The Painted Desert selected Higgin to direct the film, as well as naming the stars of the film, William Boyd and Dorothy Burgess. Later in the month it was reported that Higgin would head to Arizona to begin location scouting for the film, accompanied by fellow director, Tay Garnett, however in August Higgin began scouting in the Arizona desert with the screenwriter, Tom Buckingham. It was announced that the film would employ over 300 extras. Higgin was familiar with the area, having working in and around Flagstaff, Arizona as a lumberjack prior to his entering the film industry. Towards the end of August
Great Sandy Desert Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion, located in the North West of Western Australia straddling the Pilbara and southern Kimberley regions. It is the second largest desert in Australia after the Great Victoria Desert and encompasses an area of The Gibson Desert lies to the south and the Tanami Desert lies to the east of the Great Sandy Desert. The Great Sandy Desert contains large ergs, often consisting of longitudinal dunes. In the North East of the desert there is a meteorite impact crater, the Wolfe Creek crater. The region is sparsely populated. The