Sedona Movie History

The Kaiser of California, better known as “The Emperor of California” (German Der Kaiser von Kalifornien), is a 1936 film that has the distinction of being the first western film made in Nazi Germany. Some exterior scenes were even shot on location in the United States at Sedona and the Grand Canyon in Arizona and at Death Valley in California. The film follows the life story of Johann Augustus Suter, the owner of Sutter’s Mill, famous as the birthplace of the great California Gold Rush of 1848. While the basic story of Sutter’s life is retained, the producers inserted some notable changes reflecting the political environment of the film’s creation: though Sutter was a Swiss-German, the film emphasizes his German ethnicity and though he changed his name to John Sutter when he came to the United States, throughout the film he retains the name Johann Suter. The film opposes the “easy” money of gold-digging with the wealth and values created by hard work, as the Gold Rush eventually destroys Suter’s fortunes and creates social disintegration and the loss of solidarity and companionship.
In the final scene the aged and impoverished Sutter is shown in Washington, where he has a vision of America’s future industrial might, seeing a land full of skyscrapers and factories.
Unlike most American Westerns of the 1930s, The Kaiser of California offers a sympathetic portrait of the Indians, whom Sutter respectfully befriends. In this it follows the Karl May tradition of German Western stories, which often featured noble Indians and German immigrants turned pioneers and gunmen.
The film won the 1936 Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival. It was screened as part of the “Venice Days” series at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September 2011.
The film was written and directed by Luis Trenker, who also starred as Johann Sutter. Trenker had previously directed Der verlorene Sohn (The Prodigal Son, 1934), the story of an Alpine immigrant in New York, which is the only other film produced in Nazi Germany with scenes photographed on location in the United States.

Johnny Guitar is a 1954 Republic Pictures western drama film starring Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, and Scott Brady. The screenplay was based upon a novel by Roy Chanslor. Though credited to Philip Yordan, he was merely a front for the actual screenwriter, blacklistee Ben Maddow. Filmed in Republic’s Trucolor process, the film was directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by Herbert J. Yates.In 2008, Johnny Guitar was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Angel and the Badman is a 1947 American Western film written and directed by James Edward Grant and starring John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey and Bruce Cabot. The film is about an injured gunfighter who is nursed back to health by a Quaker girl and her family whose way of life influences him and his violent ways. Angel and the Badman was the first film Wayne produced as well as starred in, and was a departure for this genre at the time it was released. Writer-director James Edward Grant was Wayne’s frequent screenwriting collaborator. In 1975, the film entered the public domain in the USA due to the copyright claimants failure to renew the copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.

Desert Fury is a 1947 Paramount Pictures color film noir drama directed by Lewis Allen and featuring Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak and Burt Lancaster, with Mary Astor and Wendell Corey. The story was adapted for the screen by A.I. Bezzerides and Robert Rossen, based on the racy novel Desert Town by Ramona Stewart. The picture was produced by Hal Wallis, with music was by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography in Technicolor by Charles Lang.

Blood on the Moon is a 1948 RKO black-and-white “psychological” western directed by Robert Wise with cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca. The film, starring Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Robert Preston has many film noir elements. It was shot in California and some of the more scenic shots at Red Rock Crossing, Sedona, Arizona. The picture is based on the novel Gunman’s Chance by Luke Short.

3:10 to Yuma is a 1957 American western film starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin and directed by Delmer Daves. The film was based on a 1953 short story by Elmore Leonard. In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.The title song, “3:10 to Yuma” was by George Duning (music), with lyrics by Ned Washington (and also recorded by Sandy Denny in 1967). In the Arizona Territory of the 1880s, rancher Dan Evans (Van Heflin) and his young sons witness a stagecoach holdup. When the driver, Bill Moons (Sheridan Comerate), overpowers one of the robbers and uses him as a human shield, Ben Wade (Glenn Ford), the leader of the gang, callously shoots both men. Wade and his men stop at the saloon in nearby Bisbee, Arizona, posing as cowhands. When Wade stays to seduce the pretty barmaid Emmy (Felicia Farr), he is captured, but his henchman Charlie Prince (Richard Jaeckel) gets away with the news. The townspeople fear what his men will do, so the town marshal decides to have two volunteers sneak the prisoner to Contention City to catch a train, the 3:10 to Yuma. Mr. Butterfield (Robert Emhardt), the stage-line owner, offers $200 for the dangerous job. Desperate after three years of drought, Dan jumps at the opportunity, but the only other man interested is the town drunk, Alex Potter (Henry Jones). When no one else steps forward, the marshal reluctantly accepts them.
Wade is placed on a stagecoach, which then stops (in view of some of the gang) for a faked repair; the outlaw is secretly taken off while the stage continues on with an imposter, in the hopes that by the time the outlaws figure out what has happened, it will be too late. Wade is taken to Dan’s ranch, where Dan’s devoted wife Alice (Leora Dana) serves supper to the family and their “guest”.
Dan, Alex and Wade leave under cover of darkness, reaching Contention City at daybreak. Butterfield has reserved the bridal suite at the hotel. While they wait for the train, Wade tries several times to bribe Dan into letting him go, his interest in Dan seeming to go beyond a simple exchange of freedom for cash. Dan is greatly tempted. The local sheriff is out of town, but Butterfield hires five men to help escort the prisoner to the train.
Things go awry when Bob Moons (Sheridan Comerate) barges in unexpectedly and threatens to shoot his brother’s killer. Dan wrestles his gun away from him, but in the struggle, it goes off. Downstairs, Charlie Prince (Richard Jaeckel), who has also come to Contention City, hears the gunshot, and spots Wade in a window. Charlie is seen riding off to fetch the rest of the gang.
The men Butterfield recruited watch as seven riders enter the town. Not liking the odds, they retreat, leaving only Dan, Alex and Butterfield. When Alex goes out to reconnoiter, he spots one of Wade’s men on a rooftop opposite the hotel. Alex calls out, warning Dan, but is shot in the back by Prince. The gang hangs the wounded Alex from the lobby chandelier, killing him. Butterfield decides that maintaining Wade as a prisoner is not worth the risk, and releases Dan from his obligation. Alice arrives and also tries to change her husband’s mind, but he is committed: “The town drunk gave his life because he believed that people should be able to live in decency and peace together. You think I can do less?”
When the clock strikes three, Dan escorts Wade out the back door. Gang members take shots whenever they can without endangering Wade, but despite their best efforts, they cannot stop the pair from reaching the platform, where the train is waiting. Finally, the outlaws emerge to confront Dan as the train starts to leave. Charlie shouts for Wade to drop to allow them a clear shot at Dan. Instead, Wade unexpectedly tells Dan to jump into the passing baggage car. They jump together. The gang starts to run after the train, but Dan shoots Charlie and the rest then let it go. Wade explains himself, saying he felt he owed Dan for protecting him from Bob Moons in the hotel room, and confidently claiming he has broken out of the Yuma jail before (implying he can do so again), but whether these statements reflect his true motivations and prospects is not clear. Alice sees Dan safe on the train as rain pours down on her, breaking the long drought.

3:10 to Yuma is a 2007 western film directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, and stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles, with supporting performances by Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Vinessa Shaw, and Logan Lerman. It is a remake of the 1957 film of the same name, making it the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s short story Three-Ten to Yuma. Filming took place in various locations in New Mexico. 3:10 to Yuma opened September 7, 2007, in the United States.

In August 1884, Dan Evans is an impoverished rancher and Civil War veteran. He owes money to Glen Hollander and when he fails to pay, two of Hollander’s men set his barn on fire. The next morning, as Evans and his two sons drive their herd, they stumble upon outlaw Ben Wade and his gang who are using Evans’ cattle to block the road and ambush an armored stagecoach staffed by Pinkerton agents. As Wade loots the stage, Wade discovers Evans and his two sons watching from the hills. Acknowledging that they pose no threat to him and his gang, Wade takes their horses telling Evans that he will leave them tied up on the road to Bisbee.
Wade travels with his gang to the town of Bisbee to enjoy a celebratory drink at the local saloon. Evans eventually arrives with lawmen from Bisbee and tries in vain to negotiate with Hollander. Enraged at the loss of his livelihood and land, Evans tries confronting Hollander in the nearby saloon. Instead he encounters Wade once again, whom he distracts long enough for the railroad guards to ambush and arrest him.
The coach’s owner, Grayson Butterfield, enlists McElroy, Potter, Tucker, one of Hollander’s guards, and Evans, who agrees for a $200 fee to deliver Wade for arrest. From Evans’ ranch, McElroy arranges a decoy wagon to distract Wade’s gang, now led by Charlie Prince. The real prisoner transport charts a course for Contention, where Wade will be put on the 3:10 afternoon train to Yuma Territorial Prison.
During the journey, Wade kills Tucker with a fork he stole from the ranch and later McElroy by throwing him off a cliff. William, Evans’ oldest son, who had been following the group all the way from the ranch, intercepts Wade. While taking a shortcut through a canyon, the group is attacked by Apaches. Wade kills the attackers and escapes to a Chinese laborer construction camp, where the foreman captures him. Evans, William, Potter and Butterfield appear and regain custody of their prisoner, but Potter is killed in the process. The group arrives in Contention hours before the train’s arrival time and check into a hotel, where several local marshals join them.
Wade’s gang members ambush the decoy wagon and interrogate the lone survivor. They learn that Wade is being delivered to Contention. Upon their arrival, they enlist the aid of numerous mercenary-minded citizens to secure Wade’s release. This triggers a mass resignation of everyone escorting Wade to the train with the exception of Evans.
Evans escorts Wade out of the hotel and the two make their way across town as they evade continuous gunfire from the townsmen. Wade surprises Evans and nearly strangles him, but relents when Evans reveals that delivering Wade to the train was not just about the money, but to restore his own sense of honor. The only battle Evans had been involved in during the Civil War was a retreat and his injury was sustained through friendly fire, a fact that had humiliated him ever since. Delivering Wade would restore his family’s finances, guarantee their futures and serve as an accomplishment that his sons could remember well. But Evans is contracted only to successfully deliver his prisoner to the train. In light of this knowledge, Wade agrees to board the train, allowing Evans’ contract to be fulfilled.
However, Wade’s gang members know nothing of this arrangement. As Wade finally boards, he congratulates Evans. At that moment, Prince walks up from behind and fatally shoots Evans despite Wade’s order to stop. Wade steps off the train and catches the gun belt Prince tosses him. Wade abruptly executes Prince along with the rest of his gang. William appears and draws his gun on Wade but finds that he cannot kill him, instead turning to his dying father. Wade boards the train and politely surrenders his weapon. Evans eventually dies as Wade rides the train around a bend. He lets out a whistle, and his faithful horse pricks up his ears and gallops after the train while it is still gathering speed.