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Movies that feel like The Naked City (1948)

If you loved The Naked City, the closest films we have are Blast of Silence (1961), The Big Clock (1948) and The Killers (1946). All three share The Naked City's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 5 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Criterion Channel and MUBI and others, checked against today's data.

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

πŸ… 85% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Jules Dassingrittytwistytenseatmospheric
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If The Naked City hit the spot, these will too

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

Both rooted in New York City

The difference: None of the twists The Naked City is built on

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.

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

The same two preoccupations: film noir, and murder

The difference: Not nearly as twisty as The Naked City

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.

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The Killers poster
The Killers
1946 Β· dir. Robert Siodmak
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.7crime Β· mystery Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: film noir

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

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Stray Dog poster
Stray Dog
1949 Β· dir. Akira Kurosawa
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same mix in both: grit, then twists

The difference: Sits closer to drama than The Naked City does

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

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The Lady from Shanghai poster
The Lady from Shanghai
1947 Β· dir. Orson Welles
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.5mystery Β· crime Β· thriller

Tense where it counts, atmospheric underneath

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

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The Big Sleep poster
The Big Sleep
1946 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9mystery Β· crime Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: murder

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

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Shadow of a Doubt poster
Shadow of a Doubt
1943 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8thriller Β· mystery Β· crime

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secretβ€”and that danger has quietly entered her home.

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

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

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

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

Both lean on atmosphere more than on mystery

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

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Dark Passage poster
Dark Passage
1947 Β· dir. Delmer Daves
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.5thriller Β· mystery

Twisty mystery in both cases

A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.

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

Crime built on grit, twice over

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

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Killer's Kiss poster
Killer's Kiss
1955 Β· dir. Stanley Kubrick
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.5thriller Β· crime Β· drama

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Naked City’s defining feeling.