Desert Messenger

10 www.DesertMessenger.com August 9, 2017 Traveling with Gypsy Jane by Jane Finley (1936-2017) Little Hollywood 6/23/06 Kanab, Utah THRIFT STORE Benefitting the La Paz County Animal Shelter in Parker Supported by your generous donations! 455 E. Main St. Quartzsite Open Tues. thru Sat. 9-3 928-927-4223 Quartzsite Beauty Salon Perms, Colors, Haircuts. Men & Women HOURS 9-5 Monday thru Saturday Walk Ins Welcome! 250 E. Main Street Quartzsite, AZ 928-927-6664 Because of the hundreds of mostly western fi lms made in Kanab, Utah, it is known as the Little Hollywood. The list includes: WESTERN FILMS: Brighty of the Grand Canyon with Joseph Cotton, MacKenna's Gold with Gregory Peck and Omar Shariff, The Shooting with Jack Nicholson, Broken Arrow with John Travolta, The Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood OTHER FILMS: Planet of the Apes, The Greatest Story Ever Told TV SERIES: The Lone Ranger, Lass- ie, Death Valley Days, Route 66, Gunsmoke, Six Million Dollar Man Many of the stars and fi lm crew stayed at Parry Lodge, founded in 1931, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's located in down- town Kanab, and you can still stay there or just stop by for a meal. Parry Lodge served the movie industry for more than fi ve decades. The walls are covered with autographed pictures of many famous movie stars, and I heard the rooms are named after many who slept there. Can you imagine sleeping in the room used by Tyrone Power or Ray Milland (if you're old enough to know who they are!)? Every evening at Parry Lodge you can see western movie FREE in the Old Barn. I'm not a big fan of West- erns, but I thought it would be in- teresting to see a movie fi lmed in this scenic area, and I wasn't disap- pointed. The opening scene in "Dual at Diablo" was fi lmed at the red-rock mesa near the city park. I recognized it right away. The movie starred James Garner and Sydney Portier. Both actors were MUCH younger and MUCH thinner than they are to- day. (Aren't we all?) Last night I saw "One Little Indian" starring James Garner, a very young Jodie Foster, and a mother and baby camel. The camels played a major role. They alone are worth seeing the movie. One can visit several old movie sets located in and around Kanab. One old barn is now used as a real barn at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Ralph, the person who shows the movies, and I talked for a while after a movie. He and his wife have been full-timing for three years. They pick up jobs wherever they go. Being of retirement age, when the employer asks how many hours they want to work, Ralph replies, "as few as pos- sible." The western movies, with Ralph as emcee, are great fun. Before the fi lm, he jokes and chats with the audience, asking where they're from and trivia questions. He knows EV- ERYTHING about the movies and the stars. I thought he must have been doing this all his life, but he says he learned on this job. He obvi- ously loves it and so does the audi- ence. There are many stories about the fi lming days in Kanab. Some of Ralph's stories are included below. I hope I got the facts right here; if not, they still make good stories!) 1) A Kanab resident had a small role in "Duel at Diablo." At the end of the movie, he sat on a horse holding a fl ag. He tells how "Indians" were paid $10 if they just rode by on a horse and $25 if they fell off. With the fi rst gunshot, 100 "Indians" fell off their horses! 2) An elderly woman took home several of the styrofoam "boulders" used in a movie. One windy day, a "boulder" blew out of her yard into the street. She walked over and picked up the "boulder" with ease. A passing motorist was so amazed, he smashed his car into a tree. 3) Frank Sinatra was permitted to use the high school football fi eld to land the helicopter which fl ew him in and out while fi lming a movie. As a thank you to the school, he bought new uniforms for the football team, the band -- everyone who needed a uniform. (I've never been a big Sina- tra fan, but that helped!) 4) Many extras were hired to be Indi- ans -- hooping, hollering, and shoot- ing arrows at the soldiers. The next day the same extras were hired as sol- diers -- shooting at the Indians. So, they all ended up killing each other! 5) After the day's fi lming, entrepre- neurs would search the area for ar- rows and sell them as souvenirs. ~*~*~*~*~*~ "Ain't you got no ambition in life? Do something. Rustle cattle, hold up a stage coach or play cards or something." -- Bud Spencer in "They Call me Trinity" ~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~ ANYWAY (anonymous) People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfi sh, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies, Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help, but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you've got anyway. ~*~*~*~*~*~

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