Superman filmed in Alberta twice, and a Banff archive keeps the proof. The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies holds a file of 56 production photographs from Superman III, plus a few from the 1978 Superman, and its description says the first film’s mountain scenes were shot in the Kananaskis Valley while the prairie scenes came from around High River.
The file sits in the Bruno Engler fonds and is dated 1977 to 1982. The prints show a chemical plant explosion, glacier exteriors, a gas station explosion and Badlands locations. A companion file holds 147 negatives of the same shoots.
The file also keeps four crew lists, two for Superman from 1977 and two for Superman III from 1982. Richard Donner directed the first film, according to the record. The museum’s subject tags make fun reading too, with Badlands, Glaciers, Horses, Dogs and Military all in the mix. The places it lists are Kananaskis Country, High River, Drumheller and Alberta at large.
Our favourite detail is a missile.
The museum’s notes say a fake U.S. Navy missile travelled down the new Kananaskis Highway with Mount Yamnuska in the background. A local resident who saw the prop on a flatbed truck believed the United States had invaded Canada, according to the record. Pulling over for a second look would have been fair.
Superman III gets a plainer note. The record lists it as 1982, directed by Richard Lester, and says location filming happened mostly around High River and Calgary. It also says the power plant scenes were possibly shot in Milton Keynes, England, so Alberta doesn’t get every frame.
High River keeps turning up on this site. It plays Hudson in Heartland, and nearby Nanton and Okotoks fill the screen in Interstellar. The foothills gave us the town built for Unforgiven, and Kananaskis anchors The Revenant. Add a man in a cape and the Alberta foothills have a surprisingly long film resume.
If you want to see how that work gets funded today, the Alberta Film Commission is the place to start. For the old photos, search “Movie: Superman III” in the Whyte Museum archives and click through the 22 images that are online.
More from the archive: Hell on Wheels Set Up Its Railroad Camp in Calgary and Cool Runnings Slid Into Calgary and Never Really Left.
Quick answers
Yes. The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies says mountain scenes for the 1978 Superman were shot in the Kananaskis Valley and prairie scenes around High River, with Badlands locations also photographed. Its archive file includes production prints from both Superman films.
The Whyte Museum record says location filming for Superman III was mostly around High River and Calgary. It also lists Kananaskis Country and Drumheller as locations, and notes the power plant scenes were possibly shot in Milton Keynes, England.
The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff holds 56 prints in the Bruno Engler fonds, with 22 images viewable online. Search its online archive catalogue for “Movie: Superman III” to find them.
Sources: Whyte Museum record, Movie: Superman III, Whyte Museum record, Movie: Superman III negatives, Alberta Film Commission.
