Movies Like Ragtime (1981)

Ragtime is a 1981 drama, history film from Miloš Forman with a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing and The House of Mirth.

Drama History

The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing

1955

Broadway showgirl Evelyn Nesbit is the object of affection of two men: playboy architect Stanford White and the wealthy but unstable Harry Thaw. Nesbit marries Thaw, but White’s continued pursuit puts him in the path of Thaw’s volatile temper. A fictionalized account of true events that occurred at the turn of the 20th century.

6.0

MagicScore

The House of Mirth

2000

In early 20th century New York City, an impoverished socialite desperately seeks a suitable husband as she gradually finds herself betrayed by her friends and exiled from high society.

6.1

MagicScore

Too Big to Fail

2011

An intimate look at the epochal financial crisis of 2008 and the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world's economy in a matter of a few weeks.

7.0

MagicScore

Shoot the Piano Player

1960

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

7.2

MagicScore

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

2008

London, England, on the eve of World War II. Guinevere Pettigrew, a strict governess who is unable to keep a job, is fired again. Lost in the hostile city, a series of fortunate circumstances lead her to meet Delysia LaFosse, a glamorous and dazzling American jazz singer whose life is a chaos ruled by indecision, a continuous battle between love and fame.

6.8

MagicScore

Jubilee

1978

Queen Elizabeth I visits late 1970s England to find a depressing landscape where life has changed since her time.

5.9

MagicScore

Lady Sings the Blues

1972

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.

6.9

MagicScore

Howards End

1992

A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.

7.0

MagicScore

Diary of a Chambermaid

1964

Celestine has a new job as a chambermaid for the quirky M. Monteil, his wife and her father. When the father dies, Celestine decides to quit her job and leave, but when a young girl is raped and murdered, Celestine believes that the Monteils' groundskeeper, Joseph, is guilty, and stays on in order to prove it. She uses her sexuality and the promise of marriage to get Joseph to confess -- but things do not go as planned.

7.1

MagicScore

#10

The Color Purple

2023

A decades-spanning tale of love and resilience and of one woman's journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

American Violet

2008

A young single mother of four living in a small Texas town. Arrested during a drug raid and accused of a crime she didn't commit, Dee goes against the wishes of her mother, Alma, and rejects the plea-bargain that would free her from jail, but brand her as a felon for life. As word begins to spread that similar incidents are occurring in poor communities all across the country, Dee realizes that there are more mothers out there like her, and decides to take a stand against powerful district attorney Calvin Beckett. Now, despite being well aware of District Attorney Beckett's fierce reputation, Dee enlists the aid of ACLU attorney David Cohen and former narcotics officer Sam Conroy in overcoming the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that, if not navigated with the greatest of caution, now threaten to destroy her life. With the custody of her children on the line, one brave mother wages a valiant battle to strike at the very heart of the corrupt Texas justice system.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

The Last Shift

2020

Stanley, an aging fast food worker, prepares to work his final graveyard shift after 38 years. When he's asked to train his replacement, Jevon, Stanley's weekend takes an unexpected turn.

5.6

MagicScore

#13

Tuner

2026

A gifted piano tuner's meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.

7.6

MagicScore

#14

The Piano

1993

When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited daughter to the wilderness of nineteenth-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged frontiersman to whom she develops a forbidden attraction.

7.4

MagicScore

#15

Shine

1996

Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.

7.4

MagicScore

#16

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

2005

A ruthless real estate agent discovers a passion for piano and auditions with help from a young virtuoso, but the pressures of his corrupt career threaten to derail his musical aspirations.

6.9

MagicScore

#17

The Universal Theory

2023

Johannes, a doctor of physics, travels with his doctoral supervisor to a scientific congress in the Alps. A series of mysterious incidents occur on site. He meets Karin, a mysterious jazz pianist who seems to know more about him than she can know. Suddenly, mysterious deaths begin to pile up and Johannes tries to uncover the secret under the mountain.

6.0

MagicScore

#18

Andhadhun

2018

A series of mysterious events changes the life of a blind pianist who now must report a crime that was actually never witnessed by him.

7.6

MagicScore

#19

Tormented

1960

A jazz pianist is haunted by his dead ex-lover's crawling hand and floating head.

5.0

MagicScore

#20

Love and Anger

1969

Five short stories with contemporary settings. In New York, people are indifferent to derelicts sleeping on sidewalks, to a woman's assault in front of an apartment building, and to a couple injured in a car crash. A man, stripped of his identity, dies in bed with actors expressing his agony. A cheerful, innocent young man walking a city street in a time of war pays a price for this innocence. A couple talks about cinema while it watches another couple talk of love and truth on the eve of one character's return to Cuba. Striking students take over a university classroom; an argument follows about revolution or incremental change.

5.1

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Ragtime?

The top films similar to Ragtime by MovieMagicScore are The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (6.0), The House of Mirth (6.1), Too Big to Fail (7.0). Each shares drama/history themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Ragtime worth watching?

Ragtime holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10 from 170 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Ragtime?

Ragtime (1981) is a drama, history film directed by Miloš Forman, starring James Cagney, Brad Dourif, Moses Gunn.

Where can I find more recommendations like Ragtime?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing Movies like The House of Mirth Movies like Too Big to Fail Movies like Shoot the Piano Player Movies like Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Movies like Jubilee

About movies like Ragtime

This ranked list pairs Ragtime (1981), a drama and history film from Miloš Forman, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of James Cagney take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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