Disney legend Annette Funicello dies; looking back on a memorable appearance by the Mouseketeer and beach bunny at the Iverson Movie Ranch

Annette Funicello, 1942-2013

I was sorry to learn today that Annette Funicello had died. The actress known for being a Mouseketeer in the '50s and a beach bunny in a string of 1960s bikini movies — "Beach Blanket Bingo," "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" and others — died this morning at 70 of complications from multiple sclerosis.

Annette Funicello in her Mouseketeer days

Being a Disney regular she didn't work much at the Iverson Movie Ranch, as Disney had its own Golden Oak Ranch in Placeritas Canyon, out in the Newhall area. But Funicello did make it to Iverson at least once, for an episode of the Disney miniseries "The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca."

Annette Funicello, right, as Chiquita Bernal in

"Elfego Baca, Attorney at Law" — shot on the Upper Iverson

The  episode, "Elfego Baca, Attorney at Law," aired Feb. 6, 1959, as part of the "Disneyland" TV series — also known as "Walt Disney Presents" or "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color," among various other names over the span of its many decades on television. As it turns out, Funicello's Iverson shoot for "Elfego Baca" produced an important sighting: an adobe on the Upper Iverson, which I have never seen anywhere else.

The above shot offers one of the best looks at the front of the Elfego Baca Adobe. It was a full building, completed on all four sides, rather than a "front," and the set included a small outbuilding and a sheep corral. The actor seen in this shot (and also seen in the one above it) is Edward Colmans, who plays Funicello's father in the show — the character who's to blame for naming his two daughters Lolita and Chiquita.

Annette Funicello, right, with Robert Loggia and Gloria Castillo

in "Elfego Baca, Attorney at Law"

In the above shot and a few others in this post, the familiar hills to the west of Iverson can be seen, pinpointing the location as the Upper Iverson.

Here's an overview of the Elfego Baca Adobe set, which included a corral full of sheep. This view of the set, seen from the northeast, shows the back of the house.

Robert Loggia as Elfego Baca

In the above shot, Robert Loggia, playing the title role of real-life Western attorney and gunman Elfego Baca, arrives at the adobe complex, with some important marker rocks visible in the background. Most of those rocks remain in place today on the site of the former Upper Iverson, although the area is now occupied by a gated community of large estates. The rocks — sometimes referred to as the "Rocks Across the Way," in reference to their relatively remote location on the North Rim of the Upper Iverson — are helpful in further narrowing down the location of the adobe, which was just south of this cluster of rocks.

Lolita and Chiquita peek out from the adobe as actors Edward Colmans, left, Robert Loggia and James Drury, at the center of the shot, talk things out.

This shot looking west offers another view of those distinctive background hills above Chatsworth.

Here's a look at those same background hills in more recent times, along with some of the estates that now occupy the former Upper Iverson.

Annette Funicello and frequent co-star Frankie Avalon in the beach movie days

Known for her physical assets and her beach outfits as much as for her acting — OK, let's be honest: known MORE for her physical assets than for her acting — Funicello wore "bikinis" that these days even Granny would consider too modest.

Why Corriganville and the Iverson Movie Ranch will never be the same

When the 118 Freeway opened in the late 1960s connecting the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley, two casualties were the Iverson Movie Ranch and Corriganville. The freeway bisected both filming locations, not only changing the appearance of both sites but also bringing with it traffic noise that made filming difficult.

Here's a prime example of the sedimentary rock formation, or "strata," that is characteristic of the Santa Susana Mountains between the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. This rocky hillside is commonly seen in the backgrounds of productions shot at Corriganville, which occupied the eastern end of Simi Valley. This shot looking north from Corriganville is found in Columbia's 1947 Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) B-Western "Riders of the Lone Star."

Here's what that same formation looks like today, with the lower half of it now buried under a large manmade buttress that was built up in front of it to form the foundation for the freeway as it traverses the hills between the two valleys.

 

"The Lone Ranger" TV series, 1949-1957, 

filmed at Iverson and Corriganville

The freeway came in during a period when the business model that made movie ranches like Iverson and Corriganville profitable was already in decline. The B-movie was dead and the early TV production that replaced it had outgrown the "Lone Ranger" and "Roy Rogers" period that kept both movie ranches humming during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Traffic on the 118

Meanwhile, the development pressure and rising land values that came from a rapidly swelling L.A. population — population growth fueled in large part by the burgeoning Hollywood movie industry that places like Iverson and Corriganville had helped nurture — meant that the sprawling movie ranches could no longer be sustained.

Malibu Canyon Fire, 1970

If that weren't enough, the incredibly destructive Newhall-Malibu fires swept through the area in September 1970 and destroyed most of what was left of the movie sets at both sites. Today, virtually all of the movie ranches that once were a prominent feature of the Southern California landscape have disappeared.

A "Star Trek" shooting location — lost to history for almost half a century — has been found

It may come as a surprise given that "Star Trek: The Original Series" was all about exploring the universe, but the TV show rarely ventured outside the studio.

Only nine of the 79 episodes produced over the course of three seasons were shot on location, while another five episodes made it only as far as the backlot at Desilu Studios. The rest of the series, which aired on NBC from 1966-1969, was all done on soundstages.

The Gorn menaces Capt. Kirk in "Arena," 

shot at Vasquez Rocks

Those few location shoots have been a source of intrigue among "Star Trek" aficionados. Some shoots, such as the one shown above for the "Arena" episode at Vasquez Rocks, have become legendary. The episode featured an infamous fight sequence between Kirk and the rubber-suited Gorn across the distinctively tilted rocks. Vasquez was the remote location of choice for "The Original Series," with four episodes shot there.

Landscape of Planet Neural in "A Private Little War," 

shot at Bell Location Ranch

"Trek" insiders have been working for years to determine the rest of the locations where "The Original Series," or "TOS," was shot, and that work is now pretty much complete. One of the most challenging episodes to figure out was "A Private Little War," which first aired Feb. 2, 1968, during the second season. I'm happy to be able to confirm that the location for this episode has been found: "A Private Little War" was shot on the lower plateau of the Bell Location Ranch, in the Santa Susana Mountains above Box Canyon, just outside of Chatsworth, Calif.

"A Private Little War"

The location shoot for "A Private Little War" has been widely misunderstood. Through a brief online search I found sites attributing the episode separately to Vasquez Rocks and Bronson Canyon, and I've seen a YouTube clip — no longer posted — by a fan who speculated it was shot at the Iverson Movie Ranch. Not one of those theories turns out to be correct. "Star Trek: TOS" did shoot one episode at Bronson Canyon — season two's "Bread and Circuses," which aired March 15, 1968. But the series never shot at Iverson.

A March 2013 expedition by a group of film historians to the site of the former Bell Ranch, spearheaded by "TOS" location expert Larry Herdman, finally unlocked the mysteries of "A Private Little War." One of the first signs the group was on to something was the sight of these rugged cliffs looming over Bell Ranch's lower plateau.

Here's that same rugged cliff area, as seen in early 1968 (but shot in late 1967) in "A Private Little War." The shot leaves no doubt as to where the episode was taped.

In an early scene from "A Private Little War," a small band of Villagers sets up an ambush in the rocks. The scene takes place in a group of rocks near the edge of Bell Ranch's lower plateau.

This is what that same group of rocks looks like today — pretty much the same as when the episode was taped in late 1967, although the lighting conditions give the rocks a darker appearance.

A closer shot of two of the guys in the ambush shows them hiding in a small cluster of rocks.

This is that same cluster, as seen today.

Here's a wider view of the ambush area today, with the San Fernando Valley in the background. The small cluster seen above with the two ambushers is just to the left of center in this shot.

A little to the east, four Hill People walk past a rock with distinctive circular markings — unaware they're walking into an ambush.

Here's that same rock today, with the markings still easy to identify.

Pulling back for a wider view of that area today, the angular rock seen above with the distinctive circular markings appears at the far left of the frame. (For a better look at it, click on the photo to enlarge it.) The area where the Villagers would have been waiting in ambush is at the far right. Here again, the San Fernando Valley is seen in the background.

Another distinctive rock, photographed during the March 2013 expedition to Bell Ranch's lower plateau.

A portion of that same rock can be seen behind McCoy in the "TOS" episode, in the top right corner.

Here's another rock photographed during the recent visit to Bell Ranch.

And here's the same rock in another screen shot of an injured McCoy. The two angles are pretty close, and you should be able to easily spot similarities in the rock's shapes and markings between the two shots.

Spock was a part of at least one landing party during the episode and joined Kirk in romping around Bell Ranch's rocky terrain.

One of the main characters in the episode is Nona, who is being attacked by a Villager in this scene near the end of "A Private Little War." It seems to me that this shot inadvertently exposes some buildings in the background at the right — a blurry glimpse of the western San Fernando Valley circa late 1967.

This photo shows that same general area of the Valley in recent times. I don't think it's possible to match up specific buildings, as the angle is not exactly the same and the place has grown a lot in the past 45 years. But the same cliff face is seen in both shots — at the left in the above shot and at the center in the "TOS" shot, directly above the Villager's head. If you look closely you should be able to make out the same horizontal markings and "pock marks" in both shots, although this match isn't quite as obvious as some of those above.

For additional views of the Bell Ranch shoot for "A Private Little War," please click here to see a blog entry by movie location expert Jerry England.

"A Private Little War"

With the discovery that "A Private Little War" was shot on the Bell Location Ranch, the bulk of the location research for "TOS" is now done. But at least one loose end remains.

"This Side of Paradise" — widely believed to be 

shot at Golden Oak Ranch

A certain amount of mystery still surrounds the 1967 episode "This Side of Paradise" from season one, which is generally thought to be shot at Disney's Golden Oak Ranch in Placerita Canyon near Newhall, Calif. (UPDATE: This isn't really a mystery anymore; see comments below.)

A warning about Bell Ranch: The former movie location site also remains closed to the public, hidden behind locked gates and difficult to access. While the lower plateau is still relatively undeveloped, much of the rest of Bell is now occupied by residential housing. As I mentioned in a previous blog entry about a "Bonanza" shoot on Bell's lower plateau, the area is defended by residents who don't appreciate strangers traipsing around on their turf — and other hikers who have gone into the area have received something less than a warm welcome from the locals.

Devil's Pass, Vultura's Pass and another look at everyone's favorite Wookiee from "Star Wars"

Chewbacca — rising above Devil's Pass (aka Vultura's Pass)

It's high time I update my blog entry from a few years ago on the Iverson rock I call Chewbacca.

Not everyone sees the resemblance between the rock and the beloved "Star Wars" Wookiee (often spelled Wookie), but it popped out at me the first time I saw the rock in person. Your mileage may vary, and I hope I get comments on whether readers see it or not.

"The Lone Ranger" TV show: episode "Devil's Pass" (1950)

The rock is located in a section of the former Lower Iverson I call Devil's Pass. The name comes from the title of an episode of the TV show "The Lone Ranger" that originally aired May 25, 1950. In the above screen shot from the episode "Devil's Pass," the Lone Ranger and Tonto are seen riding west through the pass.

Chewbacca is out of the picture, but would be up high on the right. Directly above Tonto's head is an often filmed rock known as Hangover Rock, which you may want to enlarge the photo (by clicking on it) to get a better look at. (You can find another shot of Hangover Rock at the bottom of this post.)

The same pass is also known as "Vultura's Pass," as it was the location of Vultura's Palace, seen above, in the seminal 1942 Republic serial "The Perils of Nyoka." The pass today remains on private property and is difficult to access other than looking at it over the brick wall that now separates this spot from the nearby condos. Some of the rocks in the above two shots are the same — you may be able to match up the rocks in the above photo that are just above the roof of the palace, near the center-top of the photo, with the same pair of rocks in the "Lone Ranger" shot, near the top-left corner. It's two rocks separated by a curved crack, and if I only had a dime for every time I've heard that expression.

Here's a shot of the evil Vultura, played by Adrian Booth — also known as Lorna Gray — posing for a publicity still for "The Perils of Nyoka" at the Iverson Movie Ranch, courtesy of Western movie expert Jerry England.

Another early shot of Lorna Gray/Adrian Booth, who apparently is still going strong at 95 — it wasn't that long ago, just a few years, that I went to an event in Hollywood to hear the longtime Republic Pictures star reminisce about the studio's Golden Age. Does she have stories!

"Buffalo Bill Rides Again" (1947)

Meanwhile, back at the Pass — Devil's or Vultura's — this is the view from a sniper's outpost up next to Chewbacca, looking west with the Upper Gorge in the background. The riders are entering the west end of the pass, arriving from the north, and will head roughly east. The screen shot comes from the Richard Arlen/Jennifer Holt B-Western "Buffalo Bill Rides Again."

Like most rocks, Chewbacca's appearance changes as it's viewed from different angles and in different light. Sadly, the thing has been hit with a little graffiti, something that has been a bit of a problem on the former Iverson Movie Ranch. It's most evident in the photo at the top of this post.

You might not think this prehistoric-looking thing is the same rock, but it is. Lighting makes a big difference, as illustrated by this shot of Chewie later in the day. Most of the character's "face" is in shade here.

This side of the rock reminds me of something out of the Broadway show "Cats."

There's that brick wall I mentioned, toward the right and down the hill. This is Devil's Pass in recent years, looking more or less southwest. On the other side of the wall are hundreds of condos.

Here's a better look at Hangover Rock, which is also seen in the third photo from the top, above. The precarious-looking feature marks the eastern end of Devil's Pass/Vultura's Pass. The African hut seen in this shot from the summer of 2008 was a set for the NBC TV series "Heroes." Partially visible in the background at the right is a non-movie house that was known as the "Old Folks' House," where Karl and Augusta Iverson, the founders of the Iverson Movie Ranch, lived in their later years. The house burned down just a few months after this photo was taken, in the 2008 Porter Ranch Fire.



NBC's series "Heroes" shot at Iverson for an Africa storyline that was a part of season three.