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Movies that feel like White Heat (1949)

If you loved White Heat, the closest films we have are High Sierra (1941), The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). All three share White Heat's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 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 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.

πŸ… 94% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Raoul Walshgrittycontemplativetenseplayfulatmospheric

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If White Heat hit the spot, these will too

High Sierra poster
High Sierra
1941 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· action

The same hand behind both of them: Raoul Walsh

The difference: None of the play White Heat is built on

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

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The Asphalt Jungle poster
The Asphalt Jungle
1950 Β· dir. John Huston
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama

Both are working the same pair: heist, film noir

The difference: Missing the tension of White Heat

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.

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

The same preoccupation in both: heist

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

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The Roaring Twenties poster
The Roaring Twenties
1939 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are Raoul Walsh's work, and they rhyme

After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

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

One thread runs through both: film noir

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

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The Night of the Hunter poster
The Night of the Hunter
1955 Β· dir. Charles Laughton
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same two preoccupations: prison, and psychopath

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

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

Both are built on the same subject: gangster

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.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: gangster

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.

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Out of the Past poster
Out of the Past
1947 Β· dir. Jacques Tourneur
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8crime Β· thriller

Both land grit and tension at once

The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

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

The same mix in both: stillness, then atmosphere

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

Gritty crime in both cases

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

Drama built on play, twice over

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

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The best-reviewed films that share White Heat’s defining feeling.