Virginia Mayo
Some of the hottest actresses of the 1930s, '40s and '50s — and please feel free to interpret the word "hottest" however it suits you — appeared in movies and TV shows filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch.
The tantalizing Rita Hayworth was one of a number of top actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age to pay her dues at the Chatsworth filming location.
"The Renegade Ranger" (1938): Rita Hayworth and George O'Brien on the Iverson Ranch
Hayworth's Iverson Movie Ranch portfolio includes starring opposite George O'Brien in the 1938 RKO Western "The Renegade Ranger." Here the two stars are seen in a publicity still taken north of Garden of the Gods.
Rita Hayworth
When it comes to picking great photos of Rita Hayworth, a gorgeous movie star who moonlighted as one of the top pinups of World War II, it's hard to narrow it down to just a few.
Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming had a busy Iverson Movie Ranch career, including appearing in the Iverson movies "Tennessee's Partner," "Alias Jesse James" and "Yankee Pasha."
Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda cleaned up nicely.
Gene Tierney with Randolph Scott on the Iverson Ranch in "Belle Starr," 1941
Gene Tierney worked the Iverson Ranch as the title character in 20th Century-Fox's "Belle Starr." She dressed down for the part of the none-too-glamorous outlaw — and if you've ever seen a photo of the real Belle Starr, you know the role would have been a stretch for Tierney, considered one of the most beautiful actresses of her era.
Gene Tierney: Hay, babe, how 'bout it?
Like other screen babes of the era, Tierney was expected at times to be photographed either in or near hay — and I have a hunch we'll be seeing more combinations of women and hay before we're through here.
Gene Tierney
Tierney also had her more glamorous photo shoots.
Loretta Young
Speaking of glamour, Loretta Young helped class up a number of Iverson movies, including starring with Gary Cooper in "Along Came Jones," a landmark production for the movie ranch filmed in 1944 and 1945.
"Along Came Jones": Loretta Young, Gary Cooper and William Demarest on the Iverson Western street
Loretta's sudden display of affection catches Gary Cooper off guard as William "He'll Always Be Uncle Charley" Demarest looks on in disbelief. Cooper, who both starred in and produced "Along Came Jones," had the town set built specifically for the movie in 1944.
Loretta Young
Loretta seems to have no idea what all the fuss is about.
Did I mention hay? Jane Russell rolled around in it with a six-shooter in a series of iconic promo shots for Howard Hughes' 1943 Western "The Outlaw."
Jane Russell
"The Outlaw" was not filmed on the Iverson Ranch, but Russell starred in her share of Iverson movies — among them, "The Paleface," "Son of Paleface" and "Waco."
Dale Evans
Speaking of hotties on the hay, we think mostly pure thoughts about Dale Evans, remembered fondly as Mrs. Roy Rogers, Queen of the West. But there's a reason the King of the Cowboys warmed up to her in the first place.
Dale Evans and soulmate Roy Rogers
If anyone had been counting, Roy and Dale would hold the record for "most often filmed couple on the Iverson Ranch" — by a lot. They lived in Chatsworth in the '50s and '60s, just 10 minutes from the movie ranch, and filmed almost all of the outdoor action for "The Roy Rogers Show" on the ranch.
Dale Evans
Evans played more than her share of saloon girls before she hooked up with Roy.
Maureen O'Sullivan as "Jane"
From the Queen of the West to the Queen of the Jungle, Maureen O'Sullivan raised the bar for all future Janes in the "Tarzan" movies of the '30s, with a number of her jungle adventures filmed on the Iverson Ranch.
You Tarzan, me Jane ... we half-naked: Maureen O'Sullivan gives Johnny Weissmuller ideas
Maureen created a stir with her skimpy Jane outfits, which helped convince Hollywood to start enforcing the Hays Code once the censors got a good look at Maureen's body in "Tarzan and His Mate" in 1934.
"Tarzan's Secret Treasure" (1941): The Tarzan family in the Iverson Gorge
O'Sullivan still made a pretty hot Jane, even after the new production code — along with her new job title as surrogate mom to Boy — forced her to cover up some of her attributes from the mid-'30s on.
Anita Ekberg in "La Dolce Vita"
Before Swedish bombshell Anita Ekberg became an international sensation in the 1960 classic "La Dolce Vita," she had a tour de force performance in the title role of 1957's "Valerie," filmed on the Upper Iverson.
Anita Ekberg
Something about this unusual colorized photo of Ekberg just works.
Yvonne De Carlo
Speaking of skin, I hope my readers can handle photos of a young, scantily clad — and not-exactly-clad — Lily Munster, aka the sumptuous Yvonne De Carlo. These racy pics from the 1940s go back to early in her career.
Dorothy Malone
Then there's Dorothy Malone, who could drive men to madness as a brunette cowgirl or a blonde femme fatale ... or a blonde cowgirl, for that matter. Really pretty much however they dressed her up.
Dorothy Malone and Rock Hudson, "Tarnished Angels," 1957
Dorothy's Iverson resume includes "The Nevadan," with Randolph Scott, and two early Roger Corman movies from 1955 — the original "The Fast and the Furious" and the unfairly overlooked Western "Five Guns West."
Dorothy Malone and Jonathan Haze, "Five Guns West," 1955
Malone was put to extremely good use as Shalee, the unbearably seductive fuel for outlaws' passions in Roger Corman's first directorial effort, "Five Guns West," filmed on the Iverson Ranch and Ingram Ranch.
A young Dorothy Malone does her part for the war effort
What's that you say? More Dorothy Malone? You got it!
Dorothy Malone and Penny Edwards: Double your hot cowgirl pleasure
We also have Dorothy to thank for roping in Penny Edwards, as the two tag-teamed a memorable cowgirl photo shoot around the time they appeared together in Warner Bros.' 1948 release "Two Guys From Texas."
Penny, who brought her own fireworks wherever she went, starred in a batch of Iverson productions — usually billed third after the lead cowboy and his horse.
Penny Edwards
Penny starred with Roy Rogers in "Trail of Robin Hood" (1950) and "Spoilers of the Plains" (1951), appeared opposite Rex Allen in "Utah Wagon Train" (1951) and worked with Allan "Rocky" Lane in "Captive of Billy the Kid" (1952) — all filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch.
Penny Edwards and co-star
It's easy to see why Penny got so much work in Westerns — she made a super-cute cowgirl.
Gale Robbins
While we're on the subject of super-cute cowgirls, how about a shout-out to the insanely hot Gale Robbins?
Gale Robbins
Gale's filmography includes the noteworthy Iverson Movie Ranch feature "Quantrill's Raiders" (1958), along with the late '50s TV shows "Trackdown" and "State Trooper," both of which shot at Iverson.
Peggie Castle
The gorgeous Peggie Castle was another frequent visitor to the Chatsworth location ranch, including appearing in "Son of Belle Starr" (1953), "The Oklahoma Woman" (1956) and "Hell's Crossroads" (1957).
Peggie Castle and John Russell, promo still for "Lawman," 1962
Peggie also had a regular role as saloon owner Lily Merrill, love interest for John Russell's Marshal Dan Troop, from 1959-1962 on "Lawman," another TV Western filmed on the Iverson Ranch.
"Beginning of the End" (1957): Peggie Castle and Peter Graves
When I was just a little kid — years before I would attain a level of "maturity" sufficient to fully appreciate Peggie Castle's hotness — said hotness was hiding in plain sight in one of my favorite "nature run amok" sci-fi movies of the '50s, "Beginning of the End." Back then all I cared about was the giant grasshoppers.
Viola Richard in the Garden of the Gods, "Flying Elephants" (1928)
Many readers may be unfamiliar with the beautiful Viola Richard, who had one of the nicest smiles of the silent film era. Viola shared the screen not only with comedy giants Laurel and Hardy, but also with the sandstone giants of the Iverson Ranch's Garden of the Gods.
Viola Richard
The sporty Viola was under contract to the Hal Roach Studios in the late 1920s, so her body of work consists almost entirely of silent comedy shorts.
Virginia Mayo and James Cagney, "White Heat" (1949)
Virginia Mayo, also seen at the top of this post, had a way of getting under James Cagney's skin in "White Heat," one of only a handful of films noir to shoot on the Iverson Ranch.
Virginia Mayo
Any tension with Cagney's grumpy "White Heat" character was understandable — Mayo, who was another popular pinup girl during World War II, was clearly worth getting worked up about.
Virginia Mayo
The photogenic Mayo appeared in a number of Iverson Movie Ranch productions, including the 1954 Warner Bros. feature "King Richard and the Crusaders."
Abby Dalton was an unknown back in 1957 when Roger Corman cast her in the lead role in his Iverson Movie Ranch showpiece "The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent."
Abby Dalton
Dalton was back at Iverson the following year in "Cole Younger, Gunfighter" before going on to a prolific career in television that included a long run on the prime-time soap opera "Falcon Crest" in the 1980s.
Mara Corday
Mara Corday offers another variation on the theme of "girls, guns and hay." Mara put in some time in the Westerns, including the 1957 20th Century-Fox feature "The Quiet Gun," filmed on the Iverson Ranch.
Believe it or not, we've barely scratched the surface when it comes to gorgeous women who worked the Iverson Ranch. Let me know if you like this sort of thing and I'll see what I can do to put together a Part 2.
