Come and Get It (1936), Fargo (1996), Paper Moon (1973), Elmer Gantry (1960), Splendor in the Grass (1961), Nebraska (2013), Kings Row (1942), Take Shelter (2011) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best American Midwest movies.
Storyline: In 1880s Wisconsin, ambitious lumberjack Barney Glasgow (Edward Arnold) loves saloon girl Lotta (Frances Farmer) but spurns her and marries to advance his career. While Lotta marries his friend (Walter Brennan) and has a daughter, Barney becomes a lumber bigwig by ruthless deforestation. Years later, the late Lotta's daughter, also named Lotta and played by the same actress, becomes the object of affection of both Barney, hoping to recapture the love he lost, and his son, Richard (Joel McCrea).
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, classic, black and white, 1930s, hollywood, novel adaptation ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Jerry works in his father-in-law's car dealership and has gotten himself in financial problems. He tries various schemes to come up with money needed for a reason that is never really explained. It has to be assumed that his huge embezzlement of money from the dealership is about to be discovered by father-in-law. When all else falls through, plans he set in motion earlier for two men to kidnap his wife for ransom to be paid by her wealthy father (who doesn't seem to have the time of day for son-in-law). From the moment of the kidnapping, things go wrong and what was supposed to be a non-violent affair turns bloody with more blood added by the minute. Jerry is upset at the bloodshed, which turns loose a pregnant sheriff from Brainerd, MN who is tenacious in attempting to solve the three murders in her jurisdiction.
Plot Keywords: crime, black comedy, thriller, mystery, drama, violence, snow ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Set in the midwest of the depression-era, Paper Moon follows Moses Pray and Addie Loggins - one a con artist, the other, the young girl who's the daughter of a woman who's just passed away. The pair meet when 'Mose' stops by the sparsely-attended funeral in Kansas of a woman he once knew (we never see her). In attendance, is the woman's young daughter, Addie, whom Moses agrees to transport to St Joseph, Mo -- for money, of course. Mose - an inveterate hustler, has been working ostensibly as a representative of the Kansas Bible Company - who picks his marks from the obits, and tries to sell - at exorbitant prices - the decedents' spouse the custom bible they'd previously ordered. Wise beyond her years, Addie picks up on Moses' grift, and very quickly, she and Mose become a team. Traveling from town to town, making money in every dishonest way imaginable, and looking for the ultimate score. The colorful characters they meet along the way make the film all the more interesting. One in ...
Plot Keywords: comedy, drama, road movie, american film, black and white, retro, great depression era ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Elmer Gantry is a fast-talking, hard-drinking traveling salesman who always has a risqué story and a hip flask to entertain cronies and customers alike. He is immediately taken with Sister Sharon Falconer, a lay preacher whose hellfire-and-damnation revivalism has attracted quite a following. Gantry uses his own quick wit and Bible knowledge to become an indispensable part of Sister Sharon's roadshow, but his past soon catches up with him in the form of Lulu Bains, now a prostitute. While Gantry seeks and eventually gets forgiveness from Sharon, tragedy strikes when she finally manages to get out of her revivalist tent and opens a permanent church.—garykmcd
Plot Keywords: religion, hypocrisy, faith, alcoholism, redemption, corruption, romance ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: It's 1928 in oil rich southeast Kansas. High school seniors Bud Stamper and Deanie Loomis are in love with each other. Bud, the popular football captain, and Deanie, the sensitive soul, are "good" kids who have only gone as far as kissing. Unspoken to each other, they expect to get married to each other one day. But both face pressures within the relationship, Bud who has the urges to go farther despite knowing in his heart that if they do that Deanie will end up with a reputation like his own sister, Ginny Stamper, known as the loose, immoral party girl, and Deanie who will do anything to hold onto Bud regardless of the consequences. They also face pressures from their parents who have their own expectation for their offspring. Bud's overbearing father, Ace Stamper, the local oil baron, does not believe Bud can do wrong and expects him to go to Yale after graduation, which does not fit within Bud's own expectations for himself. And the money and image conscious Mrs. Loomis just wants...
Plot Keywords: romance, youth, passion, repression, psychological conflict, 1920s, family pressure ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: "NEBRASKA" is a father and son road trip, from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska that gets waylaid at a small town in central Nebraska, where the father grew up and has scores to settle. Told with deadpan humor and a unique visual style, it's ultimately the story of a son trying to get through to a father he doesn't understand.
Plot Keywords: drama, comedy, road movie, family, father-son relationship, aging, nostalgia ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Five children in an apparently ideal American small town find their lives changing as the years pass near the turn of the century in 1900. Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) and Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan), both of whom have lost their parents, are best friends; Parris dreams of becoming a doctor, studying under the father of his sweetheart Cassandra Tower (Betty Field), while Drake plans on becoming a local businessman when he receives his full inheritance - juggling girlfriends in the meantime. As they become adults, the revelations of local secrets threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams.—scgary66
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, film noir, psychological drama, small town life, social issues, coming of age ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Curtis, a father and husband, is starting to experience bad dreams and hallucinations. Assuming mental illness, he seeks medical help and counseling. However, fearing the worst, he starts building an elaborate and expensive storm shelter in their backyard. This storm shelter threatens to tear apart his family, threatens his sanity and his standing in the community, but he builds it to save his family's life.
Plot Keywords: psychological thriller, family crisis, mental illness, suspense, supernatural phenomenon, independent film, drama ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: After getting into trouble with the law, violence-prone Frank Roberts (Viggo Mortensen) seeks help from his brother Joe (David Morse), an even-tempered policeman. Frank hopes to start fresh, and his brother has faith that he can do it. So Joe agrees to let Frank stay -- despite the admonitions of his wife, Maria (Valeria Golino), who would rather not have Frank in the house. And though he performs well at first, Frank's inner turmoil eventually erupts, creating chaos in their once tranquil home.
Plot Keywords: crime, drama, family, brotherhood, vietnam war, small town life, psychological trauma ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Violet Weston (Meryl Streep) has cancer and a propensity for pills and alcohol. She's a difficult woman to deal with and her husband has finally had enough. Violet's family gathers including middle daughter Ivy, youngest daughter Karen (with her new fiancé), eldest daughter Barbara (with her separated husband and teenage daughter), and her sister Mattie Fae (with her husband and son in tow). A family tragedy causes tensions to run high and secrets to come out. The Weston women will be forced to examine themselves and their lives whether they want to or not. Welcome to Osage County, Oklahoma in the sweltering heat of August.
Plot Keywords: family, drama, conflict, mother-daughter relationship, sisters, alcoholism, drug abuse ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Three backwoods moonshiners offer to bring a 13-year-old girl's (Samantha Isler) brother back to life, but at a grim cost.
Plot Keywords: mystery, crime, drama, thriller, revenge, family, dark ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When her father is killed, leaving her destitute, Selina Peake (Colleen Moore) becomes a teacher in rural Illinois and marries impoverished farmer Pervus DeJong (John Bowers). Raised in a wealthy environment, Selina finds her new life hard, but takes comfort in her son, Dirk (Ben Lyon), and farms the land herself after Pervus dies. After struggling for years, Selina earns enough for Dirk to be educated as an architect, but a scandalous affair with a married woman threatens her son's career.
Plot Keywords: drama, family, romance, coming of age, rural, female protagonist, struggle ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Documentary about Brandon Teena (aka Teena Brandon), a transgendered person, who was murdered along with two others in 1993 in rural Nebraska. The story is told through interviews with people who knew Brandon, recorded interrogation and trial transcripts, and photographs and file film footage.—Michael C. Berch <mcb@postmodern.com>
Plot Keywords: documentary, true crime, lgbtq+, biography, murder, hate crime, social justice ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Warren Schmidt has led a safe, predictable life working in the insurance industry in Omaha, Nebr. for many years, yet now faces retirement. At the same time he is forced to take a hard look at his wife, his life and his relationship with his estranged daughter. An often hilarious series of events follow as Schmidt embarks on an unpredictable RV journey to attend his daughter's wedding in Denver.
Plot Keywords: drama, comedy, life transition, retirement, midlife crisis, family relationships, loneliness ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Our intrepid defender of the working man, Michael Moore, documents his 1996 "Downsize This!" book tour across the USA. Shot on-the-cheap with a video camera, we once again watch our hero interview the working man at yet another plant closing, while also trying to get past corporate security guards to interview the millionaire CEOs.—Tim G. <kas@interlog.com>
Plot Keywords: drama, independent film, coming of age, family, youth, friendship, american film ...
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