I collected some travel reports I received from Barkoholics who had been travelling on Lex Barker's traces and sent me a report and/or some pics. Lex Barker had either private connections to this places or he shot movies there. Enjoy!
I want to thank those who sent me their reports, first of all my friend Tanja!
Parry Lodge
This is a short travel report written by a friend of mine on her journey through Utah in autumn of 2010 with some pics taken during her stay at Parry Lodge.
During our round trip through the USA in autumn 2010 we eventually reached the nice town of Kanab. When we followed the main street there was this big illuminated sign of Parry Lodge. I knew this sign very well from the movie "The Girl in Black Stockings" with my favorite star Lex Barker, so stopped there to take a look.
Parry Lodge — Main entrance
Parry Lodge today
View from entrance towards pool
When we opened the entrance door to the Lodge we seemed to enter a different world. It looked like time had stood still and I wouldn't have been surprised if this world would have been in black and white. Everything looked very much like in this Black-and-White movie from 1957, only colored. The only difference were those lots of photos which decorated the lobby showing hundreds of Hollywood stars from the forties, fifties and sixties, completed by lobby cards of the movies shot in this area and autographs signed by the stars.
Decoration: Lobby Cards, one from
"The Girl in Black Stockings"
Lex Barker with Lana Turner (on Lex' right side)
and friends at Parry Lodge
The nice lady at the reception was amused by my enthusiasm and finally offered us a cup of coffee and cookies which we were allowed to enjoy in the breakfast room. This room with its floral wallpapers, vintage furniture and lots of photos from the old stars and films seemed to derive directly from the fifties. Even the coffee pot seemed to be of that age.
From here we had a good view towards the swimming pool, where in the old days Lex Barker and his colleagues took a rest. Only the red Coca Cola vendor seemed to be a bit out of place.
view into the restaurant
view towards the pool, unfortunately it ist covered
Unfortunately the lady from the reception didn't know neither actor Lex Barker nor the movie "The Girl in Black Stockings" althought pictures and lobby cards of this movie were placed near her. I must have had a very disappointed look so she gave me some postcards and a list of all films shot at Parry Lodge. Which really cheered me up.
Finally we took a short look into the restaurant on the right side of the entrance which looked exactly like a colored version of the restaurant shown in Lex' movie. I wouldn't have been suprised seeing someone coming along with a movie camera.
There was no vacancy so we couldn't visit a hotel room. Some pictures and a last wistful look around — then we had to leave to reach our goal for today.
Tanja
Visit the official Parry Lodge web site