Old Tucson Studios: Part 76


Ripple / Grateful Dead

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

The Grand Finale of the ongoing entertainment at Old Tucson Studios
is a stunt show. Stunt Set Below:

Old Tucson Studios Stunt Set

Old Tucson Studios Stunt Men
The Stunt Actors make their entrance.
Old Tucson Studios Stuntman
Whipped cream ?

Sadly, none of our stunt photos turned out …  Grrrr.

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios Old Set

Old Tucson Studios Train Station

Old Tucson Studios Train ride
Here she comes !

Old Tucson Studios Signpost

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios Stage

Old Tucson Studios Real Train

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios Camera Boom
We’re rolling …

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios Crooked Creek Chapel
Crooked Creek Chapel / Old Tucson Studios

Old Tucson Studios Church Altar

Old Tucson Studios Church

Psalm 23
A psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Amen

Old Tucson Studios: Part 38

Is this taking a long time? or is it just me?
Well, the fantasy sail on the Bluenose schooner (the only item on my Bucket List) was a nice diversion. 

 Now back to Arizona HolidayOld Tucson Studios.


The Hanging Tree / Norton Buffalo

 Somebody at Old Tucson Studios had a great idea: make a nice picnic oasis rest area for visitors
– with a waterfall, a pond, and a some shelter.
So they did.

Old Tucson Studios Oasis

Old Tucson Studios Oasis 2

Old Tucson Studios Oasis 3

Old Tucson Studios Oasis 4

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios mine
Rose on the steam drill
Old Tucson Studios gallows
A poor hiding place
Old Tucson Studios sheriff
Good thing I know the Sheriff
Old Tucson Studios foot massage
Have a seat – Tenderfoot’s delight

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios Chinese Alley

Old Tucson Studios Chinese Alley 2

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios Pottery

Old Tucson Studios  El Toro

Old Tucson Studios Rose's Cantina
Rose’s Cantina

Old Tucson Studios Blacksmith

Old Tucson Studios Blacksmith 2

Old Tucson Studios Rose's jail

Old Tucson Studios Posters

Old Tucson Studios Signs
Now what ?

Old Tucson Studio Star Bar

Old Tucson Studios … Part 5

Old Tucson Studios

Old Tucson 2

Our last stop on Main Street was the Western Movie Museum

Below: Cannon used in The Alamo (1960)

Old Tucson Studio Alamo Cannon

Below: The Alamo trailer – includes Wayne’s classic Coonskin quote
which pretty well summed up Wayne’s personal philosophy.

Old Tucson bar

Below: the great Western Film Director: Cecil Wanna B Ford

Old Tucson Studio clown

“It is easier to get an actor to be a cowboy
than to get a cowboy to be an actor.”
– John Ford

Good, I still have a chance.

Old Tucson bar

Below: Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) poster. (My Favorite Western).
Note the uncanny resemblance between me and Burt Lancaster!
Uncanny I tell ya!

Old Tucson Studios OK Corral Poster

Old Tucson Studios OK Corral Poster 2

Old Tucson bar

Old Tucson Studios Law and Order

You must be the one they call ‘The Kid’.

Old Tucson Studios Billy the Kid

Earps and Wesson

Old Tucson Studios Earps

Old Tucson bar

Old Tucson Fire / 1995

Nearly 40-percent of Old Tucson, including many of the most-famous wood structures, was destroyed by fire on April 24, 1995.
The park was rebuilt for tourists, (re-opened in 1997) but never regained the magic of its heyday as a Old West filmmaking mecca.

Old Tucson Fire

Fire Ravages Old Tucson Film Studios : Blaze:
Three-fourths of facility’s wooden buildings, seen in hundreds of TV and movie Westerns, are destroyed or damaged. Priceless artifacts are also lost.
April 26, 1995|STEPHANIE SIMON | TIMES STAFF WRITER

A sizzling fire has gutted most of Arizona’s famed Old Tucson Studios, which provided the ramshackle saloons, dusty hitching posts and glorious sunsets for countless Western movies and television shows.

The Monday evening blaze, so hot that it melted an antique fire engine, destroyed or damaged more than three-fourths of the park’s wooden buildings, from an old-time barber shop to an adobe mission to a mock city hall. An elaborate sound stage also burned, increasing the damage estimate to at least $10 million, officials said.

Even more traumatic for Western fans, the fire consumed revered one-of-a-kind artifacts: the dress Laura wore in “Little House on the Prairie,” the hat Hoss clapped on his head for “Bonanza,” the set designed for the television series “Young Riders.” A priceless doll collection, Michael Landon’s wardrobe and stacks of old photos also vanished in the flames.

“The sad part,” Tucson Fire Department spokesman Randy Ogden said, “is that much history and so many memories are gone.”

By Tuesday afternoon, officials still had not determined the cause of the fire, which started about 6:30 p.m. Monday and rushed through the three-block main street, fueled by dry wood and stored paint.

Wikipedia: ” In the month following the Old Tucson fire, several other fires were started in the area of Tucson Estates, down the road from Old Tucson; this subject was identified as the primary suspect in those fires. He was located and questioned by detectives, and faced with the evidence from the Tucson Estates fires, at which point he confessed to having started those fires. However, before he could be questioned about the Old Tucson fire, 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.

Old Tucson bar

Next: Old Tucson Studios: Part 6

Old Tucson Studios … Part 4

Old Tucson Studios

Still working our way down Main Street …
No rush.

Old Tucson 2

Along the boardwalk Rose finds some Posters.

Old Tucson Studios wanted posters

Possible “$100” fine for spitting !! Wow.

Below: Olsen’s Mercantile:
Wish I could afford one of those native blankets

Old Tucson Studios Olsen's Mercantile

Other … stuff …

Old Tucson Studios stuff

Below: Rose gets most of the good shots …

Old Tucson Studios beauty

Old Tucson Studios beauty 2

Nice wagon …

Old Tucson Studios wagon

Below: Adobe schoolhouse …

Old Tucson Studios schoolhouse

Yep.

Heading toward the Movie Museum

Old Tucson Studios main street

Say ! isn’t that … ??

Old Tucson Studios museum

Naw … it can’t be … ?

Old Tucson bar

 

Next: Inside Old Tucson Studios Western Movie Museum

Old Tucson Studios … Part 3

I didn’t know there would be so much to see and do at Old Tucson Studios. Heat permitting, you could easily spend most of a day here.

Old Tucson is truly a monument to the dear Western Movies of yesteryear – where heroes were Heroes and rode off into the sunset …
A worthy time capsule of a different day.

Old Tucson Studio Tribute

Moving down Main Street …

Below: Another look at the Grand Palace Saloon … and just across the street is Big Jake’s – named after a John Wayne’s movie that was filmed here in 1971.
Looks like a guy could get a steak there …

Old Tucson Grand Palace

I could almost hear the clink of Duke’s boots on the boardwalk …

Old Tucson McClintock Mercantile

Passing by McLintock Mercantile

Old Tucson McClintock Mercantile 2

Mandatory photo of the Cigar Store Indian (right).

Old Tucson stable

Old Tucson bar

Here comes the stage … again.

Old Tucson Stagecoach

Stagecoaches were often late. Holdups, hostile natives, bad roads, bad weather,
lame horses, breakdowns, etc. Not really a very romantic way to travel.

Old Tucson Stagecoach 2

Rose heads over to the OK Corral Freight Depot

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

Suddenly a Tour comes by.
But Rose keeps on shootin’.

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

I watch from the safety (and shade) of the Ice Cream Parlour

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

Old Tucson bar

Time for some campfire lore and tales by the chuckwagon.

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

Old Tucson bar

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

I think I’m getting the hang of this cowboy thing.

Old Tucson Studios Stagecoach

Old Tucson bar

Next: Old Tucson Studios 4

Arizona Holiday continued … Old Tucson Studios: Part 2

Old Tucson Studios is pretty big.

Old Tucson 2

There’s ongoing entertainment at Old Tucson Studios
They have it timed so you can take it all in if you wish.
We took a lot of pictures.

First thing was the well rehearsed Medicine Show.

Old Tucson 2 medicine show 1

Careful though – you might wind up as part of the show.

Old Tucson 2 medicine show 1B

You have to be a skilled photographer to take 2 pictures of a guy
and catch him blinking both times. Grrrrrrr …

Old Tucson 2 medicine show

But the show must go on …

Old Tucson 2 medicine show 2

Old Tucson bar

Next door to the Medicine Show is Town Hall
housing a museum and a gallery …

Below: Badges of the Old West.

Old Tucson 2 City Hall 1

Old Tucson 2 City Hall 2

Old Tucson 2 City Hall 3

Old Tucson 2 City Hall 4

Old Tucson 2 City Hall 6

Old Tucson 2 City Hall
“This town ain’t big enough fer the both of us.”

Old Tucson bar

Onward … to the Grand Palace Saloon

Old Tucson 2 Dance Hall

My photography skills are exposed.
Or underexposed ? Whatever.

Old Tucson 2 Dance Hall 2

Maybe I was distracted.

Old Tucson 2 Dance Hall 3

Old Tucson bar

Old Tucson 2 Bath House

Over at the women’s bath house …
Heck it’s only 15 cents … 25 if you want soap.

Old Tucson bar

Below: We spotted a guy practicing gun tricks …

Old Tucson gun tricks

He wasn’t very good so I decided to offer him some advice.

Old Tucson gun tricks 2

Below: snickering and holstering at the same time.

Old Tucson gun tricks 3

Don’t try this at home folks.

Old Tucson bar

Next: Old Tucson Studios 3

Arizona Holiday continued … Old Tucson Studios: Part 1

On the way to Old Tucson Studios we drove through about the biggest
Saguaro Cactus forest I’ve ever seen.
Turns out we’re in Saguaro National Park.

Old Tucson

Quite a sight for us Northerners. We have castus in Alberta – a few varieties – notably Prickly Pear – but these Saguaro are a novelty to us.

Old Tucson saguaro cactus forest 2

Old Tucson saguaro cactus forest 3

Below: Rest point.

Old Tucson rest point

Below: looking back – Tucson in the distance.

Old Tucson - Tuscon in the distance

Below: rest point 2.

Old Tucson rest stop

Just another Arizona vista.

Old Tucson the view

Old Tucson moving along

Below: looking ahead – Old Tucson Studios in the distance.

Old Tucson - Old Tuscon Studios in the distance

Below: coming in

Old Tucson Studios coming in

Arriving …

Old Tucson entering

At the Entrance – Gift Shop

Old Tucson Gift Shop

Entrance.

Old Tucson entrance

Next: Inside Old Tucson Studios