TUCSON, Ariz. | If you have a favorite western movie there’s a good chance it was filmed entirely or partially at Old Tucson Movie Studios. Feature films, TV movies and many TV series episodes have been filmed there.
Southern Arizona has been a popular filming location since the beginning of movies. “Renunciation” was the first film made in Tucson in 1910. Others soon followed, and the area would have been a rival to Hollywood for filmmaking if it hadn’t been for the extremely hot summer temperatures on the Arizona desert. In spite of that, the Tucson area became a popular spot for filming westerns.
In 1939 Columbia Pictures constructed sets for the movie "Arizona" in a desolate area about 10 miles from downtown Tucson. A town was constructed and designed as a replica of Tucson as it looked in the 1860s. The movie starred William Holden and Jean Arthur. The studio recruited local Papago Indians to help build over 100 historically accurate adobe and wooden structures made to look like early Tucson. Many of those original buildings are still standing today. When filming was complete, Columbia Pictures donated Old Tucson to Pima County.
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The sets sat in the sun and began to deteriorate until 1946 when the Tucson Junior Chamber of Commerce took over the lease on the property for $1 a year and began making improvements. The group then leased the property to movie studios. Between 1946 and 1959 more than 20 movies were made at Old Tucson, including "Winchester 73" starring Jimmy Stewart, "The Last Outpost" starring future president Ronald Reagan, and "Rio Bravo" starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan.
Then in 1959 a developer from Kansas City, Bob Shelton, came west looking for a place to build an “Old West” town to turn it into a tourist attraction. Shelton leased the property and quickly made $500,000 worth of improvements that included new buildings and an amusement area with a miniature train, a walk-through haunted mine and an historic 1909 carousel.
With the help of his wife, Jane, whose family included the founders of the Lowe’s theater chain and what would become Paramount Studios, they were able to lure production companies to film at Old Tucson. From 1960 to 1995, 194 films and television programs were filmed at Old Tucson and its auxiliary setting in nearby Mescal.
By 1995 visitors to Old Tucson topped 500,000, making it the second most visited spot in Arizona right behind the Grand Canyon. During this time visitors were allowed to watch movie crews and actors as they worked. In 1968 a 13,000-square-foot soundstage was built to give Old Tucson greater versatility in making movies. The next year a second location was needed for the Cinema Center film "Monte Walsh," and the company built another town about 40 miles east of Tucson. It was eventually given the name Mescal and is still used today as a location for film companies. Mescal is not open to the general public while filming is taking place, and today most movie and TV production is done there.
In April 1995 a devastating fire swept through Old Tucson, destroying many of the buildings. Reconstruction began the next year, and filming returned to the newly rebuilt sets in 2005 with the film "Ghost Rock" starring Gary Busey.
One of the first buildings visitors to Old Tucson see is the Southern Pacific Railroad station built in 1900. It was used in the 1950 film "The Last Outpost." The depot houses a collection of railroad memorabilia.
Walking the streets of Old Tucson is like walking through your favorite western movie. Tours of the sets are given a couple of times a day, and guides point out where scenes from those movies were filmed. At other times stuntmen perform fights in the streets to entertain visitors. The Grand Palace Hotel and Saloon features musical shows and entertainment.
At the far end of Old Tucson is a section of railroad track with the steam engine Reno that’s been seen in several westerns, including the 1999 film "Wild Wild West" staring Will Smith.
There are three restaurants at Old Tucson Studios, an ice cream parlor, a sweet shop and a cantina.
