Santa Fe Trail (1940), Unforgiven (1992), Paper Moon (1973), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Splendor in the Grass (1961), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), Skylark (1993), Arlington Road (1999) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Kansas movies.
Storyline: Set in Kansas during the early 1900s, a teen-aged Native American boy (newcomer Winter Fox Frank) is taken from his family and forced to attend a distant Indian "training" school to assimilate into White society. When he escapes to return to his family, Sam Franklin (Wes Studi), a bounty hunter of Cherokee descent, is hired to find and return him to the institution. Franklin, a former Indian scout for the U.S. Army, has renounced his Native heritage and has adopted the White Man's way of life, believing it's the only way for Indians to survive. Along the way, a tragic incident spurs Franklin's longtime nemesis, the famous "Indian Fighter" Sheriff Henry McCoy (J. Kenneth Campbell), to pursue both Franklin and the boy.—sr
Plot Keywords: teen boy, bounty hunter, scout, sheriff, engaging, powerful, kansas ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Young lawyer Tod Jackson arrives in pioneer Kansas to visit his prosperous rancher friends the Daltons, just as the latter are in danger of losing their land to a crooked development company. When Tod tries to help them, a faked murder charge turns the Daltons into outlaws, but more victims than villains in this fictionalized version. Will Tod stay loyal to his friends despite falling in love with Bob Dalton's former fiancée Julie?—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: pioneer, outlaw, railroad baron, rancher, lawyer, sheriff, thrilling ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: After his family moves to a frontier town in Kansas, city-bred teenager Billy Bonney (Michael J. Pollard) finds he has no appetite for farming. He runs away, taking up with local outlaw Goldie (Richard Evans), who operates a saloon in town with the help of a prostitute named Berle (Lee Purcell). The three form a gang of sorts, menacing the locals until the townsfolk collectively decide to drive the outlaws away. Bonney escapes and begins the life of crime that makes him famous as Billy the Kid.
Plot Keywords: gunslinger, prostitute, stepfather, mayor, unrestrained, bleak, small town ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Brantley Foster, a well-educated kid from Kansas, has always dreamed of making it big in New York. On his first work day in New York, he is fired in a hostile take-over and learns that jobs - and girls - are hard to get. When Brantley visits his distant uncle, Howard Prescott, who runs a multi-million-dollar company, he is given a job in the company's mail room. Then Brantley meets Christy Wills, who happens to be one of the top executives. Brantley sees how poorly the company is being run and decides to create a position under the name Carlton Whitfield, to influence and improve the company's operations. Soon things get unexpectedly out of hand, not in the least because of his aunt, his girl and leading a double life.
Plot Keywords: uncle, coworker, business owner, college graduate, wife, spy, lighthearted ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Three sisters take their small inheritance and move from Kansas to California in search of rich husbands. To start with Pamela poses as a socialite and Moira and Elizabeth pretend to be her staff.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords: woman, sister, wealthy man, rancher, impostor, bartender, lighthearted ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: On a 4th of July weekend, three barnstorming skydivers arrive to perform in a small Kansas town. They are hosted by the youngest member Webson's aunt, the unhappily married Elizabeth. While Browdy one-nights with a topless dancer, a doomed romance flares up between Elizabeth and Rettig. Tension builds, and explodes with a spectacular skydiving show.—Markku Kuoppamäki
Plot Keywords: skydiver, rookie, aunt, uncle, love interest, performer, engaging ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In August, 1863, Jim Dancer, searching for the killer of his brother, rides with Quantrell's raiders against Lawrence, Kansas. Yancey, one of the guerrillas most responsible for the band's bad name and reputation, accosts Evelyn Slocom. Yancey tell Dancer that Evelyn's father is the man who killed Dancer's brother, and Dancer takes revenge by killing him. But the man he is searching for is really the dead ma;s brother, Bert Slocum. When the Civil War ends in 1865, Dancer becomes a fugitive, hunted by Slocum and George Cummings, a detective for the Pleasanton Agency. Cummings finally catches Dancer, and it is only then that Dancer learns he killed the wrong man. While crossing the river on a makeshift ferry, Cummings is accidentally killed. When they are found, Dancer introduces himself as Cummings, saying the dead man was Jim Dancer. As Cummings, Dancer becomes a track-worker at Lanyard, Kansas. While the town is celebrating the arrival of the first cattle-drive herd from Texas, one of the cowboys menaces Evelyn Slocum, and Dancer stops him in a gun duel. The townsmen named Dancer Town Marshal in place of the cowardly Marshal. Persuaded by Dave Oldham and Florence Peel, both of whom know his true identity, Dancer accepts the job. But Bert Slocum is still after him, and the town's crooked justice-of-the-peace and district attorney aren't overly fond of the new Marshal and his law-and-order ways.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: outlaw, marshal, killer, jesse james, gritty, engaging, kansas ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In 1915, Kansas theatre usher Merton Gill is a rabid silent-movie fan. When he brings Mammoth Studios free publicity by imitating star Lawrence Rupert's heroics, they bring him to Hollywood to generate another headline; he thinks he'll get a movie contract. Disillusioned, he haunts the casting offices, where he meets and is consoled by Phyllis Montague, bit player and stunt-woman. When Merton finally gets his "break," though, it's not quite what he envisioned...—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: usher, stuntwoman, movie star, actress, actor, hero, charming ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: June has a garage in Boston. At an airport heading home, a man bumps into her a few times and tries to keep her off the plane. He's under FBI surveillance; they wonder if he and she are working together, so they let both on a flight full of armed men wanting to arrest the stranger. He's Roy, he shoots his way out of trouble and tells her she's in danger. She's home the next day, miraculously, when agents pick her up; Roy saves her again, and a transcontinental chase ensues with Roy convincing her that he's the good guy, protecting an energy source that a rogue agent wants to sell on the black market. Can she trust Roy, and will trust matter when the bullets start flying?
Plot Keywords: agent, love interest, partner, hostage, cia director, assassin, thrilling ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: It is a normal day for everyone, until President of the United States James Dale (Jack Nicholson) announces Martians have been spotted circling Earth. The Martians land and a meeting is arranged, but not everything goes to plan, and the Martians seem to have other plans for Earth. Are they just misunderstood beings or do they really want to destroy all of humanity?
Plot Keywords: u.s. president, first lady, congressman, scientist, military officer, alien, campy ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Carl Panzram is sent to Leavenworth Prison for burglary. While there, he is brutally beaten by a guard. Neophyte guard Henry Lesser feels sympathy for Panzram, befriends him, and gets him to write his life story. Lesser learns that Panzram's past is much more violent than he thought, but also that he's capable of being a much better person than the rest of the prison staff believes - or so Lesser thinks.—Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>
Plot Keywords: killer, prison guard, judge, warden, cop, writer, dark ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: After some gun play with a posse, the James Gang head for Quinto in a section of land which is not a part of America. Anyone there is beyond the law so the town is populated with outlaws. Next to arrive is Sheriff Rowley, following his brother whom the Gang have brought in injured. Rowley has no authority and gets on well enough with the James boys but is soon involved in other local goings-on, including a move to vote for annexation with Oklahoma which would allow the law well and truly in.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Plot Keywords: brother, deputy, outlaw, marshal, newspaper owner, jesse james, engaging ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz. At first he thinks he's hit the jackpot-fame and fortune are his for the taking. That all changes, however, when he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity-and even a bit of wizardry-Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.
Plot Keywords: magician, wizard, witch, citizen, spectacular, winsome, uplifting ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Southern veteran Ned Britt returns home to Fort Worth after the Civil War with his mentor, newspaperman Ben Garvin, along with his young apprentice, in hopes of building the town into a modern metropolis. However, the area is terrorized by the ruthless Gabe Clevenger and his gang of hired guns. Britt wonders whose side his old friend Blair Lunsford is on. Lunsford has used the unrest to buy up parcels of land on the cheap and hopes to profit from this speculation after the territory is cleaned up and ultimately become governor. Britt sees through his friend's ambition, and they are alternately allies and antagonists. Britt is also distracted by girl-next-door Flora Talbott and and seductive Amy Brooks.—duke1029@aol.com
Plot Keywords: newspaper owner, friend, love interest, outlaw, cattleman, ex-girlfriend, gritty ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Small town Kansas girl, Lily James, is the latest model working for the Thomas Callaway Agency in New York City. Despite her small town roots, Lily is street-wise because of her tough growing up experiences, and as such she is a good judge of character. She believes she can escape her troubles through professional success. Because of her hard work ethic, she quickly does rise to the top of her profession. She attracts the attention of Steve Harleigh, a wealthy copper mine owner. Despite they both knowing that nothing can come between them, they fall in love. The issues are that he lives and works in Montana, and that he is already married. Steve feels guilty about his marital infidelity as his wife, Nora, is physically disabled from a car accident in which he was the cause. Lily has to decide if her own happiness is worth destroying the life of a woman - an invalid - she's never met.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: model, wealthy man, wife, executive, lawyer, melodramatic, kansas ...
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