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The Asphalt Jungle poster

Movies that feel likeThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)

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.

If you loved The Asphalt Jungle, the closest films we have are White Heat (1949), Kansas City Confidential (1952) and Key Largo (1948). All three share The Asphalt Jungle'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 Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).

8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

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If The Asphalt Jungle hit the spot, these will too

White Heat poster
White Heat
1949 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are working the same pair: heist, film noir

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than The Asphalt Jungle does

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.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: heist

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than The Asphalt Jungle does

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

Key Largo poster
Key Largo
1948 Β· dir. John Huston
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.7crime Β· thriller

The same hand behind both of them: John Huston

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than The Asphalt Jungle does

A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud.

Odds Against Tomorrow poster
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Common ground: film noir

An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.

Angels with Dirty Faces poster
Angels with Dirty Faces
1938 Β· dir. Michael Curtiz
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama

Both are built on the same subject: black and white

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.

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

Both land grit and stillness at once

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

Mildred Pierce poster
Mildred Pierce
1945 Β· dir. Michael Curtiz
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama

One thread runs through 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.

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

Atmospheric crime, 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.

Odd Man Out poster
Odd Man Out
1947 Β· dir. Carol Reed
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thrillerMax

Gritty drama in both cases

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

Scarlet Street poster
Scarlet Street
1945 Β· dir. Fritz Lang
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.7drama Β· crimePrime Video

Crime with a pulse of stillness, 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.

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

Both lean on atmosphere more than on drama

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.

Fat City poster
Fat City
1972 Β· dir. John Huston
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.2drama

John Huston directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Made in the 1970s, in a different era of the craft

The story of two men, a veteran boxer who is down and out, and a young man who is just starting his life and boxing career. Their fighting careers cross paths as their lives and fortunes head in opposite directions.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Asphalt Jungle’s defining feeling.