Kansas, in the geographic center of the United States, has a rich history connected with the American Old West and with the American Civil War ("Bleeding Kansas"), including the history of the notorious guerrilla commander William Quantrill. The following is a partial chronological list of major motion pictures set in Kansas.
Three of the listed films have won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Film title Release year Notes/subject matter National Film Registry Kansas Saloon Smashers 1901 silent film: based on Carrie Nation The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 1910 silent film: earliest surviving film version of Oz A Modern Musketeer 1917 Silent film Naughty, Naughty! 1918 Silent film Wild Bill Hickok 1923 Silent film Tumbleweeds 1925 Silent film Wizard of Oz 1925 Silent film: features Oliver Hardy as Tin Man Free and Easy 1930 The Big Trail 1930 Cimarron 1931 Academy Award for Best Picture Movie Crazy 1932 Silver Dollar 1932 starring Edward G. Robinson The Plainsman 1936 Pick a Star 1937 The Texans 1938 story of the Chisholm Trail Jesse James 1939 Dodge City 1939 stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland Union Pacific 1939 The Wizard of Oz 1939 Dark Command 1940 The Return of Frank James 1940 Santa Fe Trail 1940 features Ronald Reagan as Custer Sheriff of Tombstone 1941 Heaven Can Wait 1943 stars Gene Tierney, Don Ameche The Kansan 1943 The Woman of the Town 1943 Abilene Town 1946 The Harvey Girls 1946 Trail Street 1947 The Walls of Jericho 1948 Red River 1948 Kansas Raiders 1950 Winchester '73 1950 The Cimarron Kid 1952 Kansas Pacific 1953 The Stranger Wore a Gun 1953 Masterson of Kansas 1954 Picnic 1955 Seven Angry Men 1955 based on abolitionist John Brown Wichita 1955 The Rainmaker 1956 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 1957 The Jayhawkers! 1959 Splendor in the Grass 1961 Oscar for best writing for William Inge Cheyenne Autumn 1964 The Ghost and Mr. Chicken 1966 Don Knotts comedy Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter 1966 The Plainsman 1966 Gunfight in Abilene 1967 Bobby Darin stars in non-singing role In Cold Blood 1967 Angel in My Pocket 1969 The Gypsy Moths 1969 The Learning Tree 1969 Prime Cut 1972 Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies 1973 Paper Moon 1973 Journey Back to Oz 1974 animated film A Boy and His Dog 1975 set in post-apocalyptic Topeka, stars Don Johnson The Great Waldo Pepper 1975 King Kung Fu 1976 Superman 1978 set in fictional Smallville Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff 1979 The Attic 1980 Americana 1983 The Day After 1983 originally aired on television Superman III 1983 Return to Oz 1985 Critters 1986 Planes, Trains and Automobiles 1987 Kansas 1988 Dances with Wolves 1990 Academy Award for Best Picture Sarah, Plain and Tall 1991 originally aired on television Unforgiven 1992 Academy Award for Best Picture Leap of Faith 1992 Dennis the Menace 1993 based on cartoon set in Wichita Wyatt Earp 1994 Truman 1995 Mars Attacks! 1996 Partially set in fictional Perkinsville The Big Kahuna 1999 Ninth Street 1999 Ride with the Devil 1999 Hedwig and the Angry Inch 2001 Nurse Betty 2003 Rolling Kansas 2003 Mysterious Skin 2004 Capote 2005 story of writing In Cold Blood Firecracker 2005 The Muppets' Wizard of Oz 2005 television film The Ice Harvest 2005 Infamous 2006 The Lookout 2007 New York City Serenade 2007 Amelia 2009 biopic of Amelia Earhart Hannah's Law 2012 television film Looper 2012 Oz the Great and Powerful 2013 Man of Steel 2013 partially set in fictional Smallville Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 2016 partially set in fictional Smallville American Honey 2016 Justice League2017 partially set in fictional Smallville All Creatures Here Below 2018 partially set in De Soto Brightburn 2019 Set in fictional Brightburn Cold Storage 2026
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