From ‘Rocky’ to ‘The Sixth Sense’: Why Philadelphia’s Film Scene Dominates Kansas City’s

Thanks to sports, Philadelphia and Kansas City are rivals right now. One of those cities gave the Rocky movies. Another was a setting for a famous film that was mostly about Las Vegas.

Philadelphia gave us so many classic movies and Kansas City has not

So much of American popular culture revolves around major cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago. Despite this, Philadelphia is still the primary setting of some important American movies. For example, the Rocky movies have a very special relationship with Philadelphia. The famous steps Rocky Balboa runs up are part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Now, tourists can see a statue of the character near the steps.

Philadelphia even shows up in the name of the romantic comedy classic The Philadelphia Story with James Stewart and the AIDS drama Philadelphia with Tom Hanks. Other essential movies set in the city include Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie, Brian De Palma’s Blow Out, George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, and Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys. Clearly, many notable directors have decided to make important movies in the City of Brotherly Love. 

Philadelphia’s connections to the American Revolution also made it a focal point of films centered on that war, including 1776, Ben and Me, and Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor. The National Treasure movies are set in the 21st century, but they have a lot to say about early American history. For that reason, Philadelphia is a setting in the first National Treasure movie.

Kansas City was part of 1 Martin Scorsese movie and little else

Kansas City’s impact on cinema has been far less impressive. Perhaps the only memorable film that was partially set there was Martin Scorsese’s Casino. That’s a great film with powerhouse performances from Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone. However, it’s mostly a film about Las Vegas, and the aesthetics of Las Vegas are a huge part of the movie’s appeal. If you haven’t seen it in a while, you probably forgot it had anything to do with Kansas City.

Other films set in Kansas City include The First Traveling Saleslady, All Creatures Here Below, The Cool and the Crazy, Mail Order Bride, and Joy Ride 3: Roadkill. Unless you are a big fan of the obscure, there’s a good chance you have never even heard of those films, much less seen a single one of them. While Philadelphia is mentioned by name in the titles of the classics The Philadelphia Story and Philadelphia, Kansas City is mentioned in the titles of lesser-known movies like Kansas City, Kansas City Confidential, and Kansas City Bomber.

Why Philadelphia is a bigger part of our movie mythology

Of course, there’s an easy explanation for why Philadelphia is a much bigger part of our movie mythology than Kansas City. Philadelphia is just a lot larger than Kansas City. Business Insider reports the former has a population of over 1.6 million, while the latter has a population of about half a million. Kansas City is just a smaller part of our national psyche because it’s, well, smaller.

Kansas City is less prominent in cinema than Philadelphia — but Casino is still better than Rocky.