6 Best Sylvia Sidney Movies

By Vlad Zakh · January 27, 2026

Sylvia Sidney brought a wounded, sympathetic intensity to Depression-era Hollywood, often playing working-class women caught up in circumstances beyond their control. You Only Live Once pushes an ex-convict and his wife on the run after a false accusation, Dead End crosses a New York slum street with a notorious gangster, Sabotage suspects a cinema-owner husband of terrorism, and Beetlejuice hires a rowdy spirit to scare off a home’s new owners. Fury and City Streets round out the list.

Beetlejuice (1988)

IMDb ★ 7.4 RT 83% Metacritic 71

A recently deceased couple hires a chaotic bio-exorcist to scare off their home's new owners.

Directed by Tim Burton · 1h 32m · Rated PG

Won 1 Oscar7 wins & 11 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Dead End (1937)

TMDB ★ 7.1

Residents of a poor New York slum street cross paths with a notorious gangster who grew up there.

Directed by William Wyler · 1h 33m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

You Only Live Once (1937)

TMDB ★ 7.5

Barton MacLane features in this noir about a recently paroled ex-convict who struggles to go straight, but circumstances repeatedly push him back.

Directed by Fritz Lang · 1h 26m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Sabotage (1936)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A woman grows suspicious that her cinema-owner husband is secretly involved in a terrorist plot.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock · 1h 17m

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max, Artiflix · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Fury (1936)

TMDB ★ 7.7

A wrongly accused man narrowly survives a lynch mob's attempt to burn down his jail cell.

Directed by Fritz Lang · 1h 32m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

City Streets (1931)

TMDB ★ 6.8

A carnival sharpshooter is drawn into organised crime to protect the woman he loves.

Directed by Rouben Mamoulian · 1h 23m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Sylvia Sidney Movies

Beetlejuice (1988)

Dead End (1937)

You Only Live Once (1937)

Sabotage (1936)

Fury (1936)

City Streets (1931)

You might also like

50 Best Movies of the 1980s

20 Best Halloween Movies

50 Best Fantasy Movies of All Time

6 Best Stanley Blystone Movies

6 Best Frank Sully Movies

6 Best Jonathan Hale Movies