Center Rock, Sheep Flats, Smooth Hill ... and a bunch of utility poles

"Rocky Mountain Rangers" (1940): Center Rock on the left 

Here's a nice shot from one of the best Iverson movies, the 1940 Three Mesquiteers installment Rocky Mountain Rangers, from Republic Pictures. It's directed by George Sherman, with cinematography by Jack Marta — both men worked a lot at Iverson and contributed mightily to documenting its legacy through cinematic images.

Zooming in on the utility poles

One thing I like about this shot is it reveals no fewer than five utility poles on and around Smooth Hill, all the way back in 1940. That means they were in place for the bulk of the B-Western shoots, including throughout the lifespan of the Iverson Movie Ranch Western street. Some of them can occasionally be seen as anachronisms in the background of Westerns, but rarely are they as easy to spot as they are here.


Above is a link to the "Saturday Matinee Double Feature" DVD, which includes the great Iverson movie "Rocky Mountain Rangers" along with the non-Iverson Buck Jones/Tim McCoy Rough Riders movie "Arizona Bound."

Click here for a post that explains what happened to Smooth Hill and also shows what it looked like in the background of the Iverson Movie Ranch Western street.

Another shot from Rocky Mountain Rangers, from approximately the same angle, gives a better look at Center Rock, the light-colored clump of rocks at the left of the shot. Center Rock was in the middle of Sheep Flats, where Iverson's Western town was built a few years later. This cluster of rocks was noteworthy for a number of things, including its isolated location, its protruding ledge and the odd little arch at its base. Somewhat miraculously, Center Rock survived, even as a mobile home park — the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village — was built around it.

Center Rock in its current predicament

Today Center Rock's setting isn't nearly as grand, as it's been stuffed behind fences and barriers and is essentially part of a maintenance facility at the park. I've been especially frustrated by that white plywood, which not only is a bit of an eyesore but also conceals the rock's trademark arch.

Here's a shot of Center Rock in the 1948 Republic serial G-Men Never Forget, showing pretty much the same angle as the contemporary shot above. Looks like the arch would be just about big enough to hide a motorcycle.

Here's what Center Rock looks like today from the other side. The rock was rarely filmed from this side.

I am searching for information on the great cinematographers of the B-movie era

I want to honor the legacy of the cinematographers and other production people who worked in relative obscurity during the heyday of the B-Western and the Saturday matinee serial. If you have information about DPs, directors, production managers or other behind-the-scenes people involved in making B-movies, serials or early TV shows from the silent era through the 1950s — especially those involved in location work and anyone who may have worked at the Iverson Movie Ranch — I would love to hear from you.

With the exception of the most high-profile figures from this period — movie stars and prominent directors, mainly — I have been able to dig up precious little information on the talented people who shaped our movie history and our culture through low-budget, independent productions. I think it would be tragic to allow their legacies to fade from memory while there are still people around who can tell their stories.

I would especially like to hear from the survivors — spouses, friends, co-workers, children, grandchildren and beyond — of those who played a role in making movies at Iverson, as well as anyone who is around who has memories of Iverson.

I am especially interested in hearing about the cinematographers — the men who aimed their cameras at Iverson's dramatic rock formations, among other things, and thereby recorded the ranch's legacy for posterity. I hope to hear from anyone who might be able to help flesh out their biographical information and gain insights into what made them tick.

Here are some of the cinematographers I would like to find out more about:

Robert Cline

Ernest Miller

John MacBurnie

Reggie Lanning

Fayte Browne

Milford Anderson

William Nobles

William Bradford

George Meehan
Bud Thackery

Jack Greenhalgh

Jack Marta

Mack Stengler

Marcel Le Picard

Benjamin Kline
Gilbert Warrenton

Ira H. Morgan

George Kelley

Rex Wimpy

William Hyer

James S. Brown Jr.

Edward Kull

Ellis W. Carter

Harry Neumann

... and others who may not yet be on the radar

Please contact me by commenting on any of the blog entries or by e-mailing me at iversonfilmranch@aol.com.