Movies Like The Benny Goodman Story

If you liked The Benny Goodman Story (1956), a drama and music movie directed by Valentine Davies, 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
Respect (2021)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and music
The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.
2
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
★ 7/10Also drama and music
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
3
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and music
Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
4
Grace Unplugged (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama and music
A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film…
5
Music of the Heart (1999)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and music
After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
6
Elvis (1979)
★ 6.9/10Also music and drama
This biopic traces Elvis Presley’s life from his impoverished childhood to his meteoric rise to stardom to his triumphant conquering of Las Vegas.
7
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)
★ 7/10Also music and drama
The joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time. Tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.
8
Almost Famous (2000)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and music
In 1973, a precocious 15-year-old aspiring rock journalist lands a dream assignment from Rolling Stone to tour with a rising rock band, embarking on a coming-of-age journey as he discovers the exhilarating and…
9
Jersey Boys (2014)
★ 6.7/10Also music and drama
A musical biopic of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, it gets…
10
Teen Spirit (2019)
★ 6/10Also music and drama
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
11
Elvis (2022)
★ 7.4/10Also music and drama
The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
12
Richard Jewell (2019)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime…
13
Take the Lead (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and music
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based…
14
Köln 75 (2025)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and music
The true story of Vera Brandes, teenage patron saint of the 1970s Cologne music scene, who risked everything to organize the greatest solo concert in music history: Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert.
15
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and music
In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future.
16
I Saw the Light (2016)
★ 6.2/10Also music and drama
Singer and songwriter Hank Williams rises to fame in the 1940s, but alcohol abuse and infidelity take a toll on his career and marriage to fellow musician Audrey Mae Williams.
17
My Dinner with Hervé (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
18
Love & Mercy (2015)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and music
In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, produces "Pet Sounds" and begins to lose his grip on reality. By the 1980s, under the sway of a controlling therapist, he finds a savior in Melinda…
19
The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
The film spans from Hepburn's early childhood to the 1950s which details her life as a Dutch ballerina, coming to grips with her parents' divorce, and enduring life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II…
20
tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and music
On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.