Photo via Mescal Movie Set
By Dina Kaur | Arizona Republic
The Mescal Movie Set in southern Arizona has seen a lot over its 70-year film history, which began with scenes shot there for “Winchester 73” starring Jimmy Stewart.
After a physical town set was built in 1968-1969 for the movie “Monte Walsh,” which starred Lee Marvin and Jack Palance, it became an even more popular place to film movies and TV series, like “Bonanza,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “Little House on the Prairie,” against the backdrop of the iconic Western landscape reminiscent of the American frontier.
Other big names to have stepped onto the Mescal Movie Set include Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Glenn Ford, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, the list goes on and on.
The 28 buildings on 70 acres of land in cattle country with mountain backdrops, scenic vistas and stunning sunsets was owned by Old Tucson Studios and used as a secondary filming site, but then fell into disrepair. The set was scheduled to be demolished if no buyer came through.
Mescal Movie Set was purchased by Kartchner Ventures in 2021 to prevent it from being torn down.
The group is now giving the Mescal Movie Set some much-needed restoration in hopes of bringing the film industry back to southern Arizona.
