(Santa Fe) For decades, Bonanza Creek Ranch and its desert expanses made New Mexico an ideal location for Westerns. But since the film Rustwith Alec Baldwin, the place became a setting for tragedy.
This vast property has hosted classics such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Its manager, Imogene Hughes, had built a reputation among Hollywood stars, regularly serving them her homemade lemonade and banana cake.
But now that the place is associated with a heartbreaking death, in a world-famous case for which Alec Baldwin is due to stand trial this week, M’s daughterme Hughes is relieved that her late mother will not have to see her ranch’s reputation tarnished.
“I think it would have really upset her,” Denise Spaccamonti told AFP.
Nestled in the hills above Santa Fe, in the American “Wild West”, the ranch had all the makings of a classic farm: cattle were raised there. Until Hollywood came knocking at its door in the 1950s.
A first western, The Man of the Plains with James Stewart, was filmed there in 1955. Then other films followed, from time to time.
The shift to film accelerated when Imogene Hughes took over full management of the ranch after the death of her husband Glenn. She then came to an agreement with local politicians to offer financial incentives to Californian productions tempted by New Mexico.
” Heartless ”
The ranch gradually expanded. In 1985, the teams of Silveradoa western starring Kevin Costner, left behind a white-painted barn built for the film.
Other buildings are erected for feature films such as Young Guns Or lucky Luke – a “horrible” film, smiles M.me Spaccamonti, despite everything grateful. Soon the ranch turns into a real little western village, with entire streets.
“It’s pretty cool to see how each film has contributed to building this whole thing. […] “It’s a set of puzzle pieces that we put together,” explains M.me Spaccamonti.
But now, this setting is haunted by the tragedy that occurred during the filming of Rust.
In October 2021, in the ranch chapel, Alec Baldwin pointed a gun that was supposed to hold only blanks, but a real projectile from which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
PHOTO JAE C. HONG, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
The chapel where the tragedy took place.
The tragedy caused a halt to filming while police combed the site. And since they resumed, the productions working there have been keeping it a secret.
“Nobody wants to admit that a movie is being shot in the same place where she was killed,” says David Manzanares, manager of Ghost Ranch, a nearby property that hosted the production ofOppenheimer.
“People say, ‘If this gets out, we’ll be seen as heartless,'” adds this longtime friend of Imogene Hughes.
Contacted by AFP, the current owners of Bonanza Creek Ranch declined an interview. Shannon Hughes, who runs the location’s film operations, said, however, that Imogene Hughes’ legacy “should not be involved in the accident of Rust “.
“Really unfortunate”
The former manager, who died a few weeks before the filming of Alec Baldwin’s western, left a warm memory in New Mexico.
“She had a profound impact on everyone she met,” said Santa Fe International Film Festival artistic director Jacques Paisner, who runs a scholarship for film students named after her.
“My mother was kind to the students. She let them come (film) for free,” adds M.me Spaccamonti. “Who does that these days?”
Instead of continuing to raise cattle, Imogene Hughes brought Hollywood money to New Mexico, recalled Mr. Manzanares, her neighbor.
“It made everyone prosperous,” he insists, by attracting “millions of dollars” to one of the poorest regions of the United States.
For him, this legacy did not deserve to be tarnished by Rust. “It’s really unfortunate.”