Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
> MELODY RANCH
Publicity Still: "Wichita" (1955)
Melody Ranch | Placerita Canyon


Click image to enlarge

8x10 glossy promotional still for "Wichita." Rubber stamps on back indicate this particular print was distributed in Finland by a company (A.-B. Wivefilm) in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Wichita" premiered July 3, 1955, in the United States; it was released May 14, 1956, in Sweden and July 20, 1956, in Finland.

"Wichita" (Allied Artists 1955) is directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Walter Mirisch. Credited players include Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges, Wallace Ford, Edgar Buchanan, Peter Graves, Keith Larsen, Carl Benton Reid, John Smith, Walter Coy, Robert J. Wilke, Jack Elam, Mae Clarke and Walter Sande.

Some interiors were filmed at Monogram/Allied Artists' Poverty Row studio in East Hollywood.

Trivia: Peter Graves is the brother of James Arness, aka Marshal Matt Dillon of the long-running "Gunsmoke" TV series, which shot in part at Melody Ranch.

Kermit Maynard, Ken's stuntman brother, has a bit part in this film, as does a young Sam Peckinpah, who went on to become a hard-boiled producer. In fact, Peckinpah would direct McCrea and another old Melody Ranch "regular," Randolph Scott, in 1962's "Ride the High Country" (which was not shot locally).

In 2009, McCrea (1905-1990) was inducted posthumously into the Newhall Walk of Western Stars.


LW2679: 19200 dpi jpeg from original print purchased 2014 by Leon Worden.
WICHITA (1955)
Filmed at Melody Ranch

thumbnail

Lobby Card

thumbnail

Main Street

thumbnail

thumbnail

Main Street

thumbnail

At Hacienda

thumbnail

Still from Sweden

thumbnail

Still from Sweden

thumbnail

Yugoslavian Herald

thumbnail

Mexican Lobby Card

thumbnail

Japan 1957

thumbnail

Spain 1958

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.