The Grand Finale of the ongoing entertainment at Old Tucson Studios
is a stunt show. Stunt Set Below:
The Stunt Actors make their entrance.Whipped cream ?
Sadly, none of our stunt photos turned out … Grrrr.
Here she comes !
We’re rolling …
Crooked Creek Chapel / Old Tucson Studios
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.
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 toArizona Holiday / Old 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.
Rose on the steam drill A poor hiding place Good thing I know the SheriffHave a seat – Tenderfoot’s delight
Our last stop on Main Street was the Western Movie Museum …
Below: Cannon used in The Alamo (1960)
Below: The Alamo trailer – includes Wayne’s classic Coonskin quote
which pretty well summed up Wayne’s personal philosophy.
Below: the great Western Film Director: Cecil Wanna B Ford
“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.
Below: Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) poster. (My Favorite Western).
Note the uncanny resemblance between me and Burt Lancaster!
Uncanny I tell ya!
You must be the one they call ‘The Kid’.
Earps and Wesson
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.
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.“
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.
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 …
I could almost hear the clink of Duke’s boots on the boardwalk …
Passing by McLintock Mercantile …
Mandatory photo of the Cigar Store Indian (right).
Here comes the stage … again.
Stagecoaches were often late. Holdups, hostile natives, bad roads, bad weather,
lame horses, breakdowns, etc. Not really a very romantic way to travel.
Rose heads over to the OK Corral Freight Depot
Suddenly a Tour comes by.
But Rose keeps on shootin’.
I watch from the safety (and shade) of the Ice Cream Parlour
Time for some campfire lore and tales by the chuckwagon.
I think I’m getting the hang of this cowboy thing.
