15 Movies to See After You Watch Hail, Caesar!

Universal Pictures

With Hail, Caesar!, the Coen Brothers send up a certain period of Hollywood cinema. It’s almost specifically MGM movies of the 1940s and 1950s parodied and paid homage by the comedy, which is mostly set on the lot of the fictional Capitol Pictures.

That’s the same studio of the Coens’ Barton Fink, which is definitely worth a look now if you’ve never seen it. But it’s necessary that you be familiar with the filmmakers’ entire back catalog, as Caesar! could be considered a culmination of their work so far.

Besides their own, there are a lot of essential movies to recommend to you after you’ve seen the Coens’ latest. Yes, many of them are the classic features that clearly inspired the fake films within the film. But there are just as many additional picks related to the tone of Caesar! as well as its cast.

Montana Moon (1930)

Alden Ehrenreich’s singing cowboy character in Caesar! is hard to pin down as far as there being a single inspiration, though his name clearly evokes William ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ Boyd. So, here’s the first musical Western credited with introducing the character type. And like many of them, it has “moon” in the title, just like Hobie Doyle’s Lazy Ol’ Moon. The cheesy MGM feature, which stars a young Joan Crawford. also mixes cowboys with formally attired folks, making it a good bridge between Doyle’s two films within the film.

Down Argentine Way (1940) and The Gang’s All Here (1943)

Veronica Osorio plays a character in Caesar! who is very obviously based on Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian singer famous for her fruit hats. Her Hollywood debut, Down Argentine Way, was part of her start as a cultural ambassador encouraged by President Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor policy, which is metaphorically represented in her being set up with an American cowboy actor. The Gang’s All Here is where the fruit hats alluded to in the Coens’ movie is most prominently featured. It also stars James Ellison, who was better known for Westerns. Osorio’s character’s name, Carlotta Valdez, references Vertigo.

Bathing Beauty (1944) and Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)

The other most obvious inspiration for a character in the new Coen Brothers movie is Esther Williams, the Olympian-level swimmer turned aquatic musical star. Scarlett Johansson plays a similar actress, leading a spectacular Busby Berkeley style synchronized water ballet number. Although the later Million Dollar Mermaid is the more famous, and seemingly the reason Johansson’s character wears a mermaid costume, the overhead shot in Caesar! is most reminiscent of her first big splashy musical of this sort, Bathing Beauty. Or maybe it’s closes to Neptune’s Daughter. Just see at least one Williams musical.

Anchors Aweigh (1945) and On the Town (1949)

Channing Tatum’s singing seamen scene calls to mind these two MGM musicals starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra as sailors on temporary shore leave. As Lou Lumenic points out in the New York Post, Kelly was linked to communist groups but hardly to the extent that Tatum’s character is. One thing I wish about the Coens’ number: it needed a dancing cartoon mouse a la Jerry in Anchors Aweigh.

Quo Vadis (1951) and Ben-Hur (1959)

These two MGM movies jointly informed the main film within the film, Hail, Caesar! A Tale of the Christ. Both are set in Rome during the start of Christian influence, both are remade adaptations of late 19th century historical religious novels and the latter’s source is also subtitled “A Tale of the Christ” and has a famous chariot scene. Quo Vadis stars Robert Taylor, who testified against communists before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).