The Sooner State Movies
The Sooner State is the official nickname of Oklahoma. The unassigned lands of the Oklahoma Territory were opened up to settler claims on April 22, 1889. Thousands of people were in line on the border waiting for the signal to be given so they could race into the territory to claim a stake of land. Some people went in early to stake claims and they became known as "Sooners." The early legal settlers of Oklahoma Territory held a very low opinion of sooners. That began to change by 1908 when the University of Oklahoma adopted the name for its football team. By the 1920s the term no longer carried a negative connotation, and Oklahomans adopted the nickname as a badge of pride and progressivism (source: statesymbolsusa.org). Oklahoma became the 46th state of the United States of America in 1907.
These movies have a connection with Oklahoma. They are (partially) filmed there or it's a topic in the story. Which movie (or movie poster) do you associate the most with Oklahoma?
You may discuss the poll here
Click here to vote for other States of America
These movies have a connection with Oklahoma. They are (partially) filmed there or it's a topic in the story. Which movie (or movie poster) do you associate the most with Oklahoma?
You may discuss the poll here
Click here to vote for other States of America
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35 titles
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGordon MacRaeGloria GrahameGene NelsonIn Oklahoma, several farmers, cowboys and a traveling salesman compete for the romantic favors of various local ladies.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsC. Thomas HowellMatt DillonRalph MacchioIn a small Oklahoma town in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsDustin HoffmanTom CruiseValeria GolinoAfter a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.
- DirectorJan de BontStarsHelen HuntBill PaxtonCary ElwesTwo storm chasers on the brink of divorce must work together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom CruiseNicole KidmanThomas GibsonA young Irish couple flee to the States, but subsequently struggle to obtain land and prosper freely.
- DirectorJon TurteltaubStarsJohn TravoltaKyra SedgwickForest WhitakerAn ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsOrlando BloomKirsten DunstSusan SarandonDuring a hometown memorial for his Kentucky-born father, a young man begins an unexpected romance with a too-good-to-be-true stewardess.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsMichael J. FoxTrini AlvaradoPeter DobsonAfter a tragic car accident that kills his wife, a man discovers he can communicate with the dead, and he uses that gift to con people. However, when a demonic spirit appears, he may be the only one who can stop it from killing the living and the dead.
- DirectorJohn MiliusStarsWarren OatesBen JohnsonMichelle PhillipsJohn Dillinger and his gang go on a bank robbing spree across the midwest, but one G-Man is determined to bring him down.
- DirectorNorman TokarStarsJames WhitmoreBeverly GarlandJack GingWhere the Red Fern Grows is the heartwarming and adventurous tale for all ages about a young boy and his quest for his own red-bone hound hunting dogs.
- DirectorJohn WellsStarsMeryl StreepDermot MulroneyJulia RobertsA look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsBen AffleckOlga KurylenkoJavier BardemAfter falling in love in Paris, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church's Spanish-born pastor struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood.
- DirectorFamke JanssenStarsMilla JovovichBill PullmanMarcia CrossA con artist moves her son to a conservative neighborhood in Oklahoma in an effort to build a better future, but it doesn't take long for her past to catch up with her, and for her son's behavior to cause problems of its own.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsCasey AffleckKate HudsonJessica AlbaA West Texas Deputy Sheriff is slowly unmasked as a psychotic killer.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMatt DillonMickey RourkeDiane LaneAbsent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.
- DirectorJay LeveyStars'Weird Al' YankovicVictoria JacksonKevin McCarthyAn unemployed visionary becomes the manager of a local television station. The station becomes a success, with all sorts of hilarious sight gags and wacky humor.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsSusan HaywardRobert PrestonPedro ArmendárizIn Tulsa, after a rancher dies during a feud with a major oil company, his daughter, driven by revenge, starts digging for oil herself.
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsAnne BancroftShirley MacLaineMikhail BaryshnikovWhen her daughter joins a ballet company, a former dancer is forced to confront her long-ago decision to give up the stage to have a family.
- DirectorTim Blake NelsonStarsMary Kay PlaceNick StahlChris FreihoferWe see two stories told over four time lines, which wind down to a devastating ground zero collision, as we watch a double tragedy unfold in a small Oklahoma town. The two stories are told out of normal time sequence, showing us brief glimpses of the beginning, middle and end of the two stories in seemingly random order. One story concerns Ainsley DuPree, who meets and marries her prison pen pal Jack. The other story begins with the discovery of a mute and bloody teenager, found wandering and in shock in the middle of the night, and the efforts of the town sheriff to determine what happened to him. As the film unfolds these tales, the viewer is confronted with questions of the existence and mercy of God and the hopelessness of being alone and adrift in an indifferent world.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsWes AllenJeri ArredondoLaura BaileyAfter his father's untimely suicide, Cufe leaves his home in a Native American reservation in search of a more fulfilling life.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsAshley JuddMichael ShannonHarry Connick Jr.An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.
- DirectorMatt WilliamsStarsNatalie PortmanJames FrainAshley JuddA pregnant seventeen-year-old rebuilds her life after being abandoned by her boyfriend at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsDustin HoffmanFaye DunawayChief Dan GeorgeJack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
- DirectorTed PostStarsClint EastwoodInger StevensPat HingleWhen an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsRobert PrestonDorothy McGuireEve ArdenIn Oklahoma in the 1920s, Rubin Flood (Robert Preston) loses his job as a travelling salesman when the company goes bankrupt. This adds to his worries at home. His wife Cora (Dorothy McGuire) is frigid because of trying to make ends meet. His teenage daughter Reenie (Shirley Knight) is afraid of going out on dates, but eventually makes friends with a troubled Jewish boy Sammy Golden (Lee Kinsolving), and his son is a mama's boy. He finally storms out of the house when Cora falsely accuses him of having an affair with Mavis Pruitt (Dame Angela Lansbury).
- DirectorTim Blake NelsonStarsEdward NortonKeri RussellHenry Max NelsonAn Ivy League professor is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown, where his twin brother, a small-time pot grower, has concocted a scheme to take down a local drug lord.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsRichard DixIrene DunneEstelle TaylorA newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife at the end of the nineteenth century.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsGeorge C. ScottFaye DunawayJohn MillsIn 1913, in Oklahoma, oil derrick owner Lena Doyle (Faye Dunaway), aided by her father (Sir John Mills) and a hobo (George C. Scott), is stubbornly drilling for oil despite the pressure from major oil companies to sell her land.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMeryl StreepKurt RussellCherA worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.
- DirectorSteven QualeStarsRichard ArmitageSarah Wayne CalliesMatt WalshStorm trackers, thrill-seekers, and everyday townspeople document an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes touching down in the town of Silverton.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsRandolph ScottRobert RyanAnne JeffreysWhen part of Oklahoma Territory becomes officially part of the U.S., Vance Cordrell is forced to deal with some of the most infamous outlaws of the Old West.
- DirectorAlbert S. RogellStarsJohn WayneMartha ScottAlbert DekkerIn 1906, on Oklahoma's Indian lands, a cowboy fights for oil lease rights against a greedy oilman while a pretty schoolteacher steals both men's hearts.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsMatt DillonJim MetzlerMeg TillyAfter their mother dies and their father leaves them, teenage brothers Tex and Mason McCormick struggle to make it on their own.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyHumphrey BogartRosemary LaneDuring the Oklahoma Land Rush, the lawlessness is exacerbated by the McCord gang's feud with the Kincaids, who are trying to bring law and justice to the region.