Western Film Museum and Alabama Hills

About three hours north of Hollywood and a million miles from urban life, nestled in the foothills of the Eastern Sierra Nevada, the little town of Lone Pine, California and the nearby Alabama Hills has been the location for hundreds of films, commercials and television shows. Since the early years of film making, directors and actors, producers and their production units large and small have packed up and left Hollywood for the great outdoors.

Lone Pine’s Museum of Western Film History is dedicated to preserving and documenting the American cowboy in film. Exhibits honoring the heritage of the Western film include memorabilia from iconic Western heroes such as John Wayne, Randolph Scott and Audie Murphy, as well as characters Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd), the Lone Ranger and Zorro. Also, an exhibit honoring the Golden Age of the Singing Cowboys pays tribute to the great singing stars including Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Tex Ritter. Sidekicks, directors and stuntmen are honored along with their films from one of America’s greatest movie periods.

The Museum also pays tribute to the many movies made locally in the Alabama Hills (over 400), including several high profile non-westerns – Gunga Din, High Sierra, Star Trek, Star Wars and the classic sci-fi hit, Tremors. Contemporary films like Gladiator, Iron Man and Superman, Man of Steel, are represented. The Museum is fortunate that Quentin Tarantino thought Lone Pine the perfect place for scenes for his 2012 release, Django Unchained, and the museum lobby is now the home for the dentist’s wagon from the movie, a signed script and Quentin’s director chair.