20 movies like The Detective, ordered by similarity : Madigan(1968), The Big Heat(1953), Chinatown(1974), The Enforcer(1951), Pride and Glory(2008), Vengeance Is Mine(1979), The Public Eye(1992), On Dangerous Ground(1951), 21 Bridges(2019), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans(2009), And Then You Die(1987), Violence at Noon(1966) ...
Gay & Lesbian, Crime, Drama
USA
1968
114 Minutes
Frank Sinatra Lee Remick Jacqueline Bisset Ralph Meeker Jack Klugman Horace MacMahon Lloyd Bochner William Windom Tony Musante Al Freeman Jr. Robert Duvall
detective wife widow lieutenant psychiatrist bleak gritty new york city police station apartment police corruption murder case marital problems false accusations conspiracy investigation discovery quest wretched excess 1960s
Police detective Joe Leland investigates the murder of a gay man. While investigating, he discovers links to official corruption in New York City in this drama that delves into a world of sex and drugs.
Crime, Drama
USA
1968
101 Minutes
Richard Widmark Henry Fonda Harry Guardino Inger Stevens James Whitmore Michael Dunn
police detective commissioner suspect mistress partner minister gritty tense melodramatic thrilling brooklyn, n.y. police station new york city street apartment theft corruption manhunt police brutality investigation
In New York City's Spanish Harlem, detectives Madigan and Bonaro are given 72 hours by their superior to capture a hoodlum wanted for homicide in Brooklyn.
Crime, Drama
USA
1953
90 Minutes
Glenn Ford Gloria Grahame Jocelyn Brando Alexander Scourby Lee Marvin Jeanette Nolan Peter Whitney Willis Bouchey Robert Burton Adam Williams Howard Wendell
gangster kingpin police detective wife husband mistress dark gritty suspenseful melodramatic city nightclub household police station penthouse police corruption murder plot investigation conspiracy organized crime
Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.
Crime, Drama
USA
1974
131 Minutes
Jack Nicholson Faye Dunaway John Huston Perry Lopez John Hillerman Darryl Zwerling Diane Ladd Roy Jenson Roman Polanski Richard Bakalyan Joe Mantell
detective widow father sister private investigator wife disturbing sultry suspenseful gritty los angeles chinatown household car construction site corruption murder adultery redemption set-up
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
Crime, Drama
USA
1951
87 Minutes
Humphrey Bogart Zero Mostel Ted de Corsia Everett Sloane Roy Roberts Michael Tolan King Donovan Bob Steele Adelaide Klein Don Beddoe Tito Vuolo
district attorney crime boss henchman witness detective hit man brooding gritty dark gripping hotel prison insane asylum church apartment building city hired killers investigation murder case organized crime
A crusading district attorney finally gets a chance to prosecute the organizer and boss of Murder Inc.
Crime, Drama
USA|Germany
2008
129 Minutes
Edward Norton Colin Farrell Jon Voight Noah Emmerich Jennifer Ehle John Ortiz Shea Whigham Frank Grillo Lake Bell Rick Gonzalez Wayne Duvall
police officer father brother brother-in-law detective best friend gritty emotional tense frightening new york city police station household apartment liquor store courtroom investigation family corruption loyalty
A family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.
Crime, Drama
Japan
1979
128 Minutes
Ken Ogata Rentarô Mikuni Chocho Miyako Mitsuko Baishô Nijiko Kiyokawa Mayumi Ogawa
serial killer wife father madam truck driver ex-convict bleak brutal tense japan city suburbia prison brothel murder manhunt relationships incest investigation mental illness
Chronological exploits of Iwao Enokizu, a murderous thief on the run.
Crime, Drama
USA
1992
98 Minutes
Joe Pesci Barbara Hershey Stanley Tucci Jerry Adler Jared Harris Gerry Becker Dominic Chianese Del Close Richard Foronjy Tim Gamble Bob Gunton
photographer widow mobster detective friend cool gritty suspenseful new york city nightclub office police station apartment building street photography organized crime death tabloid journalism love exploitation
Story of a 1940s photographer who specializes in crime and is not getting involved until this time.
Crime, Drama
USA
1951
82 Minutes
Ida Lupino Robert Ryan Ward Bond Charles Kemper Anthony Ross Ed Begley Ian Wolfe Sumner Williams Gus Schilling Frank Ferguson Cleo Moore
police detective sister killer father partner captain dark gritty brooding new york city police station apartment countryside cabin investigation brother/sister relationship murder mental breakdown blindness redemption
Rough city cop Jim Wilson is disciplined by his captain and is sent upstate, to a snowy mountain town, to help the local sheriff solve a murder case.
Mystery & Thriller, Action, Crime, Drama
China|USA
2019
99 Minutes
Chadwick Boseman Sienna Miller J.K. Simmons Stephan James Taylor Kitsch Keith David Alexander Siddig Louis Cancelmi Victoria Cartagena Gary Carr Morocco Omari
police officer criminal detective murderer family member murder suspect cool confident thrilling suspenseful intense intricate new york city subway apartment crime scene police station car murder manhunt
An embattled NYPD detective is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy.
Crime, Drama
USA
2009
121 Minutes
Nicolas Cage Eva Mendes Val Kilmer Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner Fairuza Balk Shawn Hatosy Jennifer Coolidge Tom Bower Vondie Curtis-Hall Irma P. Hall Denzel Whitaker
lieutenant drug addict father police chief client prostitute disturbing intense gritty new orleans house apartment police station addiction moral dilemma hard times crime police work murder investigation fall
Terence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.
Crime, Drama
Canada
1987
96 Minutes
Kenneth Welsh R.H. Thomson Wayne Robson Tom Harvey George Bloomfield Graeme Campbell
drug czar canadian detective sergeant gangster wife tense uneasy cool emotional canada montreal police station city apartment drug trade crime syndicate double-cross police work police corruption
An intense crime drama about a Canadian drug lord who amasses a fortune from the cocaine and marijuana trade. His empire is threatened by the Mafia, Hell's Angels and the police who are all trying to bring him down.
Drama
Japan
1966
99 Minutes
Hideo Kanze Saeda Kawaguchi Narumi Kayashima Teruko Kishi Hôsei Komatsu Akiko Koyama Kei Satô Taiji Tonoyama Matsuhiro Toura Fumio Watanabe Sen Yano
maid victim rapist wife police officer father bleak disturbing sad japan commune school woods apartment serial rape postwar japan poverty murder investigation disillusionment
Two young women must come to terms with the fact that a man they're deeply linked to is a murdering rapist.
Crime, Drama
USA
1939
66 Minutes
prisoner fiancé friend district attorney police detective witness bleak uneasy new york city theater jail court false accusations prison life murder case mistaken identity disillusionment race against time quest discovery
Two innocent men are wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The fiance of one of them convinces a police detective of their innocence, and together they try to find the real ... See full summary »
Crime, Drama
Italy
1970
115 Minutes
Gian Maria Volonte Florinda Bolkan Salvo Randone Gianni Santuccio Arturo Dominici Orazio Orlando Sergio Tramonti
police detective mistress police officer murderer victim colleague dark gutsy engaging crime scene italy police station corruption crime police work investigation law enforcement murder wretched excess mystery
A chief of detectives, homicide section, kills his mistress and deliberately leaves clues to prove his own responsibility for the crime.
Crime, Drama
USA
1997
136 Minutes
Kevin Spacey Russell Crowe Guy Pearce James Cromwell David Strathairn Kim Basinger Danny DeVito Graham Beckel Simon Baker-Denny Matt McCoy John Mahon
police officer detective journalist mobster prostitute actor dark chilling suspenseful emotional coffee shop police station los angeles government building street big city corruption murder prostitution organized crime
As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
Crime, Drama
USA
1946
103 Minutes
Robert Montgomery Audrey Totter Lloyd Nolan Tom Tully Leon Ames Jayne Meadows Morris Ankrum Lila Leeds Ellen Ross William Roberts Kathleen Lockhart
private detective editor publisher wife boss philip marlowe suspenseful offbeat melodramatic los angeles publishing house office cottage car lake detective work missing persons marital problems conspiracy murder
The lady editor of a crime magazine hires Phillip Marlowe to find the wife of her boss. The private detective soon finds himself involved in murder.
Gay & Lesbian, Crime, Drama
USA
1975
130 Minutes
Al Pacino John Cazale Charles Durning Chris Sarandon Sully Boyar James Broderick Penelope Allen Carol Kane Marcia Jean Kurtz Amy Levitt Susan Peretz
bank robber detective wife lover fbi agent tense emotional witty bank new york city robbery love triangle quest escape forbidden love 1970s
Three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
USA|Hong Kong
2006
152 Minutes
Leonardo DiCaprio Matt Damon Jack Nicholson Mark Wahlberg Martin Sheen Ray Winstone Vera Farmiga Alec Baldwin James Badge Dale David O'Hara Mark Rolston
mobster criminal cop informant girlfriend wife dark intense gritty tense suspenseful frightening boston police station bar vehicle city apartment secret hideout crime mafia
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
2009
103 Minutes
David Morrissey Mark Addy Lisa Howard Chris Walker Shaun Dooley Jim Carter Warren Clarke Sean Bean Sean Harris Steven Robertson Tony Mooney
lawyer disabled person police detective police chief mother bleak suspenseful intense yorkshire, england courtroom prison police station police brutality police corruption serial murders regret law and order investigation discovery mystery
The disappearance of a young girl leads a Yorkshire detective (David Morrissey) to believe that he may have helped convict the wrong man of murder three years earlier.
Crime, Drama
France
2009
110 Minutes
Gérard Depardieu Clovis Cornillac Jacques Gamblin Marie Bunel Vahina Giocante Marie Matheron Adrienne Pauly Yves Verhoeven Bruno Abraham-Kremer Rodolphe Pauly
detective husband wife half brother emotional crafty dark sultry house france dance floor car vacation husband/wife relationship brotherhood work vs. family investigation murder mystery quest
A well known Parisian inspector becomes involved in an investigation while on holiday.