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Movies that feel like Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

If you loved Only Angels Have Wings, the closest films we have are Wuthering Heights (1939), Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and To Have and Have Not (1945). All three share Only Angels Have Wings' romantic and tender feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a major contract.

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.6 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Howard Hawksromantictenderepiccontemplative

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If Only Angels Have Wings hit the spot, these will too

Wuthering Heights poster
Wuthering Heights
1939 Β· dir. William Wyler
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5drama Β· romance

Romantic where it counts, tender underneath

The difference: Not nearly as epic as Only Angels Have Wings

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

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Make Way for Tomorrow poster
Make Way for Tomorrow
1937 Β· dir. Leo McCarey
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.2drama Β· romance

Contemplative romance, and it commits to that

An elderly couple are forced to separate themselves from each other after their children refuse to take both into one house.

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To Have and Have Not poster
To Have and Have Not
1945 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.8adventure Β· romance Β· war

Howard Hawks working the same nerve twice

The difference: Sits closer to war than Only Angels Have Wings does

A Martinique charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance operatives during WWII.

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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes poster
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
1953 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· romance

Howard Hawks directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Leans harder into comedy than Only Angels Have Wings does

Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much to the disapproval of Gus' rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw, Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone, a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.

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Grand Hotel poster
Grand Hotel
1932 Β· dir. Edmund Goulding
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.3drama Β· romance

Drama with a pulse of romance, in both cases

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.

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Great Expectations poster
Great Expectations
1946 Β· dir. David Lean
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8drama Β· romance

Tender adventure in both cases

In this Dickens adaptation, orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.

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Letter from an Unknown Woman poster
Letter from an Unknown Woman
1948 Β· dir. Max OphΓΌls
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8drama Β· romance

Romance built on stillness, twice over

A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forced to reinterpret his own past.

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The Earrings of Madame de... poster
The Earrings of Madame de...
1953 Β· dir. Max OphΓΌls
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.9drama Β· romance

Both lean on romance more than on drama

In late 19th century France, the Countess Louise, wife of a wealthy general, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off her secret debts, then claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, and her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.

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His Girl Friday poster
His Girl Friday
1940 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 99%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· romance

Tender adventure, and it commits to that

Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.

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The Thief of Bagdad poster
The Thief of Bagdad
1940 Β· dir. Ludwig Berger
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.4adventure Β· fantasy Β· romance

Romance with a pulse of scale, in both cases

When Prince Ahmad is blinded and cast out of Bagdad by the nefarious Jaffar, he joins forces with the scrappy thief Abu to win back his royal place, as well as the heart of a beautiful princess.

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Children of Paradise poster
Children of Paradise
1945 Β· dir. Marcel CarnΓ©
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.3drama Β· romance

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

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Bringing Up Baby poster
Bringing Up Baby
1938 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· romance

Romance of the same temperament

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.

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The best-reviewed films that share Only Angels Have Wings’ defining feeling.