Movie History

By Dixie Brunner

You may experience a sense of “deja vu” visiting southern Utah. While this may be your first trip, you’ve probably already visited via TV or the silver screen!

Movie making was a large part of this area’s history from the 1930’s-1990’s, when 300 movies and TV shows were filmed here. To sate visiting movie buffs, you might consider a tour of the old movie sets dotting the area. While some are in disrepair, others have been rebuilt and are well-maintained. Paria Movie Set

This set was nestled at the bottom of a towering, multi-colored sandstone canyon in what locals refer to as ‘the Paria.’ The former Paria Set can be accessed by taking Highway 89 east of Kanab for 35 miles, and turning north onto a dirt road, where there is a stone monument to the Pareah Townsite. The movie set was used to film western movies and TV shows from 1963-1991. As a location, it was used for several episodes of Gunsmoke and Sergeants Three.

While the movie set withstood the test of gunfights and saloon brawls, it couldn’t withstand the ravages of nature. Flooding several years ago left a 20 foot gully running through the middle of the three-building town. Through a cooperative effort between local volunteers and the BLM, the buildings were dismantled and rebuilt on more stable ground above the original location. Vandals have since burned down the buildings that had required so much cooperative labor. Johnson Canyon Movie Set

This large set can be seen by traveling east on Highway 89 about 10 miles, and then turning north and traveling on Johnson Canyon Road for five miles. The set was built for Westward the Women and is not open to the public. While it is in serious disrepair currently, owners have future plans to refurbish and make it a “must see” for movie buffs.

Kanab Canyon Movie Set Located about five miles north of Kanab near Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the canyon was the location for a number of movies including Lone Ranger, Westward the Women and The Apple Dumpling Gang. Not far past the Best Friends turnoff is a barn from One Little Indian.

While few significant film-making sights remain, one can almost imagine the wagons rolling down the hill in Women or the Lone Ranger’s horse Silver rearing on the red sandstone plateau.

Parry Lodge Parry Lodge was a movie-making hotspot for years. The hotel was the place where scores of famous movie actors and producers stayed while filming in Kanab. The rooms are named after some of the famous folks who slept there.

Guests today can stay in the “Ronald Reagan” or “James Arness” room. A mini museum of signed autographs and photos can be viewed in the lobby and dining room of Parry Lodge.

Frontier Movie Town Enter through the gift shop and step back in time for an “up close and personal” view of movie sets and memorabilia, and better yet-it’s free and shady! Frontier Movie Town is located in Kanab at 297 West Center Street (644-5337).

On the back lot is a western town comprised of original and maintained sets from the movies Desperate Hours (Micky Rourke and Anthony Hopkins), One Little Indian (James Garner, Jody Foster and Vera Miles), and The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George and Sandra Locke).

You can sit on a bench from F Troop or gaze through the same gunport that Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. did in Sergeants Three.

 

 

HomeServicesCalendarPhotosMapContactAdmin Login