Ford’s Monument Valley
John Ford loved to shoot his westerns in Monument Valley, Utah. Those films include Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Wagon Master (1950), Rio Grande (1950), The Searchers (1956), Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).
So how did he discover this rugged and picturesque location? Here’s the story as explained by the Internet Movie Database:
“In 1939 there was no paved road through Monument Valley, hence the reason why it hadn’t been used as a movie location before (it wasn’t paved until the 1950s). Harry Goulding, who ran a trading post there, had heard that John Ford was planning a big-budget Western so he traveled to Hollywood, armed with over 100 photographs, and threatened to camp out on Ford’s doorstep until the director saw him. Ford saw him almost immediately and was instantly sold on the location, Particularly when he realized that its remoteness would free him of studio interference.”
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