Why we love old movie locations — especially the Iverson Movie Ranch

For an introduction to this blog and to the growing interest in historic filming locations such as the Iverson Movie Ranch — the most widely filmed outdoor location in movie and TV history — please read the site's introductory post, found here.
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• To find specific rock features or look up movie titles, TV shows, actors and production people, see the "LABELS" section — the long alphabetical listing on the right side of the page, below.
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The 1952 aerial photo

Iverson researcher Jerry England came up with this 1952 aerial photo of the Lower Iverson Movie Ranch, which has proved to be an invaluable resource. It's not as clear as we would like, but it's the only "map" of its kind that has surfaced from the filming era depicting the Lower Iverson.

Among other things it shows the location of Iverson's Western town, sometimes called El Paso Street or Iverson Village, toward the top right corner, just below the 118 freeway (approximated by the thick black horizontal line) and just west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard (approximated by the thin black vertical line). On that site today is the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village. A number of researchers have had a hand in identifying landmarks on the aerial shot, with special thanks going not only to Jerry England but also to John Emmons and Bill Sasser. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

A similar shot exists of the Upper Iverson, but it is much less clear than this one. I'll post it at some point, but so far I'm stalling because it's just frustrating to try to find anything on it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was watching "The Nevadan" and thought that the rocks in some scenes looked like "Lone Ranger" TV show rocks. Loved reading this. Thank you.

Swami Nano said...

Good call! "The Nevadan" is definitely shot on the Iverson Movie Ranch, along with a few other outdoor locations such as the Alabama Hills in the Lone Pine area and the Columbia Ranch backlot.

Iverson Village appears in the movie as the town of "Westville," with the old saloon serving as the Westville Stage Depot. Randolph Scott is seen hanging around Iverson Village in the movie too.

A number of Iverson rock features appear in the movie, including Church Rock and other rocks in the Grove area. It also has some nice shots of Cooper Rock (named after Gary Cooper) and Heroes Tower (named after the NBC TV series "Heroes").

It's worth noting, though, that a significant portion of the movie is shot in Lone Pine, and a lot of the rocks seen in it are in the Alabama Hills.

Thanks for commenting!

-SN

Anonymous said...

I have so much to tell about this area that I could not fit it into this space. I lived in Box Cyn from 1959 thru 1964 and rode those hills on horseback constantly. Irv Hamm had a stable on Berry Movie Ranch Rd from which we rode in all directions at all hours of the day and night? Carried utensils with us and cooked breakfast in the hills and movie sets. Saw many movies filmed there including the waterfall scene in The Outrage with Paul Newman. Even shot an amateur movie myself and friends at Bell. Visited the "Hippies" at the Spahn ranch before the Manson group arrived. They were just starting their commune

Swami Nano said...

Really interesting comment — thanks! I hope we hear from you again.

I'm sorry your comment slipped through the cracks and it took me a few months to find it again.

I looked at the trailer for "The Outrage," which is posted on YouTube, and it has a lot of the waterfall scene. That's quite a scene! I'm going to have to track down the movie.

Paul Newman filmed again at Bell Ranch three years later, for "Hombre." I believe the shoot included another waterfall, although it was on a completely different part of the location ranch.

Please comment again on your Bell Ranch movie memories, or email me at:

Iversonmovieranch@gmail.com

Thanks again!

-SN