The Set-Up

Movies Like

The Set-Up (1949)

Drama, Crime

If you loved The Set-Up, you'll love these similar films. Handpicked based on shared themes, genre, and feel.

Johnny O'Clock

Johnny O'Clock

1947 β˜… 6.3

When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy, looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock, a suave partner in the underground casino. Selfish and non-committal by nature, Johnny slowly begins to return Nancy's affection and decides to run away with her, but conflict within his business threatens their plans. As Johnny tries to distance himself from the casino, his shady past comes back to haunt him.

711 Ocean Drive

711 Ocean Drive

1950 β˜… 6.4

A telephone repairman in Los Angeles uses his knowledge of electronics to help a bookie set up a betting operation. After the bookie is murdered, the greedy technician takes over his business. He ruthlessly climbs his way to the top of the local crime syndicate, but then gangsters from a big East Coast mob show up wanting a piece of his action.

Body and Soul

Body and Soul

1947 β˜… 6.7

Charley Davis, against the wishes of his mother, becomes a boxer. As he becomes more successful the fighter becomes surrounded by shady characters, including an unethical promoter named Roberts, who tempt the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.

Champion

Champion

1949 β˜… 6.7

An unscrupulous boxer fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up.

99 River Street

99 River Street

1953 β˜… 6.8

A former boxer turned taxi driver earns the scorn of his nagging wife and gets mixed up with jewel thieves.

Hell Drivers

Hell Drivers

1957 β˜… 6.7

An ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company swindling money.

The Damned Don't Cry

The Damned Don't Cry

1950 β˜… 7.0

Fed up with her small-town marriage, a woman goes after the big time and gets mixed up with the mob.

Framed

Framed

1947 β˜… 6.5

Truck driver Mike Lambert is a down-and-out mining engineer searching for a job. When his rig breaks down in a small town, he happens upon a venomous seductress. When her boyfriend robs a bank, they intend to frame Lambert.

Dark City

Dark City

1950 β˜… 6.5

Gamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them.

Hollow Triumph

Hollow Triumph

1948 β˜… 6.6

Pursued by the big-time gambler he robbed, John Muller assumes a new identityβ€”with unfortunate results.

Johnny Eager

Johnny Eager

1941 β˜… 6.2

A charming racketeer seduces the DA's stepdaughter for revenge, then falls in love.

Force of Evil

Force of Evil

1950 β˜… 6.6

Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.

Pitfall

Pitfall

1948 β˜… 6.9

An insurance man wishing for a more exciting life becomes wrapped up in the affairs of an imprisoned embezzler, his model girlfriend, and a violent private investigator.

The Big Combo

The Big Combo

1955 β˜… 7.0

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.

Nightfall

Nightfall

1956 β˜… 6.9

An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.

5 Against the House

5 Against the House

1955 β˜… 5.9

Former war-time Army buddies now students in college decide to rip off a Reno casino.

The Big Knife

The Big Knife

1955 β˜… 6.0

Movie star Charlie Castle draws the ire of Hollywood producer Stanley Hoff when he refuses to sign a new seven-year contract. Castle is sick of the low quality of the studio's films and wants to start a new life. While his estranged wife supports him in the decision, Castle's talent agent urges him to reconsider. When Castle continues to be uncooperative, Hoff resorts to blackmail in order to get his way.

Knock on Any Door

Knock on Any Door

1949 β˜… 6.2

An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.

The Street with No Name

The Street with No Name

1948 β˜… 6.4

After two gang-related killings in "Center City," a suspect (who was framed) is arrested, released on bail...and murdered. Inspector Briggs of the FBI recruits a young agent, Gene Cordell, to go undercover in the shadowy Skid Row area (alias George Manly) as a potential victim of the same racket. Soon, Gene meets Alec Stiles, neurotic mastermind who's "building an organization along scientific lines." Stiles recruits Cordell, whose job becomes a lot more dangerous.

The Web

The Web

1947 β˜… 7.1

A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.

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