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The Big Risk poster

Movies that feel likeThe Big Risk (1960)

Two men pull off a daring daylight payroll heist in Milan, making a fast getaway. One is returning to France after years in hiding, needing money to start fresh with his family.

If you loved The Big Risk, the closest films we have are The Big Combo (1955), Force of Evil (1950) and Kansas City Confidential (1952). All three share The Big Risk's gritty and atmospheric feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is A Colt is My Passport (1967).

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Claude Sautetgrittyatmospheric
7 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Big Risk hit the spot, these will too

The Big Combo poster
The Big Combo
1955 Β· dir. Joseph H. Lewis
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.3drama Β· crime

Both land grit and atmosphere at once

The difference: Sits closer to drama than The Big Risk does

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.

Force of Evil poster
Force of Evil
1950 Β· dir. Abraham Polonsky
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama

Both lean on grit more than on crime

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 poster
Kansas City Confidential
1952 Β· dir. Phil Karlson
πŸ… 79%β˜… 7.3crimePrime Video

Atmospheric crime in both cases

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

The Set-Up poster
The Set-Up
1949 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.8drama Β· crime

Crime built on grit, twice over

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

Le Doulos poster
Le Doulos
1962 Β· dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.7drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: french noir

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

The Narrow Margin poster
The Narrow Margin
1952 Β· dir. Richard Fleischer
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· crime

Both sit in the same atmospheric register

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Pale Flower poster
Pale Flower
1964 Β· dir. Masahiro Shinoda
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.7crime Β· romance

Crime in the same key

A recently released gangster has to cope with the recent shifts of power between gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambling.

Shoot the Piano Player poster
Shoot the Piano Player
1960 Β· dir. FranΓ§ois Truffaut
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thriller Β· crimeMax

One thread runs through both: french noir

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

Blast of Silence poster
Blast of Silence
1961 Β· dir. Allen Baron
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Crime of the same temperament

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

Criss Cross poster
Criss Cross
1949 Β· dir. Robert Siodmak
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller

Cut from the same crime cloth

An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.

The Big Clock poster
The Big Clock
1948 Β· dir. John Farrow
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6crime Β· thriller

Both play crime straight

George Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence that he is the killer.

A Colt is My Passport poster
A Colt is My Passport
1967 Β· dir. Takashi Nomura
β˜… 7.4action Β· crime Β· drama

Both are crime through and through

A gang lord hires Kamimura, a hit man, to take out a rival boss who's gotten greedy.

In the mood for more gritty?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Big Risk’s defining feeling.