The books in this section focus on the unique geographic locale associated with the Western genre.
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Old Tuscon
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Filming in Arizona
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Alamo Village
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Western Movie Sites
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Old Tuscon Studios
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Michael J. Bifulco. Images of Old Tucson: Western Feature Filmmaking in the Desert. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011.
From Amazon: Originally constructed in 1939 by Columbia Pictures for the epic Arizona starring Jean Arthur and William Holden, the location was salvaged and developed in later years to serve as the backdrop for dozens of cowboy movies including those featured on the back cover of this book. Inside, you will be treated to memorable images devoted to some of the Westerns filmed on the uniquely southwestern landscape that eventually became known as Old Tucson. Although by no means the definitive study of all the film production at the Old Tucson Studio, this book is affectionately dedicated to the Western film fans who remember what it was like to walk the same dusty, wind-blown streets where John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Ronald Reagan, Robert Mitchum, Glenn Ford, William Holden, Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, and Gene Autry once walked in some of my favorite movies filmed at the location before the tragic fire of 1995. Hopefully, this essay of text and over 220 images will trigger some memories of what this famous film location means to you. |
Lili Debarbieri. Location Filming in Arizona: The Screen Legacy of the Grand Canyon State. Charleston: The History Press, 2014.
From Google Books: The scenic natural vistas of Arizona's deserts and mountains have made it a favorite backdrop of movies and television shows. Westerns such as silent-era pictures derived from Zane Grey fiction through the John Ford-John Wayne classics Stagecoach and The Searchers benefited from the beautiful and rugged landscapes. TV classics such as Gunsmoke and Little House on the Prairie helped define Arizona's allure for Hollywood. Oscar winners Jerry Maguire and Little Miss Sunshine took advantage of the infrastructure that accumulated to lure filmmakers to Tucson, Yuma, Phoenix, Prescott, Sedona and all corners of the Grand Canyon State. Join author Lili DeBarbieri as she looks at the movies and shows shot in the state, as well as other aspects of Arizona film culture. |
John Farkis. Alamo Village: How a Texas Cattleman Brought Hollywood to the Old West. Albany, GA: BearManor Media, 2016.
From Amazon: John Farkis' Alamo Village is the ideal companion to Not Thinkin' ... Just Rememberin': The Making of John Wayne's The Alamo, the author's impressive and comprehensive work about the 1960 big-screen epic. Updated from its first edition in 2005, Alamo Village has been greatly expanded with detailed information, fascinating insights, interesting interviews and numerous photographs about the important Texas film site. |
Carlo Gaberscek and Kenny Stier. In Search of Western Movie Sites. Jerry Schneider Enterprises, LLC, 2014.
From Google Books: In Search of Western Movie Sites is a compilation of 64 articles written for the bi-monthly newsletter Western Clippings by Carlo Gaberscek and Kenny Stier. They are profoundly convinced of the fundamental importance of landscapes and natural exteriors in westerns. These articles are listed regionally, starting with the Southwestern states (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada), progressing to California, the Northwest, Midwest, and Southern states, followed by Canada, and finishing with Mexico. They focus on the making of both A and B-westerns in a single state or a specific area of a state, and contain selected filmographies and detailed information on the locations. They envision a vast atlas of western cinema, a map of both real and imagined places constructed by Hollywood. This book, which includes over 200 stills and photos taken on location, is a guide to thousands of western film locations. |
Paul J. Lawson. Old Tucson Studios. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008.
From Amazon: In 1939, Columbia Pictures based a film on Clarence Kelland’s book Arizona, set during the Civil War in Arizona Territory. To accurately portray the novel’s landscape, Columbia selected a spot about 10 miles from what is now downtown Tucson in the middle of a large Pima County park for the filming. In 1959, Bob Shelton, a Kansas City developer, purchased the lot, determined to build an active movie studio and tourist attraction. His vision was successful, and Old Tucson Studios has set the stage for over 200 movies and television shows. As Western movies regain their popularity in the box office, the future looks bright for Old Tucson Studios to become a premier filming site in Arizona. |
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Cowboy Stuff
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Cinema Southwest
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Arizona's Little Hollywood
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Movie Making in the Desert
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Western Movie Locations
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Boyd Magers. So You Wanna See Cowboy Stuff? The Western Movie/TV Tour Guide. Madison, NC: Empire Publishing, Inc., 2003.
From Amazon: Here's the only complete tour guide ever assembled leading you directly to all the western movie and TV memorabilia as well as filming locations in the entire United States! Includes: exact filming locations of your favorite westerns; murals, birthplaces, monuments, statues, parks, exhibits, rodeos, road markers, hotels, bronzes and more; the top western museums in the country; detailed studio guides; childhood homes and former residences of many of your favorite cowboy stars; gravesites; much more! |
John A. Murray. Cinema Southwest: An Illustrated Guide to the Movies and their Locations. Moab, UT: Canyonlands Natural History Association, 2nd Edition, 2011.
From Amazon: This revised and updated edition provides film buffs and casual movie goers alike with the first comprehensive guide to filmmaking in the American Southwest. Cinema Southwest, an invaluable reference book and trip planner, is packed with interesting facts and gives directions to the film sites. For those armchair adventurers who can’t get to the locations themselves, the book is illustrated with movie stills and stunning photographs that capture the region’s dramatic beauty—the inspiration for so many classic films. John Murray has compiled an extensive list of box office hits that were filmed throughout the Southwest. From Stagecoach to The Aviator to Iron Man, the author discusses the significance of the landscapes, the literature related to the films, and the behind-the-scenes personalities that were so influential in Western filmmaking. |
Joe McNeill. Arizona's Little Hollywood: Sedona and Northern Arizona's Forgotten Film History. Bar 225 Media, Ltd., 2010.
From Amazon: Having played host to more than 60 Hollywood productions—from the early years of cinema through the 1970s—Sedona, Arizona’s impact on the film industry is revealed here for the first time. Detailing its role as a silent but stunning backdrop to all types of movies, this volume covers the silent films, B westerns, World War II propaganda, and film noirs filmed on location in Arizona. Lavishly illustrated, this reference tells the story behind an anti-American Nazi propaganda western; the true history of filmmaking in Monument Valley; the first-ever inclusive guide to the location filming of Stagecoach; and descriptions of each Arizona production from conception through reception by critics and audiences, with plot summaries and complete details of cast and crew. |
Bette L. Stanton. Where God Put the West: Movie Making in the Desert. Moab, UT: Canyonlands Natural History Association, 1994.
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Tinsley E. Yarbrough. Those Great Western Movie Locations. Tumbleweed Press, 2015.
From Amazon: Amply illustrated with nearly 500 photographs and movie stills, visits to over 110 western filming locations, and references to over 1200 films and TV series. Those Great Western Movie Locations with 2016 Supplement chronicles the studio backlots, ranches, natural wonders, and other settings that largely defined the reel west of moviedom's golden age--settings not only in California, but also in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Canada and Mexico. |