Old Tucson Studio

In the desert a few miles west of Tucson is a working movie studio. The original townsite was built for the movie "Arizona" in the 30's and has been used in over 300 movies since. When no movies are being shot the site is open to the public so off we go.
The site looks more like a western town than the original ones probably did. Hollywood does know their business. During the day there were numerous wild west activities like gun fights put on by stunt men. These were highly entertaining and polished productions. Every half hour something new was happening; we hardly had time to get from one to another.
After walking the dusty streets we decided that we'd take a break and watch the can-can dancers in the dance hall. I can imagine the whooping and hollering that must have went on when cowboys who had been on the range for months came into town and saw this show.
By trying to get into the swing of things I guess I whooped and hollered a bit too much because the next thing I knew I was up on stage. I figured this is OK. I'll get to see some pretty girls dancing up close; no downside to that.

Yeah, right! It didn't take them long to get me backstage, costumed and back to try my hand at the can-can. Although I'm naturally athletic I haven't had any formal dance training so time to wing it.
Us volunteers didn't have much of a chance. These girls could kick a seagull off their heads, we would have trouble kicking a dead rat on the sidewalk. We made up for our lack of ability with enthusiasm. And by the way, I'm not looking at her legs, I'm trying follow the dance steps, really.

They wanted to make me part of their dance troupe but I had to graciously decline. Notice their sad expressions at the disappointing news.

We headed out of the dance hall before I could change my mind. This gave us a chance to walk around the town and see some of the sights. Every street and building has been used in various movies and it was neat to be walking where a lot of Hollywoods biggest stars walked.
A train travels through the town and goes to some movie sites that are away from the town plus, I just like train rides.
There were lots of places to stop for lunch so we went Mexican. Carmen and I shared a burrito and I had a Corona; can't go more Mexican than that. John and Elaine had nachos; Yosemite was worried about gas so he just watched us eat.
After trying to walk off our lunch, we sat down and watched the premier show of the day. There were lots of stunts, fireworks, high dives from the top of the building and prat falls. You may recognise the front of the mission. It was in the final scene of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" when they charged out to be shot by the Bolivian army. It was also used in the "Three Amigos" where they copied that scene.
All over the site there were props used in various movies. Although all the buildings look authentic from the outside, inside were a number of displays with guns, clothing and other props from the movies that have been made here. The TV series "Little House on the Prairie" was filmed here and some of the buildings from that show are there to go into. If you are a movie buff, especially a western movie lover, you'd love this place. I've always been a John Wayne fan and a lot of his big westerns were filmed here so theres lots of his memorabilia to see.
The town is unashamedly a movie set. A lot of buildings are false front with nothing behind. I guess most inside shots are done in a studio somewhere. Its still a lot of fun to walk down a dusty western street and watch the stunt shows. Although Tombstone was interesting because of its history, people live there and modern activities intrude on the experience. In Old Tucson, you'd swear you're back in the old west. Its a fun experience.