Movies Like Charlie Chan at the Circus

If you liked Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936), a crime and mystery movie directed by Harry Lachman, 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
Breathless (2012)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy and thriller
Lorna is a strong-willed Texas woman who’s had enough of her untrustworthy husband Dale’s criminal acts and lack of husbandry. Fed up, she enlists the help of her old friend, Tiny, to help her figure out what to do…
2
Big Top Scooby-Doo! (2012)
★ 7.6/10Also comedy and mystery
When Scooby and the gang hear of a werewolf plaguing a traveling circus, they go undercover as circus performers to get to the bottom.
3
Ca$h (2010)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and thriller
A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan and his wife Leslie when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinister Pyke Kubic to their doorstep. As Pyke leads Sam and Leslie on a…
4
LaRoy, Texas (2024)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and comedy
Broke and depressed, Ray is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip, he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive.
5
The Dream Team (1989)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy and crime
Four mental patients on a field trip in New York City must save their caring chaperone, who ends up being taken to a hospital in a coma after accidentally witnessing a murder, before the killers can find him and finish…
6
All the Devils Are Here (2025)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and mystery
After a heist, four criminals lay low in a remote safehouse, waiting for orders. As paranoia builds, one thing becomes clear — the real threat may not be outside, but among them.
7
Hostile Takeover (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy and thriller
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.
8
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy and crime
Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger…
9
Cleaner (2007)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and thriller
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may…
10
In the Blood (2014)
★ 5.8/10Also crime and thriller
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
11
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
★ 7/10Also comedy and crime
While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of…
12
The Black Book (2023)
★ 6.7/10Also mystery and thriller
After his son is wrongly accused of kidnapping, a deacon who has just lost his wife takes matters into his own hands and fights a crooked police gang to clear him.
13
Shadows and Fog (1991)
★ 6.7/10Also comedy and mystery
With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.
14
Shade (2003)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller and crime
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game…
15
Another Thin Man (1939)
★ 7.1/10Also comedy and mystery
Nick and Nora Charles are back - and this time, they have a baby, a wealthy new client, and another murder to solve! Retired detective Nick is enjoying family life with Nora and their young son, Nick Jr., when…
16
68 Kill (2017)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy and crime
Chip's problem is that he can't say no to beautiful women. This weakness gets him into a world of trouble when he agrees to help his girlfriend steal $68,000.
17
Wrong Cops (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and comedy
A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.
18
One Night at McCool's (2001)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy and crime
On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a…
19
Gotcha! (1985)
★ 6/10Also comedy and thriller
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
20
The System (2022)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and thriller
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.