Colorado’s history in film and on television is mostly one of representation: Plenty of stories are set here but few have been wholly produced here.
Iconic movies like 1956’s “The Searchers” have legit Colorado connections, while TV series such as “Dynasty” and “Mork and Mindy,” or Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of “The Shining” (all set, but not filmed here) are far more tenuous.
While we wait for Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” which began shooting outside of Telluride a few months ago, let’s look at a few iconic spots you actually can visit that show off Colorado’s visual splendor.
1. “True Grit”
This 1969 Western starring John Wayne was mostly filmed in and around Ouray, Ridgway and Montrose. Relive the “Sleeping Rock” scene at the summit of Owl Creek Pass, the hanging scene in Ridgway Town Park, at the corner of Highway 62 and Lena Street, and stroll through the still-stately Ouray County Courthouse at 541 Fourth St. (The 2010 Coen Brothers remake was, unfortunately, shot in New Mexico and Texas.)
2. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
It’s fitting that some of this 1969 classic was shot in Silverton, Durango and Telluride, since the real-life Cassidy robbed his first bank in Telluride. Remember the scene in which Robert Redford and Paul Newman’s characters take a cringe-inducing leap off a cliff? That’s the Animas River in Durango, located off U.S. 550 near the real-life jump spot of Baker’s Bridge, about 15 miles north of Durango. The train explosion scene was also shot on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad line — along with significant parts of 20 other films dating back to the 1940s.
3. “Sleeper”
Anyone who’s seen Woody Allen’s 1973 sci-fi comedy will recognize the UFO-like “Sleeper House,” originally built as the Sculptured House and designed by architect Charles Deacon. It’s visible from Interstate 70 on Genesee Mountain near Genesee Park. But there’s plenty of Colorado modern architecture in the film, including Denver Botanic Gardens’ main building and distinctive concrete lamps (1007 York St.), as well as the Mile Hi Church in Lakewood that was turned into — we kid you not — a futuristic McDonald’s (9077 W. Alameda Ave.), and I.M. Pei’s iconic National Center for Atmospheric Research along the Flatirons in Boulder (1850 Table Mesa Drive).
4. “Dumb and Dumber”
The interior and exterior of Estes Park’s Stanley Hotel (333 E. Wonderview Ave.) — which itself was featured in a 1997 TV remake of “The Shining” — got some brief screen time doubling for Aspen’s fictional Hotel Danbury in 1994’s “Dumb and Dumber.” We don’t recommend dressing up in ridiculous cowboy garb and descending the main staircase, like Jim Carrey’s character did. But you can still grab a cold one in the handsome hotel bar, drive up in a cherry-red sports car and otherwise live the tourist-fool fantasy to its fullest.
5. “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead”
The dozens of Tarantino imitators that followed the success of “Pulp Fiction” were mostly terrible, and this darkly comic 1995 crime thriller starring Andy Garcia and Christopher Walken is no exception. But few films have shown off Denver’s best angles as this one does, including the Mile High City’s only truly iconic bridge on Speer Boulevard over the Platte River. There are also pretty exterior shots of Union Station (1701 Wynkoop St.), the intersection of streets that give the Five Points neighborhood its name (where Welton Street meets 26th Avenue), and the now-hopping Bluebird Theater (3317 E. Colfax Ave.).
6. “Furious 7”
If you’ve never driven to the top of Pikes Peak, just outside of Colorado Springs, and happen to be a fan of the blockbuster “The Fast and the Furious” series, take note: Huge chunks of the gravity-defying chase scene in the latest installment were filmed on Pikes Peak Highway (admission: $4-$12 per person, or $35 per car), as well as at Monarch Mountain ski area, about 20 miles west of Salida.
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel
