Movies Like Backfire (1950)

Backfire is a 1950 crime, mystery, thriller film from Vincent Sherman with a MovieMagicScore of 5.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Men and Somewhere in the Night.

Crime Mystery Thriller

The Men

1950

Ken, a WWII GI, returns home after he's paralyzed in battle. Residing in the paraplegic ward of a veteran's hospital and embittered by his condition, he refuses to see his fiancée and sinks into a solitary world of hatred and hostility. Head physician, Dr. Brock cajoles the withdrawn Ken into the life of the ward, where fellow patients Norm, Leo and Angel begin to pull him out of his spiritual dilemma.

7.0

MagicScore

Somewhere in the Night

1946

George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, he tries to track down his old identity, stumbling into a 3-year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.

6.7

MagicScore

The Killers

1946

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

7.3

MagicScore

Key Largo

1948

A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud.

7.5

MagicScore

Dead Reckoning

1946

War heroes Rip Murdock and Johnny Drake are sent to Washington, D.C, to receive top honors for their service. Johnny, seemingly terrified by the publicity that awaits him, jumps off the train and later turns up dead. Suspecting foul play, Rip begins digging into his pal's past. He encounters cover-ups, threats to his own life and deadly femme fatale Coral Chandler.

6.8

MagicScore

The Blue Dahlia

1946

Soon after a veteran returns from war, his cheating wife is found dead. He evades police in an attempt to find the real murderer.

6.7

MagicScore

The Chase

1946

Chuck Scott gets a job as chauffeur to tough guy Eddie Roman; but Chuck's involvement with Eddie's fearful wife becomes a nightmare.

6.2

MagicScore

The Crooked Way

1949

A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.

6.2

MagicScore

The Clay Pigeon

1949

Jim Fletcher, waking up from a coma, finds he is to be given a court martial for treason and charged with informing on fellow inmates in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. Escaping from the hospital he tries to clear himself by enlisting the aid of Martha Gregory, widow of a service buddy he was accused of informing on. Helped also by Ted Niles, a surviving fellow prisoner, he gets closer to finding the answers he needs, and becomes ensnared in a grandiose scheme involving his Japanese ex-prison guard, $10,000,000 of US currency forged by the Japanese and a burgeoning crime network poised to wreak havoc throughout southern California.

5.5

MagicScore

#10

Boomerang!

1947

When a kindly priest is murdered while waiting at a street corner in a quiet Connecticut town, the citizens are horrified and demand action from the police. All of the witnesses identify John Waldron, a nervous out-of-towner, as the killer. District Attorney Henry Harvey is then put on the case and faces political opposition in his attempt to prove Waldron's innocence.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

Act of Violence

1949

A former prisoner of war, Frank Enley is hailed as a hero in his California town. However, Frank has a shameful secret that comes back to haunt him when fellow survivor Joe Parkson emerges, intent on making Frank pay for his past deeds.

6.9

MagicScore

#12

The Set-Up

1949

Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.

7.3

MagicScore

#13

Champion

1949

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

6.6

MagicScore

#14

Red Angel

1966

In 1939, Sakura Nishi is a young army nurse who is sent to the field hospitals in China during the Sino-Japanese war. She has to assist the surgeon Dr. Okabe with an incredible number of amputations. In the crowded wards, she gives sympathy to some of the soldiers, including sexually servicing one who has lost both arms and has no hope of returning home. She falls in love with Dr. Okabe, and follows him to the front, even though he is impotent from his morphine addiction.

7.6

MagicScore

#15

MAS*H

1970

The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.

7.0

MagicScore

#16

Benediction

2021

Poet Siegfried Sassoon survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery, but became a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war when he returned from service. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality.

6.1

MagicScore

#17

Fort Saganne

1984

In 1911, a willful and determined man from peasant stock named Charles Saganne enlists in the military and is assigned to the Sahara Desert under the aristocratic Colonel Dubreuilh.

6.0

MagicScore

#18

Devil in a Blue Dress

1995

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

6.5

MagicScore

#19

The Price We Pay

2023

After a pawn shop robbery goes askew, two criminals take refuge at a remote farmhouse to try to let the heat die down, but find something much more menacing.

5.8

MagicScore

#20

The Devil All the Time

2020

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.

7.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Backfire?

The top films similar to Backfire by MovieMagicScore are The Men (7.0), Somewhere in the Night (6.7), The Killers (7.3). Each shares crime/mystery/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Backfire worth watching?

Backfire holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.8/10 from 30 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Backfire?

Backfire (1950) is a crime, mystery, thriller film directed by Vincent Sherman, starring Viveca Lindfors, Dane Clark, Virginia Mayo.

Where can I find more recommendations like Backfire?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like The Men Movies like Somewhere in the Night Movies like The Killers Movies like Key Largo Movies like Dead Reckoning Movies like The Blue Dahlia

About movies like Backfire

This ranked list pairs Backfire (1950), a crime and mystery and thriller film from Vincent Sherman, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Viveca Lindfors 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.

← Back to Backfire

Movies Like Backfire (1950)

The Men

Somewhere in the Night

The Killers

Key Largo

Dead Reckoning

The Blue Dahlia

The Chase

The Crooked Way

The Clay Pigeon

Boomerang!

Act of Violence

The Set-Up

Champion

Red Angel

M*A*S*H

Benediction

Fort Saganne

Devil in a Blue Dress

The Price We Pay

The Devil All the Time

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Backfire?

Is Backfire worth watching?

What kind of movie is Backfire?

Where can I find more recommendations like Backfire?

Keep exploring

About movies like Backfire

MAS*H