MovieChat Forums > Hang 'Em High (1968) Discussion > Location

Location

posted 12 years ago by Sipsey027-1
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This is probably my favorite movie. Unfortunately I have seen it so many times that I am seeing things that I question. The biggest one is the filming location. This is supposed to be in Oklahoma. I have been there, and it doesn't much look like the desert scenes, particularly the one where Cooper is taking the rustlers back to Fort Grant. That looks like Arizona or some other exceptionally arid desert to me. I have never seen any comments on where this was filmed. I also have always questioned what was brought up on the other thread about the initial hanging not making much sense, in view of what Cooper told the lynching party.

[–] Captain_Augustus_McCrae 12 years ago

Exterior location Las Cruces, NM

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae

[–] joekiddlouischama 11 years ago

This is supposed to be in Oklahoma. I have been there, and it doesn't much look like the desert scenes, particularly the one where Cooper is taking the rustlers back to Fort Grant. That looks like Arizona or some other exceptionally arid desert to me.

Very few Westerns have actually been shot in the location where they are set (for instance, most Westerns set in Texas have probably been shot in Utah, Arizona, California, or some such combination). No, the film company did not shoot Hang 'Em High in Oklahoma. The town ("Fort Grant"), and probably the ranch at the end, constituted studio back-lot constructions or facilities, so most of the film doesn't really take place 'on location.' The film company did use some natural locations, however, albeit not in Oklahoma. As the other poster indicated, the filmmakers utilized sites around Las Cruces, New Mexico, including the Rio Grande (seen in the film's unforgettable opening sequence) slightly to the west and White Sands National Monument to the east. White Sands, in southern New Mexico, represents the site of that memorable fight between the Eastwood and Bruce Dern characters.