The Movies of Beale's Cut

The most famous and controversial stunt and the man who supposedly did it. More about this movie below.

I thought that it would be interesting to see all the movies that were filmed at Beale's Cut, so I have tried to obtain a copy of every movie that the cut was reported to be in. I used the internet to collect the names of the movies and came up with the 19 movies in the below table (I am not counting "Uncensored Movies"). Of the 19 movies, I was able to obtain 17 of them (see the movie sources at the bottom of the page). The other two are presumed lost ("A Fight for Millions" and "Three Jumps Ahead"). Of the 17 that I viewed, three did not have Beale's Cut ("The Fighting Devil Dogs", "The Adventures of Red Ryder", and "Shut My Big Mouth"). The remaining 14 did use the cut.

So that you may see how the cut was used in the movie, I have created clips and stills from all of the movies that I have. Note: the clips are MP4 (MPEG-4) files. You must have a viewer for these files. Real Player or Windows Media Player should work.

If you know of any other movies that I don't have listed, let me know. I have read that William S. Hart used the cut, but I know of no examples.

Links to sites containing information about Beale's Cut and the movies:

Selected Filmography: Beale's Cut
Visiting the Movie Sites - Beales's Cut
Movie Trivia from Beale's Cut
A more general Movies of the Santa Clarita Valley by Laurie Powers in her Wild West Blog in 11 parts

"Three Jumps Ahead"

The greatest stunt that Tom Mix ever did was jump over Beale's Cut on a horse. Or did he? The photo on the book cover above shows the horse and rider way out of proportion to the size of the cut. The photo was obviously altered adding the smaller horse and rider. There was definitely a jump over Beale's Cut in the movie, but was it real or animated? Mix biographer Merle Norris ("The Tom Mix Book", 1989), claimed that the stunt was a fake done with trick photography or animation. But there appears to be a ramp in the photo. If the jump was animated or done with trick photography, a ramp would not be needed. Also, Will Rogers (a good friend of Mix) spoofed the jump in the film "Uncensored Movies" from 1923 filmed after Three Jumps Ahead (see film clip below for "jump"). Why would Rogers spoof an animated jump?

If the stunt was not animated, did Tom Mix do it? Mix biographer, Richard Jensen in "The Amazing Tom Mix" (2005), believes that Mix made the jump. Others claim that it was done by stuntman Earl Simpson based only on a claim by Simpson's great-niece Judy Ishkanian, who did not see the jump. Robert S. Birchard in his book "King Cowboy: Tom Mix and the Movies" (1993) says that Simpson made the jump. In the book "White Horse, Black Hat" (2002), Harry Fraser told author C. Jack Lewis that the jump was real, but was made by stuntman Richard Talmadge. When interviewed just before his death, Talmadge would neither confirm nor deny it.

Jerry Reynolds (in "Santa Clarita: Valley of the Golden Dream", 1992) claims that "one thing is for sure, Tom and Tony did not do it. According to local rancher Andy Jauregui, who was a friend of Mix's, the whole scene was dubbed in. Yet stuntman Richard Talmadge claimed to his dying day that he made the jump atop a horse named Ranger." Funny, in Lewis's book, Talmadge wouldn't say anything. I have never had any confidence in Reynolds as a historican (based on research for my website) and stating so positively that Mix didn't do the jump based on two opposing rumors is just another example.

Another take on the jump is in John Boston's book "Santa Clarita Valley" (2009). He said that Mix and Tony rode across a wooden bridge and the bridge was removed from the print (although I don't see how riding could be substituted for jumping). He also says that Andy Jauregui reportedly made the jump and that another rumor claimed that a stuntman died attempting the jump. However, this just seems to be a mis-stating of the rumors in Reynold's book.

Tom's crew always insisted that Tom performed the stunt. Director John Ford said that Mix made the jump. And there was a long list of movie associates that also insisted that Tom always did his own stunts, although it was also said that stunt doubles were occasionally used, but kept quiet. In 1935, when Mix was 55, a stunt double was positively used in his final film (a serial), The Miracle Rider. Tom Mix died in a car accident in 1940.

One thing we can be sure of, if Mix did do the jump, his famous horse Tony was not used. He always used a horse double to do dangerous stunts. Richard Jensen wrote that "Tom loved the horse too much to risk its life."

Wondering about the capabilities of a horse, I asked horse trainer Jackie Johnson whether she thought it was possible for a horse to jump about 20 feet across the cut. She said "I'd say that, if the point of takeoff is higher than that of the point of landing, then it would be very possible for them to have done this stunt live but, they would have to have an awful lot of faith in the horse being ridden, and whose to say what the final fate of the horse used would have been." "My gut feeling says that they likely did it. Back then, stuntmen were a lot more reckless than they are today and there was little consideration taken for human or animal safety."

Unfortunately, the film is presumed lost, although a print might exist in the Czech film archives . Footage of the jump (where the horse and rider are proportioned correctly) supposedly survives in a trailer prepared by Mix in the 1930's to announce a personal appearance, but I have no idea where the trailer is. Maybe it's lost, too.

Hopefully, some day someone will locate this film.

Table of Movies filmed at Beale's Cut
(Movies in light red do not contain the cut)

Title	Date	Studio	Director	Main Cast	Remarks	MP4 Film clip
Broken Ways	1913	Biograph Company	D.W. Griffith	Henry B. Walthall, Blanch Sweet, Harry Carey	Silent 17 min short. Earliest known (by me) movie using Beale's Cut.	Clip
Twisted Trails	1916	Selig Polyscope	Tom Mix	Tom Mix, Frank Clard, Eugenia Besserer	Silent 41 minutes	Clip
Straight Shooting	1917	Universal	Jack (John) Ford	Harry Carey, Duke Lee, George Berrell	Silent, Ford's first feature picture. More can be learned at this UCLA page	Clip 1, Clip 2
A Fight for Millions	1918	Vitagraph Co	William Duncan	William Duncan, Edith Johnson, Joe Ryan	Silent. 15-chapter serial presumed lost	Movie lost
The Sky Pilot	1921	First National Pictures	King Vidor	John Bowers, Colleen Moore, David Butler	Silent. See here for more info on this film.	Clip
The Paleface	1922	Buster Keaton Productions	Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline	Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Roberts	Silent comedy	Clip
Three Jumps Ahead	1923	Fox Film Corp	John Ford	Tom Mix, Alma Bennett, Edward Peil	Silent presumed lost, although it is claimed that a print might exist in the Czech film archives.	Movie lost
Uncensored Movies	1923	Pathe Exchange, Inc	Roy Clements	Will Rodgers, Ena Gregory, Earl Mohan	This movie spoofs, among others, Mix and the Three Jumps Ahead leap	Clip
The Iron Horse	1924	Fox Film Corp	John Ford	George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy, Charles Bull	Silent. Made O'Brien a star	Clip
Seven Chances	1925	Buster Keaton Productions	Buster Keaton	Buster Keaton, T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards	Silent comedy. Buster had to get married to receive a fortune and so was chased by seemingly every single female in town.	Clip
The Devil Horse	1932	Mascot	Otto Brower	Harry Carey, Noah Beery, Frankie Darro	12-chapter serial. Animated horse and rider jump the cut.	Clip 1, Clip 2
Via Pony Express	1933	Majestic Pictures	Lewis B. Collins	Jack Hoxie, Lane Chandler, Marceline Day	Jack gets strung up in the cut	Clip
Trailin' West	1936	Warner Brothers	Noel M. Smith	Dick Foran, Paula Stone, Bill Elliot	Singing cowboy Foran. Horse walks across log over cut	Clip
The Fighting Devil Dogs	1938	Republic Pictures	John English and William Witney	Lee Powell, Herman Brix, Eleanor Stewart	12-chapter serial. No Beale's Cut here.	Clip
The Last Stand	1938	Universal	Joseph H. Lewis	Bob Baker, Constance Moore, Fuzzy Knight	Singing cowboy Baker	Clip
Stagecoach	1939	United Artists	John Ford	Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine	Finally, a stagecoach that actually is driven through the cut	Clip
Adventures of Red Ryder	1940	Republic Pictures	John English and William Witney	Don Barry, Noah Beery, Tommy Cook	12-chapter serial. No Beale's Cut.	Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3
Shut My Big Mouth	1942	Columbia Pictures	Charles Barton	Joe E. Brown, Adele Mara, Victor Jory	No Beale's Cut	Clip
The Phantom	1943	Columbia Pictures	B. Reeves Eason	Tom Tyler, Jeanne Bates, Ernie Adams	15-chapter serial. Tyler was also a villian in Stagecoach that Wayne killed in the final showdown	Clip
Laramie	1949	Columbia Pictures	Ray Nazarro	Charles Starrett, Fred Sears, Tommy Ivo	They stole the Indian chase scene, including the stage through Beale's Cut, from Stagecoach!	Clip

Stills of the Movies

Broken Ways (1913) - Earliest known (by me) use of Beale's Cut

Broken Ways

Twisted Trails (1916) - Tom is being chased by a posse (who are actually the bad guys) and comes to the edge of Beale's Cut which has a board extended over it (for some unknown reason)

Twisted Trails - the titles in this movie were often hard-to-read.

To elude his pursuers, Tom
takes a short cut across
the canyon fully aware that
if his horse missed his foot-
ing, they both would be
dashed to certain death
below

Twisted Trails - Tom starts to cross the cut. This is a real stunt. Mix once said that to keep a horse going straing, you have have to make him go fast, so I suspect he crossed over pretty fast.

Twisted Trails - Nearly across

Twisted Trails - Made it!

Twisted Trails - Tom is tying a rope to the board and then to his horse to pull the board over the edge so that the posse can't follow him. The board must be about two feet wide based on how Tom is straddling it.

Twisted Trails - Meanwhile, one of the members of the posse is riding into the cut and will take a couple of shots at Tom

Twisted Trails - There goes the board

Straight Shooting (1917) - the gang of outlaws

Straight Shooting - Harry Carey riding up the cut

Straight Shooting - Harry Carey with his hands in the air. He was riding in to meet his outlaw friends.

Sky Pilot (1921) - horse and rider crossing the bridge over the cut. Note the fake raging water at the bottom of the cut.

Sky Pilot - a shot has been fired scaring the horse. It is starting to fall off the bridge

Sky Pilot - the fake horse and rider are falling

Sky Pilot - and falling

The Paleface (1922) - the cut. Note the bridge. There is a photograph at the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Socity at the train station next to the photo of the Tom Mix photo showing this bridge with some people obviously shooting a movie scene. Since the angle of the cameras in that photo is not the same as the angle in the Paleface, it must be for a different movie. Since the Mix Three Jumps Ahead movie would not have had a bridge, this must be from an unknown movie made at that time.

The Paleface - the Indian on the left chasing Buster Keaton on the right

Three Jumps Ahead (1923) - lost Tom Mix film

Tom Mix in "Three Jumps Ahead" Fox Prod. - from post card I own, although this may not be how he looked in the movie.

Uncensored Movies (1923) - start of the animated jump over a very wide canyon

Uncensored Movies - nearly at the peak of the jump

Uncensored Movies - start of backward loop

Uncensored Movies - end of backward loop

Uncensored Movies - still jumping to other side

Uncensored Movies - almost on other side

Uncensored Movies - about to land

Uncensored Movies - riding away not quite touching the ground. There was only one loop. I have seen as many as four loops reported.

Iron Horse (1924) - the first view of the cut near the beginning of the movie. This is a glass shot where the cut was painted on glass and placed in front of the camera.

Iron Horse - the hero on the left (George O'Brien) tying a rope to the bush so that he can climb down the cliff. The villian on the right (Cyril Chadwick) will cut the rope. The cut is suppose to be a shortcut for the railroad that is being built. Again, the snow is a glass shot. It was painted on glass and placed in front of the camera.

Iron Horse - O'Brien lowering himself with the rope down the smooth face of Beale's Cut

Iron Horse - the rope has been nearly cut. George is starting to free fall

Iron Horse - the rope holds him for a second and will then break. George will luckily land in a tree while the villian will head back to the railroad camp to report his death and also that no pass for the railroad was found. George will later get his revenge.

Seven Chances (1925) - after sliding down the left side, Buster Keaton finds all the potential brides coming through the cut. They have been chasing him because to inherit 7 million dollars he has to get married later that day. He is actually running to his girlfriend's house to get married there.

Seven Chances - now he is running up the other side

Seven Chances - he is escaping them for now

The Devil Horse (1932) - the devil horse (called El Diablo in the movie) must jump Beale's Cut. This is obviously animated in the film. Only the boy is on the horse for this jump.

The Devil Horse - getting ready to jump

The Devil Horse - jumping

The Devil Horse - made it this time

The Devil Horse - later in the movie, the boy and Harry Carey must jump the cut

The Devil Horse - there they go

The Devil Horse - too much weight even for the devil horse

The Devil Horse - luckily for them, there is water down below

Via Pony Express (1933) - Jack Hoxie riding through the cut. Men on both sides ready to toss their ropes.

Via Pony Express - they roped him from both sides and are pulling the ropes to raise him up

Via Pony Express - when they have him high enough, they will tie both ends leaving him dangling

Trailin' West (1936) - Dick Foran is being chased and comes to the cut with a large log spanning it. Or is that a bridge with some branches sticking out to make it look like a log.

Trailin' West - walking the horse across over the log

Trailin' West - almost there. That's one surefooted horse

Trailin' West - rope the log from the other side so that the bad guys can't get across

The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) - Lee Powell is going to jump this cut with his motorcycle. This is definitely not Beale's Cut. Notice the flat top and jagged sides.

The Fighting Devil Dogs - there he goes

The Fighting Devil Dogs - almost over

The Fighting Devil Dogs - made it

The Last Stand (1938) - riding into the cut

The Last Stand - reverse the camera angle

The Last Stand - that's Glenn Strange on the left and Bob Baker on the right. You may remember Strange as Sam the bartender on Gunsmoke, but he also had a long career in the movies. He actually played Frankenstein's monster for a few movies after Boris Karloff.

Stagecoach (1939) - classic John Wayne with great cast

The Adventures of Red Ryder (1940) - this is not Beale's Cut. The flat top and craggy sides give it away. This could be the same gorge as was in the Fighting Devil Dogs.

The Adventures of Red Ryder - there goes Don Berry trying to jump it. This is actually the second time in the movie (actually serial) that he jumps this gorge. The first time he makes it.

The Adventures of Red Ryder - this looks like he is going to be short of the other side

The Adventures of Red Ryder - whoops, didn't make it. Luckily, there is a lot of water at the bottom of the gorge and both horse and rider survive.

Shut My Big Mouth (1942) - again, this is not Beale's Cut that Joe E. Brown is walking through

Shut My Big Mouth - Joe E. Brown was quite a popular comedian in his day

The Phantom (1943) - bad guys setting up the dynamite in the pass

The Phantom - getting the blast plunger ready. Note in the background the "tower" geological structure in the top right middle and the road above Elsmere ridge on the top left. On the other side is Elsmere Canyon. This is a view toward the northeast.

The Phantom - the phantom (on the right) and one of the bad guys (on the left) have fallen into the pass after a fight

The Phantom - the expedition is entering the pass

The Phantom - they are getting deeper into the pass. Note how the vegetation is pretty thick like Beale's Cut hasn't been used for a long time.

The Phantom - the phantom has warned them about the impending blast and they are heading for the exit

Laramie (1949) - they stole the whole Indians chasing stagecoach sequence, including the stage riding through Beale's Cut, right from Stagecoach

Sources for Movies:

amazon.com - always start here
LovingTheClassics.com
SinisterCinema.com
JohnnysRareSerials.com
ByGoneVideo.com
MoviesUnlimited.com
Glenn Video Vistas (emgee.freeyellow.com)
SilentFilmsOnDvd.co.uk

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