Best movies like The Late Show
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to The Late Show? Offer your insights to help others to tv shows and films you've already viewed that might appeal to them too. Support expanding the assembly of people recommending videos to one another. We encourage your participation!
Plot Summary:
Over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who had gotten himself involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, clever, offbeat, funny, entertaining, slasher, sentimental, touching, humorous
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Best tv shows and movies like The Late Show (1977):
Similar in 79%
The Black Bird (1975)
Plot Summary:
The son of famous detective Sam Spade carries on the family tradition of getting involved with the Maltese Falcon - and with the people who will stop at nothing, including murder, to get it.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 605
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: parody, neo noir, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious, detective, spoof
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 86%
The Scenesters (2009)
Plot Summary:
Someone is killing beautiful young Hipsters in East L.A. Charlie is a crime scene cleaner working for Aftershocks Inc. with a penchant for Sherlock Holmes type deduction. Wallace is an out-of-luck filmmaker working as a crime scene videographer. The detectives covering the murders are apathetic at best but with good names (Henry and Carlita, particularly Carlita). Good names, bad attitudes.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 523
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: humorous, suspenseful, cynical, semi serious, realistic, scary, offbeat, independent film, mockumentary
Similar in 81%
Nadine (1987)
Plot Summary:
Hairdresser Nadine Hightower wants to retrieve the risqué photos she once posed for, but when she visits the photographer at his office, he's murdered by an intruder. Nadine talks her estranged husband, Vernon, into going along when she returns to the office, where they stumble across plans for a less than legal construction project. But when Vernon tries to turn the documents into a cash windfall, he and Nadine are pursued by goons with guns.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: humorous, entertaining, melancholic, talky, realistic, semi serious, sex comedy, visually stunning, neo noir, light
Similar in 76%
A Slight Case of Murder (1999)
Plot Summary:
In the midst of a spat, film critic Terry Thorpe (William H. Macy) accidentally kills his lover. Though Thorpe covers his tracks, he raises the suspicions of a private investigator (James Cromwell), who then tries to blackmail him. Thorpe also falls under the watchful eye of Detective Fred Stapelli (Adam Arkin), a cop who is intent on becoming a screenwriter. Before long, Thorpe's girlfriend, Kit (Felicity Huffman), and Stapelli's wife, Patricia (Julia Campbell), are roped into the case.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: detective, crime thriller, neo noir, clever, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, cynical, semi serious, biting
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 81%
Passion for Danger (1973)
Plot Summary:
New York private eye Shamus McCoy likes girls, drink and gambling, but by the look of his flat business can't be too hot. So an offer of $10,000 to finds some diamonds stolen in a daring raid with a flame-thrower is too good to miss. His investigations soon get pretty complicated and rather too dangerous. At least along the way he does get to meet Alexis.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: neo noir, exciting, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, cynical, semi serious, suspense
Similar in 76%
This Girl for Hire (1983)
Plot Summary:
In this pilot for a proposed TV series, B.T. Brady is a flippant, but somewhat klutzy female private detective in Hollywood who sets out to solve the murder of a obnoxious mystery writer. Along the way, Brady gets help from her flamboyant mother Zandra, a washed-up actress, as well as Brady's live-in boyfriend Wolfe who runs a memorabilia shop.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 161
Genere: Comedy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, cynical, semi serious, slapstick, spoof, parody, eighties
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 86%
Where's Marlowe? (1998)
Plot Summary:
After making a 3-hour fiasco about New York City's water supply, a two-man film crew decides to take it up a notch by documenting life in the private investigator offices of "Boone and Murphy". Cheating husbands and missing dogs fail to bring in the big bucks however, and after sleeping with the wife of one of their clients Murphy leaves. To stop Boone from having to close down the business the two film-makers must resort to a hands-on approach in the investigations to ensure the completion of their movie.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 566
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: entertaining, satirical, humorous, semi serious, funny, independent film, mockumentary, noir, realistic, neo noir
Similar in 89%
The Big Empty (1997)
Plot Summary:
A woman hires P.I. Lloyd Meadows to investigate her husband, a respectable social worker. What seemed to be a simple case of adultery turns into an ugly mess fast.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 141
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, witty, cynical, gloomy, detective
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 80%
The Man with Bogart's Face (1980)
Plot Summary:
In The Man With Bogart's Face, an affectionate send-up of the Bogart detective films of the 1940s, Robert Sacchi plays a man who idolizes Humphrey Bogart so much he has his features altered to look exactly like his idol. He then opens up a detective agency under the name Sam Marlowe (an amalgam of the names of Bogart's characters from The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep).
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 651
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, parody, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, cynical
Similar in 86%
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981)
Plot Summary:
Famous detective Charlie Chan is called out of retirement to help a San Francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders. With his bumbling grandson as his sidekick, Chan also encounters an old nemesis known as the Dragon Queen who is the prime suspect.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: detective, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, semi serious, fast, psychotronic
Similar in 86%
Lansdown (2001)
Plot Summary:
In this dark comedy, defense lawyer Jake Jorgenson's carefully constructed life begins to unravel when he kills his wife's lover.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 134
Genere: Thriller, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: humorous, cynical, semi serious, offbeat, realistic, witty, neo noir, independent film
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 89%
Gunn (1967)
Plot Summary:
The madam of a floating bordello hires private eye Peter Gunn (Craig Stevens) to prove a gangster killed a crime boss.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 526
Genere: Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: neo noir, mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful, eurospy
Similar in 88%
The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975)
Plot Summary:
Film noir parody with a private eye trying to solve the murder of his milkman.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 265
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Crime, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: spoof, dark comedy, parody, independent film, humorous, neo noir, realistic, suspenseful, witty, not serious
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 82%
Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel (1991)
Plot Summary:
Right after Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California, in 1955, a toy salesman in town for a convention brings his wife with him so they can both go to Disneyland. They stay at a rundown place called the Sunset Motel nearby. Soon the wife is having an affair with a man staying at the motel. The husband hires a psychotic criminal to spy on them, the wife and her lover plan to murder the husband, and the voyeuristic motel manager is spying on everybody.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 410
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, clever, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, surprise ending, black comedy, cult film
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 77%
Lonely Street (2008)
Plot Summary:
Bubba Mabry, a gullible private detective, becomes the prime suspect in a tabloid reporter's murder after being hired to snoop on him by a mysterious celebrity.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 575
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, detective
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 76%
Out Cold (1989)
Plot Summary:
A comedy about an angry married couple, a private investigator, and a walk-in freezer.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 919
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, independent film, rough, clever, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, cynical, semi serious
Similar in 87%
Vares: Private Eye (2004)
Plot Summary:
Vares, a film noir comedy from Finland, is yet another twist on PULP FICTION. And, just in case we miss the similarities of splattered blood mixed with outrageous incidents, the movie explicitly references PULP FICTION and has a comedic scene in which two guys argue about McDonald's hamburgers. Still, VARES - PRIVATE EYE, by director Aleksi Mäkelä, manages to be kind of fun even not especially original. The script has more characters than the screenwriter can handle, leaving the audience frequently confused about who is doing what and why. The two best scenes are one about a wacky wedding and another about a guy who answers a cell phone call while he is busy enjoying the pleasures of a sex parlor.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Finland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: neo noir, humorous, suspenseful, semi serious, exciting, realistic, talky, stylized, detective
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 90%
High Anxiety (1977)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Richard Thorndyke arrives as new administrator of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous to discover some suspicious goings-on. When he's framed for murder, Dr. Thorndyke must confront his own psychiatric condition, "high anxiety," in order to clear his name.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: parody, spoof, funny, absurd, clever, humorous, suspenseful, witty, slapstick, mind bending
Similar in 80%
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Plot Summary:
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are "The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta.".
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: black and white, spoof, parody, neo noir, surreal, cult classic, offbeat, humorous, witty, stylized
Similar in 77%
Oh Heavenly Dog (1980)
Plot Summary:
Browning is a PI with a bad cold, who's sent to investigate a case by a mysterious client. He stumbles across the body of a young woman and is stabbed to death, and when he wakes up in heaven, they tell him he's "marginal material," and they can only decide on his final destination through one last assignment: to go back and solve his own murder. As a dog. A cute fluffy little dog (Benji). Undaunted, Browning begins to investigate the case as best he can around his canine disabilities (dialing the phone presents a special challenge) to solve the murders, save the girl, and see justice done.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: humorous, funny, light, entertaining, semi serious, cult classic, detective, surprise ending, romantic, clever
Similar in 88%
Foul Play (1978)
Plot Summary:
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: detective, humorous, suspenseful, tense, suspense, realistic, semi serious, funny, light, romantic
Similar in 89%
No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)
Plot Summary:
Christopher Gill is a psychotic killer who uses various disguises to trick and strangle his victims. Moe Brummel is a single and harassed New York City police detective who starts to get phone calls from the strangler and builds a strange alliance as a result. Kate Palmer is a swinging, hip tour guide who witnesses the strangler leaving her dead neighbor's apartment and sets her sights on the detective. Moe's live-in mother wishes her son would be a successful Jewish doctor like his big brother.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: detective, dark comedy, clever, suspenseful, retro, spooky, black comedy, offbeat, humorous, realistic
Similar in 83%
Goodbye Lover (1998)
Plot Summary:
Police investigate when a man having an affair with his brother's wife disappears suddenly.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sexy, neo noir, suspenseful, witty, stylized, detective, erotic, tense, suspense, realistic
Similar in 78%
Zero Effect (1998)
Plot Summary:
Daryl Zero is a private investigator. Along with his assistant, Steve Arlo he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Though a master investigator, when he is not working, Zero doesn't know what to do with himself. He has no social skills, writes bad music, and drives Arlo crazy. In his latest case, Zero must find out who is blackmailing a rich executive, and when his client won't tell him, why.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: detective, neo noir, dark comedy, cult classic, witty, black comedy, sincere, humorous, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
The Big Fix (1978)
Plot Summary:
Moses Wine, Richard Dreyfuss, at home one night watching a football game that he bet on is contacted by an old flame back from his radical days in collage Lila, Susan Anspach. Lila wants Moses to work for a candidate for governor of California, Milles Hawthorne. Moses goes along with Lila to the Hawthorne campaign headquarters even though Moses is apposed to his policies as well as having a low opinion of Hawthorne's intellect. Moses tells Lila about the person she want's to get elected. Told by Hawthorne's campaign manager Sam Sebastian, John Lithgow, that there's a flayer being distributed around the state with a doctored photo of Hawthorne and radical Howard Eppis, who's on the lamb from the police since he was convicted for inciting violence against the government. The flayer is telling everyone that Eppis is supporting Hawthorne for governor, which is not true, which will destroy Howthorne's chances for being elected.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: witty, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, neo noir, detective, cult film
Similar in 83%
Compromising Positions (1985)
Plot Summary:
An ex-newspaper woman who is now a suburban housewife can't resist getting involved in an investigation of the murder of a philandering dentist who had been having affairs with several of her neighbors.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, clever, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, talky, cynical, semi serious, detective
Similar in 75%
Camouflage (2001)
Plot Summary:
Marty Mackenzie is an unsuccessful stage actor who takes an interest in private investigating. He takes a job working with Jack Potter, a crusty private eye. They both take a case in Beaver Ridge, a seedy small town where a murder is being planned against a rich gravel pit owner. Marty realizes that private investigating is not as it seemed to be.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Comedy
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: semi serious, humorous, realistic, detective, feel good, sentimental, touching, funny, spoof, slapstick
Similar in 80%
Clue (1985)
Plot Summary:
Clue finds six colorful dinner guests gathered at the mansion of their host, Mr. Boddy -- who turns up dead after his secret is exposed: He was blackmailing all of them. With the killer among them, the guests and Boddy's chatty butler must suss out the culprit before the body count rises.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 107000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, humorous, parody, funny, black comedy, witty, hilarious, captivating, suspense, mind bending
Similar in 81%
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Plot Summary:
Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, noir, dark, atmospheric, witty, cynical, stylized, funny, inspirational
Similar in 83%
Twilight (1998)
Plot Summary:
A retired ex-cop and private detective gets mixed up in murder when he is asked to deliver blackmail money and walks into a 20 year old case involving the mysterious disappearance of an actress' former husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, clever, talky, detective, serious, realistic, witty, smart, cynical