Bigfoot Subdues Dracula: Pure whimsy ... or so I thought

"Thunder River Feud" (1942)

The image above, from Monogram's weirdly filmed, and not particularly well-preserved, Range Busters B-Western "Thunder River Feud," has haunted me since I first saw the movie back in 2008. It was one of the first movies in which I found features filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch, as my fascination with the filming location was just beginning to blossom.

In part because of the poor quality of my version of the movie, in part due to my inherently whimsical nature — and, I still want to believe, in part because of some degree of perverse intent on the part of the filmmakers — I found something in the shot that I couldn't help thinking looked like a large Bigfoot lying on top of something I thought bore some resemblance to Dracula. I began referring to the image as "Bigfoot Subdues Dracula."

In case there's any doubt as to what I thought I was seeing here — and why wouldn't there be — I've labeled the two "protagonists" of the formation in the shot above. The screen shot became, initially, a focus of failed attempts to figure out just what I was seeing, and subsequently, a symbol for the unfindable oddities that lurk in the backgrounds in any number of old movies. I came to accept long ago that Bigfoot Subdues Dracula would never be seen again, and it became a running joke both when sifting through old movies and on expeditions to the former Iverson Movie Ranch, as I would remark about any remotely similar rock feature: "Look, there's Bigfoot Subdues Dracula ... ha ha!"

"Last of the Bad Men" (1957) (false lead)

It became apparent long ago that Bigfoot Subdues Dracula — or simply "Bigfoot," as I later came to call the feature — was unlikely to ever turn up in the real world, but I would occasionally see something in the movies that caused me to consider whether, by some miracle, I might be seeing the formation again. I went through a series of false leads, including the above shot from the Allied Artists Western "Last of the Bad Men," in which a potential Bigfoot, positioned with a similar "attitude" to the original, lurks meaningfully in the background. The sequence is shot on the Iverson Ranch, as are the bulk of the movie's outdoor sequences. But as it turns out, it's not Bigfoot.

"The Great Alaskan Mystery" (1944) (once again, NOT Bigfoot)

Another false lead, shown above, surfaced in the 1944 Universal serial "The Great Alaskan Mystery," starring Milburn Stone — who later became a TV icon playing Doc for 20 years on "Gunsmoke," and winning an Emmy in the process.

"Fighting Bill Fargo" (1942)

A clue surfaced a couple of years ago when I spotted the above formation in the Johnny Mack Brown B-Western "Fighting Bill Fargo." But by this time I was resigned to thinking of Bigfoot, and the elusive image of a Bigfoot overpowering a Dracula character, as nothing more than a trick of light — and an illusion that would never evolve into a "real" filming location sighting. As a result, I didn't give this sighting as much thought at the time as it may have deserved.

"Treasure of Ruby Hills" (Allied Artists, 1955)

Finally, it happened: Six years after the original sighting in "Thunder River Feud," the actual Bigfoot Subdues Dracula, no mistaking it this time, resurfaced, looking remarkably similar to what I thought all this time had been just an illusion. The formation turned up in this shot from the B-Western "Treasure of Ruby Hills," and while "Bigfoot" doesn't look nearly as "Bigfoot-y" here as it did in the original, far more grainy, "Thunder River Feud" shot, to my eye "Dracula" appears, if anything, even more Dracula-esque here than in the original.

In another piece of news to come out of this sighting, the approximate location for the rock feature is now known: Smooth Hill is recognizable in the background — it's the view of the hill from the northwest, from the general vicinity of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set.

"Two Guns and a Badge" (Allied Artists, 1954)

This shot from the Wayne Morris B-Western "Two Guns and a Badge" is extremely low-res, but it provides a similar view of Smooth Hill to the shot above from "Treasure of Ruby Hills" — and also contains the main house from the Middle Iverson Ranch Set. Bigfoot would be concealed behind the house in this shot.

Here's a comparison of the two above shots, highlighting a large split rock that helps establish that it's the same hill in both shots.

"Bells of Rosarita" (1945)

Smooth Hill, on the left, looms again behind the Middle Iverson Ranch Set in this scene from the Roy Rogers movie "Bells of Rosarita," in which Gabby Hayes is famously trapped in the trunk of an out-of-control old coupe.

North side of "Smooth Hill"

The hill appears much less smooth here than it does in "Treasure of Ruby Hills," illustrating how rocks, hills and other features can take on a vastly different appearance when the camera position shifts slightly. Smooth Hill was usually filmed from a different direction entirely — from the south, including frequent appearances in the background of shots of the Iverson Movie Ranch Western street, as seen below.

"Son of Paleface" (1952) — Smooth Hill from the other side

Smooth Hill, seen here from its more familiar southern side, is widely recognized as the hill in the background of shots of the Iverson Western street looking toward the north, including the example above from Bob Hope's Western comedy "Son of Paleface." The Western street, also known as El Paso Street, appears in the movie a ghost town — in other words, tumbleweeds were brought in and a few windows were boarded up. The bodies lying around are a separate issue.

"Rocky Mountain Rangers" (Three Mesquiteers, 1940)

Here's a nice view of Smooth Hill's southern side — looking characteristically smooth — from before the Western street was built, when Sheep Flats, the area seen in the foreground, was more wide-open. The shot comes from the Republic B-Western "Rocky Mountain Rangers," which I have in my pantheon of the greatest Iverson Ranch productions. The Western town set was built about four years later, in 1944, but would have been off to the left, out of the frame from this particular angle.

For a change the background is clear enough to spot a number of the telephone poles that were beginning to proliferate in the area by 1940. In some productions, such as those set in the earlier stages of the American West, the poles would have been an anachronism. But filmmakers typically shot without much apparent concern for them, and most of the time the backgrounds were so fuzzy it didn't matter.

Smooth Hill was later leveled, and a large apartment complex was built on top of it. Also seen here is the 118 Freeway, which was built in the mid-1960s, effectively bringing a halt to filming on the Lower Iverson. In the foreground is the Topanga onramp heading east.

"Cheyenne Takes Over" (PRC, 1947)

Back on the northern side of Smooth Hill, the story of Bigfoot continues to unfold. It turns out the rock was there all along in shots of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set, but it would have been pretty hard to find without knowing what we know now. You may or may not be able to pick it out in the above shot from the Lash LaRue movie "Cheyenne Takes Over."

Bigfoot is way in the background and really small in this screen shot, but once you know what the feature looks like and where it should be, you can tell that this is it.

"Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere" (Columbia, 1951)

A wider shot of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set again includes both Smooth Hill and Bigfoot, as noted below. The shot comes from the "Captain Video" serial, which starred Judd Holdren and Larry Stewart.

The Chatsworth landmark Stoney Point can be spotted in the distance, and the shot also shows off the rarely seen back side of the Bunkhouse, part of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set.

"Treasure of Ruby Hills" (1955)

Back to "Treasure of Ruby Hills," and still another angle on Bigfoot. This shot displays the impressive span of the full rock feature in all its glory and includes the "Dracula" head popping out again, albeit slightly blurry.

"Treasure of Ruby Hills" also contains closeups of Bigfoot Subdues Dracula, such as this one showing mainly the "Bigfoot" portion. It's hard to tell from this angle (or any angle, really) how the "Dracula" image is formed, but presumably it's generated by the darker rocks at bottom left.

"The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" (1958)

The formation figures prominently in the background of this shot of Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp in "The Bounty Killer," an episode of the "Wyatt Earp" TV show that first aired Sept. 30, 1958. "Dracula" can again be seen, but the figure transforms with each new angle. We may all be seeing something entirely different.

"The Roy Rogers Show" (1954)

This is what Bigfoot looks like from the other side — a lot like the first side. This shot comes from "Last of the Larrabee Kid," an episode of "The Roy Rogers Show" that premiered Oct. 17, 1954. In the background is the northeast face of the main house at Middle Iverson, which indicates we're looking more or less toward the west and viewing the southeastern face of the rock.

Recent shot of the Bigfoot area, now filled with condos

The story of Bigfoot does not have a happy ending. The rock formation was destroyed after the filming era wound down and that portion of the former Iverson Movie Ranch became a condo development. The photo above shows the approximate spot where Bigfoot once stood, looking toward the southeast.