Lone Pine in the Movies: Where the Real West Becomes the Reel West

Like its predecessors, the 2013 edition of Lone Pine in the Movies examines vintage films made in and around this sleepy little town nestled among the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the shadow of majestic Mount Whitney. This all-Westerns issue features a handful of in-depth articles, all profusely illustrated with portraits, scene stills, and poster reproductions from the horse operas under discussion. In an extensive interview, Don Murray (Marilyn Monroe’s leading man in Bus Stop) opens up about his long career and especially his offbeat 1958 Western, From Hell to Texas, which was shot in Lone Pine. Another lengthy piece chronicles the making of three classic Randolph Scott oaters written by Burt Kennedy and directed by Budd Boetticher: The Tall T, Ride Lonesome, and Comanche Station. Hopalong Cassidy’s first boy sidekick, 12-year-old rodeo star Billy King, reminisces about his trio of 1937-38 Hoppy pictures filmed in the area. Other articles explore the Lone Pine productions of “B”-Western stars Tom Tyler and Jack Randall. The issue ends with a portfolio of then-and-now photos in which Los Angeles Times lenser Don Kelsen matches old movie stills with new shots taken on the same spots for comparison purposes. This handsomely printed journal sports a glossy wraparound cover and offers more than a hundred pages and just as many illustrations.