Sierra de Órganos, Mountains of the Organ Pipes.
The Sierra de Organos National Park and the nearby town of Somberete in Zacatecas are a famous movie location in Mexico. The mountain pine and oak woodland mixed with dry scrubland make for a spectacular diversity of plants and animals, especially birds and, curiously, salamanders. It’s in the Western Sierra Madre at an altitude of around 2,300 meters (1400 ft.).
By Tomás Esparza – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69151345
By Tomás Esparza – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69151349
The rare Cacomistle lives in the Organos. The name comes from the Nahuatl language (tlahcomiztli) and means “half-cat” or “half-puma.
CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108550767
By Francesco Veronesi from Italy – Red Warbler – Sinaloa – Mexico_S4E1238, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org
By Tomás Esparza – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69132407
Big Jake
Photographed by William H. Clothier in the Sierra de Organos, the George Sherman directed Big Jake has gorgeous shots of the National Park. Big Jake is a family affair as John Wayne‘ s sons play his son and grandson in the movie, Robert Mitchum’s son Christopher plays the second son.
The Tall Men
Famous for its first line: Two cowboys on horses see a dead body on a tree hanging from a rope and one cowboy (Clark Gable) says unironically: ” We’re getting close to civilization “.
Directed by Raoul Walsh with Clark Gable, Jane Russell and Robert Ryan, cinematography by Leo Tover. 1955. Nobody’s best work but worth watching for fans.
The War Wagon
A charming vilains heist Western, action and comedy in the Burt Kennedy style. John Wayne and Kirk Douglas. Cinematography by William H. Clothier. Music by Dimitri Tiomkin. Fantastic supporting cast with a young Bruce Dern and an unstable looking Robert Walker Jr as a Nitroglycerine expert. 1967.
Other American movies of interest shot at Sierra de Organos include:
Two John Wayne Westerns: The Undefeated (1969) and The Train Robbers. The Western The Scalp Hunters and the oddballs Rage (1966) and Caveman.
THE INACTIVIST 