Old Tucson: Where the Legends Walked (2007 Video) User Reviews

A Western Studio Outside of the Lot

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 21 May 2013]

This is a fine, brief documentary on the Old Tucson film studio in Arizona, which started in 1939, built by Columbia for "Arizona" (starring William Holden).

If this film is correct, the studio went downhill for a while until Howard Hawks decided to make "Rio Bravo" there, and then the studio took off -- becoming a tourist destination for the public in 1960, and the site of countless Western movies ("Tombstone") and television ("Little House on the Prairie").

The narrator makes a list of the famous people who walked the studio grounds and were filmed there. While that could be said of many places, there probably is no other place on earth quite like this set. Unlike Burbank, this set had only one purpose -- to bring the Old West (even if romanticized) to life.

It may be just another roadside attraction . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 4 January 2016]

. . . but at least it's in America, rather than British Columbia (a fake place which is in NEITHER Britain NOR Columbia!) or Mexico. When you watch this nine-minute DVD extra, you'll get the impression that Clint Eastwood is about the only actor who's worked at this 77-year-old ghost town and is still alive (at least, I think that he is, as I type now). But it's kind of quaint to view an Honor Roll of those who've "Gone West" permanently since the days in which they entertained Pa, Gramps, and Great-Grandpa on the Big Screen. It's also better to see piles of musty old costumes such as Angie Dickinson's 57-year-old RIO BRAVO black tights on your TV screen than actually getting a whiff of them, up close and personal, as they say. Old Tucson looks a lot like WESTWORLD--without Yul Brynner, of course. It's probably cheaper than that more famous resort, too, if you can survive all the Bates Motels on the way to Tucson. But only gluttons for punishment would actually GO there--these nine minutes should suffice for normal people. (Some guy thought up the movie title FAHRENHEIT 451 on his visit to Greater Tucson--but he said it's a DRY heat!)

A bit too short, but not bad

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 9 December 2010]

"Rio Bravo" has a bonus DVD with three extras. One is a wonderful documentary about the director, Howard Hawkes. Another is a decent recent film about "Rio Bravo". The third is this film that celebrates a film set in the desert called "Old Tucson Studio"--where countless films were made over the years--including the feature. But the reason I think they included it with "Rio Bravo" is that this property had been used in the past but by 1958 it was all but abandoned for filming. Hawks' decision to use it and even expand it a bit led to the place being used in additional films--making it a renaissance of sorts for the desert locale. This is interesting, but the film seemed way too short. Since so many films were made there, I wanted to hear more about the films. But, other than "Rio Bravo" and a couple others, you really have no idea what else was made there. Not bad but a bit incomplete.