Early 1900s: Beginnings

The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Company started in 1908 Salt Lake City. It produced scenic films in Utah to try to draw tourists. Henry Revier started one of the West’s largest film plants in Salt Lake City soon after; his first film, Love’s Sorrow, boasted “real Western scenery, real cowboys in their natural surroundings.”

1920s: The First Hollywood Films

In 1923, Ogden native James Cruze directed The Covered Wagon in Northern Utah. It was called the first great Western epic, showing remote places and bison running on Antelope Island.

In southern Utah at about the same time, three brothers; Gronway, Chauncey, and Caleb Whitney Parry; started tourism businesses in Cedar City and Zion National Park. They eventually brought Tom Mix, a popular Western movie star, to Kanab and produce the 1924 film The Deadwood Coach, which promoted Utah’s film industry.

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Lobby card for The Deadwood Coach, 1924, Fox Film Corporation (Public Domain)

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Film poster for Utah’s first movie with sound, In Old Arizona, 1929, William Fox (Public Domain)

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1930s: Growth in Southern Utah

Building on the popularity of The Deadwood Coach, several Western films were made in southern Utah during the 1930s, including Cecil DeMille’s railroad drama Union Pacific and John Ford’s Drums Along the Mohawk. In 1939, Utah further cemented itself as a Western film capital when John Ford filmed Stagecoach, starring John Wayne, in Monument Valley.

1940s: Little Hollywood

Rather than slowing productions, the World War II era boosted Utah filmmaking. In 1943, My Friend Flicka was filmed in Cedar City and Kanab. It was so popular that soon a sequel, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, was filmed near Kanab along with many other movies. Although increasing fees discouraged filmmakers from filming as much in national parks, so many films came to Kanab that in 1949, Kanab was the most popular filming location outside of California. It was nicknamed “Little Hollywood.”

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The Parry Lodge was built near Kanab in 1931, providing lodging to many film production crews. Image courtesy of Parry Lodge.

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Poster for Stagecoach, 1939, United Artists (Public Domain)

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John Ford's films in Monument Valley made the mittens "iconic symbols of the American West" (D'Arc).

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Poster for My Friend Flicka, 1943, 20th Century Fox (Fair Use)

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1950s and 1960s: The Golden Age of Utah Westerns

The spread of television in the 1950s dramatically changed the film industry. Westerns became even more popular, with Utah as a common filming location. Big stars like Clark Gable and Gary Cooper made movies in Utah, and films like The Conqueror (1956, starring John Wayne) gave Utah worldwide publicity. Although there were some troubles with extras' strikes (background characters in movies) in Kanab, Southern Utah continued to play the leading role in Utah's film industry.

In 1969, Robert Redford created strong ties to Utah by starring in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (which was filmed partially in Utah). He would become instrumental in Utah film's future.

1970s: Shifts and State-led Expansion

By the 1970s, Westerns became less popular, and the stream of movies filmed in Southern Utah slowed. However, Utah film was far from finished. With help from Robert Redford, Governor Calvin Rampton led several efforts to expand the industry, including creating the Utah Film Commission in 1974. The state also published A Filmmakers Guide to Utah to attract more crews to Utah.

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Poster for Sargeants 3, 1961, United Artists (Fair Use)

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Robert Redford starred in Jeremiah Johnson, 1972, which was filmed throughout Utah.

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Calvin Rampton, Utah governor from 1965 to 1977, worked to revive Utah Film and created the Utah Film Commission.

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1980s and 1990s: Sundance and Variety

All of that effort paid off— Utah film quickly grew into a modern and varied industry throughout the 80s and 90s. In 1981, Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute to support independent voices in American film. By 1985, the Sundance Film Festival had become a ten-day showcase of new independent American films.

Several iconic Utah movies, like Footloose (1984) and The Sandlot (1993) were filmed during this period. Utah towns became popular options for nostalgic, everyday scenes.

2000s: Continued Growth

In 2005, Utah created a small incentive program to remain competitive with new locations for filming movies outside of the state. Movie crews who filmed and spent money in the state could pay less in state taxes. In 2011, that was expanded into the Motion Picture Incentive Program, which still encourages projects to choose Utah today.

In 2006, Disney Channel filmed High School Musical in Salt Lake City and Murray. The iconic film was part of 27 Disney Channel movies shot in Utah because of its “anytown USA” look. The Sundance Film Festival also grew in prominence in the 2000s, becoming the largest independent film festival in the United States.

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Poster for Footloose, 1984, Paramount Pictures (Fair Use)

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Poster for The Sandlot, 1993, 20th Century Fox (Fair Use)

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Poster for High School Musical, 2006, Disney Channel (Fair Use)

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The Sundance Film Festival became the largest independent film festival in the U.S. in the early 2000s.

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Utah Film Today

More than 100 years from its beginning, Utah's film industry has come a long way, and it continues to grow; it brought over $604 million in spending and 36,600 jobs to the state in the last decade, much of that in rural communities. Streaming channels and independent films have brought a lot of the most recent growth. The Chosen, Yellowstone, and several Hallmark Christmas movies are still being filmed in Utah. With Sundance Film Festival expanding every year and the Utah Film Commission constantly working to bring crews to the state, Utah's film industry will likely continue to impact its culture and economy for decades to come.

References and Additional Resources

D’Arc, James. When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Movie Making in Utah. Gibbs Smith, 2010.
Utah Film Commission Website: https://film.utah.gov/
Sundance Institute Website: Sundance Institute - sundance.org

Author: Carley Garner, undergraduate student at Brigham Young University

Instructions for Graphic Organizer

Teachers: You may need to simplify, adjust, or scaffold these instructions for students, depending on grade level/ability. This is just a general outline.

1. Analyze nine of the fifteen film clips from the archive page. (Teachers: you can add or remove rows from the table if you want students to look at more or fewer clips)
2. In the first three columns, write the name of the film and its genre; the release date of the film along with any relevant historical context you can think of for that time; and the Utah filming location for the clip. Google can help out if needed.
3. For the next column, listen to the background music/dialogue of the clip without watching the picture. Record what feelings and ideas the music might convey. (Teachers: you can edit this column out for a quicker version of the activity.)
4. Watch the clip again (with the picture this time) and fill the last column with how the Utah backdrop contributed to the scene. What role is Utah playing in the film?
5. Work with your group members and discuss answers as you go. If you have extra time, you may begin discussing the reflection questions together.
6. Go back to your assigned seat and answer the reflection questions. (Teachers: you can have students fill the last questions out alone or together before the class debrief). Discuss answers as a class.