Mescal Movie Set
The Mescal Movie Set is a historic western film location that has been shooting the West since 1950. Located in Benson, Arizona, this iconic set has been home to over 80 movies and TV shows, including Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead, and Outlaw Josey Wales. Featuring 28 authentic buildings, a saloon, a jail, a church, and a livery stable, Mescal Movie Set offers a glimpse into the past and a chance to relive the glory days of the Old West.
Tour the historical set during the summer with a Sunset Tour, which run on select dates from May through August. Watch an incredible sunset and see memorable buildings and backdrops from some well-known Western films.
The film history of the Mescal area dates back over 70 years with scenes from Winchester '73 with Jimmy Stewart, The Big Country with Gregory Peck, and Cimarron with Glenn Ford. The physical set was built as a town in 1968-1969 for Monte Walsh, starring Lee Marvin and Jack Palance. Released the same year was the Western comedy Dirty Dingus Magee with the legendary Frank Sinatra. Another Hollywood legend graced the set when Elizabeth Taylor filmed Poker Alice.
A succession of movies followed, including The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean starring Paul Newman, The Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood, and Tom Horn with Steve McQueen. The 1990s had major big-budget productions. Tombstone starred Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, and many other notables such as Charlton Heston, Harry Carey Jr., and narration by Robert Mitchum. It has become a cult classic and easily the most quoted western of all time. The Quick and the Dead followed with Hollywood "A-Listers" Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman, and a very young Leonardo DiCaprio.
Country music fans will recall the 1986 remake of Stagecoach starring the Highwaymen, including Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristopherson. Mescal was also used in The Gambler with Kenny Rogers.
The Mescal Set was an alternative town set for many episodes of your favorite western TV series, including Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Magnificent Seven, and Little House on the Prairie. Fans will also remember it as the town of Sweetwater in The Young Riders series.
Mescal was also a popular site for TV Movies, including The Sacketts, with Tom Selleck, Glenn Ford, and Sam Elliott; Maverick with James Garner, Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster; and Buffalo Soldiers with Danny Glover.
