Movies Like Wake Up and Live

If you liked Wake Up and Live (1937), a music movie directed by Sidney Lanfield, 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
A Song Is Born (1948)
★ 6.5/10Also music
The story of seven scholars in search of an expert to teach them about swing music. They seem to have found the perfect candidate in winsome nightclub singer Honey Swanson. But Honey's gangster boyfriend doesn't want…
2
Too Late Blues (1961)
★ 6.4/10Also music
Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his…
3
The Rocker (2008)
★ 6.1/10Also music
In the 1980s, a drummer is abandoned by his band just before they become rock superstars. Twenty years later, the drummer sees his second chance at stardom arise when he is asked to perform with his teenage nephew's…
4
Wayne's World (1992)
★ 6.7/10Also music
The adventures of two amiably aimless metal-head friends, Wayne and Garth. From Wayne's basement, the pair broadcast a talk-show called "Wayne's World" on local public access television. The show comes to the attention…
5
Song for Marion (2012)
★ 6.8/10Also music
Arthur is a grumpy pensioner who can't understand why his wife Marion would want to embarrass herself singing silly songs with her unconventional local choir. But choir director Elizabeth sees something special in the…
6
Apple Music Live: Lady Gaga MAYHEM Requiem (2026)
★ 8.3/10Also music
For Apple Music Live, Gaga presents MAYHEM Requiem, a celebration and musical reimagining of MAYHEM.
7
The Five Heartbeats (1991)
★ 7.3/10Also music
In the early 1960s, a quintet of hopeful, young African-American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improves, turns pro, and rises to become a top…
8
Footlight Parade (1933)
★ 6.8/10Also music
A fledgling producer finds himself at odds with his workers, financiers and his greedy ex-wife when he tries to produce live musicals for movie-going audiences.
9
Les Girls (1957)
★ 6.4/10Also music
After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil Wren is sued for libeling her fellow dancer Angele. A Rashômon style narrative presents the story from three points…
10
Babes in Arms (1939)
★ 6.4/10Also music
Mickey Moran, son of two vaudeville veterans, decides to put up his own vaudeville show with his girlfriend Patsy Barton. But child actress Rosalie wants to make a comeback and replace Patsy both professionally and as…
11
The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
★ 6.3/10Also music
A down-and-out gangster hires a down-on-his-luck agent to make his girlfriend a recording star within six weeks.
12
A Day at the Races (1937)
★ 7.1/10Also music
Doctor Hugo Hackenbush, Tony, and Stuffy try and save Judy's sanitarium by winning a big race with a finicky horse owned by Judy's boyfriend Gil. There are a few problems. Hackenbush, who was recently put in charge of…
13
Grease Live (2016)
★ 7.1/10Also music
After enjoying a holiday romance, high school students Danny and Sandy are unexpectedly reunited when she transfers to Rydell High, where she must contend with cynical Rizzo and the Pink Ladies.
14
Godspell (1973)
★ 6.7/10Also music
In modern-day New York City, John the Baptist calls out to a group of young men and women to learn from the teachings of Jesus. Through song and dance, they relive Christ's crucifixion.
15
The Happiest Millionaire (1967)
★ 6.8/10Also music
A happy and unbelievably lucky young Irish immigrant, John Lawless, lands a job as the butler of an unconventional millionaire, Biddle. His daughter, Cordelia Drexel Biddle, tires of the unusual antics of her…
16
Love Happy (1949)
★ 5.8/10Also music
The Marx Brothers help young Broadway hopefuls when they get mixed up with gangsters due to a tin of sardines containing Romanoff diamonds.
17
Buck Privates (1941)
★ 6.8/10Also music
Petty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor. A rich young man and his former working class chauffeur are not only…
18
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
★ 7.2/10Also music
Olsen and Johnson, a pair of stage comedians, try to turn their play into a movie and bring together a young couple in love, while breaking the fourth wall every step of the way.
19
Sneakerella (2022)
★ 5.9/10Also music
When El, an aspiring sneaker designer from Queens, meets Kira King, the fiercely independent daughter of legendary basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King, sparks fly as the two bond over their mutual affinity…
20
Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
★ 6.6/10Also music
Josie, Melody and Val are three small-town girl musicians determined to take their rock band out of their garage and straight to the top, while remaining true to their look, style and sound. They get a record deal…