HOLLYWOOD'S STAND-IN FOR THE OLD WEST.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

TUCSON, Ariz. - Frank Cavanaugh halted at a plain-looking barn, and as he spoke, a movie scene sprang to life.

``Now, John Wayne was just inside the door there,'' said Cavanaugh, a walking-tour guide at Old Tucson Studios. ``Ricky Nelson was firing out of that window. Dean Martin was over there behind that adobe wall. And Walter Brennan was over on this side with the dynamite.''

For one tourist in the group, a 50-ish man from Huntington Beach, a klieg light of recognition had gone on. ``Oh, yeah!'' he said in wonder. It was as if the climactic (and, truth be told, absurd) shootout from the 1958 film ``Rio Bravo'' was playing out right before his eyes.

Movie buffs - particularly those keen on the western genre that flourished in Hollywood in the 1950s and early '60s - have many such moments at Old Tucson Studios, which lies just west of town in a stretch of Sonoran desert that alternately has been passed off as Texas, Mexico, Nevada, Kansas and numerous sites in Arizona.

It's an unapologetic tourist attraction - with canoe rides, a carousel, a petting zoo and a narrow-gauge train - but it was spawned entirely for Hollywood make-believe, and that's the primary lure for most visitors.

Some people pull in here taking the name to heart, assuming that this was, in fact, the site of Old Tucson, and that the ramshackle structures are somehow historic. This only serves to confirm the movie industry's skill at suspending reality.

This town was built from scratch by Columbia Pictures in 1939. The studio had resolved to do something uncommon for the time - shoot a western entirely on location, rather than relying heavily on sound stages and back lots. Advance people visited historical archives in Tucson and attempted to create a replica of the town as it was in 1860, before the frontier region had become a U.S. territory, much less a state.

Adobe structures were built, but only with three sides, since sunlight was needed through the ceiling to light the interior scenes, and a back wall would have blocked the camera's view. When it was finished, Columbia filmed ``Arizona,'' a modest success.

After a filmmaking lull during World War II, Hollywood rediscovered the site when the movie-going public suddenly gained a fascination for do- gooding sheriffs, unscrupulous ranch bosses, swaggering gunslingers and fallen ladies with hearts of gold.

In the 1950s and '60s, nearly four dozen western films were shot here. Old Tucson's dusty streets were tramped by Randolph Scott, Gene Autry, Clayton Moore, Glenn Ford, Kirk Douglas and, of course, the Duke himself, who filmed four movies here. It was also used for the occasional episode of a TV series, including ``Gunsmoke,'' ``Bonanza'' and ``Little House on the Prairie.''

Over time, buildings were enclosed with back walls and roofs. Some were dramatically altered from one film to the next, to accommodate a plot point - or, more importantly, so that the movies wouldn't all look alike.

Today, you might need a guide to pick out locations used in various movies, because in recent years the place has taken on an entirely different look. That's owed largely to a fire that tore through the sets in 1995 and wiped out nearly half of the property. New buildings were constructed, but they certainly can't boast the movie history of the undamaged portion of town.

Several attractions related to filmmaking are included with the admission ($14.95 for adults). On a visit in February, this included a stunt demonstration, a movie theater devoted to behind-the-scenes looks at westerns, and the obligatory shootouts in the street.

But true enthusiasts won't want to miss the guided walking tours, which are offered five times daily. Cavanaugh showed up for ours in authentic western costume, sporting a Gabby Hayes beard and packing two ornery- looking shooting irons in his belt. His 30-minute tour was confined entirely to the original portion of town, and it was clear he had spent many hours poring over Old Tucson's film legacy.

``This stream,'' he said at one point, ``ran through here for 'Rio Bravo.' When they came back to make 'Rio Lobo' (12 years later, also with Wayne), they rerouted it so it wouldn't look the same. They also added this porch and this section of roof on the barn to make it look different.''

Out on the studios' main street, he indicated a building that has gone through a number of incarnations, dictated by the requirements of various films. It was originally a one-story structure, to be true to Tucson's historic drawings. Then a second story was added, with a terrace that would serve as an appropriate setting for Ronald Reagan to romance Rhonda Fleming in ``The Last Outpost'' (1950).

Many years later, when Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short arrived for a five-week stay to shoot ``The Three Amigos,'' the wood-plank facade was plastered over and broad arches fashioned, since the adobe buildings of Old Tucson were then being passed off as a village in Mexico.

Cavanaugh noted that the headquarters of the movie's villain, El Guapo, was built from scratch in the nearby desert. It stood abandoned for some time after the movie's release, but ``kids were sneaking in there from the back side at night and holding drinking parties. We finally had to tear it down.''

Another filming site survived the fire precisely because it was well removed from the town streets. It is the ranch used for ``The High Chaparral'' TV series from 1966 to 1971.

It's when surveying this ranch that you appreciate the decision to construct the movie location here. A short distance to the east and north, the reddish Tucson Mountains stab into the sky, providing a backdrop that a set designer would kill for. Saguaro cactus, which grow here naturally and prolifically, enhance the landscape.

Today, Old Tucson Studios sees much more business as a tourist attraction than as a film location, since western scripts rarely pass muster with Hollywood these days. (The last decent one was probably ``Tombstone'' in 1993, featuring Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott and Val Kilmer - and, yes, it was shot here.) Now, the location just bags the occasional TV commercial or music video.

``One of the Super Bowl commercials was filmed here,'' one of the staffers offered proudly. ``They spent three days here shooting that 30-second commercial.''

Back in the Duke's day, they probably could have gotten the whole durn movie shot in that time.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Old Tucson Studios lies about 12 miles west of Tucson. From downtown, take Speedway Boulevard west - it will turn into Gates Pass Road. Turn left at Kinney Road and proceed a short distance to the studios. From the airport, go north on I-19, exit at Ajo Way and head west, then right on Kinney Road to the studios.

HOURS, COSTS: Old Tucson Studios is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $14.95 for adults, $9.45 for children (ages 4-11), $13.45 for seniors (60 and up). Be advised that no backpacks or large bags are permitted.

INFORMATION: [phone]; www.oldtucson.com.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) A ranch created for a '60s TV series welcomes nostalgia buffs at Old Tucson Studios.

(2) The studio provides attractions of the Wild West - or at least Hollywood's impression of it - including stagecoach rides.

(3) A poster for the John Wayne movie ``Rio Lobo'' hangs on a barn door where the Duke took part in a wild shootout at the Old Tucson Studios. Wayne filmed four westerns at the location.

(4) In the 1950s and early '60s, filmmakers shot more than two dozen westerns at this desert location just west of Tucson.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor

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IF YOU GO (see text)