Iverson Movie Ranch researcher and Western movie expert Jerry England has been loading up his YouTube channel with great clips of old movies that showcase Iverson. It's worth keeping an eye on his channel, and if you're as into it as I am, you'll want to subscribe. Here's a sample of the work Jerry has been doing.
The clip below comes from the 1942 Republic serial "Perils of Nyoka," which is in my pantheon of the all-time greatest Iverson productions. See for yourself ...
The "Perils of Nyoka" sequence was shot on the old Upper Iverson and features the swinging bridge, whose location was pinpointed just a few years ago. The bridge was set up above the creek near Turtle Rock — one of the most prominent landmarks on the Upper Iverson's widely filmed South Rim. Turtle Rock can be seen a number of times in the clip, including around the 12-second mark. The rock was a short distance to the south of the bridge and can still be readily spotted today — if you're lucky enough to gain access to what is now a pretty exclusive gated residential area.
Moving to the Lower Iverson, this second "Nyoka" clip includes another of the movie ranch's most prominent features — Nyoka Cliff, named after this serial. This scene didn't originate the term "cliffhanger," which goes back in the movies at least as far as the silent classic "The Perils of Pauline" in 1914 — and even farther, to the newspaper serials of the 19th century and Thomas Hardy's "A Pair of Blue Eyes." But "Perils of Nyoka," one of the most successful film serials of its day, went a long way toward perpetuating, in a literal sense, the idea of the cliffhanger.
Here's a bit of the 1923 Buster Keaton silent film "Three Ages," where the Iverson Gorge and Garden of the Gods serve as an appropriately rocky background for caveman shenanigans:
Jerry has also been researching the Brandeis Movie Ranch, which was also located in Chatsworth, Calif., immediately to the west of the former Upper Iverson. Because the two movie ranches were adjacent, there's a fair amount of overlap when researching one or the other.
Here are a couple of clips showcasing Brandeis ...
This one is from "Outlaws' Paradise," a low-budget 1939 Western starring Tim McCoy.
Here's another Brandeis clip, from "Roamin' Wild," a 1936 Tom Tyler B-Western from Reliable Pictures Corp. This one features Hickeyville, the Brandeis Western town, which is seen in only a few movies. Brandeis wasn't in operation nearly as long as its neighbor to the east, the Iverson Movie Ranch.
You may also want to check out Jerry's blog, which includes a wealth of material about Iverson.
