Desire in the Dust

One of the biggest television stars in the early 1960’s was none other than Raymond Burr, a.k.a. Perry Mason. In between filming one of TV’s most successful dramas, Burr spent five weeks in Louisiana filming the 20th Century Fox release Desire in the Dust. In addition to Burr, the cast included Martha Hyer, Joan Bennett, Ken Scott, Brett Halsey, Clinton Mayor Joe Felps, and several thespians from the Baton Rouge Little Theatre. Burr played a powerful and ambitious landowner in a small Louisiana town who went to great lengths to protect his family name and his chance at the governorship. Desire in the Dust was filmed entirely on location in Louisiana. Both exterior and interior scenes were shot at the Oakley House located within Audubon State Historic Site in St. Francisville. Other scenes included East Feliciana Parish Courthouse, District Judge Woodrow Overton’s hunting lodge, a bar-restaurant and a weekly newspaper office set up in Clinton, and two tenant houses. Additional scenes were filmed in Zachary, Louisiana.