An Incomplete List of Movies Filmed in Arizona

Thursday, 08 April 2010 02:43

Stagecoach (1939) A stagecoach trip with an unlikely group of passengers includes a drunken doctor, a robber/bank manager, and the famous Ringo Kid. Stars John Wayne and John Ford.

Arizona (1940) Phoebe Titus is a tough pioneer woman, but becomes softened and feminine when she falls in love with Peter Muncie. Peter plans to move to California, though, and Phoebe is left alone to deal with villains plotting to destroy her freighting company. Stars William Holden.

A Kiss Before Dying (1956) Bud Corliss is wooing Dorothy Kingship just for her father’s money. When Corliss discovers the girl is pregnant and is likely to be disowned, they convincingly stage her suicide, but her sister finds evidence to question the suicide.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) Wyatt Earp decides to quit his career as a lawman and move to Tombstone, Ariz., where his brothers live.  A feud begins with a local gang of thieves and they call on their friend Doc Holliday, a terminally ill gambler. Stars Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.

Psycho (1960) Poor Phoenix office worker Marion Crane is trusted to deposit $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the money as an opportunity for a new life, she leaves town to meet her boyfriend in California. When she is caught in a violent storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. Norman Bates and his mother manage the motel. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Lilies of the Field (1963) A traveling handyman is driving through the desert when he stops at a remote farm when he has car trouble. Catholic nuns who believe that God sent the Baptist handyman to build a church in the remote desert run the farm.

Hombre (1967) John 'Hombre' Russell, a man raised by an Indian tribe, trades an inherited lodging-house in the city for a herd. He obtains a stagecoach and gathers a group of seven unlikely passengers who journey to a new city. They attract a band of robbers who follow them throughout their journey. Stars Paul Newman. 

Charro! (1969) Innocent Jess Wade is accused of stealing from the Mexican revolutionary forces and tries to find the real culprits, a gang of criminals. Stars Elvis Presley.

Joe Kidd (1972) During the Mexican-American War, Joe Kidd is the epitome of a “man’s man” all-around tough guy in the American Southwest. Stars Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall.

Revenge of the Nerds (1984) When nerds Gilbert and Lewis start their freshman year at Adams College, they are taunted by the school jocks and get kicked out of their dorm. When Lewis falls in love with the quarterback’s girlfriend, the nerds and their friends form their own fraternity in self-defense.

Raising Arizona (1987) - An ex-con and ex-cop get married and realize they can’t have children.  At the same time, a set of quintuplets is famously born into a prominent family.  The unlikely couple decides to kidnap one of the children and call it their own. Stars Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter.

Thelma and Louise (1991) Louise and Thelma are both frustrated with their significant others and decide to escape on an adventure together. Their road trip turns sour, though, when they run into threatening men and are suddenly wanted by the police department. Stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. 

Tombstone (1993) – Successful lawman, Wyatt Earp, moves to Tombstone, Ariz., in hopes of settling down. His two brothers and his friend, Doc Holliday, go to Tombstone with him. A band of outlaws called “The Cowboys” start causing problems in the town and eventually face the Earps and Holliday in a shootout the OK Corral. Stars Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.

Nurse Betty (2000) - A waitress from Kansas City who dreams of becoming a nurse goes into shock after seeing her husband murdered. She starts having delusions and travels to Los Angeles to find her soap opera idol that she believes to be her ex-fiancé. Meanwhile, her husband's murderers are searching for the drugs her husband stole and hid in the trunk of her car. Stars Morgan Freeman, Renee Zellweger and Chris Rock.

Away We Go (2009) – An unmarried couple becomes pregnant and travels the country looking for a place to raise their baby.  They connect with pessimistic relatives and quirky old friends in search of the perfect home. Stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph.

Written by Bridget Miller You are reading An Incomplete List of Movies Filmed in Arizona articles