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Show Arts SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE, CEDAR CITY THE THUNDERBIRD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1989 PAGE 9 ' V"' s Harl Judd displays the 1 959 Life magazine in which an article features Kanah as a booming movie town. stars the big screen with big JuddHarlonce shared Utahs a Professor BY Judd made $8 day working as an extra while Kanah was known as LISA KEENE Many of his students dont realize it, but physical science professor Harl Judd has a movie career in his past. Judd graced the screen in movies with such big names as Arlene Dahl, Walter Brennan, Robert Ryan and Joel McCrea. If these names dont seem big to you, you were probably born after 1955. Judd was raised in Kanab, which was at one time dubbed Utahs Hollywood. The southern Utah terrain provided perfect settings for typical western scenes. A number of movies, mostly westerns, were shot on location in Kanab. Films such as Outriders, My Friend Flicka, Covered Wagon and Union Pacific not just westerns made their mark on some of many Kanabs history. said, It was Judd, who played extras and stand-ins-, students School to get not uncommon for Kanab High involved. We were out of school most of the time because they shot movies in the summer when the clouds were nice and the sand was especially red Judd recalls being paid $8 a day. There was no minimum wage back then. Although, if an extra would fall off a horse, he would be paid more for his heroic effort. Ranchers were paid $4 a day for each horse used. I guess we extras were worth twice as much as the horses. You wouldnt base your summer pay on acting. We would work on one movie generally two to three days, or up to a week, said Judd. The real cowboys in Hollywood Judd a community full of thespian extras and stand-inwas one such actor. The movie business created a summer financial boon to the small cow town of Kanab, whose population was 1,365 at the time. The local businessmen who subcontracted the towns services and props brought Kanab would get better employment. One of Judds most memorable experiences was being a stand-i- n for Ryan. In one scene, the actors character was thrown lfom a horse down the banks of a wash. Judd recalls lying in the weeds of the wash, ip the place of Ryan, while the technicians got the lights and cameras ready for the actual shot. Life magazine featured Kanab and Judd in the Sept. 19, 1949, issue at a time when the publication was 20 cents. The Civil War movie Outriders was being shot at the time. A Life photographer followed Judd around for a day and shot a photo essay for the article. Judd remembers it being a very cold morning during the photo session. After finishing a scene, Judd remembers going down the road singing, trying to have a southern accent. v s. between $300,000 and $500,000 of profits to the community each year. . Kanab and nearby Cedar Mountain didnt provide only western scenes. On the contrary, through the magic of filmmaking, southern Utah was transformed into England border countries, colonial New York state and pink Arabian desert. e Included in the Life spread is the now is professor Judd. The then pictured wearing a Confederate uniform and carrying several more he had just retrieved from the wardrobe In the magazine feature, locals were touted as being acting veterans, even though their acting resumes high points didnt go beyond playing towns people in a crowd and an occasional extra. For example, the Kane County Assessor, Cowhide Adams, was in 75 movies arid even let a puma attack him in one of them. Between 1934 and 1959, production crews came into Kanab equipped only with technicians, a director, a beautiful leading lady, a strapping cowboy hero, a . heavy and a script. Kanab would supply the rest. The small town profited from their dusty spots of land, y bad Conestoga wagons, craggy passes (where guys paths could be cut off), herds of cattle, snakes and get-awa- well-travel- ed full-pag- j department. Kanabs once fledgling movie business has since faded out, but a few memorabilia remain, reminding the actors of their careers on the big screeri. The Perry Lodge, built specifically to house visiting movie crews, actors and actresses, features photographs and portraits of the filmmaking days in their small community. i i Ghost towns of movie sets still remain. In Johnson Canyon, an old western main street, complelte with ralse fronts, stands as a remnant of the once bustling, m demand, small town of Kanab, Hollywood, Utah. |