkly funny atmospheric

9 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Criterion Channel

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If Monsieur Verdoux hit the spot, these will too

The Asphalt Jungle

1950 · dir. John Huston

🍅 98%★ 7.8crime · drama

Both are working the same pair: film noir, black and white

The difference: Trades the wit of Monsieur Verdoux for an angle of its own

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.

Kind Hearts and Coronets

1949 · dir. Robert Hamer

🍅 100%★ 8comedy · crime

Both are built on the same subject: dark comedy

When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love and the widow of one of his victims, his plans go awry.

The Ladykillers

1955 · dir. Alexander Mackendrick

🍅 100%★ 7.6comedy · crime

Common ground: dark comedy

Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.

Ace in the Hole

1951 · dir. Billy Wilder

🍅 88%★ 8drama

One thread runs through both: film noir

An arrogant reporter exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career.

Mildred Pierce

1945 · dir. Michael Curtiz

🍅 88%★ 7.9crime · drama

The same preoccupation in both: black and white

A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.

The Set-Up

1949 · dir. Robert Wise

🍅 85%★ 7.8drama · crime

Gritty and contemplative in the same breath

Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.

Angels with Dirty Faces

1938 · dir. Michael Curtiz

🍅 100%★ 7.8crime · drama

Both lean on atmosphere more than on crime

Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.

Scarlet Street

1945 · dir. Fritz Lang

🍅 100%★ 7.7drama · crimePrime Video

Gritty drama in both cases

Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.

Force of Evil

1950 · dir. Abraham Polonsky

🍅 100%★ 7.2crime · drama

Contemplative comedy, and it commits to that

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.

Kansas City Confidential

1952 · dir. Phil Karlson

🍅 79%★ 7.3crimePrime Video

Crime with a pulse of play, in both cases

An ex-convict sets out to uncover who framed him for an armored car robbery.

Odd Man Out

1947 · dir. Carol Reed

🍅 100%★ 7.6crime · drama · thrillerMax

Drama built on atmosphere, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Monsieur Verdoux does

Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.

White Heat

1949 · dir. Raoul Walsh

🍅 94%★ 8.1crime · drama · thriller

Playful comedy in both cases

A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.