If you’re considering a terrific summer vacation destination and you’re a movie lover, you’re in luck!  Look no further than the great state of Wyoming, an outdoor enthusiasts’ paradise and also the place where many of America’s greatest movies were filmed.  And boy, are you extra lucky, because Walt Farmer, longtime Jackson Hole, Wyoming, resident and film buff/astronomer/historian/cowboy poet and a whole lot more, has written a comprehensive guide to Wyoming Film History, and he’ll also take you around on a nifty tour.  And you were worried you wouldn’t have anything fun to do this summer!

From the early days of moving pictures over one hundred years ago to the present day, Wyoming’s varied landscapes have hosted hundreds of production companies.  In addition to playing itself in movies, Wyoming has stood in for everything from the Canadian wilderness to far-off Albania to an even more far-off outer space planet in 1997’s Starship Troopers. 

Most often, of course, Wyoming has played host to movie Western companies, from the steady stream of silents during the first two decades of the last century, on to early talkies like John Wayne’s The Big Trail (1930) directed by Raoul Walsh, and then onto probably two of the most famous movies filmed there, director Howard Hawks’ The Big Sky (1952) and Shane from 1953.  Historian Walt Farmer has extensively chronicled the production of Shane in his cd rom book The Making of Shane, which is packed with information, photos, audio interviews, behind-the-scene materials and literally everything you’d ever want to know about the production of this beloved classic Western starring Alan Ladd, Brandon de Wilde, Jean Arthur and Jack Palance.  The book is available form his website and is highly recommended.  Farmer also offers a spectacular tour of the many Shane locations, and it’s obviously a must for devoted fans of this favorite film. 

The list of Wyoming-filmed productions is long and distinguished, from those titles mentioned above to others such as The Far Horizons (1955) with Charlton Heston, Spencer’s Mountain (1963) starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O’ Hara, Hellfighters starring John Wayne, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) with its unforgettable use of Devil’s Tower, and Any Which Way You Can (1980) starring Clint Eastwood and the charismatic Clyde the Orangutan.  And the list goes on and on, and you’ll be captivated by the wealth of information that Walt Farmer has packed into his Wyoming Film Guide.  It’s a comprehensive study of a place that has clearly fueled and fulfilled the imagination of generations, and it’s wonderful that Mr. Farmer has been able to celebrate Wyoming’s incredible contributions to cinema. 

As I mentioned before, he’s also offers full day and half-day tours of movie locations in and around Jackson Hole, and clearly you’re not going to find a more informed guide anywhere.  Do visit his extensive website for more information about the tours and to purchase copies of his two books, The Making of Shane and Wyoming, A History of Film and Video in the 20th Century.  And then break open that piggy bank and make a trip to God’s country where the air is clean and the movies are everywhere around you.