The Beatles: "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967) As you probably know, the Beatles were a super-popular band back in the Sixties. It turns out they also have a small role in this story, although it's mainly about the Jack Ingram Movie Location Ranch in Woodland Hills, Calif. "Have Gun — Will Travel": Charles Bronson on the Ingram Ranch in the 1962 episode "Brotherhood" When Charles…
"Warpath" (Paramount, 1951): Fort Abraham Lincoln I let my curiosity get the better of me after I spotted "Fort Abraham Lincoln" in Paramount's 1951 Edmond O'Brien feature "Warpath," about the Battle of Little Bighorn. I wanted to know: Where was this movie fort? Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park First of all, there's a real Fort Abraham Lincoln — or at least a Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park —…
"Locationland," a fun new YouTube video series We're excited to tell blog readers about a new YouTube series, "Locationland," which takes a fun look at filming locations around Southern California. You can find the series on the PBS SoCal YouTube page by clicking here . Harry Medved visits a key "Plan 9" filming location, San Fernando's Pioneer Cemetery The series is hosted by Harry Medved, a…
"A Private Little War" ("Star Trek," season 2, episode 19; first aired Feb. 2, 1968) More than a half-century after the original "Star Trek" series was on TV, we've found what could prove to be the Final Frontier when it comes to filming locations for the 1960s sci-fi show. Space — The Final Frontier We're not talking about "Space — the Final Frontier," as it was described each week in the show's…
This year's Lone Pine Film Festival, coming up Oct. 10-13, 2024 The tiny town of Lone Pine, Calif., is the site of some of the most spectacular filming locations around, and each year in October the town honors its place in movie history by hosting one of the country's top film festivals. The picturesque Alabama Hills, just outside of Lone Pine This year we'll be taking a deeper dive into the Lone…
Stoney Point, Chatsworth's No. 1 landmark Everyone who takes busy Topanga Canyon Boulevard through Chatsworth, Calif., drives past Stoney Point. Situated on the east side of Topanga near the 118 Freeway, it's the town's largest and best-known landmark. A view of Stoney Point from the Iverson Movie Ranch (Cliff Roberts photo) Sticking out above the flat San Fernando Valley, this high-rise sandstone…
Hollywood's "Mystery Adobe Ranch" of the 1930s Back in the early years of the talkies, Hollywood discovered an obscure ranch outside of Los Angeles where film companies could shoot Westerns. "Terror Trail" (Universal, 1933): A wide shot of the Mystery Adobe Ranch Westerns were the most popular genre of the era, and the "Mystery Adobe Ranch," as it later came to be known, appeared in a number of…
"Fury": William Fawcett, Bobby Diamond, Highland Dale, Peter Graves The TV show "Fury," centered around the bond between a young boy and his horse, was one of the most important productions to shoot on the Iverson Movie Ranch during the late 1950s. The Upper Iverson's Fury Set, home base for "Fury" (ca. 1955) Hundreds of other movies and TV shows filmed on the ranch during the same period, but…
Corriganville in its heyday, ca. 1950s: A thriving movie location and tourist attraction Some readers may already know that Silvertown, the famed Western street at Corriganville in Simi Valley, Calif., burned down in fall 1970 in the Clampitt Fire, part of the enormous and wildly destructive Newhall-Malibu Fire. "Have Gun Will Travel": Silvertown in 1957, overseen by "Gorilla Rock" It's not as…
"Spartacus" (1960): The "I'm Spartacus" scene, filmed in Thousand Oaks A while back we reported on the filming location for the famous "I'm Spartacus" scene in Stanley Kubrick's 1960 gladiator epic "Spartacus." The scene was shot in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in a cactus-riddled pass through a ridgeline of volcanic rocks. The same location in 2020: "Spartacus Draw" (Jerry Condit photo) Today the site…
"The Orville" (2017-2022 and counting): "Star Trek" with a few more laughs The "Star Trek"-inspired sci-fi series "The Orville" has been quietly shooting in an out-of-the-way corner of the San Fernando Valley that has a history of filming dating back more than a century. Progressive Insurance's "Loyal Order of Riders" campaign, running since 2021 It's the same location that serves as headquarters…
Sunrise in Monument Valley (2022): The Mittens and Merrick Butte For movie location enthusiasts with a soft spot for old Westerns, much of our love for the genre can be traced back to John Ford's work in Monument Valley. John Ford in 1955, filming "The Searchers" at today's "John Ford Point" The legendary director had such an impact on the valley that parts of the landscape wound up being named…
Filmed largely on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., the 1952 Western comedy "Son of Paleface" featured a high-profile cast led by Bob Hope, Jane Russell and Roy Rogers ... and of course, Trigger. Cecil B. DeMille, left, and Jerry Mathers ... as the Beaver The lineup of uncredited bit players was interesting too, including a super-young Jerry Mathers — still about five years away from…
The mighty Sphinx, alpha rock of the Garden of the Gods (northern profile) One of the unsolved mysteries on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., is the presence of carvings on the Sphinx, the dominant rock in the famed Garden of the Gods. The Sphinx — southern profile (2022) The carvings appear on the south side of the heavily filmed rock, and are plainly visible to anyone who might hike…
The Lone Pine Film Festival just wrapped up its 32nd year We had a great time earlier this month at the Lone Pine Film Festival, which is still going strong in its 32nd year. Not only is Lone Pine one of the best film festivals in the U.S., I believe it also stands alone in that it's more focused on actual filming locations — and a lot of them — than any other festival in the world. Dawn breaks in…
"Hot Rods to Hell" (1967): Plenty of hot rods, and sufficient hell Is it a mid-20th century metaphor for the settling of the Wild West? Who knows! But this much is clear: "Hot Rods to Hell" is one of the classics of the much-loved juvenile delinquent genre. Jeanne Crain gets hysterical while Dana Andrews responds to an emergency by "resting his eyes" If a Juvenile Delinquent Movie Hall of Fame…
"Kill Bill": Deadly Vipers observe festivities inside the Two Pines Wedding Chapel When we wrapped up Part 1 of our in-depth look at Lake Los Angeles movie history , we were about to delve into the story behind the "Kill Bill Church." ( Please click here to see Part 1 .) "Kill Bill": Does anybody here object to the wedding? Absolutely! Located in Hi Vista on the northern outskirts of Lake Los…
Lake Los Angeles, Calif. — a historic movie town that deserves to be famous The first thing we may want to clear up about Lake Los Angeles is that it's not a lake. It's a town. And as strange as it might sound, the town of Lake Los Angeles has no lake. Lake Los Angeles, circa 1970s: Back when the town had an actual lake Oh sure, it did have a lake, once upon a time — decades ago. The town was even…
Fess Parker as Daniel and Darby Hinton as Izzy in "Daniel Boone" (1964-1970) Actor Darby Hinton, who many readers will remember as young Israel Boone on the TV series "Daniel Boone," recently paid a visit to the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif. Daniel Boone shows Izzy how to hold the Kentucky long rifle in "Doll of Sorrow" (1965) It was a homecoming for Hinton, who shot some memorable…
Special presentation Saturday, May 28, at Valley Relics Museum in Van Nuys, Calif. The webmaster of the Iverson Movie Ranch Blog will present "Movie History of the San Fernando Valley" at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 28, 2022, at Valley Relics Museum in Van Nuys, Calif., with special guest Darby Hinton, who starred as Izzy Boone, Daniel Boone's young son, on the popular TV series "Daniel Boone" from…
"The Virginian" episode "The Girl in the Shadows" (1969) This stunning filming location, where cattle were put through their paces in TV Westerns during the 1960s, was almost lost to history. In modern times this forgotten land has been nearly impossible to find — until now. The same Southern California location in summer 2021 We tracked down this location in 2021, making our first expedition to…