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Made in Wyoming
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| The 1953 movie "Shane" was primarily filmed in Jackson near Grand Teton National Park. It stars Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin and Jack Palance. The movie was one of the top five grossing films of 1953 and won an Oscar for cinematography. - Photo provided by Walt Farmer from his CD-Rom "Wyoming: A History of Film and Video in the 20th Century." |
By ANN FRANSCELL, News-Record Editor
Wyoming of late hasn’t exactly been a mecca for moviemakers.
Case in point: One of the last big screen movies filmed in Wyoming was the forgettable “Meet ... The Deedles,” a 1998 movie filmed near Cody on the Clark’s Fork starring Dennis Hopper.
Michell Howard of the Wyoming Travel and Tourism Department, which is in charge of recruiting filmmakers here, said there are signs that is changing.
Until recently, Wyoming had no incentives to offer filmmakers. Other states did. So did Canada, which is why it attracted “Brokeback Mountain,” which was based on a book set in Wyoming.
But last year, the Wyoming Legislature passed a bill that allows the tourism office to rebate back 12 percent to 15 percent of the money a filmmaker spends in Wyoming as long as the amount spent here is more than $500,000.
Howard said it’s already working. “We’re getting lots more inquiries,” she said. “It is seeming to help.”
Four larger budget films have been looking around. Although Howard said she can’t name them, one has narrowed its focus to the Dubois area, and another to the Jackson area.
It could be years until those pan out. Until then, film fanatics will have to rely on DVDs if they want to see a movie made in Wyoming. Wyoming’s vistas haven’t been filmed as often as, say, New York’s skyline, but it still has some interesting movies to lay claim to.
THE WILD, WILD WEST
Surprisingly, Wyoming appeared in many, many movies in early day Hollywood, when Westerns were in demand and Wyoming’s countryside naturally provided what Hollywood could not.
Thirty-two movies were filmed in Wyoming before 1940, according to Walt Farmer of Jackson, who has compiled “Wyoming: A History of Film and Video in the 20th Century.” It started out as a book, but it’s now a CD-ROM because Farmer found so much material that it wouldn’t fit in book form. “It’s become rather encyclopedic,” he said.
Among those movies was John Wayne’s first starring role, “The Big Trail,” or “The Oregon Trail,” in 1930. Farmer said it’s also reportedly the first time the famous “cowboy” ever rode a horse. It also was Wyoming’s first talking movie.
Also surprisingly, the movies were filmed across Wyoming. We’ve come to expect to see the Tetons in movies (some of those in Jackson refer to those photos and films featuring the famous peaks as IFOTs — In Front of Tetons).
But in the early days, moviegoers were just as likely to see scenes from the Cody and Sheridan areas as they were the Tetons and Yellowstone. Cheyenne also was frequently used as a backdrop.
But even though an impressive number were filmed in Wyoming in the early days, it wasn’t an easy task.
Wyoming was remote and inaccessible. Winters could be brutal and long. When John Wayne was making “The Big Trail,” it required a hundred Conestoga wagons, hundreds of head of livestock and hundreds of actors, who had no place to stay, Farmer said.
At one time when filmmakers were making “The Man from Painted Post” in 1917, crews reportedly talked about making a “Hollywood, Wyo.,” near Laramie to make filming easier, Farmer said. Given all the logistical problems, he doubts they were serious.
Some of the logistical problems changed after World War II when air travel became more prevalent, Farmer said. With a few notable exceptions, that’s when the best-remembered Wyoming movies were made.
And again, they were Westerns.
1953 brought “Shane,” which is what some regard as the best Wyoming-made movie. Starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Jack Palance and Ben Johnson, it was filmed primarily in Jackson Hole areas now part of Grand Teton National Park, Farmer said.
“There’s lots of flubs and mistakes in the movie and most people just flat out overlook them. They don’t care,” he said.
It also earned five Oscar nominations — the second most of any movie filmed in Wyoming.
It’s the film that people from other countries most identify with Wyoming, he said. In fact, he’s given many tours to Japanese tourists anxious to find out every detail they can about the filming of “Shane.” He’s also participated in a documentary about the demise of the American Western.
“A lot of people are interested in the Western, the old Western that they’re no longer making,” he said.
MODERN SUCCESSES
When the Western died out in the last few decades, Wyoming became the backdrop for several other genres that didn’t require cowboy hats. But much of the focus stayed on Jackson and the Tetons.
It was the town square in Jackson where Clint Eastwood fought in “Any Which Way You Can,” which featured actress Sondra Locke and an orangutan named Clyde.
In 1981, Jackson also appeared again in “The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper,” about an airline hijacker who stole $200,000 and then bailed out of the window. Treat Williams starred.
Sylvester Stallone was supposed to be training in Siberia in “Rocky IV” but that beautiful back More recently, “Starship Troopers” — which Farmer describes as a Western set in outer space — was filmed at Hell’s Half Acre between Casper and Shoshoni.
In 2006, “Flicka” was filmed near Sheridan at Eaton’s Ranch — the same place as “Wild Horses” had been 20 years before.
WHAT'S NEXT
Will there be more?
Michell Howard of the state’s film division hopes so.
So does Farmer, if for no other reason than to add to his knowledge about Wyoming cinema.
“There weren’t really a lot of great movies made in Wyoming, when you get right down to it,” he said. “A lot of the movies were sort of fun because they were downright bombs.”
Excluding, of course, the Wyoming backdrop, which is always memorable.
Case in point: One of the last big screen movies filmed in Wyoming was the forgettable “Meet ... The Deedles,” a 1998 movie filmed near Cody on the Clark’s Fork starring Dennis Hopper.
Michell Howard of the Wyoming Travel and Tourism Department, which is in charge of recruiting filmmakers here, said there are signs that is changing.
Until recently, Wyoming had no incentives to offer filmmakers. Other states did. So did Canada, which is why it attracted “Brokeback Mountain,” which was based on a book set in Wyoming.
But last year, the Wyoming Legislature passed a bill that allows the tourism office to rebate back 12 percent to 15 percent of the money a filmmaker spends in Wyoming as long as the amount spent here is more than $500,000.
Howard said it’s already working. “We’re getting lots more inquiries,” she said. “It is seeming to help.”
Four larger budget films have been looking around. Although Howard said she can’t name them, one has narrowed its focus to the Dubois area, and another to the Jackson area.
It could be years until those pan out. Until then, film fanatics will have to rely on DVDs if they want to see a movie made in Wyoming. Wyoming’s vistas haven’t been filmed as often as, say, New York’s skyline, but it still has some interesting movies to lay claim to.
THE WILD, WILD WEST
Surprisingly, Wyoming appeared in many, many movies in early day Hollywood, when Westerns were in demand and Wyoming’s countryside naturally provided what Hollywood could not.
Thirty-two movies were filmed in Wyoming before 1940, according to Walt Farmer of Jackson, who has compiled “Wyoming: A History of Film and Video in the 20th Century.” It started out as a book, but it’s now a CD-ROM because Farmer found so much material that it wouldn’t fit in book form. “It’s become rather encyclopedic,” he said.
Among those movies was John Wayne’s first starring role, “The Big Trail,” or “The Oregon Trail,” in 1930. Farmer said it’s also reportedly the first time the famous “cowboy” ever rode a horse. It also was Wyoming’s first talking movie.
Also surprisingly, the movies were filmed across Wyoming. We’ve come to expect to see the Tetons in movies (some of those in Jackson refer to those photos and films featuring the famous peaks as IFOTs — In Front of Tetons).
But in the early days, moviegoers were just as likely to see scenes from the Cody and Sheridan areas as they were the Tetons and Yellowstone. Cheyenne also was frequently used as a backdrop.
But even though an impressive number were filmed in Wyoming in the early days, it wasn’t an easy task.
Wyoming was remote and inaccessible. Winters could be brutal and long. When John Wayne was making “The Big Trail,” it required a hundred Conestoga wagons, hundreds of head of livestock and hundreds of actors, who had no place to stay, Farmer said.
At one time when filmmakers were making “The Man from Painted Post” in 1917, crews reportedly talked about making a “Hollywood, Wyo.,” near Laramie to make filming easier, Farmer said. Given all the logistical problems, he doubts they were serious.
Some of the logistical problems changed after World War II when air travel became more prevalent, Farmer said. With a few notable exceptions, that’s when the best-remembered Wyoming movies were made.
And again, they were Westerns.
1953 brought “Shane,” which is what some regard as the best Wyoming-made movie. Starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Jack Palance and Ben Johnson, it was filmed primarily in Jackson Hole areas now part of Grand Teton National Park, Farmer said.
“There’s lots of flubs and mistakes in the movie and most people just flat out overlook them. They don’t care,” he said.
It also earned five Oscar nominations — the second most of any movie filmed in Wyoming.
It’s the film that people from other countries most identify with Wyoming, he said. In fact, he’s given many tours to Japanese tourists anxious to find out every detail they can about the filming of “Shane.” He’s also participated in a documentary about the demise of the American Western.
“A lot of people are interested in the Western, the old Western that they’re no longer making,” he said.
MODERN SUCCESSES
When the Western died out in the last few decades, Wyoming became the backdrop for several other genres that didn’t require cowboy hats. But much of the focus stayed on Jackson and the Tetons.
It was the town square in Jackson where Clint Eastwood fought in “Any Which Way You Can,” which featured actress Sondra Locke and an orangutan named Clyde.
In 1981, Jackson also appeared again in “The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper,” about an airline hijacker who stole $200,000 and then bailed out of the window. Treat Williams starred.
Sylvester Stallone was supposed to be training in Siberia in “Rocky IV” but that beautiful back More recently, “Starship Troopers” — which Farmer describes as a Western set in outer space — was filmed at Hell’s Half Acre between Casper and Shoshoni.
In 2006, “Flicka” was filmed near Sheridan at Eaton’s Ranch — the same place as “Wild Horses” had been 20 years before.
WHAT'S NEXT
Will there be more?
Michell Howard of the state’s film division hopes so.
So does Farmer, if for no other reason than to add to his knowledge about Wyoming cinema.
“There weren’t really a lot of great movies made in Wyoming, when you get right down to it,” he said. “A lot of the movies were sort of fun because they were downright bombs.”
Excluding, of course, the Wyoming backdrop, which is always memorable.
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