Movies Like The Mountebanks

If you liked The Mountebanks (1930), a movie directed by Robert Land and Lucien Jaquelux, 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
Limelight (1952)
★ 7.9/10
A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.
2
Lola Montès (1955)
★ 6.9/10
Lola Montes, previously a great adventuress, is reduced to being the attraction of a circus after having been the lover of various important men.
3
Water for Elephants (2011)
★ 6.9/10
In this captivating Depression-era melodrama, impetuous veterinary student Jacob Jankowski joins a celebrated circus as an animal caretaker but faces a wrenching dilemma when he's transfixed by angelic married…
4
Great Expectations (2012)
★ 6.4/10
Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but…
5
Hold-up (1985)
★ 6.2/10
Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages. While confusing and ridiculing the police with his strange behavior, he calmly manages to rid the bank of a…
6
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
★ 6.4/10
To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous…
7
Gags the Clown (2019)
★ 6.3/10
It's been eight days since the clown first showed up in Green Bay, WI. Now, over the course of one night, four different groups of people cross paths with the clown everyone calls "Gags" and his true intentions are…
8
Chocolat (2016)
★ 6.8/10
Chocolat the clown, the first black stage performer in France, goes from anonymity to fame after forming an unprecedented duo with fellow performer Footit in the very popular in Belle Epoque Paris. But easy money…
9
Still Breathing (1997)
★ 6.5/10
Two lost souls: she a con-artist in L.A.; he a puppeteer in San Antonio have the same dream linking each with the other. He travels to L.A. to find this woman he has become obsessed with. She resists, afraid of his…
10
Chéri (2009)
★ 6.1/10
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
11
Excess Baggage (1997)
★ 6.1/10
A rich brat fakes her own kidnapping, but in the process ends up locked in the trunk of a car that gets stolen.
12
Shall We Dance? (2004)
★ 6.4/10
A bored estate lawyer spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife…
13
¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)
★ 8.4/10
Lu, a conformist woman in her forties, learns that her 15-year partner has been having extramarital affairs. Starting from scratch, she gets involved in an unexpected relationship with a young womanizer.
14
Red's Dream (1987)
★ 6.1/10
Life as the sole sale item in the clearance corner of Eben's Bikes can get lonely. So Red, a unicycle, dreams up a clown owner and his own juggling act that steals the show. But all too soon, the applause turns into…
15
Clown (2014)
★ 5.8/10
A loving father finds a clown suit for his son's birthday party, only to realize the suit is part of an evil curse that turns its wearer into a killer.
16
Lucas (1986)
★ 6.7/10
A brilliant but socially inept 14-year-old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends – Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love – fall for each other.
17
Mandibles (2021)
★ 6.3/10
When two simple-minded best friends find a giant fly trapped in the trunk of a stolen car, they decide to train it in hopes of striking it rich.
18
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
★ 7.4/10
When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.
19
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
★ 7.5/10
After a baron steals his scientific discoveries, runs away with his wife, and slaps him in public, a man joins a Parisian circus sideshow as a clown whose act consists of being slapped repeatedly and becomes infatuated…
20
Finding Your Feet (2017)
★ 7/10
When her life is turned upside down upon discovering her husband's affair, Sandra Abbott seeks refuge in London with her estranged older sister Bif. She begins to find her feet again after letting Bif drag her along to…