{"id":16474,"date":"2025-09-19T21:40:33","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T03:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/legendary-actor-made-western-movie-magic-right-here-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:58:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:58:32","slug":"legendary-actor-made-western-movie-magic-right-here-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/legendary-actor-made-western-movie-magic-right-here-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary actor made Western movie magic right here in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=33f8febd-880e-4b73-adb2-755b22b7b45e&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1494\" alt=\"A major scene in \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid\u201d \u2013 starting Robert Redford, right \u2013 was filmed in Durango. (Durango Herald file)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">A major scene in \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid\u201d \u2013 starting Robert Redford, right \u2013 was filmed in Durango. (Durango Herald file)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>The scene goes like this: Legendary outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid \u2013 played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, respectively, for the 1969 Western film of the same name \u2013 are being chased by Pinkerton Detective Agency agents and a group of Bolivian soldiers dead-set on bringing the two in to answer for their numerous train robberies, murders and general criminal mischief.<\/p>\n<p>In the film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid try to make their escape along a river, trying to lose their pursuers in stands of bull pine and sandstone outcroppings. But their luck runs out when they become stranded on a cliff above the river and cornered from all sides by the lawmen on their tail. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak, the two debate jumping or fighting their way out.<\/p>\n<p>After a back-and-forth between Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, they eventually decide to jump, narrowly avoiding a bloody firefight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t swim!\u201d Redford\u2019s character snaps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, the fall will probably kill you first,\u201d Newman\u2019s character replies, just before the two leap.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KyR7XB0VBPM\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Redford died on Tuesday. His movies, including \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid\u201d and \u201cJeremiah Johnson,\u201d were notable additions to the Western movie genre, said author and historian Fred Wildfang. Wildfang\u2019s book, \u201cHollywood of the Rockies,\u201d chronicled the locations that brought some of those movies to life \u2013 including Durango.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t meet Redford, but he was here (in Durango) filming part of \u2018Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,\u2019\u201d Wildfang said.<\/p>\n<p>Wildfang said the scene where the characters jump off the cliffs was shot just north of Baker\u2019s Bridge, right at the end of the section of the Animas River known as the Rockwood Box (though the actual jump into the river was performed by two stuntmen in a river in California).<\/p>\n<p>In another scene, Wildfang said, the Durango &amp; Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad sets the stage for a train robbery where the duo blow a train car to smithereens with dynamite, prompting Redford to ad-lib \u201cthink you used enough dynamite there, Butch?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1fM0p-he_Is\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201c\u2019Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,\u2019 I think, is one of the best Westerns ever filmed,\u201d Wildfang said.<\/p>\n<p>Wildfang said Durango is the perfect place for filming Western movies, and has drawn filmmakers, actors and musicians ranging from Marilyn Monroe, Redford and, more recently, country singer Charley Crockett due to its old-West feel and rugged surroundings.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=1f9105e2-7f2f-5e4a-99d5-488a890fe857&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" alt=\"Redford\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Redford<\/span><span class=\"credit\">dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Though Wildfang never met Redford, he had met Paul Newman and was good friends with Charlie Dierkop, who was in the movie\u2019s opening scene and a longtime judge of the Durango Independent Film Festival. From all accounts, Wildfang said, Redford was friendly, genuine and kind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can really identify with him,\u201d Wildfang said. \u201cHe was, you know, the cool guy and a real heartthrob \u2013 and a great actor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wildfang said Redford\u2019s role in \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid\u201d inspired him to make the Sundance Film Festival \u2013 a name inspired directly by the historical character immortalized by Redford, and, in part, Durango.<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-dcc231c98168161ac487f5e8c3fb1d32\"><a href=\"mailto:sedmondson@durangoherald.com\">sedmondson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image naviga-align-left alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=5890bd46-ab94-50e9-8341-0ad63891c605&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"555\" height=\"730\" alt=\"A copy of a 1968 edition of The Durango Herald from when Robert Redford came to Durango to film \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.\u201d (Courtesy of Durango Public Library)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">A copy of a 1968 edition of The Durango Herald from when Robert Redford came to Durango to film \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.\u201d (Courtesy of Durango Public Library)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=e87f2b2e-0974-5140-bf52-fcb288c0906f&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"526\" height=\"473\" alt=\"A photo from a 1968 edition of The Durango Herald that captures members of the cast and crew of \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid\u201d boarding a Denver-bound bus after filming in Durango. (Courtesy of Durango Public Library)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">A photo from a 1968 edition of The Durango Herald that captures members of the cast and crew of \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid\u201d boarding a Denver-bound bus after filming in Durango. (Courtesy of Durango Public Library)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image naviga-align-left alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=89b3a8f5-5cc0-5095-92ba-e4d81eba7c2d&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"560\" height=\"736\" alt=\"Photos from a 1968 edition of The Durango Herald from when Robert Redford and other cast and crew members came to Durango to film \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.\u201d (Courtesy of Durango Public Library)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Photos from a 1968 edition of The Durango Herald from when Robert Redford and other cast and crew members came to Durango to film \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.\u201d (Courtesy of Durango Public Library)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Redford and Paul Newman jumped for their lives near Baker\u2019s Bridge \u2013 or so it appeared on the big screen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[304,2015,28,198,1107],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-animas-river","tag-bakers-bridge","tag-headlines","tag-history","tag-movies"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16474"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20222,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16474\/revisions\/20222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16474"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}