My trip to monument Valley and the Arch

[Denys]

Well, I did it. I made a trip to monument valley and Grand Canyon last week. The goal of this trip was to see the remains of the arch. I am so glad I saw it as it's not much destroyed than what I saw on some SW web sites and on the OUATITW Bonus DVD. Thanks so much to Warren Oates on a previous post, he indicated the exact location very precisely, I found it very easily. Some of the questions I was asking myself have been answered now. For instance, when we see Frank coming out of the hill to go to young Harmonica, does that hill is somewhere far or near the arch? Well, it's exactly the same location, placed like it's supposed to be in the film, I mean, that hill could have been a few miules from the arch, but nope, it is really in front of the arch. Here's a picture taken on top of one of the base, showing the cement tracks for the back travelling sequence and, in the background, the hill that Frank came out.


The arch has been painted cause in the movie, we can't see the cement between the bricks, but with time, wind and natural effects, the arch has been kind of "sand blasted". The beam that we see in the next picture is not a beam thrown into the arch like that. It is part of the structure. The arch has been made of wood, then recovered with bricks.

Here's the inside of the arch:


The Arch is located on a hill and can be seen from up to 4 miles (without binoculars) Leone chose this location for the nice background of monument Valley we can see. This next picture is taken with a 10X zoom:

The central part of the arch had collapsed in the mid 80's according to Frayling's book. Here I am with the arch, nice souvenir for me:

If some folk on this forum has pics of the arch before it came down, please let me know and send them to me, this would be very much appreciated. I just wish I could've seen the arch complete.

The location

[Denys]

I forgot to mention that I did something "unique" when I was there. I brought my laptop, the DVD of OUATITW, sat in indian position in front of the arch, between the 2 cement tracks and played the flashback sequence on my laptop. Watching this and beeing right there in front was really something, goosebumps all over my spine!!

[cigar joe]

cool great stuff thanks

[Jordan Krug]

Great report - really great to see those pics. In return, a cool shot of the arch from the film......

[Juan Miranda]

All good stuff. I hope I'll get there one day soon. A friend of mine recently moved to Califonia, and has learned how to drive. She wants to see this landscape too.

Do you think that sequence was inspired by "Arch" Stanton?

[Denys]

Jordan, thanks for this rare shot! All pics of the arch I can get will be welcome. I took something like 60 or 70 pics of the arch from many angles, different shots etc. Every SL fan should go see that, knowing that he was there, Henry Fonda too, standing where they were. The first day I went there, my girlfriend was kind of tired and after we found the arch, we stayed there for an hour and a half. But then after, I wanted to see the other locations of monument Valley and she started a scene. So we drove back to the hotel and I came back the next day ALONE!! This is where I could play the flashback on my laptop while beeing there. I will never forget that.

[Jordan Krug]

You're very welcome - unfortunately, it's the only one I've got that shows the arch. I'm a big fan of that arch as well, it's such a strong feature in the film - about a year ago it inspired me to do this mixed media (some drawing/some paint/some digital) artwork :



I hear you on the girlfriend front - women (in general) don't have the same passion for Leone (not all women of course) - mine couldn't understand why I'd spend a ton of dough to fly to L.A. from Toronto just to see the Sergio Leone exhibition there. I left her in Toronto! When I called her - did she share in my excitement in meeting Mickey Knox, Cardinale and Frayling? NO I wish I had the resources to visit the arch....one day I will. Did you happen to chip off the teeniest tinyest peice of the arch to take home for yourself?

Jordan, thanks for this rare shot! All pics of the arch I can get will be welcome. I took something like 60 or 70 pics of the arch from many angles, different shots etc. Every SL fan should go see that, knowing that he was there, Henry Fonda too, standing where they were. The first day I went there, my girlfriend was kind of tired and after we found the arch, we stayed there for an hour and a half. But then after, I wanted to see the other locations of monument Valley and she started a scene. So we drove back to the hotel and I came back the next day ALONE!! This is where I could play the flashback on my laptop while beeing there. I will never forget that.

[Jordan Krug]

Just realized the background behind the arch in my artwork isn't very accurate according to your photos and the one I posted earlier (didn't have it at the time)- shouldn't have taken so much liberty and added that rock wall! Damn! 

[Denys]

Jordan, very nice artwork, I am very impressed. Did you see my other post about a french movie called "Les Dalton" where I took screenshots of the arch, reproduced for the movie? Go check it out! http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1949.0

[Denys]

Jordan, you're right about girlfriends. mine is not as hooked up as me, but she still likes Leone though, and she's the one who organized the trip to Monument Valley, she knew that was a dream to me since I was 8, I am really thankful to her for that. Guess I'll have to buy a ring 

[Jordan Krug]

Hmmmm, in that case I maybe should retract some of my sentiments about women and Leone, you are lucky to find one of the exceptions - marry that girl immed.

Jordan, you're right about girlfriends. mine is not as hooked up as me, but she still likes Leone though, and she's the one who organized the trip to Monument Valley, she knew that was a dream to me since I was 8, I am really thankful to her for that. Guess I'll have to buy a ring 

[Denys]

Jordan, I will just mention that she is Italian

[Sackett]

Jordan, that is great artwork.  Thanks for sharing.

[Jordan Krug]

Thank you very much for the compliment - much appreciated.

Jordan, that is great artwork.  Thanks for sharing.

[Danny]

I forgot to mention that I did something "unique" when I was there. I brought my laptop, the DVD of OUATITW, sat in indian position in front of the arch, between the 2 cement tracks and played the flashback sequence on my laptop. Watching this and beeing right there in front was really something, goosebumps all over my spine!!

Nice shots thank you very much!
You took a small piece of stone from the arch as well?
I did when I visited Flagstone last summer. It's now in my living room together with an original photo from the movie.