Arizona has been exceptionally gifted with a vast array of locales which have made the state a magnet for many different types of filmmakers. Since the inception of the motion picture technology during the late nineteenth century, Arizona has hosted filmmaking well before Hollywood became the center of the American film industry. Virtually all regions of this vast state have provided locations for everything from big Hollywood productions for both film and television to independent and documentary creators.
Location Filming In Arizona by Lili Debarbieri is a must read for film & media students (like myself) and anyone else who enjoys film & television history and trivia. The book’s nine chapters cover an array of subjects regarding Arizona’s screen legacy. These subjects range from some of the first westerns filmed during the silent film era in Flagstaff to the best film festivals that enthusiasts would like to attend throughout the state.
Aside from the well known filming locations at truly magnificent places like the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, or Sedona – this book also covers the lesser known, yet intriguing towns like Casa Grande, Florence, Benson, and Nogales. Although cinematic production came to the state so early (in fact, when it still a territory) it wasn’t until the 1940s that production here really picked up momentum. While Arizona was an obvious location choice to film westerns and to recreate historical events that occurred here, it also has been utilized numerous times as a stand in for other locales.
This has largely been due to the variety of geographic settings, and the unique combination of Old West towns, along with modern cities and suburbs that are either unique to this state or share things in common with other places. All of these places have provided a variety of architectural styles to provide suitable backdrops for all manner of stories and time periods over many decades. For instance, The Getaway (1994) an exciting action thriller which involves breaking a Mexican drug lord’s nephew out of jail, starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger had several Arizona locations as varied as Yuma and Prescott. The romantic dramedy/road trip Bus Stop (1956) one of Marilyn Monroe’s biggest box office hits, had several filming locations at downtown Phoenix and the Arizona State Fairgrounds. Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic thriller Psycho (1960) also had filming locations in downtown Phoenix as one of the main characters in the story flees the city after embezzling thousands of dollars from her employer – and before meeting up with Norman Bates!
These are only a few of the more noteworthy examples of how Phoenix has served as a prime filming location for some of Hollywood’s greatest classics. Although Tucson is the second largest city in Arizona, it too has been the setting for many films and tv shows as described in Location Filming In Arizona. In fact, the Tucson area has probably hosted more filmmakers than any other part of the state, and has done so consistently since 1912. Debarbieri’s book describes the illustrious film legacy in Tucson which really gained momentum in 1939 with the establishment of Old Tucson Studios. This massive set was built by Columbia Studios for its production of Arizona (1939) which was adapted from a historical novel about Tucson in the 1850s and starring the up-and-coming William Holden who would become one of the leading box office draws of the 1950s and an Academy Award winner as well.
Ever since the production of Arizona the Old Tucson Studios has been utilized for a vast number of westerns over the years featuring such big stars as John Wayne, Paul Newman, and Harrison Ford. However, Tucson has been noted as an ideal location for other genres of film such as Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) about a woman on the road with her son seeking a new life after her husband dies. Ellen Burstyn won Best Actress for her performance at the 1975 Academy Awards and the film was another star-in-the-crown for acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. Eventually comprising 320 acres, Old Tucson Studios also had sets for productions other than westerns to enhance its appeal as a filming location. It became even more noteworthy as a filming site for such beloved, long running television series as Little House On The Prairie (1974-83) which was about the lives of a fictional midwestern farm family in 1870s Minnesota.
However, in recent decades the studios have suffered through some turbulent history as an April, 1995 fire destroyed a huge part of the studio – with the irreplaceable loss of a great deal of movie and tv history memorabilia. After nearly two years of reconstruction Old Tucson Studios reopened in early 1997, but it just wasn’t the same according to those who had worked at the site for many years. Eventually new sets were also built during 2011, but the studio which also served as a popular theme park closed down in September, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving its future in serious doubt. By April, 2022 Pima County chose American Heritage Railways to operate the attraction, bring the tourists back and reinvigorate filmmaking there as it had dropped off drastically since the 1995 fire.
Location Filming In Arizona also details many different buildings in downtown Tucson such as the historic Hotel Congress which have been utilized for filming or as a hangout for the production crews. Many of these sites are within walking distance of each other. As an FYI, winter or early spring would be the best time to take advantage of those walking tours before the summer heat kicks in! Aside from deserts and mountains, though, it’s easy to forget that Arizona’s ranch lands to the east of Tucson also provide areas that could easily pass for other locales such as the Midwest. Such topography was fully utilized for such classic musicals as Oklahoma! (1955) where the production company apparently believed that Arizona was a better location for the story than Oklahoma itself.
Location Filming In Arizona also details how several ranches, in particular the Empire Ranch east of Tucson has been has been described by Debarbieri as “a transcendently beautiful and vast empire of grassland habitat.” Some of Hollywood’s greatest westerns such as Winchester’73 (1950), 3:10 To Yuma (1957) have been filmed here along with the musical Oklahoma! about a farm girl and her two rival suitors mentioned above. Adapted from the long running Broadway play, it was nominated four times for Academy Awards including Best Cinematography, showing off the eastern Arizona locations to great effect. The first part of your now concludes. In part two we will cover location filming events in the rest of Arizona. See you soon!
