Call of the Canyon

Of all the films made in the Sedona area over the years, 1923's silent The Call of the Canyon casts the longest shadow, yet odds are it never will be seen again. It may be gone, but thanks to vintage sources, we can make sure it's never forgotten.

The Call of the Canyon is the cornerstone of Sedona's movie history, the first Hollywood production to shoot on location in Oak Creek Canyon way back in 1923. It's difficult to say if even a handful of people alive today can honestly claim to have seen this silent film - whether it's even been shown since the Hoover administration is anyone's guess. But one thing's for sure: With each passing day it grows less likely that anyone reading this now will ever have the opportunity, as the odds of a copy turning up grow more slim. No print is currently known to exist in the United States (an index of the holdings of a film archive in Russia indicates one reel of the seven that made up the finished product is in its collection, but efforts to confirm this remained unanswered at press time), and without active preservation efforts, the nitrate film stock used in any

The film stars Richard Dix (Glenn Kilbourne), Lois Wilson (Carley Burch), Marjorie Daw (Flo Hutter), Noah Beery (Ruff Haze), and Ricardo Cortez (Larry Morrison). On August 30, 1923, the moviemakers arrived in Flagstaff from Los Angeles, joined by numerous rough riders, maids and roustabouts. The company would stay in Flagstaff for several days, shooting the first part of the picture there before trekking down into Oak Creek Canyon.
The Call of the Canyon premiered in New York on Dec. 16, 1923, and surprisingly, despite the studio's heavy promotion of the fact it was filmed at the locations in Zane Grey's book, Oak Creek Canyon was never once mentioned by name in materials distributed to the press. Back in Flagstaff, enthusiastic hometown audiences greeted The Call of the Canyon's arrival, with two screenings to accommodate all who wanted to see how the local scenery looked on the screen.

Text © 2006 Sedona Monthly

© 2006-2007 Bar225 Media Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sitemap

Internet Marketing by North Star Direct Marketing