Films like Angels with Dirty Faces.

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) reads as Sombre, breathless, measured crime / drama, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

They Drive by Night (1940) poster
1. They Drive by Night1940

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

High Sierra (1941) poster
2. High Sierra1941

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Went the Day Well? (1942) poster
3. Went the Day Well?1942

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Dragnet Girl (1933) poster
4. Dragnet Girl1933

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Contraband (1940) poster
5. Contraband1940

Keeps the grounded, familiar shape and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) poster
6. Only Angels Have Wings1939

Keeps the grounded, familiar shape and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Campeón sin Corona (1946) poster
7. Campeón sin Corona1946

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Jezebel (1938) poster
8. Jezebel1938

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Roaring Twenties (1939) poster
9. The Roaring Twenties1939

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Night Train to Munich (1940) poster
10. Night Train to Munich1940

Keeps the grounded, familiar shape and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Body and Soul (1947) poster
11. Body and Soul1947

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) poster
12. Mutiny on the Bounty1935

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

These are Angels with Dirty Faces’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

Find my film for tonight — 60 sec →