A Happy Ending

Five years and 47 in-depth film profiles after we began researching Sedona’s movie history, we’ve reached the end of our magazine series – but it’s really only a start. Next up: A book that, for once and for all, will get the facts straight about Sedona’s golden age as a Hollywood film location.

Arizona’s Little Hollywood.” That was the nickname Sedona gave itself in the late 1940s and early ’50s. And why not? The postwar boom in local movie production turned our red rocks into visual shorthand for the American west. And yet, despite the cute moniker, audiences never knew they were looking at Sedona.

For the past five years, armed with meticulous research and hundreds of pictures, our “Sedona Gone Hollywood” series has worked to change that, finally giving Sedona its due as a key location in movie history. After in-depth profiles of 47 of the major studio films we’ve documented that were filmed in town between 1923 and 1973, this will be our last magazine article in the series – but not its end. Now, we begin the process of compiling our research, including the stories of the films not yet profiled in Sedona Monthly, into a keepsake book, which will be the definitive story of Sedona’s place in movie history, with an anticipated publication date in late 2008.

When we began this series, we had no idea how rich Sedona’s real history with the movie industry is – or, frankly, how much misinformation has been spread over the years, and, to our dismay, continues to be repeated even after debunking. One of our continuing motivations in this series – and for a book that will hopefully have a long shelflife – has been to present a true history, to set the record straight on claims that, even if advanced with good intentions, prove incorrect after just a little scrutiny. It’s understandable: Human memories are faulty, and corroboration on what was filmed here isn’t easy to find. That said, supporting information often does exist and, in numerous instances, flatly contradicts local lore surrounding film shoots here. Working toward a truthful record about this history has been a painstaking, time-consuming process, but a rewarding one.

And the bottom line is this: The town’s movie history is impressive enough that it doesn’t need embellishing. Dating back to at least 1923, Sedona’s signature red rocks appear in enduring favorites such as Johnny Guitar, Angel and the Badman, Leave Her to Heaven, and Blood on the Moon, but typically were identified to audiences as the terrain of Texas, California, Nevada, and even Canadian border territory. Viewers – and even professional reviewers – generally had no clue that they were looking at the same anonymous Arizona town in film after film.

For the past five years, our articles have presented the stories of the casts and crews – including more than a few legends in the making – backed up by multiple, credible sources. We’re eager now to concentrate on putting that history in one lavish, hardcover reference that will preserve, contextualize –– and greatly expand –– the history of Red Rock Country in the movies, including for the first time ever a definitive, fully sourced Sedona filmography.

In the meantime, we’ll soon begin a new, occasional series in Sedona Monthly exploring films made in neighboring areas of Northern Arizona, from the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley, with significance to Sedona.

If you’ve liked the articles in the magazine, we’re sure you’ll love Sedona Gone Hollywood the book. Take it from us, we’ve saved the best stories–– and some big surprises––for last. •

Text © 2007 Sedona Monthly

© 2006-2007 Bar225 Media Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sitemap

Internet Marketing by North Star Direct Marketing