Parry Lodge
Parry Lodge Celebrates 79th Year
By Stephen Browning
When Tom Mix took his good friend Zane Grey's advice and came to southern Utah to film Deadwood Coach'' in 1924, his production company enlisted the help of a fledgling transportation outfit run by the three Parry brothers, Whit, Chaunce and Gron. Their job was to move the cast and crew to various locations. It was such fun and so profitable for the Parrys that they decided to encourage other movie companies in Hollywood to come to southern Utah.
Making Movies at Parry Lodge
This postcard shows action around Parry Lodge during the movie-making days in Kanab.
In 1931 they purchased a lovely Victorian home and turned it into a tourist lodge and restaurant in the remote town of Kanab, smack dab in the middle of Utah and Arizona's most scenic wonders. Parry Lodge was born and the movie business was about to take off.
Armed with hundreds of photos of the region, the Parrys went to Hollywood and started knocking on the doors of studio executives and location scouts. It was successful beyond their wildest dreams. Over the next five decades, Parry Lodge served as the headquarters for hundreds of features films and television shows (mostly westerns) made in and around Kanab, a town that award-winning producer and director William Wellman affectionately called Little Hollywood''.
Kanab, in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, was a community where everyone was in the movie business. A 1945 Saturday Evening Post article called it The Town that Learned to Act.'' Even today, you can find old-timers who doubled for Dean Martin and Rhonda Fleming or who, as extras, dressed up as cowboys and Indians to attack or defend the fort. More than once the high school was let out early because additional extras'' were needed.
Before a movie company would come to town, they would contact Whit Parry, who would help to coordinate locations, lodging, transportation, stock needed (horses & cattle, etc.), wranglers, extras and meals, including on-site catering for the cast and crew, as well as fine dining in Parry's famous dining room.
The Parrys would even arrange for entertainment and diversions for the companies after hours such as dances, parties and even boxing matches. And among the locals, the stories are plentiful about the antics and kindnesses of the many celebrities that came to town.
2010 marks the 79th year of operation for the still bustling Parry Lodge. Although the rooms are now filled with less famous travelers visiting the eight national and state parks and monuments within a 90 minute drive of Kanab, its roster of past guests reads like the A-list of the Golden Age of Hollywood. John Wayne, Olivia de Havilland, Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Frank Sinatra, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Taylor, Anne Bancroft, Dean Martin, Lana Turner, Clint Eastwood, Barbara Stanwyck and Gregory Peck are just a few of the hundreds of stars and character players that stayed at Parry's. In fact, many of the lodge's 89 guest rooms are named after the celebrities that stayed in them. A stroll through the lobby and dining room brings a rush of nostalgia with more than 150 personally autographed photos and notes of thanks for Parry Lodge's outstanding hospitality.
Around 1968, Whit Parry, the last surviving brother, sold the lodge. In 1978, after passing through a couple of owners, successful businessman and Kanab native Steve Heaton purchased it and now continues the tradition of warm hospitality and good food that made Parry Lodge a favorite for movie stars and tourists alike.
And while the grand era of western movies and TV shows has faded recently, visitors now bring their own movie cameras and use the exact locations, eat in the same dining room and stay in the very rooms that were used by so many of their favorite stars. Lights!
Camera! Action! Are you ready for your close-up?
Visit Parry Lodge's website at www.parrylodge.com
Additional area info can be found at: www.kaneutah.com
