Batman Corner, where Johnny Mack Brown rode the "Silver Range" — and where you can park next to historic movie rocks

"Silver Range" (1946) — Batman Corner and Rock Island

This screen shot from the Johnny Mack Brown B-Western "Silver Range" looks toward the west across a portion of the Upper Gorge on the old Iverson Movie Ranch, including an area I call Batman Corner.

Marked in yellow on this recent bird's-eye view, Batman Corner is named after the large, heavily filmed Batman Rock. The "Batman Corner" cluster of rocks is situated today at the corner where Redmesa Road meets Horizon Place, one of the driveways into the Cal West Townhomes in Chatsworth, Calif.

"Stagecoach" (1939)

Batman Rock had a long career in movies and television, including this appearance in John Ford's epic Western "Stagecoach." This is the rock's western face, its most familiar and most distinctive side.

Batman Rock in 2016

Batman Rock today is relegated to a role as part of the landscape of the Cal West condo community. "Batman Corner," which is hidden behind the rock and cannot be seen here, refers to the rock's "back side," or eastern side.

"Batman and Robin" (Columbia serial, 1949)

Batman Rock gets its name from Columbia's Batman serials of the 1940s. To learn more about Batman Rock and see additional shots of Batman Corner, please click here to read a post from May 2015, which also discusses nearby Rock Island and a visit by Elvis Presley in 1965.

With the camera aimed west in the "Silver Range" sequence, Batman Rock is unrecognizable from this angle — but we get an unusually detailed view of Batman Corner.

Here's a breakdown of the three major rock areas seen in the screen shot. Moving from the foreground to the background, and right to left, we see Devil's Wall (part of the Devil's Doorway Cluster), Rock Island (with two of the five main rocks visible — RI-1 on the left and RI-2 on the right), and Batman Corner to the west.

The rock on the left is a bit of a mystery, but it's safe to say it doesn't belong there. I'm reasonably sure the rock is fake, as what would normally be seen here is a gap between Devil's Wall and Crown Rock. The fake may have been associated with an adobe village that stood in the area in the late 1940s.

A close examination of the background reveals a couple of large, but largely overlooked, rocks that define the lower portion of Batman Corner — labeled "A" and "B" here.

Both rocks, "A" and "B," survived development and can still be seen, adjacent to Redmesa Road. These days the view of the rocks is typically blocked by parked cars, but the shot illustrates how the terrain was built up after the filming days. Note that much of Rock B in particular is now buried.

Compare the position of Rock B in the recent shot with its position back in 1946, when it loomed well above the level of the old dirt road. I've zoomed in on the screen shot here.

Approximately this much of Rock B remains above ground. This is consistent with the level to which nearby Rock Island was buried, as I've discussed previously. During development of the Cal West project in the late 1980s, truckloads of dirt were brought in to support construction of Redmesa Road and the condos.

"Three Ages" (1923) — Batman Corner and Rock Island

The rocks at the base of Batman Corner have appeared in films going back to the silent era, including the Buster Keaton comedy "Three Ages."

From this angle Rock A blends into the background, but Rock B can be readily identified.

Another shot from the "Three Ages" sequence prominently features Rock B.

Also visible in "Three Ages" is a group of smaller rocks that includes a pointed rock abutting Rock A.

The pointed rock can be seen today, immediately adjacent to the much larger Rock A.

Johnny Mack Brown on Rebel in "Silver Range" (1946)

"Silver Range" is relatively off-the-radar, as Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram movies go, but it's a good one for Iverson Movie Ranch sightings. In this shot, Johnny and Rebel appear in front of the late, lamented Gorge Arch.

"Silver Range"

Johnny has his backup with him during a sequence filmed in what's now the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village. The overhanging rock to the right of Johnny's hat is Saucer, and part of Mushroom Rock can be seen at the right edge of the frame. That's popular silent movie actor and B-Western sidekick Raymond Hatton on the left.

"The Lone Ranger" TV show (1949)

Saucer and Mushroom Rock starred in their own blog item last spring, after it was discovered that Mushroom Rock has had some foliage removed and its "cap" is now visible again. Check it out here.

"Silver Range" — Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton near Batman Corner

Batman Corner can be seen in the background on the left in this screen shot, with Rock Island's distinctive "Eraserhead," or RI-1, looming at top right.

Lane Bradford at Champion's Barn in "Silver Range"

Perennial B-Western bad guy Lane Bradford is in the movie, catching rays on his formidable chin. I waxed poetic about Lane's chin last fall in a post you can read by clicking here. In this shot Lane appears outside Champion's Barn on the Monogram Ranch in Newhall.



"Silver Range" is included in Volume 8 of the outstanding DVD series "Monogram Cowboy Collection," which features 12 nicely remastered B-Westerns and a lot of cool rocks. The "Silver Range" screen shots in this post come from this DVD set. You can find the set on Amazon by clicking on the above link.

Garden of the Gods: Now featuring more naked rocks!

Tower Rock, left, and Sphinx (2015)

A welcome trend in recent months has been the move toward a more open, one might even say more "naked," Iverson Movie Ranch. The recent photo above shows the "new look" version of the Garden of the Gods fixtures Tower Rock — also known as the Pinnacle — and Sphinx.

Tower Rock and Sphinx a few years ago

Up until recently, this was the view we had of Tower Rock and Sphinx. The main difference, other than the fact that I have a better camera now than I did then, is that the tree was recently removed that was blocking the view of Tower Rock. The view of Sphinx, on the right, remains pretty much the same.

Eraserhead, before the removal of the ivy

I don't know that it's part of a conscious effort to "free the rocks," but the removal of that tree follows a couple of other similar developments, including the trimming of ivy that was covering much of "Eraserhead." In this shot from 2011, Eraserhead — one of the main boulders forming Rock Island — is barely visible behind all that ivy.

Eraserhead, minus the ivy

Eraserhead today is big, bald and proud — and free of not only the ivy, but also the grass that was encroaching on its space. Now if only it could bust out of "Rock Island Prison."

RI-2: It's here, it's clear, get used to it

Some of the other Rock Island mainstays — notably RI-2, positioned to the left of Eraserhead in these shots — are also waving their freak flags a little higher these days. Not that long ago, RI-2 was all but impossible to see.

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

I did an in-depth blog post about Rock Island back in May, and encourage you to click here to check out that post if you're interested in learning more about this fascinating cluster of famous movie rocks.

Mushroom Rock in recent years: It's in there somewhere

Another beneficiary of the trend toward leaner, cleaner foliage around the ranch has been Mushroom Rock. Movie fans have been deprived of the sight of its defining crown for decades, with much of the rock hidden behind foliage (not to mention garbage bins and other junk).

Mushroom Rock in 2015

For the first time in decades, the crown that defined Mushroom Rock in the movies again saw the light of day this year. Unfortunately, the garbage bins and piles of crappola remain in place. I talked more about the emergence of Mushroom Rock in a blog item back in April, which you can read by clicking here.

One benefit of the new, more visible, Garden of the Gods is that it has "liberated" a piece of the Iverson Movie Ranch legacy: the "Garden" sign. In the past it was difficult to get a good look at the inscription because it was concealed beneath the tree. This recent shot of the sign was taken by film historian Jerry Condit.

Not much is known about the sign, but this shot pinpoints where it is located. It is generally assumed that there's also an "of the Gods" piece of the stone engraving somewhere, but no such piece has ever turned up.

Behind-the-scenes shot from production on "Man-Woman-Marriage" in 1920

I believe it's possible to make out the same rock 95 years ago in this production shot from the 1920 filming of the silent movie "Man-Woman-Marriage," released in early 1921. It is unlikely that the inscription was already in place that long ago, although even with an unusually sharp photo such as this, there's no way to tell from this distance.

This slightly zoomed-in version of the "Man-Woman-Marriage" production shot highlights what I believe to be the same rock that now displays the "Garden" inscription. It appears to me that the small rocks just to the right of the "Garden" rock were covered up by the palace set. To see additional photos from the filming of the battle scene for "Man-Woman-Marriage," please click here.

I first published versions of the "Man-Woman-Marriage" photo as part of a recent post about the fake cave house, which is seen in this version of the shot. For the rundown on the cave house, which is featured in the Buster Keaton movie "Three Ages," please click here.

June 2015: The tree below Tower Rock, weeks before being cut down

Of course, there's a downside to the tree removal, and it's kind of obvious: the loss of the tree. As luck would have it, I happened to take pictures of that same tree on a visit to Garden of the Gods back in June. It seems obvious now that the tree was not healthy, which explains why it had to go.

Was it a famous movie tree? It does appear that the tree was around when filming was taking place in the area, but I have yet to find an example of an identifiable sighting of the tree in any movie or TV show.

Here's a shot of the same tree that I took back in February, when the tree was already looking pretty unhealthy. I took this shot to capture the group of rocks in the foreground, situated just east of where the tree was.

"Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958): The "Easy Chair"

I gave the group of rocks the nickname the "Easy Chair" because of this shot from the TV show "Wanted: Dead or Alive" in which a sentry relaxes in the crack between two of the rocks while on duty.

"Richard the Lion-Hearted" (1923)

These same rocks — the "Easy Chair," if you will — came up in a recent post about the silent movie "Richard the Lion-Hearted," where I pointed out that the group of rocks could be seen both in recent shots and in shots of the movie's castle set from 1923. Please click here if you would like to read that post in its entirety.

Mushroom Rock cleans up its act

"Ghost Town Renegades" (1947) — Mushroom Rock, center

This is the classic view of Mushroom Rock, as seen in the Lash LaRue movie "Ghost Town Renegades." The heavily filmed rock was located on the Lower Iverson Movie Ranch, next to a road that was used repeatedly for essentially this same shot, with riders headed north on the road, riding toward the camera.

I've spotlighted Mushroom Rock here, along with a couple of other key elements of the shot — including the presumably dead guy at the bottom of the frame. You never know about "dead guys" in old B-Westerns, because half the time it's just a trick to get you to stop so they can steal your horse.

"The Lone Ranger" TV show (filmed in 1949)

Here's a rare occasion when the riders actually rode on the other side of Mushroom Rock — the east side. This shot comes from an episode of "The Lone Ranger" called "Buried Treasure," which premiered March 2, 1950 — midway through season one.

In case you're wondering about the other distinctive rock in these shots, it's a beauty too. With a canopy far larger than that of Mushroom Rock, Saucer is shrouded in its own mysteries — but that's a topic for another time.

"Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1959)

In this shot Mushroom Rock is on the left, with Saucer toward the right. The scene is filmed from the south, a much less common angle. Here again, the rider has opted to bypass the main road to the west of Mushroom, just visible in the bottom left corner, and instead rides the road less traveled — between Mushroom and Saucer.

The shot comes from an episode of the TV show "Wanted: Dead or Alive" called "Twelve Hours to Crazy Horse," which premiered Nov. 21, 1959.

Mushroom Rock in recent years

For several years now, it has been impossible to see the distinctive cap atop Mushroom Rock because it has been covered with foliage. I commented on this in a recent post, which you can read by clicking here.

At the time I noted that Mushroom's cap remained concealed. But I have some good news to report.

Behold: A cleaner, meaner Mushroom Rock

Mushroom Rock has recently had a "haircut" and can now be seen again in much of its former splendor — possibly for the first time since the filming days.

It's still a rough neighborhood

Mushroom Rock's neighborhood, however, still leaves a lot to be desired. Before we jump to the conclusion that the "haircut" had anything to do with satisfying our aesthetic and nostalgic interest in the rock, the nearby trash bins and stockpiles of construction material might tend to quash such romantic notions.

It can be tricky to match up the shots from before and after the foliage trim, so I've identified some of the markers here. In this recent shot a number of distinctive scars and indentations are noted, along with the rock's "cap."

The same markers can be found in this shot taken before the haircut, allowing for a more accurate approximation of where the cap was hidden. This process reveals that my earlier estimate was off the mark — I needed to place the cap farther to the right.

I'll leave it to readers to come up with your own answers to the obvious question: Why the trim, and why now? The idealist in me still wants to believe someone is looking out for film history buffs and cut back the shrubbery to give us a better look at an old friend. But my cynical side argues that someone probably just wants to pile more junk in the area and the bushes were in the way.