OLD TUCSON STUDIOS

Yesterday, I went to Old Tucson Studios.  Old Tucson Studios is a movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park. Built in 1939 for the movie Arizona, it has been used for the filming of numerous movies and television westerns since then, such as Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Tombstone, Three Amigos, Gunsmoke and Little House on the Prairie. It was opened to the public in 1960, and historical tours are offered about the movies filmed there, along with live cast entertainment featuring stunt shows and shootouts.

In 1959, entrepreneur Robert Shelton leased the property from Pima County and began to restore the aging facility. Old Tucson Studios re-opened in 1960, as both a film studio and a theme park. The park grew building by building with each movie filmed on its dusty streets. John Wayne starred in four movies at Old Tucson Studios. Rio Bravo (1959) added a saloon, bank building and doctor's office; McLintock! (1963) added the McLintock Hotel; El Dorado (1966) brought a renovation of the storefronts on Front Street; and with Rio Lobo (1970) came a cantina, a granite-lined creek, a jail and a ranch house. In 1968, a 13,000 square foot (1,208 square meter) soundstage was built to give Old Tucson Studios greater movie-making versatility.

On April 25, 1995, a fire destroyed much of Old Tucson Studios. Buildings, costumes and memorabilia were lost in the blaze.  It was determined that it was arson.  A person who had applied for a job but was turned down became the prime suspect.  Eventually this person was arrested for other fires in the area.  The suspect confessed to those fires but before the suspect could be questioned about the fire at Old Tucson, he invoked his Miranda Rights, effectively stopping any further questioning. Not enough evidence could be collected to positively identify this suspect as the arsonist in the Old Tucson fire. No other information pointing to any other individual was ever found, and the case remains open to this day.

After 20 months of reconstruction, Old Tucson re-opened its doors on January 2, 1997. The sets that were lost were not recreated; instead, entirely new buildings were constructed, and the streets were widened. The Reno locomotive that served as the train that travels the rail around Old Tucson was cosmetically restored. The soundstage was not rebuilt. Film production at Old Tucson was seriously affected by the fire and in 2003, Old Tucson reduced its hours of operation because of financial difficulty.

In 2011, Old Tucson embarked on a project to build new movie-quality sets that fill out the park, and restore the pre-fire feel of close-together buildings, providing the look and depth of a genuine old west town circa 1865-1900. The Heritage Square Project, a 5,000-square-foot spread with three new streets lined with 12 new buildings, was completed in November 2011 at an estimated cost of $300,000.

They do have one building that is full of the memorabilia that was saved from the fire.  I loved looking at all that stuff.  I can remember seeing some of the stuff in the movies or in TV series filmed there.

This is a cannon used in the filming of the Alamo.  The Alamo was not filmed here, but John Wayne filmed several films here.  He loved Tucson so much that he bought a ranch here and lived here most of the time.  He financed the filming of the Alamo out of his own personal funds.  It was a very stressful thing for him but the movie was a hit and he ended up making a lot of money off the film.

This is just 2 pages of movies/series that were filmed here.

2 more pages

Two dresses worn by Barbara Stanwyck  in Big Valley.

Some of the dresses worn in Little House on the Prairie.

They had many playbills/posters from the movies filmed there.

There were displays of costumes worn in High Chaparral and Bonanza.  One of the costumes for Bonanza was for "Hoss Cartwright" (Dan Blocker).  When you see his clothes, you realize what a really big guy he was compared to the other guys in the show.

Many TV series and TV movies have had at least one episode filmed at Old Tucson Studios in whole or in part including the following:

• 1962: Have Gun Will Travel
• 1963: Wagon Train
• 1966-1969: Death Valley Days
• 1966-1971: The High Chaparral
• 1966/1971-72: Bonanza
• 1972-1974: Gunsmoke
• 1974-1975: Petrocelli
• 1975-1976: The Young Pioneers
• 1977-1979: How The West Was Won
• 1977-1983: Little House on the Prairie
• 1978: The New Maverick (TV movie)
• 1980: The Gambler (TV movie)

An old wagon in front of one of the original buildings.

Replica of a school house

Replica of what the inside of the school house would look like.

The top floor of this building was added for Three Amigos

The inside of this saloon was used a lot but especially famous are scenes filmed here in John Wayne's McLintock.

Look what I found! Rosa's Cantina!  They actually did a tribute to John Wayne inside Rosa's.  John Wayne was well loved and respected from everyone who worked here.  This meant fellow actors, producers, directors, prop men, stunt men, and even the extras.  He knew everyone's names, about their families, and always very humble and approachable.

This is called the mission area. There are bleachers across from it and the Loop Rawlins show and the stunt shows happen here.

This area is where High Chaparral was filmed.

This is the ranch house from High Chaparral.  It was not hurt during the fire.

Nothing like a stagecoach ride to take you all around town.

OK, who remembers 3:10 to Yuma.  Here's the railroad station.

Meet Loop Rawlins

Loop did gun tricks.

Loop did lasso tricks.

Loop did bull whip tricks.

Loop was pretty good at what he did.  He was also entertaining and funny.

 

There was a show at the saloon and it said it was music from the "old west."  There were 3 dance hall girls that actually sang songs from some of the movies filmed here.  They showed clips from the movie during the songs.  It made me want to see the entire movies either again or for the first time.  I see Netflix in my future.

The Duke with Dean Martin in Rio Bravo

Clint Eastwood in Joe Kidd

Steve Martin - first amigo from Three Amigos

Martin Short - second amigo from Three Amigos

Chevy Chase - third amigo from Three Amigos

Kurt Russell from Tombstone



The 3 dancehall girls

 

They had a stunt show back at the mission set.  It was pretty lame but I got some pretty good pics.



 



 

 

Some shots down the streets of Old Tucson.  Really does look like a cowboy on a horse will come riding down the street at any moment.



What western town would be complete without a hanging gallows?

This has nothing to do with Old Tucson Studios.  It was parked in the parking lot and Mr. W wanted a picture of it.

On our drive back, we drove through one of the subdivisions here to take a couple of pics of some of the houses.  I love adobe houses.  You should have seen the view that a couple of these houses had.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Sedona, AZ.  More to come from there!