Beale's Cut (also known as Fremont Pass and Newhall Pass), located in Newhall, California, has been used in numerous films since the silent days.
Originally 30 feet deep when General Phineas Banning drove the first stagecoach through it in 1854, it was deepened to 90 feet by troops under General Edward F. Beale in 1863. This was the main roadway from Los Angeles to Newhall. In 1910, the nearby Newhall Tunnel opened (now long gone, itself replace by a deep divide).
The site has been used mainly for two shots, movement through the cut and/or jumps across the top of the cut.
Thanks to Tinsley Yarbrough for input on the filmography.
DIRECTIONS: The site is located south of San Fernando Road between Sierra Highway and the Antelope Valley Freeway (14). There is a parking turnoff on the side of the road where an Historical Marker used to be. It is a short walk from there to Beale's Cut.
"The Broken Ways" (Biograph 1913) Directed by: David W. Griffith. Cast: Harry Carey, Blanche Sweet, Mae Marsh.
"Straight Shooting" (Universal Pictures, 1917) Directed by: John Ford. Cast: B. Barnet, George Berrell, Ted Brooks, Milton Brown, Harry Carey Sr., Hoot Gibson, Duke R. Lee, Molly Malone.
"A Fight For Millions" (Vitagraph 1918) Directed by: William Duncan. Cast: William Duncan, Edith Johnson, Joe Ryan.
"Three Jumps Ahead" (Fox Film Corporation, 1923) Directed by: John Ford. Cast: Tom Mix, Alma Bennett, Edward Piel Sr., Joseph W. Girard, Virginia True Boardman, Margaret Joslin, Francis Ford, Harry Todd.
"The Iron Horse" (Fox Film Corporation, 1924) Directed by: John Ford. Cast: George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy, Cyril Chadwick, Fred Kohler, Gladys Hulette, James A. Marcus, J. Farrell MacDonald.
"Seven Chances" (Buster Keaton Productions/Metro-Goldwyn Distributing Corporation, 1925) Directed by: Buster Keaton. Cast: Buster Keaton, Ruth Dwyer, T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards, Frances Raymond, Jules Cowles, Erwin Connelly, Jean Arthur, Loro Bara, Marion Harlan, Hazel Deane, Pauline Toler, Judy King, Eugenie Burkette, Edna Hammon, Barbara Pierce, Connie Evans, Rosalind Mooney.
"The Devil Horse" (Mascot 1932) Directed by: Otto Brower & Richard Talmadge. Cast: Harry Carey, Noah Beery, Frankie Darro, Yakima Canutt.
"Via Pony Express" (Majestic 1933) Directed by: Lewis D. Collins. Cast: Jack Hoxie, Marceline Day, Lane Chandler, Julian Rivero, Doris Hill, Matthew Betz.
"The Fighting Devil Dogs" (Republic 1938) Directed by: William Witney and John English. Cast: Lee Powell, Herman Brix, Eleanor Stewart, Montagu Love, Hugh Sothern, Sam Flint, Perry Ivins, Forrest Taylor, John Picorri, Carleton Young, John Davidson, Henry Otho, Reed Howes, Tom London, Edmund Cobb, Alan Gregg, Allan Mathews.
"The Last Stand" (Universal 1938) Directed by: Joseph H. Lewis. Cast: Bob Baker, Constance Moore, Fuzzy Knight, Earle Hodgins, Forrest Taylor, Glenn Strange, Sam Flint.
"Stagecoach" (United Artists 1939) Directed by: John Ford. Cast: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, Andy Devine, George Bancroft, Donald Meek, Louise Platt, John Carradine, Berton Churchill, Tim Holt, Chris Martin.
"Adventures of Red Ryder" (Republic 1940) Directed by: William Witney and John English. Cast: Don "Red" Barry, Noah Beery, Tommy Cook, Maude Pierce Allen, Vivian Coe, Harry Worth, Hal Taliaferro, William Farnum, Bob Kortman, Carleton Young, Ray Teal, Gene Alsace, Gayne Whitman, Hooper Atchley, John Dilson, Lloyd Ingraham, Charles Hutchinson, Gardner James, Wheaton Chambers, Lynton Brent.
"The Phantom" (Columbia 1943) Directed by: B. Reeves Eason. Cast: Tom Tyler, Jeanne Bates.
