Remembering Burt Reynolds: Here's Burt with Ruta Lee and Cesar Romero at Iverson Pond in 1961 in "Zane Grey Theatre"

Burt Reynolds in "Zane Grey Theatre" (1961)

In celebration of the life of the legendary Burt Reynolds, who died this week at age 82, the Iverson Movie Ranch Blog is updating some previous posts about Burt's work on the famed location ranch. In this one we revisit an episode of "Zane Grey Theatre" that brought a 24-year-old Burt to the ranch in 1961. He was just starting to get his career rolling at the time the episode, "Man From Everywhere," was produced.

Iverson Pond, in "Man From Everywhere" (Zane Grey Theatre)

A key sequence in "Man From Everywhere" played out on the shore of Iverson Pond in the Sheep Flats area of the Lower Iverson. This was a few years after the Iverson Western street, which had been standing on the spot since late 1944, was torn down — and a couple of years before Sheep Flats became the first part of the movie ranch to be sold off. Construction would begin here in 1963 on what is now the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village.

Iverson Pond wasn't particularly deep, making shots like this one, with riders walking their horses across the shallow body of water, relatively easy to shoot.

Ruta Lee at Iverson Pond — note the stacked rocks

The Iverson Pond area featured a number of stacked rocks, two of which can be seen in this shot of Ruta Lee at the edge of the pond. Lee was 25 and already a TV and film veteran when she appeared as Jenny Aldrich in the "Zane Grey" episode. Now 83, she remains active in charity work along with occasional acting gigs.

Ruta Lee and Cesar Romero — Pond Rock in the background

The scene also features film and TV veteran Cesar Romero, who would become known a few years later for playing the Joker on "Batman." He previously had a run on "Zorro" as Esteban de la Cruz, the trouble-prone uncle of the title character. In the above shot, Ruta Lee's character is having second thoughts about Romero's scheme as she appears to be falling for Burt Reynolds' character. And we get a glimpse of the pond area's most famous stacked rock, Pond Rock, between Lee and Romero.

Pond Rock on dry land, featured in a behind-the-scenes shot for "Wee Willie Winkie" (1937)

This promo shot for the 1937 Shirley Temple movie "Wee Willie Winkie" provides one of the best looks at Pond Rock. The rock was a feature of Iverson's Western street when the set was in place — from 1944 until about 1957 — and transitioned to being a feature of Iverson Pond in later years. You can read about Pond Rock's appearance in a Three Stooges movie and in "The Virginian," along with other appearances, by clicking here.

Burt Reynolds, left, and Peter Whitney in "Man From Everywhere"

Also appearing in the "Zane Grey" episode was character actor Peter Whitney, who was known for his massive stature. Note the size disparity between Whitney, on the right, and Reynolds. Whitney was a regular in feature films in the '40s and '50s before transitioning to TV and working steadily through the 1960s. He appeared across many genres, but got much of his work in Westerns.

The Sheep Flats sequence showcases a number of key Iverson Movie Ranch features, capturing the look of this area during its final years as part of a location ranch. The background seen here includes much of the Eucalyptus Grove — often called simply the Grove — along with a portion of the rock formation the Pirate Ship, at left.

Here's another view of the Pirate Ship, captured in full this time. Also visible here is a small clump of rocks that up until a few years earlier was usually seen in the corral area behind the Livery Stable as part of the Iverson Movie Ranch Western street. I call this clump the Livery Rocks.

The Pirate Ship and Livery Rocks are identified in this version of the shot.

This is what the Pirate Ship looks like today, having survived development. To read more about the Pirate Ship and see additional photos of it, please click here.

At one point in "Man From Everywhere," Burt Reynolds' character, Branch Taylor, surprises Ruta Lee's character by striding over to her and planting a big kiss on her.

His move receives a favorable response, as the two actors appear to have some chemistry. Here again, Pond Rock looms in the background — that's it in the bottom left corner.

The Reynolds charm was already evident. The "Zane Grey" episode premiered April 13, 1961, soon after Reynolds' 25th birthday.

The romancing was all going on within spittin' distance of the Livery Rocks, seen here behind the young lovebirds. It was rare to get this good a look at the rocks, although they often appeared in the background in shots of the Livery Stable.

A cocky Reynolds admires the view as Ruta Lee walks away — and we get an even better view of the Livery Rocks, mainly to the right of Burt's hat.

"Gold Raiders" (1951)

Here's a glimpse of the Livery Rocks about 10 years earlier, from the Three Stooges movie "Gold Raiders." The rocks can be seen casting a shadow at the far right of the frame, behind the Livery Stable.

A number of the photo's key features are noted here. As I mentioned, the Livery Rocks were usually in the background when they appeared in productions shot while Iverson Village was in place.

Burt Reynolds at the Fury Set, 1962 — "Gunsmoke" promo shoot

Reynolds would return to the Iverson Ranch — the Upper Iverson this time — in 1962, about a year after his "Zane Grey" appearance, for a memorable photo shoot on the Fury Set to help launch his run as Quint on "Gunsmoke." Additional photos from that shoot — along with a discussion of whether Reynolds shares a particular trait with Billy the Kid — can be seen by clicking here.

The march of progress claims another casualty: The Cockatoo is dead

The Cockatoo, in happier times

Raise a glass to the Cockatoo, as another noble Iverson Movie Ranch rock has gone the way of the dodo. The Cockatoo is no more.

Here's the setting where the Cockatoo rested peacefully on the South Rim of the Upper Iverson, presumably for centuries. The Cockatoo, in its characteristic reclining position, can be seen near the bottom center of the shot. You may also notice the distinctive movie rock Ol' Flattop nearby — I'll ID them both in the next shot.

This version of the shot has the Cockatoo and Ol' Flattop highlighted. The cluster of rocks seen here was situated a little bit "out back" — adjacent to a busy filming era, but not right in the main mix — back when Iverson was a hub of the movie and TV business. Still, the camera did occasionally wander out their way, as you'll see below.

"Captain Midnight" (1942)

This shot from the Columbia serial "Captain Midnight" captures a couple of relatively rare movie rocks in Ol' Flattop, at top left, and Gorilla, above the roof of the car.

Gorilla gets its name from its appearance from a different angle, which you can see below or by clicking here.

Situated at the northeast corner of Cactus Hill, the rock I call Gorilla is positioned today adjacent to lots that have been cleared for development of hillside estates.

You can probably match up Gorilla with the shot from "Captain Midnight," but here's a labeled version of the photo just in case. The angle here is a little different from the "Captain Midnight" shot — the rocks seen immediately to the left of Gorilla in "Captain Midnight" are separated from it here and can be seen more toward the left of the frame.

"Five Guns West" (1955)

Gorilla really looks like a gorilla in Roger Corman's great Iverson movie "Five Guns West," as seen here. Please click here to see additional photos from this Iverson spectacle.

Recent shot of Ol' Flattop

On my most recent visit to the former Iverson Movie Ranch, I discovered to my great disappointment that the Cockatoo has fallen victim to the bulldozers — buried alive, in a sense. You'll notice in the above shot of Ol' Flattop that this side of the rock is now abutted by dirt. The entire cluster of rocks below Ol' Flattop on its eastern side — the same group seen in the shots higher up in this post, including the Cockatoo — is now buried beneath this expanse of dirt.

Here's an illustration approximating the area that has been buried.

This version of the shot lets you see the rocks that are now hidden underground. While being buried under dirt may not sound like a death sentence for rocks, my experience with the Iverson Movie Ranch, and specifically with how the encroachment of development plays out at the site, dictates that once the rocks are buried, they stay buried.

Rock Island — or what's left of it — as it exists today: "only" about three-quarters buried

A number of widely filmed movie rocks on the Lower Iverson suffered similar fates, and are unlikely to ever be seen again. In many cases it's unknown whether a rock was buried or broken up, but among the probable burials are Plaza Rock and Bald Knob, while the fate of Rock Island is known: The once-towering rock feature was buried about three-quarters of the way up, with the "tip" of the formation still visible next to the swimming pool area in the condos, as seen in the photo above.

"Ride 'em Cowboy" (1942)

This is what Rock Island used to look like, in a screen shot from the Abbott and Costello movie "Ride 'em Cowboy." The bulk of the formation seen in this photo is now underground.

This version of the shot indicates the portion of Rock Island that remains above ground. For more about the partial burial of Rock Island, please click here.

Retaining wall for "Mansion on the Hill" being built at the east end of Cactus Hill

— the Cockatoo is buried somewhere under this dirt

The shakeup on Cactus Hill and the Upper Iverson's South Rim was triggered by construction of what appears destined to eventually be a large estate at the east end of Cactus Hill. A huge retaining wall went up about a year and a half ago, and the ongoing project has increasingly had an impact on the historic rocks and other features in the area.

Springtime on Cactus Hill

The march of progress has been going on sporadically at Iverson since the 1960s, when the land began to be repurposed from its role in filming and converted into mobile homes, condos and residential estates. Only a few areas have remained relatively pristine — including Cactus Hill, until recently.

Looking northeast from Cactus Hill toward Oat Mountain

Today the region suffers from historic drought conditions, which has slowed — but not stopped — development. In this view of the construction area at the east end of Cactus Hill we can see barren versions of a number of familiar background hills: Two-Humper on the left and Notch Hill on the right, with the sprawling Oat Mountain in the background.

The hills identified here were not on Iverson property, but appeared in the backgrounds of countless movies and TV shows shot at Iverson. Through their roles in hundreds of Westerns in particular, these heavily filmed features — like many of the iconic rocks on the Iverson Ranch — became representations of the American West for generations of film goers and TV viewers.

I can't help but wonder about the pile of rubble seen next to the construction equipment in the photo. It's unclear what this pile of rocks used to be, but that is what famous movie rocks would look like after tangling with a bulldozer.

I've blogged before about the Cockatoo — which at times I've also called either the Rock Cockatoo or the Rockatoo. You can see an earlier entry on the Cockatoo by clicking here.

"Zane Grey Theatre" (1958)

If you clicked on the Plaza Rock link I included up above and you find you want more, more, more Plaza Rock — I hear you. It's a cool rock; here's another fun Plaza Rock item.

A ton of fun with a gun: Frontier lawman Wyatt Earp hauls a state-of-the-art weapon of war all over the Lower Iverson

"The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" (1958)

Hugh O'Brian appeared as Wild West lawman Wyatt Earp for six seasons on the ABC series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," from 1955-1961. Early in season four, he got a chance to play with a Gatling gun — the closest thing they had to the "nuclear option" back in the Old West days — during what I'm sure was a memorable shoot on the Iverson Movie Ranch.

Apparently the bone-jarring weapon raised such a ruckus that even a he-man like the legendary Wyatt Earp had to close his eyes when he was mowing people down with it. Still, O'Brian — or should I say Earp — seemed to have a ton of fun with the gun. But best of all, he got to show it off with a series of Lower Iverson landmarks in the background. These first two shots, which appear toward the end of the episode, are taken just off the Garden of the Gods Trail.

The episode, appropriately titled "The Gatling Gun," premiered Oct. 21, 1958, and was shot mainly in or near the Iverson Gorge. When the gun first surfaces, it's hidden in Zorro's Cave, where it's being stored on a wagon and kept under a tarp by a group of Native Americans. In a common theme for the "Wyatt Earp" TV series, the Indians in this episode are more reasonable than the white settlers or the U.S. military, and even though a group of Native warriors originally stole the Gatling gun from the Cavalry, Earp is able to talk them into giving it back.

As the wraps come off, Wyatt and his odd alliance of Native American pacifists look on. The shot includes a portion of a distinctive diagonal rock found at the back entrance to Zorro's Cave, seen here in the top left corner of the frame.

This shot points out the diagonal rock, along with the direction to nearby Zorro's Cave. The diagonal rock can also be seen with a Ray Harryhausen monster next to it in this earlier blog post — scroll down to the 10th and 11th photos in the entry (but feel free to read the rest of it too, especially if you like monsters).

A wider shot of the area includes Heroes Tower at top center, along with more of that diagonal rock behind Zorro's Cave. With Earp are Chief Joseph, left, played by Richard Garland, and Earp's Indian adviser Mr. Cousin, right, played by Rico Alaniz.

This annotated version of the shot pinpoints Heroes Tower and the distinctive diagonal rock. I came up with the name Heroes Tower after I first discovered this area in 2008 while a shoot for the NBC series "Heroes" was under way.

Here's a photo of the same area from 2008, taken during the period when "Heroes" was taping, with Heroes Tower painted up for the occasion. The videographer in the photo is standing on that same diagonal rock behind Zorro's Cave. You can click here to read more about the "Heroes" shoot in the Ray Harryhausen post mentioned above.

And what a fine killing machine it is. The actor playing the Indian in this shot from "The Gatling Gun" is uncredited. In the background is Zorro's Cave.

The old-fashioned machine gun next surfaces near Overhang Rock, where Mr. Gatling's pride and joy gets a chance to show off its firepower. In this shot Mr. Cousin gets a crack at it while Wyatt observes and theoretically provides backup. That's Overhang Rock at the top left with a guy on top of it.

The view from the business end offers another look at Overhang Rock, on the right this time. Overhang Rock no longer exists, having become one of the casualties of condo development in the Upper Gorge in the late 1980s. But a number of its neighboring rocks, which also appear in the episode, did survive, as I will point out below.

As the camera pulls back — and the smoke clears — we get another look at Overhang Rock on the right (it should be clear how it got that name), along with some of its neighbors. One of those neighbors, the round boulder in the top left corner, is Cagney Rock — named after James Cagney.

This version of the shot identifies both Cagney Rock and Overhang Rock. While Overhang Rock was destroyed by development, Cagney Rock has survived and can still be found among the condos along Redmesa Road.

"The Oklahoma Kid" (1939)

Cagney Rock got that name largely because of this famous promotional still featuring Jimmy Cagney in front of the rock. Cagney rarely did Westerns, but when he did "The Oklahoma Kid" for Warner Bros., he shot it at the Iverson Movie Ranch.

Here's the same promo still with the key players identified. I go into detail about Cagney Rock and Overhang Rock — including photos of Cagney Rock as it appears today — in this blog post from earlier this year.

Here's an interesting shot that takes place just after the Gatling gun leaves the Overhang Rock/Cagney Rock area. It would be easy to miss, but Iverson's famous Saddlehorn Rock can be seen in the background. I've highlighted it in the next shot.

This is the same shot with Saddlehorn Rock pointed out.

Here's Saddlehorn Rock as it appears today, up close — although not from exactly the same angle. It has survived, and now lives among the condos on the west side of Redmesa Road.

The Gatling gun moves past the Three Kings, in the top left corner, a group that includes, left to right, the Pharaoh, an unnamed rock that could be referred to as "King 2," and Tower Rock. Also visible is a portion of the Sphinx, but it is NOT one of the Three Kings.

This labeled version of the previous photo differentiates the Three Kings from the Sphinx. The road seen here, Garden of the Gods Trail, is still in place as a foot trail, and is the main entrance route into Garden of the Gods Park.

"Zane Grey Theatre" (1958): "The Freighter"

This shot from a 1958 episode of the Western anthology TV series "Zane Grey Theatre" offers a relatively common view of the Three Kings, shot from the eastern side of the Gorge with the camera facing generally toward the west. The episode, "The Freighter," first aired on Jan. 17, 1958, and would have been filmed in 1957.

This version of the "Zane Grey" shot identifies the Three Kings, along with an often filmed background hill farther west, which I call Boat Hill.

This view of Garden of the Gods from the eastern side of the Gorge includes the Three Kings as they appear today.

Here's the same recent shot with a number of features noted, including the Three Kings and Boat Hill.

A closer view of the Three Kings from a recent visit gives a better idea of what these imposing rock figures look like today.

In this shot I've identified each of the Three Kings. I've mentioned the Pharaoh before, in a post you can find by clicking here. Tower Rock, besides being one of the Three Kings, is a famous rock in its own right, often seen paired with the Sphinx. For more about Tower Rock, which has also been called Indian Head, please click here.

"The Gatling Gun": This scene takes place in the Arena

In the "Wyatt Earp" episode the gun continues down Garden of the Gods Trail, where Wyatt takes it over and there ensues a massive confrontation with substantial bloodshed. Suffice to say the guys who get mowed down are mostly not nice people. But more important, the rocks: Those seen during this sequence are located in an area off to the side of Garden of the Gods Trail that was rarely filmed, which I call the Arena.

The same part of the Arena as it appears today

The Arena remains intact today, and is seen here on a visit to the site a couple of months ago. You may be able to match up the rocks in the above two photos. The rock at the center of this shot is the same rock that fills the top left corner in the "Wyatt Earp" shot above this one. The well-lit rock in the foreground in the recent shot is also partially visible in the "Wyatt Earp" shot, through the spokes of the Gatling gun's wheels.

This comparison of the two shots — the "Wyatt Earp" shot from 1958 on the left, and the recent shot from a site visit on the right — should help you match up the rocks of the Arena as they appear in the two shots.

Is this not a Wonderland of Rock? The episode makes great use of the Iverson Gorge's rocky terrain.

Here's another unusual shot from the climactic sequence in "The Gatling Gun." How great is this episode? Some readers will probably recognize Doglips at top right.

"The Gatling Gun" — the rock is Bald Knob

The episode also pays a meaningful visit to Bald Knob, the rock featured prominently in the center of the shot above. I talked about this "Battle of Bald Knob" sequence — and about some of Bald Knob's other screen appearances — in a recent post, which you can read by clicking here. A follow-up post, about whether Bald Knob is real or fake, can be found here.

I would be negligent if I didn't point out a hidden delight in the above photo of Bald Knob: Parts of the vegetation along the left edge of the frame are unusually intriguing, especially the top half. If you're the type who sees faces, I recommend you look there for some.