Terrific find: An old Western "town" set near Garden of the Gods — and Boris Karloff working at Iverson, one year before "Frankenstein"

"The Utah Kid" (1930): A rare early adobe in front of the Phantom, near Garden of the Gods

I recently found out about a group of buildings that stood near Garden of the Gods, on the Iverson Movie Ranch, all the way back in 1930. Film location researcher Tinsley Yarbrough brought the discovery to my attention after he spotted the structures in the early sound Western "The Utah Kid," starring Rex Lease.

The set appears to consist mainly of three "adobe" buildings. That is, they're adobe in appearance, although in all likelihood they were made of something more flimsy — and cheaper.

It's possible that other buildings were included in the set, but these three are the only ones I was able to find in "The Utah Kid." For research purposes, I've labeled them Adobes A, B and C. I have begun to think of the set as what may be the earliest Western "town" set built on the Iverson Ranch — although it's a stretch to call it a town.

The buildings are tucked in just north of some of the most familiar sandstone giants on the Lower Iverson, including the Garden of the Gods mainstays Tower Rock, Sphinx and Phantom.

Inside the Saloon at "Robber's Roost" (studio shot)

The set appears in "The Utah Kid" as "Robber's Roost," a gathering place for bad guys where they can enjoy many of the comforts of the law-abiding world — including a busy saloon — while they're hiding out.

The giant sandstone boulder known as the Phantom looms over Adobe A

Much of the focus in the movie is on Adobe A, the fanciest of the three buildings, by far. The building, distinguished by its unusual angled roof, serves as the exterior for the Robber's Roost saloon.

Adobe B

The much smaller Adobe B also gets a fair amount of screen time in "The Utah Kid," with a role as a honeymoon hideaway of sorts.

In this shot of Rex Lease in front of Adobe B, we get a more detailed view of the building.

Boris Karloff lurks outside Adobe B

One of the many surprises in "The Utah Kid" is that it features Boris Karloff in a rare Western role, playing a henchman. The release of "Frankenstein" a year later — with Karloff in the role of "The Monster" — would make the actor a household name.

Boris Karloff on the Iverson Ranch — promo still for "The Utah Kid"

Here's a promotional photo of Karloff taken for "The Utah Kid," which offers a clearer look at the actor. The print we have of "The Utah Kid" isn't horrible, but it's pretty heavily scored in some places, as you may have noticed.

Lobby card for "The Utah Kid" — where's Karloff?

I found it interesting that Karloff, who had already spent more than a decade honing his acting chops in the silent movies, wasn't big enough yet to crack the movie's "top five" and find his way onto the lobby card. His role in "The Utah Kid" was larger than those of some of the actors who did get their names on the card.

An ad for the movie, apparently from a newspaper published around the time of the film's release, misspells the name of the leading lady, Dorothy Sebastian.

Adobe C

Adobe C, the smallest of the three buildings, is barely used in the movie. But it does appear on screen, albeit a bit blurry, as Rex Lease and Sebastian, his leading lady, ride past.

Adobe A — the Robber's Roost saloon — under siege

Adobe A, the saloon, becomes the focal point of a climactic siege on Robber's Roost by the sheriff and his men. In this shot the building is obscured by gunsmoke as the firefight rages.

Head bad guy Tom Santschi, center, and his henchman, Boris Karloff, leave the Saloon

While "The Utah Kid" makes good use of the Robber's Roost set, it is unlikely that the set was built for the movie. The studio behind the picture — Tiffany Productions, a notoriously low-budget Poverty Row studio — would have been reluctant to spend the kind of money needed to build even a flimsy version of the relatively elaborate set.

"The Utah Kid" — shootout filmed from the interior of Adobe A

Some of the camera angles seen in the big shootout were filmed from the interior of Adobe A, with the view outside the door — including a wispy tree, presumably a fake — matching the actual location as it appears in exterior shots.

This version of the shot points out the wispy tree.

A wide shot of the Robber's Roost set area includes the same wispy tree, seen from the reverse angle.

Here's another shot taken from the interior of Adobe A. The inclusion of these shots means the building was designed with sufficient room inside for the clunky filming equipment in use at the time — adding fuel to the theory that the set construction would have been too expensive for Tiffany Productions.

A minor set that also turns up in "The Utah Kid" is this corral area, situated not far from where the adobes were built. The location of this set, just south of the Phantom in Central Garden of the Gods, is pinpointed by Getaway Rock, the large rock that dominates the background of the shot.

"Tennessee's Partner" (1955) — Getaway Rock, in Central Garden of the Gods

Getaway Rock gets its name from its appearance in the 1955 John Payne-Ronald Reagan Western "Tennessee's Partner," where the rock marks the getaway route of the villainous Turner in the film's climactic sequence. You can read a detailed account of the location shoot for this sequence by clicking here.

Getaway Rock as it appears today

Getaway Rock can still be found easily today. It's in Central Garden of the Gods, at the west end of the open area south of Phantom and Sphinx.

Rex Lease outside Adobe B in "The Utah Kid"

Rex Lease, the star of "The Utah Kid," may not be among the best-known cowboy heroes, but he had a prolific and durable movie career, mostly in low-budget Westerns — many of them filmed at Iverson.

"Rough Riding Ranger" (Superior, 1935)

He played his share of bit parts, going all the way back to 1924, eventually working his way up to lead status and starring in a string of B-Westerns for Poverty Row studios such as Superior and Argosy, as well as Tiffany.

"Custer's Last Stand" (Stage and Screen, 1936)

Like many cowboy heroes of the '30s, Rex also put in his time in the matinee serials. One of his most high-profile cliffhangers was "Custer's Last Stand," which once again had Rex riding the Iverson Ranch.

Rex Lease with actress Charlotte Merriam, his first wife (1928)

In all, Lease appeared in about 250 movies in a career spanning more than 35 years. Capping off his career, he played a series of "henchman"-type roles in the late '50s on the TV series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," before hanging up his spurs in 1960. The West Virginia native died in Van Nuys, Calif., in 1966 at age 62.

Given that it's unlikely the adobe set was built for "The Utah Kid," we're left with an obvious question: Who, then, did build the set? For now, that question remains unanswered, and it could prove challenging to answer. In fact, given the scarcity not just of records from this period, but also of movies from the era — with many films from the '20s having dissolved into piles of nitrate dust — we may never know. But let's not let that keep us from trying.

What's the last movie filmed on the Iverson Ranch? Not so fast ...

"The Mystic Warrior" (1984) — NOT the last Iverson movie

"What is the last movie filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch?" ... It's a question that has no real answer, in part because filming at Iverson continues today, albeit on a drastically smaller scale than in decades gone by. But in order to get some handle on the question, we can look at various landmarks along the way — and clearly one of these is the 1984 TV movie "The Mystic Warrior."

Will Sampson in "The Mystic Warrior," first aired in 1984

 
It's noteworthy that references have been made to "The Mystic Warrior" as the last Iverson movie, including in Iverson family biographies — an indication that at least as far as the family was concerned, there was an end to the operation of the movie location business, and that end came in the early 1980s. Why "The Mystic Warrior" was singled out has never been spelled out, but its production coincides with a period in which much of the movie location ranch began to be sold off by the Iverson family.

"The Mystic Warrior": Turtle Rock, left, Gorilla, right, and Oat Mountain, background

The Iverson shoot for "The Mystic Warrior" consisted mainly of one sequence early in the movie that takes place on the Upper Iverson's South Rim, showcasing the features Turtle Rock and Gorilla, along with the ubiquitous Oat Mountain, all of which can be seen, sort of, in this blurry screen shot.

It's an interesting sequence — probably more interesting from a location standpoint than it is for its artistic merits.

"The Mystic Warrior"

The movie places a variety of characters on the South Rim, including Native American warriors.

The sequence is also noteworthy for its levitating spider.

And levitate it does ... over the Iverson's South Rim. They used this angle a lot in the movie, and you can still see Turtle Rock on the left and Gorilla on the right, about midway up.

Most readers won't have noticed the Milliner and his wife beneath the levitating spider, along with their odd-looking but happy son — all formed by rocks with "faces." After spending a certain number of hours looking at rocks, I find stuff like this perversely amusing. Needless to say, your mileage may vary.

As so often happens during a smoky rapture ... a white buffalo appears in "The Mystic Warrior."

"The Tomb (1986)

One reason I tend to resist the idea that "The Mystic Warrior" was the last Iverson movie is this: Within a couple of years of the broadcast of "The Mystic Warrior," another relatively obscure production, the 1986 movie "The Tomb," filmed in the same area on the Upper Iverson where "The Mystic Warrior" shot previously. You can click here to read an earlier blog post with more photos from "The Tomb."

"Support Your Local Sheriff"  (1969) — shot on the Upper Iverson

I've cited "Support Your Local Sheriff!" in the past as a turning point for Iverson, noting that the movie represents a coda to the era when the ranch was somewhat fully dedicated to location work. In practical terms, the movie ranch called it a wrap as a viable business by the end of the 1960s.

Title sequence from "Support Your Local Sheriff": Upper Iverson's North Rim

The heyday for filming on the movie ranch ran from the mid-1930s through the 1950s, coinciding with first the B-movie era and later the early years of the TV business. At the peak, well over 100 movies and TV episodes a year were shot on the ranch. From the end of the 1950s on, the number of productions at Iverson rapidly declined.

Another movie that is sometimes cited as marking the end of the Iverson era is the rarely seen and inauspicious "Motorcycle Cheerleading Mammas," released in 1997. But the truth is the site of the former Iverson Ranch continues to be used by Hollywood today, as it has for more than 100 years now.

Movie trucks parked on Redmesa Road in 2011 for a major shoot in Garden of the Gods

These days the productions include movies, TV shows, webisodes, video games, commercials and just about anything else that can be filmed or videotaped. The flow of productions has dwindled to a barely noticeable trickle over the past several decades, but it has never dried up completely.

"Daybreak" (2012)

Among the recent productions to set up shop at Iverson is the Web series "Daybreak," which shot in and around the mobile home park in 2012. Of course, there's a fundamental difference between filming in the mobile home park, which technically occupies former movie ranch turf, and shooting Iverson in its pure state, with the emphasis on sandstone boulders — as "The Mystic Warrior," "The Tomb" and other later productions did.

Whoops! Who left that fake tree lying around?

"Canyon Ambush" (1952) — climactic chase, filmed on the Upper Iverson

I couldn't help giggling when I spotted a big "X" near the right edge of the frame in this shot from the Monogram B-Western "Canyon Ambush." My mind raced back in time to those Christmases of yore and the old wooden stands that came on the Christmas tree.

I figured it had to be a fake tree — maybe it blew over in the wind, or somebody just forgot to pick it up after a previous shoot. Regardless, either nobody noticed it in the shot or, more likely, the budget-conscious Monogram production team just figured it wasn't "bad enough" to bother scrapping the footage.

But it gets even better. A shot moments later in the big chase sequence again shows the fallen tree, lying there plain as day — only this time it appears someone has turned it around. My guess is it went down this way: Someone did spot the big wooden "X," but rather than go to the trouble of removing the tree altogether, they just had a crew member turn it around, thinking it's not nearly as obvious from this angle.

Um, yeah ... not AS obvious, maybe, but still ... kinda obvious.

Rock Island: A Viewer's Guide

"Overland Stage Raiders" (1938) — Rock Island

A personal favorite of mine among the many distinctive rock formations on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., is a community of large sandstone columns known as Rock Island.

"Deathsport" (1978)

The formation ultimately met what most movie fans and film historians would consider a sad fate, which I will get into below. But talk about a long and distinguished Hollywood career — the two shots above are taken 40 years apart, while other appearances by Rock Island in the movies go back to the silent era.

"They Died With Their Boots On" (1941)

I would argue that the poor treatment Rock Island received when development came to the Iverson Gorge in the late 1980s gives us that much more reason to celebrate the contribution these picturesque rocks made to the evolution of movies and TV, to our cultural heritage, and even to our image as a nation.

"Have Gun — Will Travel" (1960): Rock Island's southwest corner

Rock Island, along with other features of the Iverson Movie Ranch and other important outdoor filming locations, helped create the mystique of the American West, elevating the global stature of the U.S. film industry and helping to solidify the country's position as a top player on the world stage.

"Fighting Seabees" (1944)

In John Wayne's World War II movie "Fighting Seabees," the massive scale of Rock Island becomes clear, with the rock towers, seen here in the top right corner, juxtaposed against a group of soldiers who look like toy army men as they approach the sandstone behemoths.

The two main rock features in the "Fighting Seabees" shot are Rock Island and Crown Rock. Also note the prop palm trees, which helped transform Iverson's dry, rocky terrain into a battlefield island in the Pacific.

The large fuel tank in the foreground is another prop built for the movie. The soldiers are advancing to the north along the old Stagecoach Road that ran through the Iverson Gorge and came to a "Y" just below Rock Island. The soldiers appear to be taking the east fork, which continues north.

Rock Island was surrounded on all sides by roads, which can be seen in this aerial photo from 1952.

Three main roads converged to form the "island" — the east and west forks of the old Stagecoach Road, seen in the "Fighting Seabees" shot higher up, and the access road that ran northeast from the movie ranch's entrance off Santa Susana Pass Road to the Iverson family residence.

The area today is part of the Cal West Townhomes, with what's left of Rock Island now relegated to a role as decorative backdrop for the swimming pool area off Redmesa Road. The route of the old access road remains in use today, although the terrain has been fully graded, leaving no traces of roadside features such as the old stone buttressing that was once in place just north of Rock Island.

"Three Ages" (1923) — silent comedy feature starring Buster Keaton ... and Rock Island, right

Rock Island was a part of the prehistoric storyline in Buster Keaton's silent comedy "Three Ages," in which Keaton's caveman character defends an "armory" built atop one of the island's rock towers. The large rock butte at the left is the back of Batman Rock.

The Keaton comedy focuses mainly on a single Rock Island tower — the rock at the southeast corner of the island, which I call Eraserhead. I posted an entry last year about Buster's "armory" atop Eraserhead, and you can read that post by clicking here. I've recently updated the post with some new material.

"Three Ages": Making good use of Rock Island

This shot combines Keaton's armory atop Eraserhead with the unusual rock feature seen behind Keaton, which was a separate Rock Island tower located a short distance away, at the formation's southwest corner. The use of a telephoto lens makes the two rock features appear closer together than they were.

"Manhunt of Mystery Island" (1945) — into the depths of Eraserhead

Other productions have also made use of selected parts of Eraserhead, with at least one production, the Republic sci-fi serial "Manhunt of Mystery Island," going in for a rare closeup of the base of the rock.

With its distinctive round "mouth," Eraserhead is easy to spot in the "Manhunt of Mystery Island" sequence.

"Manhunt of Mystery Island" moves in for a closeup of Eraserhead's base, creating the effect of a cave. I don't buy that this is a real cave — I'm guessing the material along the right edge of the frame is fake.

"Ride 'em Cowboy" (1942)

Here's another angle on Eraserhead, from the Abbott and Costello movie "Ride 'em Cowboy," with the rock's "mouth" highlighted again.

"Eraserhead" (1977)

The rock's name comes from the David Lynch movie "Eraserhead" — a staple on lists of the weirdest movies ever made. Some readers may see the resemblance.

Rock Island by the numbers ("Overland Stage Raiders," 1938)

Rock Island consisted of about five main rocks, and up until recently I resisted the temptation to index them numerically — maybe because it seems to "dehumanize" them. But I get that it can be useful to number them — especially when tracking what happened to the individual rocks. So I've implemented a numbering system that starts with the group's most prominent member, Eraserhead — or RI-1 — and goes left to right, front to back.

Modern-day Rock Island (Bing bird's-eye view)

Determining the fates of the individual rocks is not as easy as it might sound, given that Rock Island's location within the modern layout of the Cal West Townhomes complex is known. One problem is that the entire formation has been partially buried. Major rock features are hidden behind dense foliage, and key pieces have been removed. However, as difficult as it may be to see Rock Island today, for the most part, it has survived.

The fate of Eraserhead, or "RI-1," has already been documented. I found what remains of RI-1 a few years ago, and I've reported previously that as much as three-quarters of the rock has been buried. If you click here you'll find details about Eraserhead's current status, including a diagram of the rock's "dirt line."

Eraserhead today — locked inside "Rock Island Prison"

Compounding RI-1's predicament, it finds itself today locked behind something resembling prison bars. The bars are part of the fencing surrounding the pool area for the condo complex, but I think of it as "Rock Island Prison."

Even though a couple of distinctive round holes on Eraserhead remain above ground, neither of these is the large "mouth" noted in previous shots. Here I've labeled these features Hole "A" and Hole "B."

"Overland Stage Raiders": Eraserhead's identifying holes

Holes "A" and "B" can be seen again in the shot from "Overland Stage Raiders." Also note the position of the "mouth," which is much larger than Holes A and B. Today the mouth is buried in dirt.

Recent pruning of the foliage in the swimming pool area has made it easier to see RI-2 than it was in the past. The rock is still only partially visible, but it's readily identifiable.

"Bonanza": "The Ride" — Rock Island

This shot from the TV series "Bonanza" offers a view of RI-2 from an angle similar to the photo above this, although it's a bit of a challenge here to distinguish RI-2 from its neighbor RI-3.

This version of the "Bonanza" shot singles out RI-2. Filming on the episode, "The Ride," would have been done in 1961, with the show premiering Jan. 21, 1962. It appears to me that a significant portion of RI-2 may have been removed, but the section noted here remains intact.

A photo of RI-2 from a recent visit reveals that, just as it did during its film and TV days, the rock maintains close quarters with its neighbors RI-1 and RI-3. These days, however, only the tip of the tower remains above ground.

The three rocks Making up Rock Island's "front line" are identified in this version of the shot.

A surprise that turned up while I was shooting these photos was a small inscription on RI-1. While I haven't yet had a chance to look into it, it's safe to say it does NOT read "RI-1." A rock detective's work is never done, sigh ... but that's why it's so much fun. I'll keep you posted on anything I'm able to find out about it.

Here's another angle on RI-2, center, and as usual, it's jammed between RI-1 on the left and RI-3 on the right.

"The Saga of the Viking Women" (1957): RI-3

Speaking of RI-3, a good entry point is this shot from the Roger Corman cult classic "The Saga of the Viking Women." The rock is a little hard to spot here, but it rises above the dust about halfway between the riders and the top left corner. The angle is a near-perfect match for RI-3's best viewing angle in its modern poolside setting.

RI-3 is identified in this version of the "Viking Women" shot. The full title of the movie — which is a spectacle of Iverson rocks — is "The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent."

RI-3 as it appears today

This is RI-3 today — the top part of it, anyway — bringing as much ambiance as it can to the "cement pond." The rock has been a little more hidden behind foliage at times over the years, but today it is easily recognizable as the tallest of the towers making up the three-boulder "front line" of Rock Island — RI-1, RI-2 and RI-3.

Consistent with the fates of both Eraserhead and RI-2, much of RI-3 is now buried. However, the distinctive stacked rock at the top of the tower remains in place. From this angle, readers should be able to see the similarities between the present-day rock and the rock as it appears in the "Viking Women" screen shot.

Here's a rough approximation, using the "Viking Women" shot, of the portion of RI-3 that remains above ground and how much of the rock has been buried.

Going back to the modern bird's-eye view, here's where RI-3 is situated, right next to the pool.

Almost due west of RI-3 is RI-4, positioned at the southwest corner of Rock Island and anchoring Rock Island's "back line."

This photo that I ran near the top of this post, from the TV show "Have Gun — Will Travel," unabashedly showcases the mighty RI-4. The shot comes from the season 4 opener, "The Fatalist," which aired Sept. 10, 1960.

"Zane Grey Theatre": Barbara Stanwyck and John Archer with RI-4.

RI-4 appears in the background of this shot from the "Zane Grey Theatre" episode "The Freighter," guest-starring Barbara Stanwyck.

"Zane Grey Theatre" — "The Freighter"

Another shot from "The Freighter" again features RI-4, at top left, along with the "mouth" of Eraserhead, or RI-1, at top right. The "Zane Grey" episode premiered Jan. 17, 1958, and would have been shot in 1957.

RI-4 today: covered with ivy

Today RI-4 is one of the most difficult of the Rock Island "majors" to see, with the single biggest obstacle being that the rock is now almost completely encased in ivy.

This version of the shot points out one of the rare patches on RI-4 that is NOT currently covered by ivy.

RI-4 is in there somewhere — this wider shot of the rock's current location gives an idea of the less than satisfying view of RI-4 that is available from the sidewalk along Redmesa Road.

I'd say this is more or less where the rock would fit into the picture — if we could see it behind the foliage.

Is it my imagination, or is RI-4's high crown trying to peek out from behind this clump of ivy and other shrubbery? This photo is taken more or less from the west, from Redmesa Road.

A glimpse of rock near the top of RI-4  — probably a partial view of the crown — is possible by peering through the ivy from just the right angle, for what it's worth. Needless to say, it's a challenge to get a peek at anything on RI-4.

"Three Ages" (1923)

Here's the Buster Keaton "armory" shot again, as a reminder of what RI-4's crown looked like more than 90 years ago — when it was out in the open and available for filming.

Moving to the east side of the formation, this photo identifies what I again believe is the crown of RI-4, peeking out from the vegetation. The rocks toward the right are not a part of Rock Island, but are the ridge of Batman Corner to the west, across Redmesa Road. The building in the picture is the poolhouse.

The most prominent Rock Island feature in the bird's-eye view is RI-5. But despite its high profile from the air, RI-5 is among the most challenging of all of the formation's major players when it comes to navigating its present-day setting at ground level.

RI-5 today, near top left

In one corner of the swimming pool patio area, the main chunk of RI-5 visible in the aerial can also be seen at ground level. This chunk provides one key piece of the RI-5 puzzle, but other pieces remain elusive.

"Overland Stage Raiders" (1938)

Back in the filming days RI-5 looked like this — at least from the south, which was a popular angle for shooting Rock Island. You may be able to spot similar shapes and markings on the rock in the two above photos — including an upside-down L-shaped fissure in the bottom left corner of the rock, visible in both shots.

"Ride 'em Cowboy"

It could be hard to get a good look at RI-5 in the movies. In the shot from Abbott and Costello's "Ride 'em Cowboy," we see just a tiny portion of the rock sticking out from behind RI-4.

"Bonanza"

In the "Bonanza" shot we get a glimpse of some of the westernmost extremities of RI-5, which was made up of multiple rocks and was really a rock "clump" rather than a single boulder.

"Fugitive Valley" (1941) — rare view of the Ri-5 corner of Rock Island from the west

Here's where my analysis of RI-5 takes a leap from "at least pretty sure" to "it kinda looks like it." This shot from the Range Busters movie "Fugitive Valley" appears to me to include a rare view of RI-5 from the west, and a number of known rock features are also seen, which tend to support that interpretation.

The major rock features are identified on this version of the "Fugitive Valley" screen shot. Movie shots of the Rock Island area taken from this angle almost never turn up, and when they do, they can be difficult to interpret. Not that I don't have my theories.

Promo still for "Harum Scarum" (1965): Elvis Presley and Mary Ann Mobley

If you've been following this blog, you may have already put together that the rock clump I blogged about in a recent post about Elvis Presley promo shots for "Harum Scarum" is in fact RI-5. You can click here for more details in that post, about Rock Island and the Elvis shoot at Iverson in 1965.

RI-5's northern slope today

What remains of the northern slope of RI-5 today is shrouded in ivy. If we could pull back the foliage covering this group of rocks, we would probably find something beneath it that resembles the Elvis promo shot.

The "Fugitive Valley" shot may hold the key to why so much of Rock Island ended up being buried. The photo appears to show a substantial elevation change between Rock Island to the east and Batman Rock to the west, with a mild "ridgeline" dividing the two elevations and blocking the view of the lower portion of Rock Island.

Today the two sides of Redmesa Road are roughly equal in elevation. Fill dirt was poured by the ton when Redmesa Road and the nearby condos were built, largely erasing the ridgeline and leaving the bottom two-thirds or so of Rock Island to pick up the check.

"Khyber Patrol" (1954): Rock Island, top right

I believe there's more work to be done before the story of Rock Island is fully known. I continue to explore the area hoping to dig up new clues, and will report any new information here on the blog. For now, I find it satisfying just to know a little bit more about this mysterious, complicated and magnificent rock feature than I did even a few short months ago. And I continue to get a kick out of it each time I spot Rock Island in a movie or TV show.