Special 4th of July feature--coming late! Celebrates all 50 states!

[Swithin]

I don't fully understand the m.o./description of the list. I'm not sure I'd pick Citizen Kane for New York. But I'm totally down with the fact that they picked Gummo for Ohio! (I guess it would be interesting for each of us to compile our own lists of favorite movie for each state.)

[Fedya]

Isn't Daughters of the Dust set in Georgia? The barrier islands where Gullah was spoken were off the coast of Georgia, if memory serves.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Skimpole: not sure I'm following those rankings: E.g., are you saying the films ranked #3 - #8 are all set in NY or CA, since the next rank is #9 for Texas? (And then #10 - #29 are all set in NY, CA or TX), etc.

[Dargo]

Skimpole: not sure I'm following those rankings: E.g., are you saying the films ranked #3 - #8 are all set in NY or CA, since the next rank is #9 for Texas? (And then #10 - #29 are all set in NY, CA or TX), etc.

No, what I think (actually I'm pretty sure) skimpole did here was first look at the following...

https://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_rank1-1000.htm

...and then as he went down that list, he assigned a U.S. state (note some of these films are set in another country) as to where each film was primarily set.

If for instance in this case, a film such as No.11 on it, 'Singin' in the Rain', which is set in California appears on the list but California was already used earlier for No.2's 'Vertigo', then he skips it and would continue to go down that list until a sees a film which is set in another and previously unmentioned state.

(...so skimpole, I got this right here, right?!)

[jamesjazzguitar]

Skimpole: not sure I'm following those rankings: E.g., are you saying the films ranked #3 - #8 are all set in NY or CA, since the next rank is #9 for Texas? (And then #10 - #29 are all set in NY, CA or TX), etc.

No, what I think (actually I'm pretty sure) skimpole did here was first look at the following...

https://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_rank1-1000.htm

...and then as he went down that list, he assigned a U.S. state (note some of these films are set in another country) as to where each film was primarily set.

If for instance in this case, a film such as No.11 on it, 'Singin' in the Rain', which is set in California appears on the list but California was already used earlier for No.2's 'Vertigo', then he skips it and would continue to go down that list until a sees a film which is set in another and previously unmentioned state.

(...so skimpole, I got this right here, right?!)

I didn't notice the listing was a world-film ranking instead of just a made-in-the-USA ranking.

I.e., the useful information was "(note some of these films are set in another country)".

Thanks

[Swithin]

In addition to Gummo (1997) for Ohio, I'm pleased to see that they picked The New World (2005) for Virginia. I've often felt that Terrance Malick's films are films that I should like. That's true in principle, but in practice, the only one I really love is The New World.

[Swithin]

So I had a stab at making my own list of my favorite films with specific and important scenes set in a particular state. Not necessarily shot there -- and it has to be specific. For example, I might have chosen The Last Hurrah for Massachusetts, but the film really only specifies that it's a "New England city." So not specific enough for me. (Also Harold and Maude is pretty definitely set in California, but they don't actually say that.) I've left blanks where I couldn't think of a movie I really liked in a given state, even though I thought of plenty of movies set in the state. And I've resisted the temptation to list more than one film per state, making it particularly difficult to chose one film from my own state of New York. Maybe I'll fill in the blanks later.

Alabama: The Phenix City Story (1955)
Alaska: Klondike Annie (1936)
Arkansas:
Arizona: My Darling Clementine (1946)
California: Frisco Jenny (1932)
Colorado:
Connecticut: Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
Delaware:
Florida: The Cocoanuts (1929)
Georgia: Gone with the Wind (1939)
Hawaii: Navy Blues (1941)
Idaho:
Illinois: In Old Chicago (1938)
Indiana: My Gal Sal (1942)
Iowa: The Pajama Game (1957)
Kansas: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Kentucky: The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)
Louisiana: The Mummy’s Curse (1944)
Maine: Carousel (1956)
Maryland: The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)
Massachusetts: Little Women (1933)
Michigan: Blue Denim (1959)
Minnesota:
Mississippi: Show Boat (1936)
Missouri: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Montana: The Sisters (1938)
Nebraska:
Nevada: The Godfather (1972)
New Hampshire: Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)
New Jersey: The Happy Years (1950)
New Mexico: Stagecoach (1939)
New York: Metropolitan (1991)
North Carolina:
North Dakota:
Ohio: The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
Oklahoma: The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Oregon: My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Pennsylvania: The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Rhode Island:
South Carolina:
South Dakota:
Tennessee: Sergeant York (1941)
Texas: Blonde Venus (1932)
Utah:
Vermont: The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Virginia:: The New World (2005)
Washington:
Washington, D.C.: Wilson (1944)
West Virginia: Tol’able David (1921)
Wisconsin: All Mine to Give (1957)
Wyoming: Cat Ballou (1965)

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I can't do all 50 states, but here a few I would replace, these are films that are set in the state and also filmed (mostly) in that actual state-

NY- Taxi Driver (1976)- really captures the squalid, grimy city of the 1970s, take it from somebody who lived through it.

MA- The Boston Strangler (1968) I liked the narrow streets of the city of Boston, I have been there and really puts you in the middle of it.

CA- The Player (1992) drives down Hollywood Blvd, we also see downtown Pasadena, and Hot Springs as well as movie studios and popular restaurants.

IL- The Untouchables (1987) We are constantly reminded we are in the city of Chicago with much talk of "the Chicago way", it looks like sets but I later found out it was done in actual locations on bridges and hotels.

OH- American Splendor (2003 about Cleveland native Harvey Pekar, author of the comic of the same name as the movie title. Cleveland looks run down and morose like it's subject.

[LostHorizons]

.

IL- The Untouchables (1987) We are constantly reminded we are in the city of Chicago with much talk of "the Chicago way", it looks like sets but I later found out it was done in actual locations on bridges and hotels.

My favorite Chicago film is Streets of Fire. It is not explicitly set there but rather in an alternate version of Chicago where the city was divided up between rival rock and roll street gangs. The architecture is recognizably downtown Chicago however and the train featured prominently is the Metro.

[Dargo]

I'm not going to list all 50 states here either, but and at the risk of turning skimpole's basic premise on its head here and making this more into a "first movie that comes to mind--by each state" sort of thing and instead of using some compiled list going from the "best" movies ever made on down and then ascribing a state to it, I'll now tell you folks that when it comes to the states of:

California (and my old home state, btw) I'd pick: 'Chinatown'

New York: 'Manhattan'

Florida: 'Key Largo'

Texas: 'Red River'

New Mexico: 'Lonely are the Brave'

...just to name a few.

(...and I'll now apologize in advance to skimpole for basically changing up the original premise of his thread...oh and btw...I agree with Swithin and the first comment he made about the questioning of 'Citizen Kane' being considered as a "New York" movie...going by that list, I think I would've waited until I got to No.6's 'The Godfather' to ascribe that for New York)

[Swithin]

So I had a stab at making my own list of my favorite films with specific and important scenes set in a particular state. Not necessarily shot there -- and it has to be specific. For example, I might have chosen The Last Hurrah for Massachusetts, but the film really only specifies that it's a "New England city." So not specific enough for me. (Also Harold and Maude is pretty definitely set in California, but they don't actually say that.) I've left blanks where I couldn't think of a movie I really liked in a given state, even though I thought of plenty of movies set in the state. And I've resisted the temptation to list more than one film per state, making it particularly difficult to chose one film from my own state of New York. Maybe I'll fill in the blanks later.

Kansas: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Nevada: The Godfather (1972)
Oklahoma: The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Just to be clear, I didn't choose those movies for these particular states because most of the action takes place elsewhere.

Understood. I chose movies that have important scenes in a given state. For example, Blonde Venus is set in many states, but a key scene takes place in and around Galveston, Texas.

The Sisters takes place largely in California, but crucial scenes (the first and the last) take place in Silver Bow, Montana. etc. etc.

[txfilmfan]

So I had a stab at making my own list of my favorite films with specific and important scenes set in a particular state. Not necessarily shot there -- and it has to be specific. For example, I might have chosen The Last Hurrah for Massachusetts, but the film really only specifies that it's a "New England city." So not specific enough for me. (Also Harold and Maude is pretty definitely set in California, but they don't actually say that.) I've left blanks where I couldn't think of a movie I really liked in a given state, even though I thought of plenty of movies set in the state. And I've resisted the temptation to list more than one film per state, making it particularly difficult to chose one film from my own state of New York. Maybe I'll fill in the blanks later.

Kansas: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Nevada: The Godfather (1972)
Oklahoma: The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Just to be clear, I didn't choose those movies for these particular states because most of the action takes place elsewhere.

Understood. I chose movies that have important scenes in a given state. For example, Blonde Venus is set in many states, but a key scene takes place in and around Galveston, Texas.

The Sisters takes place largely in California, but crucial scenes (the first and the last) take place in Silver Bow, Montana. etc. etc.

And since the entire Oz sequence (in the film, anyway) was but a dream, the entire thing did take place in Kansas. Dorothy never left her bedroom after getting hit on the head...