6 Movies About Kansas To Help Get You Acquainted With This Midwest State’s History & Culture

Here are six movies about Kansas to help get you acquainted with this Midwest state’s history and culture! Whether you want to become familiar with some of the state’s iconic figures or its historical events, these films set in Kansas will indeed give you a glimpse into the state’s past and most remarkable characters.

#1 The Wizard Of Oz

“The Wizard of Oz” is a movie that put Kansas on the map! If you’ve never heard of this classic film you have definitely been living under a rock. It has been watched by more people than any other movie!!

Incase you aren’t familiar with one of the greatest movies of all time, The Wizard of Oz is about a young girl named Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland) who gets swept away by a tornado in Kansas to the magical land of Oz.

If you are already a fan of this film, be sure to visit the small town of Wamego in northeast Kansas where you can visit a Wizard of Oz inspired museum packed full of Oz memoribilia.

Was The Movie Filmed In Kansas? The Wizard Of Oz was filmed entirely on stages at MGM’s Culver City studio at 10202 Washington Boulevard. The studio still stands today and offers visitors a look behind the curtains to see where the magic happened as part of the Sony Pictures Studio Tour.

#2 Dances With Wolves

Dances With Wolves is an epic western film starring Kevin Costner. Costner plays John Dunbar, an army lieutenant who is transferred to Fort Hays in Kansas during the Civil War.

John Dunbar chooses to be sent to the furthest outpost so that he can see the American Frontier before it disappears. When he arrives at the outpost, it is completely deserted.

Eventually John encounters a Sioux tribe and gradually establishes a relationship with them. He discovers that the stories he had heard about the tribe were untrue and develops a growing respect and appreciation for their lifestyle and culture.

This movie is credited as revitalizing the western film genre in Hollywood. In 2007, Dances With Wolves was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Was the movie filmed in Kansas? No. Most of this movie was filmed on location in South Dakota mainly on private ranches near Pierre and Rapid City, with a few scenes filmed in Wyoming. Specific locations include Badlands National Park, the Black Hills, the Sage Creek Wilderness Area, and the Belle Fourche River area. The bison hunt scenes were filmed at the Triple U Buffalo Ranch outside Fort Pierre in South Dakota.

#3 Amelia

Amelia is a biographical movie about aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. In 1932, Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. At the time, she was a record-setter and achieved celebrity status, however she is most famous for her mysterious disappearance that occurred during her attempt to fly around the world in 1937.

This movie has an all-star cast featuring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, and Ewan McGregor. It covers Amelia’s early years as a child who is captivated by aircraft flying over the Kansas prairie to becoming one of the most famous people of her time.

Amelia Earhart who was born and raised in Atchison is probably the most famous Kansan there is! You can learn more about her in her hometown at the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum and Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum.

Was the movie filmed in Kansas? No. Filming took place in New York City, Toronto, Nova Scotia, and Ontario, as well as various locations in South Africa.

#4 Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. 

In 1874, Earp arrived in the boomtown of Wichita, Kansas, where his wife opened a brothel. Wyatt was arrested more than once for his presence at the brothel where he may have been a pimp. He was later appointed to the Wichita police force and developed a solid reputation as a lawman but was fined and fired after getting into a physical altercation with a political opponent of his boss.

Earp immediately left Wichita following his brother to Dodge City, Kansas, where his brother’s wife operated a brothel. He later became an assistant city marshal there.

The western drama which chronicles Earp’s life has an all-star cast featuring Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Bill Pullman, Dennis Quaid, and Tom Sizemore.

Was the movie filmed in Kansas? No. Most of the movie was shot in New Mexico at Ghost Ranch and oddly enough, some parts were filmed in Washington state.

#5 Capote

Capote is a movie about an American novelist named Truman Capote who learns about the murder of a family in Kansas and decides to write a book about it. While researching his novel “In Cold Blood”, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers who is on death row.

While Capote’s book, In Cold Blood, is non-fiction, the murders that are the inspiration for his book is a true story. In November, 1959, four members of the Clutter family were murdered in their rural home, just outside the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Two ex-convicts were found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death. They were both executed on April 14, 1965.

Was the movie filmed in Kansas? No. Both the Clutter family home and establishing shots were actually all filmed in and around Winnipeg, Canada.

#6 Dodge City

Dodge City is a classic western film starring Errol Flynn. It is based on a story about a Texas cattle agent who witnesses the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City, Kansas and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up.

The film starts with Colonel Dodge arriving on the first train and subsequently opening the new railroad line that links Dodge City with the rest of the world. A few years later, Dodge City has turned into the “longhorn cattle center of the world and wide-open Babylon of the American frontier, packed with settlers, thieves and gunmen—the town that knew no ethics but cash and killing”. 

Was The Movie Filmed In Kansas? No. This film was shot in several locations throughout California. Various scenes were shot in Thousand Oaks, including at present day Wildwood Regional Park. The railroad scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railroad in Jamestown, California. Other filming locations included Sacramento, Calabasas, and Warner Brothers Burbank Studios.