Movies Like Public Enemy's Wife

If you liked Public Enemy's Wife (1936), a drama and crime movie directed by Nick Grindé, 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
White Heat (1949)
★ 7.7/10Also crime and drama
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.
2
The Valachi Papers (1972)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and drama
When Joe Valachi has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese, he must take desperate steps to protect himself while in prison. An unsuccessful attempt to slit his throat puts him over the edge to break the sacred…
3
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
★ 6.9/10Also crime and drama
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
4
The Killer Is Loose (1956)
★ 6.7/10Also crime
A savings-and-loan bank is robbed; later, a police wiretap identifies meek bank teller Leon Poole as the inside man. In capturing him, detective Sam Wagner accidentally kills Poole's young wife, and at his trial Poole…
5
Gangster No. 1 (2000)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and crime
An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately…
6
London Boulevard (2010)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and crime
A parolee falls for a reclusive movie star while trying to evade a ruthless gangster.
7
A Score to Settle (2019)
★ 5.8/10Also crime and drama
A former mob enforcer who is released from prison after serving 22 years for a crime he didn't commit sets out on a path for revenge against the people who wronged him.
8
Raw Deal (1948)
★ 6.7/10Also crime
Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming that Joe will be…
9
The Unforgivable (2021)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and crime
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
10
Belly (1998)
★ 6.4/10Also crime and drama
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking…
11
Sexy Beast (2001)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
Ex-safecracker Gal Dove has served his time behind bars and is blissfully retired to a Spanish villa paradise with a wife he adores. The idyll is shattered by the arrival of his nemesis Don Logan, intent on persuading…
12
Violent Ends (2025)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
A man raised in a violent crime family struggles to build an honest life with his fiancée but is dragged back into the criminal world after his cousin’s armed robbery leaves an innocent person caught in the crossfire.
13
King of New York (1990)
★ 6.8/10Also crime
A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on…
14
Cry of the City (1948)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and drama
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check…
15
Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and drama
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
16
Cape Fear (1991)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and crime
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape…
17
Righteous Kill (2008)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and drama
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the…
18
Avengement (2019)
★ 6.9/10Also crime
While on a prison furlough, a lowly criminal evades his guards and returns to his old stomping ground to take revenge on the people who turned him into a cold blooded killer.
19
Fight for Your Life (1977)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and drama
A minister dispenses justice on three convicts who take his family hostage.
20
Ladies They Talk About (1933)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
A moll, imprisoned after participating in a bank robbery, helps with a breakout plot.