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.