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Movies Like Porgy and Bess

If you liked Porgy and Bess (1959), a music and drama movie directed by Otto Preminger, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

  1. 1The Great Gatsby

    The Great Gatsby (2013)

    ★ 7.3/10Also drama and romance

    Nick Carraway arrives in New York in 1922, an era of loose morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick encounters the mysterious millionaire Gatsby and his bewitching cousin Daisy…

  2. 2Wuthering Heights

    Wuthering Heights (1992)

    ★ 6.7/10Also drama and romance

    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…

  3. 3Save the Last Dance

    Save the Last Dance (2001)

    ★ 6.6/10Also drama and romance

    After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her…

  4. 4Endless Love

    Endless Love (2014)

    ★ 6.9/10Also drama and romance

    A privileged girl and a charismatic boy's instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.

  5. 5The Best of Me

    The Best of Me (2014)

    ★ 7.5/10Also drama and romance

    A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.

  6. 6Breathe

    Breathe (2017)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama and romance

    Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.

  7. 7Footloose

    Footloose (2011)

    ★ 6.6/10Also drama and music

    Ren MacCormack is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where loud music and dancing are prohibited. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling…

  8. 8Beyond the Sea

    Beyond the Sea (2004)

    ★ 6.3/10Also drama and music

    Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his life.

  9. 9Ruth & Boaz

    Ruth & Boaz (2025)

    ★ 7.4/10Also romance and drama

    A talented singer leaves the Atlanta music scene and starts over in small-town Tennessee, where she finds love and new purpose but can't escape the past.

  10. 10The Lost Husband

    The Lost Husband (2020)

    ★ 6.7/10Also drama and romance

    Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.

  11. 11Tender Mercies

    Tender Mercies (1983)

    ★ 6.8/10Also drama and music

    Alcoholic former country singer Mac Sledge makes friends with a young widow and her son. The friendship enables him to find inspiration to resume his career.

  12. 12Center Stage: Turn It Up

    Center Stage: Turn It Up (2008)

    ★ 6.9/10Also drama and music

    All self-taught dancer Kate Parker has ever wanted to do was perform with the American Academy of Ballet. But when she doesnt make it after auditioning, she learns that it takes more than precision and perfection to…

  13. 13Jude

    Jude (1996)

    ★ 6.3/10Also drama and romance

    In late 19th-century England, Jude aspires to be an academic, but is hobbled by his blue-collar background. Instead, he works as a stonemason and is trapped in an unloving marriage to a farmer's daughter named…

  14. 14Pure Country 2: The Gift

    Pure Country 2: The Gift (2010)

    ★ 6.7/10Also drama and music

    Three angels bestow the gift of song to a young girl, who must follow a series of rules in order hold on to it during her rise to fame and fortune.

  15. 15The Sleeping Dictionary

    The Sleeping Dictionary (2003)

    ★ 6.6/10Also drama and romance

    In the 1930s, British officer John Truscott journeys to a remote village in colonial Malaysia to educate and Westernize the local Iban population. There, he's introduced to the lovely Selima. In keeping with tradition…

  16. 16Dirty Dancing

    Dirty Dancing (1987)

    ★ 7.3/10Also drama and music

    Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly…

  17. 17Imitation of Life

    Imitation of Life (1959)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama and romance

    In 1940s New York, a white widow who dreams of being on Broadway has a chance encounter with a black single mother, who becomes her maid.

  18. 18Purple Hearts

    Purple Hearts (2022)

    ★ 8/10Also romance and drama

    An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.

  19. 19Romeo & Juliet

    Romeo & Juliet (2013)

    ★ 6.7/10Also romance and drama

    In Verona, bad blood between the Montague and Capulet families leads to much bitterness. Despite the hostility, Romeo Montague manages an invitation to a masked ball at the estate of the Capulets and meets Juliet…

  20. 20One Day

    One Day (2011)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama and romance

    After spending the night together on the eve of their college graduation, Dexter and Emma are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, and sometimes not.

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