Movies Like Minstrel Days

If you liked Minstrel Days (1941), a music and history movie directed by Bobby Connolly, 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
Apple Music Live: Lady Gaga MAYHEM Requiem (2026)
★ 8.3/10Also music
For Apple Music Live, Gaga presents MAYHEM Requiem, a celebration and musical reimagining of MAYHEM.
2
Respect (2021)
★ 6.8/10Also music and history
The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.
3
Blaze (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also music and history
Inspired by the life of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw country movement that spawned the likes of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. The film weaves together three periods in Blaze's life…
4
Cadillac Records (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also history and music
The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta…
5
Les Misérables: 25th Anniversary in Concert (2010)
★ 8.3/10Also history and music
This concert, recorded to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the landmark musical Les Miserables, gathers the casts of the show's 2010 original production at the Queen's Theatre, the 1985 original production by the…
6
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
★ 7/10Also music
A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.
7
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…
8
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
★ 7.2/10Also music and history
Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.
9
Michael Jackson: Dangerous - The Short Films (1993)
★ 8.2/10Also music
Michael Jackson's Dangerous album once again rocketed the global superstar to mega-platinum success! "Dangerous - The Short Films" captures the visual and musical highlights of his most recent string of hit singles. As…
10
Song for Marion (2012)
★ 6.8/10Also music
Arthur is a grumpy pensioner who can't understand why his wife Marion would want to embarrass herself singing silly songs with her unconventional local choir. But choir director Elizabeth sees something special in the…
11
Bee Gees: One Night Only (1998)
★ 8.2/10Also music
The brothers Gibb perform their greatest hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's including many songs written for and made hits by other artists but never recorded by the Bee Gees themselves.
12
Battle of the Year (2013)
★ 6.8/10Also music
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
13
Ostinato (2024)
★ 6/10Also music
In this animated short, a composer realizes that incorporating a discordant tone instead of fighting it creates an unexpectedly beautiful harmony. This short was inspired by writer Sunita Balsara's experience with…
14
The Current War (2018)
★ 6.7/10Also history
Electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse compete to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people.
15
Supersonic (2016)
★ 7.4/10Also music and history
Supersonic charts the meteoric rise of Oasis from the council estates of Manchester to some of the biggest concerts of all time in just three short years. This palpable, raw and moving film shines a light on one of the…
16
Buck Privates (1941)
★ 6.8/10Also music
Petty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor. A rich young man and his former working class chauffeur are not only…
17
Notorious (2009)
★ 7/10Also music and history
"Notorious" is the story of Christopher Wallace. Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers…
18
Köln 75 (2025)
★ 7.2/10Also history 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.
19
Muscle Shoals (2013)
★ 7.2/10Also history and music
In a tiny Alabama town with the curious name of Muscle Shoals, something miraculous sprang from the mud of the Tennessee River. A group of unassuming, yet incredibly talented, locals came together and spawned some of…
20
Good Ol' Freda (2013)
★ 7.1/10Also music and history
The story of Freda Kelly, a shy Liverpudlian teenager asked to work for a young local band hoping to make it big: The Beatles. Their loyal secretary from beginning to end, Freda tells her tales for the first time in 50…