New owners to renovate the Mescal Movie Set east of Tucson

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TUCSON, Arizona – Telling stories about life in the Wild West was a daily chore for the folks behind the Mescal Movie Set east of Tucson.

The location, many of 27 buildings that until recently served as an extension of Old Tucson, has hosted more than 80 Western films and television shows over five decades.

Actors like Lee Marvin in “Monte Walsh,” Mel Gibson in “Maverick,” and Steve McQueen in “Tom Horn,” brought gunfights, poker games, and the rustling of cattle to the 70-acre property about 4 miles north of Interstate 10 .

Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp competed with his brothers Virgil, played by Sam Elliott, and Morgan, played by Bill Paxton, in the 1993 classic “Tombstone” against cowboys with red sashes.

In the modern western “The Quick and the Dead,” Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio competed from head to toe in Mescal and took part in a quick draw competition to determine the fastest weapon in the West.

Mark Sankey, speaker of the set, can tell you where a movie star who played cowboy on the property took his last breath.

“Leonardo died right here,” said Sankey, pointing to a patch of earth in the middle of the saloons, brothels and shops where DiCaprio as “The Kid” caught a snail during a duel with Hackman.

As an alternative film to Old Tucson, Mescal produced a long list of iconic films about the West.

Thanks to a local rancher family, this tradition is now continuing.

In February, Kartchner Ventures, owned and operated by the Kartchners, a fifth generation rancher family in Cochise County after whom Kartchner Caverns is named, acquired the property to prevent the set from being demolished.

The owners of Old Tucson and the Mescal set closed Old Tucson in September 2020, citing the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown as the culprit.

Mescal, which had expired and was only used in smaller productions in recent years, was to be demolished if no buyer could be found.

Sankey said the Kartchners didn’t want to get into the movie business but felt it was important to keep the set up.

“The western genre has always had a broad audience and will continue to do so for generations to come,” said JJ Kartchner, speaking for the family, in an email statement. “At its base, western stories are about good versus bad, overcoming battles and living according to a code. As ranchers, we felt the need to keep the West alive and to share it with the world. “

The Kartchners plan to revitalize the set to make it attractive for large and small film productions. They also plan to open the property for tours by reservation as early as Labor Day, Sankey said.

Much work remains to be done to achieve all of this.

Some of the buildings, such as the saloon that was built during the filming of “The Quick and the Dead”, are still in relatively good condition.

“We call it the saloon that Sharon Stone built,” Sankey said. “She was a producer on that film.”

Others, like the building that served as the courthouse in Paul Newman’s classic “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean,” are on the verge of collapse.

At one point the Mescal Movie Set had 45 buildings, many of which were built to be moved to change the look of the city.

Of the remaining buildings – including the buildings along the main thoroughfare, an out-of-town ranch house to the west, and a nearby cavalry fortress built for the 1997 television movie “Buffalo Soldiers” – “all” of the roofs are leaking, “said Sankey: “Our greatest concern at the moment is the security, the stabilization of the buildings, the flooring and the roofing.”

To do this, the film set has recruited a small army of volunteers who have been working non-stop since the beginning of April to get the property back in the cold.

Cindy Kuhn, the operation’s office manager, said she had an ongoing list of about 300 volunteers who have agreed to help.

Right now, with the summer heat reigning and the monsoons still active, the organizers are only drawing the talents of their skilled volunteers, people with backgrounds in areas like carpentry and architecture, to get out.

“Our volunteers were great,” said Kuhn. “They come from all walks of life, of all ages, with different skills, but with the same passion.”

Sankey said that in addition to rehabilitating the existing aging structures, the goal is to eventually create more, build buildings that have collapsed or never been there to begin with, such as a blacksmith shop, stage depot, cafe, and church.

“We’re going to build a few more houses,” said Sankey. “We’re investigating what other sets have and don’t have. Our consultants have urged us to build more houses.”

Sankey said that when the renovations are complete, they hope to draw medium-sized film productions and smaller projects like commercials and music videos first.

The set will also be available for weddings, reunions and corporate events.

Sankey said the goal is to complement, not compete with, places like the real tombstone, about 40 minutes southeast of Mescal.

“We see this as a stop on the way from Tucson to Tombstone,” he said. “Stop here for a tour, enjoy, and then head down the street for lunch and a beer. We are networking with the local cities to show that we are not competing for their tourism dollars . “

Tom Kimmel cuts wood salvaged from the damaged buildings and structures and helps repair the boardwalk outside the main salon at the Mescal film set in Benson, Arizona. (Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star via AP)

The crew takes a lunch break and uses the main salon for their meal on the Mescal Movie Set in Benson, Arizona (Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star via AP)

Ethan Kartchner steps in for a horse as he and his mother, JJ, test a new buggy on the main street of the Mescal Movie Set in Benson, Arizona. (Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star via AP)

Promotional stills, backstage photos, including one of Ricardo Montalban on the set of The High Chaparral, and signage from Old Tucson Studios on the Mescal Movie set in Benson, Arizona (Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star via AP)

Monsoon storm clouds begin to form over the Mescal film set in Benson, Arizona (Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star via AP)

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