Movies Like Shantytown

If you liked Shantytown (1943), a crime and music movie directed by Joseph Santley, 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
Ghosts (1997)
★ 8.1/10Also music
In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an…
2
The Big Store (1941)
★ 6.3/10Also music
A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.
3
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
★ 6.3/10Also crime
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set…
4
Let It Shine (2012)
★ 7/10Also music
A teenage rapper must use his musical talent to help a friend and win the girl of his dreams while overcoming self-doubt and the expectations of his strict religious parents.
5
Star! (1968)
★ 6.9/10Also music
Gertrude Lawrence rises to stage stardom at the cost of happiness.
6
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.
7
The Wrecking Crew (2008)
★ 7.4/10Also music
A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as "The Wrecking Crew." a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such legendary recording artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Bing…
8
Make Mine Music (1946)
★ 5.8/10Also music
In the tradition of Fantasia, Make Mine Music is a glorious collection of musically charged animated shorts featuring such fun-filled favorites as "Peter and the Wolf", narrated by the beloved voice behind Winnie the…
9
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
★ 6.5/10Also crime
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while…
10
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…
11
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…
12
Time Without Pity (1957)
★ 6.5/10Also crime
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a…
13
Plunder Road (1957)
★ 6.9/10Also crime
A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.
14
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
★ 6.9/10Also crime
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.
15
See Spot Run (2001)
★ 6.1/10Also crime
A drug sniffing agent canine is a target for an assassin boss so the FBI calls Witness Protection to send him somewhere else. Meanwhile a single Mom puts her 6 year old boy James in the care of her irresponsible…
16
Step Up (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also music and crime
Delinquent Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with up-and-coming dancer Nora.
17
They Live by Night (1949)
★ 6.8/10Also crime
An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
18
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
★ 7/10Also 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…
19
Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
★ 6.8/10Also music
A fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.
20
The Wild One (1953)
★ 6.5/10Also crime
The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes a liking to Kathie, the daughter of the local lawman, as another…