Movies Like The Sign of the Cactus

If you liked The Sign of the Cactus (1925), a drama and western movie directed by Clifford Smith, 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
Frontera (2014)
★ 6.5/10Also western and drama
After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s…
2
Jane Got a Gun (2015)
★ 5.9/10Also western and drama
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her…
3
Union Pacific (1939)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and western
One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief…
4
Broke (2025)
★ 7/10Also western and drama
A bronc rider in denial about his fading rodeo career battles against brain injury and a sudden blizzard while reflecting on how it became so difficult to achieve his dreams.
5
The Last Sunset (1961)
★ 6.8/10Also western and drama
At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.
6
Appaloosa (2008)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and western
Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
7
Don't Come Knocking (2005)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and western
Howard Spence has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over…
8
Man in the Shadow (1957)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and western
In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but…
9
Thieves Highway (2025)
★ 7.5/10Also western
After discovering a plot to haul stolen cattle in the middle of nowhere, a desperate and isolated lawman becomes the only thing standing between a group of dangerous rustlers and a clear run to the border.
10
Forty Guns (1957)
★ 6.6/10Also western and drama
An authoritarian rancher rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new Marshal arrives to set things straight, the cattle queen finds herself falling for the avowedly non-violent lawman. Both…
11
Echoes of War (2015)
★ 6/10Also western and drama
A Civil War veteran returns home to the quiet countryside, only to find himself embroiled in a conflict between his family and the brutish cattle rancher harassing them.
12
Hud (1963)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and western
Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict…
13
Run for Cover (1955)
★ 6.8/10Also western and drama
An ex-convict drifter and his flawed young partner are made sheriff and deputy of a Western town.
14
True Grit (1969)
★ 7.3/10Also western and drama
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of…
15
Jubal (1956)
★ 6.9/10Also western and drama
Jubal Troop is a cowboy who is found in a weakened condition, without a horse. He is given shelter at Shep Horgan's large ranch, where he quickly makes an enemy in foreman Pinky, a cattleman who accuses Jubal of…
16
The Missouri Breaks (1976)
★ 6.5/10Also western and drama
When vigilante land baron David Braxton hangs one of the best friends of cattle rustler Tom Logan, Logan's gang decides to get even by purchasing a small farm next to Braxton's ranch. From there the rustlers begin…
17
Ramrod (1947)
★ 6.5/10Also western
A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She…
18
Barbarosa (1982)
★ 5.9/10Also western
Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger…
19
The Quick and the Dead (1987)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and western
In 1876 Wyoming, the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Suzanna McKaskel, newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws, rugged frontiersman Con Vallian is the only hope.
20
Broken Lance (1954)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and western
Tensions erupt within an Arizona cattle baron's household when his three sons vie for control of the ranch.