MovieChat Forums > The Bells of St. Mary's (1946) Discussion > Filmed at OLD TUCSON?? hard to believe.....

Filmed at OLD TUCSON?? hard to believe...

posted 10 years ago by leighant
3 replies | jump to latest

While planning a trip to Arizona, I saw a note at "Old Tucson" movie set's website that "The Bells of Saint Mary's" was filmed there. Hard to believe- Old Tucson is a wild west town with a Spanish mission church set and I think a small town church- whereas "Bells of Saint Mary's" portrayed a large city church. That prompted me to look it up here on imdb- but I was amazed. imdb lists only Old Tucson as the filming location.
I believe part of the story is where one sister is sent out west to recover from disease and there may have been a minor scene or two, but ...
I imagine a Hollywood studio lot was the main filming location for the exteriors, and some look like rear screen projection. Anyone know.

[–] bastasch8647 10 years ago

Must be wrong. There was no location "feel" to any of the film, which was obviously shot on a sound stage. Sure, the sound stage could have been located in Arizona, but why would that be, since Hollywood abounded in sound stages when the movie was filmed...

[–] leighant 10 years ago

I visited Old Tucson when it opened for the season on Oct.4 and found the answer to my question. I asked a guide. He said Old Tucson had been built for the film "Arizona" released in 1940, then the set was not used until 1945 when "Bells of Saint Mary's" had a scene with a character who traveled to Arizona. The scene was filmed at Old Tucson's "mission" façade. It was not all that far from Hollywood and less expensive than building a set at the main studio. The guide told me the scene shot at Old Tucson WAS NOT USED in the film but edited out. So it was not important to the film. But the filming WAS important to Old Tucson, at getting Hollywood to come back and use the set, leading to the slew of westerns made there.

[–] Bruce7 7 years ago

Filming Locations: Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

IMDB

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