Top 250 Movies Like The Modern Life

A list of the best movies similar to The Modern Life. If you liked The Modern Life then you may also like: The Unknown, Voice of the Whistler, Wagon Heels, War Dance, What's Cookin'? and many more great movies featured on this list.

TV show

The Unknown

"The Unknown" was the final entry in Columbia’s I Love A Mystery series. A woman hires two detectives to keep her alive long enough to claim her inheritance.

Voice of the Whistler

A dying millionaire marries his nurse for companionship, only to experience a miracle cure.

Wagon Heels

Porky leads a wagon train into "Injun Joe Territory," and finally comes up against the fearsome Superchief. But Sloppy Moe, a survivor of a previous Injun Joe attack, knows something about him he won't tell... until the very end.

War Dance

Three children living in a displacement camp in northern Uganda compete in their country's national music and dance festival.

What's Cookin'?

J. P. Courtney wants to update the music on the radio program he sponsors, but his wife, Agatha Courtney, is the final authority and addicted to the classics and won't allow him to replace Professor Bistell and his symphonic orchestra. Conspiring with his daughter Sue and her friends, Marvo the Great, the Andrews Sisters, Anne Payne and bandleader Woody Herman, they devise a sabotage plot that gets rid of Professor Bistell, and a new sound is soon heard on the program.

A Wild Hare

While hunting rabbits, Elmer Fudd comes across Bugs Bunny who tricks and harasses him.

The Naked Truth

Nigel Dennis publishes a scandal magazine. But for each story he writes, he first approaches the person whose scandalous behavior is described (or rather implied, to avoid any libel suit) and says he will suppress the story in return for money. Several of his victims first decide individually to kill him instead of paying, but fail in amusing ways. Then they find that to protect their various secrets they must now join forces for a rather different purpose...

Rumbos

During a long night of August, some people have different experiences that leave a deep impression in them. Linked by a radio night show, all them cross the city of Barcelona, not knowing that their fates will collide with each other in unexpected ways.

The Night That Panicked America

A dramatization of the Oct. 30, 1938 mass panic that Orson Welles' radio play, "The War of the Worlds" accidentally provoked.

Queen for a Day

Adapted from the TV and radio series of the same name, the producer of said show reads letters from three woman providing the framing story for this melodrama anthology film. The tales focus on parenting and family struggles.

Quest

For over a decade, this portrait of a North Philadelphia family and the creative sanctuary offered by their home music studio was filmed with vérité intimacy. The family's 10-year journey is an illumination of race and class in America, and it's a testament to love, healing and hope.

Racketeer Rabbit

Hugo and Rocky (caricatures of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre) make it home to their hideout only to find Bugs already settled down there for the night.

Radio City Revels

A down-on-his-luck songwriter attempts to peddle musical compositions of a naive Arkansas hillbilly under his own name. Comedy.

Jamboree

A trio of competing bands vie for a spot on a rural radio program.

Jungle Jitters

Starts out with a tribe of African cannibals imitating Native Americans. After this, they do the new Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theme "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down." Then a sloppy stuttering salesman knocks on their doors, and they bring him in and put him in a pot of boiling water. The queen of the tribe wants to see the man. She falls in love with him. They get married, but when the salesman sees he has to kiss the bride, he decides he'd be better off being dinner for a tribe of hungry cannibals.

Kentucky Moonshine

The Ritz Brothers pretend to be Kentucky hillbillies in order to get a booking on a radio show.

The Key Man

The host of a radio crime show finds himself mixed up with real gangsters after he re-creates a notorious murder on the air. He uses his knowledge of criminology to foil the gang's wicked scheme.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony

The struggle to eradicate apartheid in South Africa has been chronicled over time, but no one has addressed the vital role music plays in this challenge. This documentary by Lee Hirsch recounts a fascinating and little-known part of South Africa's political history through archival footage, interviews and, of course, several mesmerizing musical performances.

Baby Bottleneck

As the baby boom commences, and with the delivery service overworked, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are placed in charge of a baby preparation factory, where they help the stork keep up.

Band Waggon

A gang of spies held up in a haunted castle gives this team of celebrated British wireless comedians plenty of scope for laughs.

Baseball Bugs

Bugs Bunny single handedly takes on the “Gas-House Gorillas,” a baseball team of hulking, cigar-chomping bullies.

The Brave One

A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.

Radio Silence

Relationship Therapist, Dr. Jill Peterman, had the highest-rated call-in radio show when her world was pulled out from under her following the on-air suicide of a female caller named Alexis. Shaken to her core, Dr. Jill walked away from her show vowing she would never go back. That is until Stuart, the station's General Manager, pleads with her to reboot the show in an effort to bring followers back to the station. Still haunted by what happened, Jill agrees to help her friend out and believes this will be the perfect remedy to put her year-long anxiety to rest. As Jill starts to settle back into her show, mysterious call-ins start happening forcing her to believe there could be a copy-cat out there. What Jill begins to uncover is a web of secrets and lies stemming from the mysterious voice she has come to know as Alexis.

The Preacher's Sin

Evan Tanner's life is spiraling out of control when his live-in niece is arrested for the second time, his boss imposes on him an unacceptable contract, and to top it all he discovers he has a son from a one night affair during the war... When his niece is murdered, and signs point to Tinsey - his boss' daughter - Evan is confronted with making the toughest decision of his life. Risk everything he's achieved in his life or do the righteous thing! But Tinsey will stop at nothing to keep her secret.

Chicago 10

Archival footage, animation, and music are used to look back at the eight anti-war protesters who were put on trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Choose Me

Several lost-soul night-owls, including a nightclub owner, a talkback radio relationships counseller, and an itinerant stranger have encounters that expose their contradictions and anxieties about love and acceptance.

Talk Radio

A rude, contemptuous talk show host becomes overwhelmed by the hatred that surrounds his program just before it goes national.

A Date with Judy

Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy's relationship with Carol's bumbling brother, Oogie, Judy suspects that her father is having an affair with a beautiful dance instructor. The two girls team up to expose Judy's father -- who is only taking innocent dance lessons.

Some Like It Hot

Nicky Nelson is a fast-talking sideshow barker with a wax-and-alive concession on Atlantic City's boardwalk. Even with the band of his friend, struggling musician Gene Krupa, playing on the sidewalk to attract the customers, "The Living Corpse" and other low-rent acts aren't enough to lure the seen-it-all boardwalk strollers, and the landlord closes the show in lieu of never-paid rent. Nicky, always promoting, goes to Stephen Hanratty, head of the pier's Dance Pavilion, to plug Krupa's band as an attraction, but Hanratty won't even listen to them. But, while there, he meets singer Lily Racquel, who knows he is a phoney but might have the ability to to talk a radio-station manager into giving her an audition. She gives him a ring to help finance the project; he promptly loses it in a crap-game.

The Return of Chandu

Chandu consults his crystal ball and sees that Nadji, Princess of Egypt, is in danger. She is about to be sacrificed by the black magic cult of Ubasti. Headed for the magic island of Lemuria, he is shipwrecked , washed ashore and captured. He becomes invisible, escapes and after numerous detours is able to rescue the princess.

Hop Harrigan: America's Ace of the Airways

Hop Harrigan, a top Air Corps pilot, leaves the military and he and his mechanic, Tank Tinker, open up a small charter air service. They are hired to fly an inventor, Dr. Tabor, to his secret laboratory, where he is working on a new and powerful energy machine. However, a mysterious villain named The Chief Pilot is determined to have the new energy machine for his own purposes and kidnaps Dr. Tabor.

A Face in the Crowd

The rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries is the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.

En fuera de juego

Diego, an Argentine doctor traumatized by the soccer since his childhood, is not satisfied with his life. Javi is a representative of kids who start playing soccer, a Spanish third division manager who dreams of an opportunity to change their fate. Suddenly, the discovery of a young Argentinian star, will join Diego and Javi in a common adventure, full of surprises and and picaresque.

I Love to Singa

I Love to Singa depicts the story of a young owl who wants to sing jazz, instead of the classical music that his German parents wish him to perform. The plot is a lighthearted tribute to Al Jolson's film The Jazz Singer.

Is My Face Red?

William Poster writes a gossip column for the Morning Gazette. He will write about anyone and everyone as long as he gets the credit. He gets most of his information from his showgirl gal-pal, Peggy. Eventually Bill's reckless tattling gets him in deep trouble with friends and enemies, putting his career and life in jeopardy.

Ladies' Man

A boy from the country inherits $10 million, and decides to go to New York City to live it up.

The Life of Riley

Inspired by the popular '40s radio show of the same title, director Irving Brecher's 1949 comedy stars William Bendix as a hard-working husband-and-father with no shortage of family problems.

Mom's on Strike

She was an overworked mom trying to get her family's attention. She didn't know she would become a national sensation.

My Friend Irma

Prototype dumb blonde Irma and her slacker, wheeler-dealer boyfriend Al interfere in the love life of Irma's level-headed room mate Jane.

My Friend Irma Goes West

Singer Steve, friend Seymour and fiance Jane, along with her dizzy blonde room mate Irma, have a series of misadventures on a California-bound train and end up involved with a gang of murderous gangsters in Las Vegas.

A Prairie Home Companion

A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren, and a host of others hold court.

Dead Air

A distraught disc jockey seeks out a mystery caller who may be the killer of his girlfriend.

To Be Takei

Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

Don't Get Personal

Elmer Whippet inherits the Whippet Pickles company and sets out to meet the two stars, Mary Reynolds and John Stowe, of the radio program sponsored by his company, as he thinks their on-air quarreling is real. Two former associates, Jules Kinsey and J.M. Snow cross him up by substituting Susan Blair, an office secretary, for Mary and Elmer thinks the show's writer Paul Stevens is John.

Dick Barton: Special Agent

Government agent Dick Barton battles a ring of Nazi spies who are planning to poison the entire London water supply.

Dick Barton at Bay

David Phillips (Patrick Macnee) is running down the darkened streets of London's Limehouse district, pursued by two men with guns. He finds a public phone and puts a call through to Dick Barton (Don Stannard), but before he can report, a shot rings out. Barton must piece together what Phillips found out that got him killed. Phillips had been assigned to protect Professor Mitchell (Percy Walsh) and his new development, a ray capable of exploding any unstable element aboard an aircraft in flight. Mitchell has been targeted for kidnapping by Serge Volkoff (Meinhart Maur), a foreign agent from Eastern Europe, as part of a larger, much more sinister plot to destroy England and cripple Western Europe. Complicating matters further is that Mitchell's daughter (Joyce Linden) has also been kidnapped, and Barton must contend with Volkoff's crafty female companion Anna (Tamara Desni).

Comin' Round the Mountain

A Tennessee boy (Bob Burns) returns from the big city, runs for mayor and puts his musical kin on the radio.

Gildersleeve on Broadway

On a trip to New York, a small-town blowhard gets caught between a wealthy widow and a gold digger.

Poor Little Rich Girl

Cossetted and bored, Barbara Barry is finally sent off to school by her busy if doting widowed soap manufacturer father. When her nurse is injured en route, Barbara finds herself alone in town, ending up as part of radio song-and-dance act Dolan and Dolan sponsored by a rival soap company.

Hostage Radio

A radio host is kidnapped on air and forced to tell secrets about his past.

Sueno

A Mexican immigrant new to Los Angeles enters into a love triangle with two very different women.

The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine

A New York radio personality travels to the small town of Fernville to oversee a contest to identify retired safecracker Jimmy Valentine, believed to be living there under an assumed name. The close-knit town of upstanding citizens is understandably upset by this venture, all the moreso when some of its citizens begin to be murdered. The radio personality and the local newspaper's young daughter collaborate on solving the murders while revealing Valentine, who has become one of the suspects.

The Devil's Mask

A San Francisco airplane bound for South America crashes, and among the scorched debris is found a shrunken native human head, neatly packaged. The perplexed police contact a local anthropology museum about this unclaimed piece of grisly baggage, where they intersect with Jack and Doc, two private eyes, called there to meet a mysterious woman who had a case for them and wanted to meet in private.

One Hour Late

A secretary catches the eye of her amorous boss while her regular boyfriend keeps trying to propose marriage to her.

The Return of the Whistler

When a woman goes missing on the eve of her wedding, her fiancee hires a detective to track her down

Footsteps in the Dark

A high-society gent has a secret life - he writes murder mysteries and hangs out with the police attempting to solve crimes. This causes him no end of problems when his wife wants to know about his little disappearances and exceptionally late nights out.

Ring of Fire

“Ring of Fire” recounts June’s meteoric rise to fame with The Carter Family, considered the First Family of country music, before breaking out on her own to perform, when she would become a legend in her own right. Taking a personal look at June’s first two marriages, life with her daughters and touching relationship with her son, the movie showcases her infamous courtship with Cash and June’s heroic role in saving his life during his battles with substance abuse, as well as how her unwavering faith in God, confidence and talent has taught lessons to generations.

The Phantom Empire

When the ancient continent of Mu sank beneath the ocean, some of its inhabitant survived in caverns beneath the sea. Cowboy singer Gene Autry stumbles upon the civilization, now buried beneath his own Radio Ranch. The Muranians have developed technology and weaponry such as television and ray guns. Their rich supply of radium draws unscrupulous speculators from the surface. The peaceful civilization of the Muranians is corrupted by the greed from above, and it becomes Autry's task to prevent all-out war, ideally without disrupting his regular radio show.

The Chief

The dim-witted son of a heroic fire chief tries to follow in his late father's footsteps, only to become the unknowing pawn of corrupt politicians.

Lights Out

A toymaker develops a method to create dolls that kill. This was a pilot for a proposed but unrealized TV series to be titled "Light Out!," based on the much earlier radio program of the same name.

Myrt and Marge

Myrt has a show chock full of talented performers that deserves to be on Broadway, but can't raise the necessary money. Jackson, a lecherous "producer", provides the money in order to get his hands on the show's pretty young star, Marge. Myrt teams up with Marge's boyfriend to try to thwart the randy producer and get the show to Broadway.

The Shadow

Lamont Cranston, a psychiatrist on retainer to the police department, is asked to assist in the Case of the Cotton Kimono murder investigation. Lamont and his girlfriend Margot Lane are not satisfied with Detective Harris' analysis and call on the two prime suspects: the victim's voice instructor and her boyfriend. When Harris, convinced that the boyfriend is guilty, frames the young man for the crime, Lamont is forced to assume his secret identity as "The Shadow", and cloaked by his power of invisibility, seeks to force the true killer to reveal himself.

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

Recorded over two legs of the 2007 sell-out tour - the series' first ever live shows in its 35-year history - I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue is as mad as always and even live you may still not be able to work out the elusive rules of Mornington Crescent! Join, Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jeremy Hardy and pianist Colin Sell plus Humphrey Lyttelton, in one of his final performances, in an un-missable evening of inspired nonsense.

Under Your Spell

A famous singer, bored with music and fans, goes to live in Mexico. His manager sends a woman to bring him back. They fall in love.

City in Panic

A serial killer stalks homosexuals leaving his victims with an 'M' carved on their skin. Late-night radio host Dave Miller is asked by the police to challenge the maniac by provoking him to call his show.

Requiem for Murder

Anne Winslow hosts a popular classical music radio show. Detective Lou Heinz discovers Anne is connected to a series of murders in which the victim is killed via poisoned wine while a radio is tuned into her show. It seems that each victim had wronged Anne in some way and whoever is sending her roses may be the killer.

Cracked Nuts

A young man in a small town wins $5000 in a radio contest. He goes to New York City to propose to his girlfriend, but gets mixed up with a crooked attorney and two con men...

Dick Barton Strikes Back

Special Agent Dick Barton uncovers a ring of international psychopathic criminals with plans to dominate the world using a terrifying weapon of mass destruction.

Chick Carter, Detective

Detective Chick Carter (Lyle Talbot)finds himself on his most exciting case when Sherry Martin (Julie Gibson), a singer at the Century Club, reports the robbery of the famous Blue Diamond, owned by Joe Carney (Charles King), the owner of the nightclub.

The Mark of the Whistler

A drifter claims the money in an old bank account. Soon he finds himself the target of two men who turn out to be the sons of the man's old partner, who is now in prison because of a conflict with him over the money in that account.

Midnight at the Magnolia

Longtime friends and local radio hosts Maggie and Jack fake it as a couple for their families and listeners in hopes of getting their show syndicated.

Love and the Radio Star

Savannah Joy, a single parent image consultant by day and aspiring wellness influencer by night, is hired to rebrand New York’s #4 interview radio show host. But when Savannah accidently ends up on the air with the handsome smooth-talking host, she becomes part of the show’s rebranding herself and discovers if on-air differences or love will have the last word.

Duffy's Tavern

The staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner faces threats of bankruptcy.

Little Orphan Annie

Millionaire Daddy Warbucks goes bust in the Great Depression and is forced to abandon his adopted daughter, Annie. While he's out west working on another fortune, Annie finds an orphaned boy on the streets and helps him find a home.

I Love a Mystery

Three insurance investigators search for a mysterious billionaire. Based on the Old Time Radio show of the same name.

The Goldbergs

Feature film using characters from the popular radio show and the pioneering 1949 TV series, about a Bronx family coping with everyday problems.

All-American Co-Ed

Fraternity brothers enter one of their own into a scholarship lottery after a women's college insults them. Though the Zeta boys are celebrated for their comedy drag revue, staying undercover as a woman at an all-girls' school wasn't part of the rehearsal!

It's a Joke, Son!

Claghorn gets into some financial difficulties and is forced by a machine-political gang to enter a race for state senator against his wife (Una Merkel) who appears to have a good chance to beat the political hack backed by the machine. Claghorn is in to siphon votes and ensure his wife's opponent will win and is expected to run a campaign that will defeat himself and his wife. But, he runs to win and the machine's henchies abduct him.

Teenage Millionaire

A teenager whose father is a millionaire radio station owner secretly records a song and plays it on one of his father's stations. It becomes a hit.

A Valentine Carol

In this Valentine’s Day riff on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a cynical, superficial radio talk show host is visited by the ghost of her predecessor, who shows her the error of her ways.

Hit Parade of 1941

In this musical, the second entry in a five-film series, a thrift shop owner sells his business and buys a small time radio station. He begins looking for sponsors. He finds one with a department store owner who will only lend him the money if he will allow his daughter, an aspiring tap-dancer and singer, to perform on the air. This is unfortunate as she is tone-deaf. To compensate, the owner hires a real singer to dub the daughter's voice. The singer and the owner's nephew fall in love and mayhem ensues. Songs include: the Oscar nominated "Who Am I?," "Swing Low Sweet Rhythm," "In The Cool of the Evening," "Make Yourself at Home," "The Swap Shop Song," "The Trading Post," "Sally," "Ramona," "Sweet Sue," "Dinah," "Margie," and "Mary Lou."

True to Life

A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents a room with a typical American family and begins to secretly write about their true life antics. The show becomes a big hit, but he begins to feel guilty about his charade when he falls in love with the family's pretty older daughter.

Black Cop

A black police officer is pushed to the edge, taking out his frustrations on the privileged community he's sworn to protect.

The Power of the Whistler

A woman uses a deck of cards to predict death within 24 hours for a stranger sitting at a bar, then tries to help him remember who he is based on items in his pockets.

Under California Stars

On vacation at his ranch, western actor Roy quickly finds himself involved with a horse rustling operation and a boy ward of one of the rustlers, leading to the kidnapping of Roy's trick horse Trigger by the gang with a demand for ransom.

Every Day in Kaimukī

Naz, a cynical and charismatic 20-something, has spent his entire life in tranquil O’ahu, Hawaiʻi, skateboarding with his friends and hosting a nightly radio show where he spotlights emerging musicians. When his girlfriend Sloane nabs the chance to move to bustling New York, Naz begins preparing for their big move, planning every detail down to his cat’s absurd flight plan. Even when dreaming about what life outside the island might look like, however, Naz wonders whether uprooting his world is the right decision, and if anywhere will ever really feel like home when he’s always been an eternal outsider.

Le Chanteur de Mexico

Vincent Etchebar is spotted by the impresario Cartoni who gives him the opportunity to break into Paris. But nothing will go as planned.

Take It Big

Jack Haley plays Jack North, the nether end of a vaudeville horse act who inherits a western ranch. When he heads to the Great Outdoors to take possession, Jack winds up at the wrong place: a swanky dude ranch. He immediately begins running things, at it's quite a while before his error is discovered. By the time he shows up at his own ranch, he's up to his ears in unpaid debts-which naturally requires a fund-raising musical show as a bail-out. Harriet Hilliard handles the romantic portion of the proceedings, occasionally dueting with her real-life husband, bandleader Ozzie Nelson.

Sing, Neighbor, Sing

Country radio singers of the '40s appear in this tale about a lothario who poses as a professor to seduce coeds.

Sagebrush Heroes

This Columbia western starring Charles Starrett finds Steve Randall (Charles Starrett) forming a radio show with Jimmy Wakely (Jimmy Wakely) and his Saddle Pals, and are in town for a rodeo. Reporter Connie Pearson (Constance Worth) persuades them to visit Marty Jones (Elvin Fields), a fatherless boy, who has been sent to a boy's home after stealing Steve's wallet, ran by Tom Goodwin (Forrest Taylor.) Marty tells Steve that the home is a phony and is a front for cattle rustlers. Steve passes the information on to Connie, who doesn't believe him, so he and Jimmy wire the ranch for sound. They are caught and Goodwin turns them over to Sheriff Barnes (Edmund Cobb), and then plans to skip the country

Swing It Soldier

In this musical comedy, a pregnant disc jockey misses her husband who is fighting overseas. Stressed out by the situation and her job, she decides to take some time off and convinces her twin sister to trade places with her. The switcheroo causes the soldier her husband appointed as her unofficial guardian no end of confusion.

Deadly Radio Romance

A radio DJ begins questioning her ex's intentions when he suddenly re-enters her life just as a mysterious stalker begins targeting her at her radio show.

The Man in Black

Henry Clavering suspects his second wife Bertha is trying to drive his daughter (by his first marriage) insane, to stop her inheriting his money. He decides to use his yoga skills to pretend to be dead, and thereby expose her villainy.

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