Death Valley

Much filming for John Ford'sThree Godfathers was done between May 3 and June 9, 1948, in the Furnace Creek area in Death Valley, noted for its erosional landscape. What is now known as a favorite tourist view point Zabriskie Point is where John Wayne leads his fellow Godfathers...

The location for John Wayne's "Three Godfathers", the exact same spot in Death Valley, was also used in "Spartacus" and, that same year, "One-Eyed Jacks".

...and where John Ford lensed the sequence of the trio discovering that their waterbag has been shot. It's also on the ridge where...

John Wayne throws the empty waterbag down the hill from Zabriskie Point, in Death Valley.

...John Wayne's character frustratedly throws the empty waterbag into the abyss at Zabriskie Point...

Zabriskie Point, the location for a pivotal scene in John Ford's "Three Godfathers", was also used in "Spartacus" and "One-Eyed-Jacks".

...right on this spot, which is now the top of the lookout, towards the Amargosa Range. Ford filmed the three bank robbers crossing the dry lake in a place called the Devil’s Golf Course, not far from Badwater, which is the lowest point below sea level in the Western Hemisphere.

The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, out in Death Valley, were the perfect remote location for John Wayne in John Ford's "Three Godfathers".

John Ford turned his cameras towards Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, for the scenes where the Godfathers find the wagon and the baby...

The hill on which John Ford's "Three Godfathers" pray can still be found in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, out in Death Valley.

...a spot right on Highway 190, with distinctive hills, covered with brush. After work, they rode back to the Death Valley Motel. At the two-room cabin motel, the stars slept two in a room, John Wayne and Pedro Armendariz doubled up. It is now Furnace Creek Ranch, an oasis on Highway 190.

During the filming of Three Godfathers in the Furnace Creek area in Death Valley, John Ford's cast and crew stayed at what was then called the Furnace Creek Ranch. What used to be a motel is now the Furnace Creek Ranch, an oasis on Highway 190.

All photos on this website courtesy of Roland Schaefli, unless otherwise stated.

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All pictures posted on this website are from the collection of the author, unless otherwise noted