FEATURE – Most people have seen at least one Western genre film in their lives.

Many follow a familiar plot line which goes something like this: The good guys wearing white hats go after the bad guys wearing black hats because the bad guys have wronged the good guys by doing something such as killing a brother, kidnapping a sister or wife, or stealing some cattle.

From the 1930s to the 1960s, the Western was one of the most popular genres. Many of the films showcased sweeping desert landscapes and for that, southern Utah definitely fit the bill.

In the early 20th century, Kane County actively courted Hollywood as a prime Western movie filming location. Washington County didn’t put forth that same effort, but Hollywood came calling anyway because of the county’s exceptional scenery, especially that of Zion National Park and its surroundings.

And some of the most famous Westerns filmed in Washington County did not follow the formulaic plot line or modernized a Western-themed story.

Earliest Westerns in Washington County

Zion National Park was a huge draw to movie makers. One of the first movies to use Zion’s narrow canyons and majestic monoliths as a backdrop for a film was director Edwin Carewe for his 1927 silent movie “Ramona,” which is a tale about California. Using a Utah location showed Carewe’s “fresh approach to movies: finding locations that conveyed a sense of story, whether filmed in the locale of the story or not,” James V. D’Arc wrote in his book “When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Moviemaking in Utah.”

“It seemed that trucks were rolling in for more than a week, bringing equipment and props, including palm trees,” recalled J. L. Crawford about the filming of “Ramona.” Crawford grew up in Springdale and became a preeminent Zion historian before his death in 2011. Ramona is a “lost film” as no more copies of it exist, making Crawford’s recollections crucial to remembering it.

He also remembered the construction of magnificent hacienda at the Temple of Sinawava, the terminus of today’s Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, as well as a cabin along the West Rim Trail that was burned as part of the film’s story.

Crawford’s cousin told him that Eivend T. Scoyen, the park superintendent at the time, almost got fired over allowing the movie studio to construct the hacienda. National Park Service Director Stephen Mather was not happy about Scoyen’s decision, but Crawford related that Scoyen reminded Mather that as superintendent, he had the authority to make that decision, to which Mather agreed.

“The matter of permissions for movie companies to shoot within the park would become a much weightier issue within the next decade,” D’Arc wrote.

In 1928, the first Western “talkie” (a movie completely filmed with sound) utilized nearby Grafton as a filming location. The nearly-abandoned town was ideal due to its combination church/schoolhouse and homes built in the same era in which “In Old Arizona” was set. The protagonist of the film, the Cisco Kid, played by Warner Baxter, was taken from O. Henry’s story “The Caballero’s Way,” D’Arc noted. Director Raoul Walsh was the perfect director for the film, having lived the rough-and-tumble life of a westerner punching cattle in Texas and Montana.

When Fox Studios brass saw some of the initial footage, they were elated with both the sound quality and the background scenery. The film included a shootout in which three cowboys fired shots at the Cisco Kid from a high cliff above Rockville as well as chase scenes filmed on the Rockville Road south of Grafton, with the towering monoliths of Zion National Park in the background. During one of the chase scenes, the stagecoach driver, not accustomed to sound recording, barked profanities at the townspeople to tell them to get out of the way.

“Many of the locals left, shocked because their womenfolk had been exposed to such vigorous language,” Walsh wrote.

Unfortunately for the film crew, the sound truck broke down, prompting them to finish filming in a frontier village in the Fox backlot. The trip back to Hollywood gave Walsh more to worry about than just the sound.

While the crew drove to the Union Pacific train station in Cedar City in the dark, a large jackrabbit, startled by the car’s headlights, jumped through the windshield, sending shattered glass into Walsh’s face. His right eye was so damaged from the incident that doctors in Salt Lake City removed it and Walsh sported a fashionable eye patch for the rest of his life.

“In Old Arizona” turned out to be a big hit, earning well over $1 million, which was a formidable sum in 1929 dollars. Baxter received the only academy award of his career for his portrayal of the Cisco Kid. First released in January 1929, Washington County audiences could not see it until November.

The success of “In Old Arizona” prompted a sequel, “The Arizona Kid,” which, unlike its predecessor, was filmed completely on location in Grafton and its surroundings. Fox built a tent city, nicknamed “Foxville,” where the cast and crew lived for a whirlwind 32 days of filming in February and March 1930. The sequel did not do as well at the box office, but it is superior in its sound and its showcase of the superb Southern Utah scenery.

The next significant film to utilize Washington County as its backdrop was “The Dude Ranger,” released in 1934, which is based on a book by Zane Grey. A contemporary western, it tells the story of a young man who inherits a cattle ranch and signs on as a hand at his own ranch to try to find out who is stealing its cattle. George O’Brien and Irene Hervey starred as the leads, staying at Zion Lodge during filming.

“Lodge personnel were pleasantly surprised to find those two stars were just common people who mixed freely with employees at the swimming pool and evening programs,” Crawford recounted, as reported in D’Arc’s book. “Imagine a lowly dishwasher getting to dance with Irene Hervey.”

In 1937, “The Bad Man of Brimstone,” about an outlaw who reunites with his long-lost son, featured major sequences filmed in Zion and its environs. Some Western town buildings were built for the film above the banks of the Virgin River near Springdale and it also included fancy flying from top Hollywood pilot Paul Mantz.

“Residents of Zion and Springdale were treated to some great aerobatics,” Crawford wrote. “Paul Mantz did the flying in a Waco biplane with a larger than usual engine. A landing strip was improvised in an abandoned field opposite the present Zion Canyon Visitor Center.”

The 1940s onward

One of the most significant movies filmed in Washington County in the 1940s was “Ramrod” in 1947. It used Grafton as its main backdrop as well as Zion National Park and Kolob. After Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes soured on allowing filming in national parks, efforts to push for filming in Zion for this film succeeded. Zion Lodge housed the cast and crew. The studio added sets to the town including a sheriff’s office, saloon, livery stable, blacksmith and the “Grafton Hotel.”

“These structures, for the most part, were not simply Hollywood fronts, but functional buildings, inasmuch as interior scenes were filmed in them as well.” D’Arc noted in his book. “It was reported that the studio also paid to have the Virgin River rechanneled to bring it closer to the Grafton town site, since the river had changed its course as the result of a violent storm in 1896.”

Dubbed “Utah’s Centennial Film” because of its year of production that coincided with the centennial of the Mormon Pioneers’ arrival in Utah, Ramrod starred Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Preston Foster, Charles Ruggles, Donald Crisp and Lloyd Bridges and earned the title the “first adult Western” because it included a significant amount of violence and sexuality by 1940s standards.

The 1950s saw many notable movies filmed in the county, including “The Conqueror,” starring John Wayne as Ghengis Kahn, “The Vanishing American,” based on a Zane Grey book, “The King and Four Queens” starring Clark Gable, “The Run of the Arrow,” and “They Came to Cordura,” which was Gary Cooper’s last movie before his death.

One of the most famous and critically acclaimed movies filmed in Washington County is the 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which  starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the title roles as Butch and Sundance, respectively. It used Grafton, parts of Zion and Snow Canyon as its backdrops. The movie broke the norms of the formulaic western script with the protagonists being the ones being chased. It is commonly thought of as the birth of the “buddy film” and garnered four Academy awards for best original score, best original song, best cinematography, and best screenplay with witty dialogue written by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay for “The Princess Bride” later on.

Movie making in Washington County caused quite a stir among schoolchildren. Some who were school age at the time tell stories of skipping school so they could catch a glimpse of the filming and see their favorite heartthrobs. 

Hurricane resident Paula Arriola tells the story of her sister, Vera Hirschi, ditching school with friends and heading up to Grafton to catch some of the action. Access to Grafton was blocked off so Hirschi and her friends parked farther out and climbed over some fences to get a peek of the filming. They were able to watch a bit of one of the most iconic scenes in the movie, Paul Newman giving Katherine Ross a bicycle ride through Grafton to the tune of “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.” They also talked to a man they didn’t recognize next to one of the fences.

“When they saw the movie they realized it was Robert Redford they were talking to by the fence,” Arriola said.

Loosely based on a 1953 polygamy raid on “Short Creek,” now known as Colorado City, the made-for-TV-movie “Child Bride of Short Creek ” also utilized Grafton and Rockville. It starred Diane Lane and Helen Hunt in their youth, before they made it big.

Sharyn Christensen Scholzen and her twin sister, Karen, starred in the movie. Their father saw a newspaper ad about the casting call and went to ask the production company if they needed twins, which they said they did so the 11-year-old sisters were cast.

During filming, the two Christensen sisters had their own trailer with a star with their names on it, but Scholzen said they didn’t use it much. One of the things they enjoyed the most during their time filming was getting soda from the soda truck because soft drinks were not something they had very often at home.

The two girls were only involved in shooting for about two weeks and had short speaking roles. Besides the fun, a direct benefit from participating in the filming was the money they made. Each sister earned $10,000 for their role in the movie. 

When her father heard how much they would be paying his daughters, “he about fell off his chair,” Scholzen said.

The money the twins earned from their work on the movie paid for their college educations.

The most recent film to use Grafton as a filming locale was in 1984. “The Red Fury,” an independent film directed by Lyman Dayton which starred Wendy Lynne, Calvin Bartlett, William Jordan, Katherine Cannon, and Juan Gonzales. It tells the story of an Indian boy who overcomes prejudice and learns important life lessons with the help of a washed-up rancher, a school teacher and a horse.

After visiting Grafton, “Red Fury” Director Lyman Dayton knew it was the ideal filming location because of its scenery, self-contained location, and existing buildings. Crews erected false fronts next to the schoolhouse and Russell home. Ironically, a minor flood knocked down some of those set pieces during filming, to which Dayton said the cast and crew learned first-hand what the original settlers experienced. The unfortunate part of filming in Grafton for Dayton and his crew was that looters descended on the town to haul off souvenirs just as shooting ended.

The Electric Horseman

One of the last Western-themed movies filmed in the area by a major studio until recently was another movie starring Robert Redford, “The Electric Horseman.” The film is the story of a former rodeo star, Norman “Sonny” Steele, who signs on with a large corporate conglomerate to publicize breakfast cereal. Frustrated at the corporation’s treatment of a prized horse, he steals it and rides off on an adventure, being pursued by both law enforcement and an enterprising reporter, Hallie Martin, played by Jane Fonda.

Other than a few scenes in Las Vegas, the film was exclusively shot in Southern Utah. It featured Snow Canyon, Silver Reef, as well as Zion National Park where the Pa’rus Trail now meanders, which Redford’s character refers to as “Silver Reef” in the movie. The film also showed footage of both downtown Hurricane and downtown St. George. In the movie, Redford purchases items at two stores in Hurricane and prompts law enforcement on a horse chase through downtown St. George. The Hurricane High School band played in the opening scene of the movie filmed in the Sun Bowl.

A few members of that band remember the scene fondly.

“You can only see our band for I think five seconds, but I stand out because I had forgotten my black pants so I had to wear my blue Levi’s,” said former HHS band member Brian Hinton.

“It took all day just to get those five seconds of film,” recalled Kelly Ashcroft, also a member of that band. “The camera walked right by my row.”

Many Washington County old timers tell stories of movie cast members hanging out with locals while filming and “The Electric Horseman” was no different. 

“Willie Nelson, who played Wendell Hickson, Redford’s manager, surprised patrons at the 101 Rancho in the little town of Virgin after filming one night and played a few sets,” D’Arc wrote. “Redford spoke to a group of Mormon youth at St. George’s Dixie College.”

During the filming of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” the cast and crew often dined at Dick’s Cafe in St. George.

“They came in every night to eat, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, the director and some others,” said Billie Frei, a waitress at the restaurant, as recounted in D’Arc’s book. “Paul Newman would make the salad for everyone. Even then, before ‘Newman’s Own,’ he would have the ingredients brought to him and he’d make the salad dressing. They would all eat in the dining room, right along with everyone else, but would be at a long table over to the side of the room. I knew that Paul Newman was such a big name, but I really liked Robert Redford, who would often be off at another table being interviewed by the press.”

Redford definitely had a way with the ladies. Patricia Anderson told the story of encountering the star at Graff’s Mercantile in Hurricane, where a key scene of “The Electric Horseman” was filmed.

“I was pregnant with my 2nd son and Robert Redford was walking into Graff’s store when I was walking out,” Anderson said. “He stopped me and told me how beautiful I was being pregnant and said I had a glow. He put his hand on my tummy and smiled when he said it! I’ll always remember that special day!”

In addition to making the ladies swoon, Redford had an affinity for St. George.

“My fondness for St. George almost approaches a sacred degree,” he told Lyman Hafen, former Executive Director of the Zion Forever Project, in an interview for St. George Magazine in 1984. “So the word ‘Saint’ really kind of fits. I see incredible variety and space there and I feel something quite spiritually prehistoric about the place. So when you say ‘St. George,’ I think of a wonderful God-developed area. The best developer in St. George has been God himself.”

D’Arc wrote that at the time, Redford touted the idea of building a soundstage in St. George, and hoped to see a production company based in the area. That vision is finally coming to fruition with the recent announcement of actor Kevin Costner heading up the construction of a film studio near the St. George Regional Airport.

There has been a resurgence in the Western genre as of late, which looks to continue for the foreseeable future, hearkening back to the good ol’ days when the Washington County showcased its landscape and locals on the silver screen.

AUTHORS NOTE: There have been many more movies filmed in Washington County than are highlighted in this story. For a fairly comprehensive list, visit the Washington County Historical Society web page.

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About the series “Days”

“Days” is a series of stories about people and places, industry and history in and surrounding the region of southwestern Utah.

“I write stories to help residents of southwestern Utah enjoy the region’s history as much as its scenery,” St. George News contributor Reuben Wadsworth said.

To keep up on Wadsworth’s adventures, “like” his author Facebook page.

Wadsworth has also released a book compilation of many of the historical features written about Washington County as well as a second volume containing stories about other places in Southern Utah, Northern Arizona and Southern Nevada.

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