Watching High Plains Drifter tonight, I got curious about the filming location. The town of Lago was built on the edge of Mono Lake. Three quarters of a million years old. Wow.

Well, the buildings are long gone, but you can take a look around the location in this well-shot drone video.



IMDB says that Universal wanted the film to be shot on the studio lot. What a difference that would have been, and not for the better.

That is an amazing place. My brother and I drove through there on a 3 week trip out west. Didn't know High Plains Drifter was filmed there.

How cool is that!?

Every time I see a drone video it makes me want to buy one.

Awesome. I can just see that doomed red town.

quote:

Watching High Plains Drifter tonight, I got curious about the filming location. The town of Lago was built on the edge of Mono Lake. Three quarters of a million years old. Wow.

Well, the buildings are long gone, but you can take a look around the location in this well-shot drone video.



IMDB says that Universal wanted the film to be shot on the studio lot. What a difference that would have been, and not for the better.

Nice post shared it on email...

I saw this right after it was posted, but had to let it simmer before responding. Cool video of an amazing landscape. It could be the definition of desolate. Even the water looks abandoned and forlorn, as if it doesn't belong there. Eerily beautiful.

I think this is why Eastwood chose this location. There is a supernatural element to this film and I think Eastwood wanted, well, a Hellish location.

Eastwood has proven over the years to have very good instincts about the art of film making. Again, if the studio had had their way and the film was done on a studio back lot, it would be less of a film than it is.

That area, after visiting last year, is what motivated us to buy a truck and kayaks. Pristine. Peaceful. Close to everyday life but a world apart.

I found a comment online from someone who had visited the lake. They said that there are "trillions" of brine shrimp in this lake. Must be Heaven for them.

That would be a cool place to vist. Cinderella made a video for their song "Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone" at Mono Lake around 1987. You can see some buildings of an old town in the video. I do not know if it is Lago or not.

I used an image of Mono Lake as a MoZ once.

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Originally posted by Jelly:
That would be a cool place to vist. Cinderella made a video for their song "Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone" at Mono Lake around 1987. You can see some buildings of an old town in the video. I do not know if it is Lago or not.

Some of it is, almost certainly. There's even a shot at around 3:55 that looks like it was taken inside the saloon. At least one shot, though, shows the side of a brick building and there is a telephone pole as well, so that was likely shot elsewhere.

This was shot about 15 years after the film. Yeah, there's really not much at all out there, so...

Very nice

And oh jeez- 1987. Hair bands. Self-important rockers with exaggerated, dramatic moves. And big hair. Yeesh.

Jelly, It’s an interesting place to go if it’s convenient. Like a half day drive if you’re spending the better part of a week there. Mono Lake itself has some unique aspects to it. And in the immediate area are tranquil, clear lakes that are perfect for forgetting city life. I will be a repeat visitor.

That being said, I wouldn’t make too much of a special effort to go there. Other than the unique aspects of Mono Lake proper, it’s probably similar to many lake areas across the US. Tranquil and unique can be had more readily. Places that create new perspective are more rare. For example, Moab and Canyonlands was simply awe inspiring. It offers a new perspective on how vast this country is and how powerful time and Mother Nature can be. Places like that, to me, are worth special efforts.

I’m not suggesting not to go per se; again, I will repeatedly go. Just trying to help with expectations unless it has some special draw for you.

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Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:
That would be a cool place to vist. Cinderella made a video for their song "Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone" at Mono Lake around 1987. You can see some buildings of an old town in the video. I do not know if it is Lago or not.

Some of it is, almost certainly. There's even a shot at around 3:55 that looks like it was taken inside the saloon. At least one shot, though, shows the side of a brick building and there is a telephone pole as well, so that was likely shot elsewhere.

Pretty confident those buildings are from the nearby ghost town of Bodie. A very interesting place if you enjoy Western Americana and it's history, you can spend many hours wandering around exploring the many buildings or, finding unique things to photograph. The exit road out of town spits you out at Mono Lake onto Hwy-167.
The area in general is a place of extremes, Bodie has some of the lowest recorded temperatures in CA. The winds can be pretty harsh and the lake itself is exceptionally salty. West coast seagulls go there to nest, and gorge themselves on the brine shrimp and black flies.

Just watched it again. It must have been springtime when it was filmed because there was a lot of green in the surrounding area. Also, the lake and shore did not look as desolate as the drone clip Para showed. Still a forbidding location and added a lot to the movie compared to a back lot shoot.