We'll be headin' up soon to the historic movie town of Lone Pine, California — and we're hoping y'all can join us!

This year's Lone Pine Film Festival, coming up Oct. 10-13, 2024

The tiny town of Lone Pine, Calif., is the site of some of the most spectacular filming locations around, and each year in October the town honors its place in movie history by hosting one of the country's top film festivals.

 

The picturesque Alabama Hills, just outside of Lone Pine

This year we'll be taking a deeper dive into the Lone Pine Film Festival than ever before, as we've been invited to lead a couple of fun movie and TV tours out in the historic and beautiful Alabama Hills.

 

Zane Grey's "Nevada" (1944): We'll be stopping off at all the key filming locations

One of our tours will focus on the 1944 Robert Mitchum-Anne Jeffreys Western "Nevada," a Zane Grey saga that filmed all over the Alabamas.

 

"Nevada" (1944): One of the many tour stops where we will be matching up the rocks

The tour will take us to the most important filming locations for "Nevada," where we can take a good hard look at exactly where every key movie rock is located — and marvel at the fact that almost nothing has changed.

 

Lone Pine: Still gorgeous, after all these years

One of the great things about Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills is that all the movie rocks are still there. The place is just far enough off the beaten path that it has escaped the kind of development pressure that destroyed many of California's other historic filming locations.

 

"Tremors" (1990): One of the Alabama Hills' most popular non-Westerns

Our other tour will be a departure from the Lone Pine Film Festival's traditional focus on Westerns. Dubbed "TV Sci-Fi and Beyond," this tour will take us to shooting locations for the TV shows "The Twilight Zone," "Star Trek: Voyager" and "The Time Tunnel," along with the movie "Tremors."

 

Matching shot from "Tremors," part of the "TV Sci-Fi and Beyond" tour

Here's a sample of the rocks we'll find and the matches we'll be making. On a recent visit to the Alabama Hills, I tracked down this location where three terrified people raced to escape a giant man-eating worm in "Tremors."

 

Sign up for tours by clicking here

The tour schedule for the 2024 Lone Pine Film Festival was recently finalized, and details on how to sign up are now posted HERE, on the festival's website.

 

Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Robert Mitchum and Richard "Chito" Martin in "Nevada"

Festival tours usually sell out quickly, so if you're interested, I recommend you sign up right away. We'll be doing two "Nevada" tours, on Friday, Oct. 11, and Sunday, Oct. 13.

 

"The Twilight Zone": See the spot where the delivery van plummets into the ravine

We will also have two installments of the "TV Sci-Fi and Beyond" tour, on Friday, Oct. 11, and Saturday, Oct. 12. Among the highlights will be an up close and personal look at the ridge where the delivery van met its fate in the 1961 "Twilight Zone" episode "The Rip Van Winkle Caper." Parts of the van may still be there!

 

Painting of the Confederate warship CSS Alabama, which gave the Alabama Hills their name

If you're wondering why a town in the Eastern Sierra country of California has a filming location called the "Alabama Hills," it has nothing to do with the state of Alabama. You can click here for more of that story — and more shots of the stunning Alabama Hills.

Stoney Point: A Chatsworth landmark's hidden movie history

Stoney Point, Chatsworth's No. 1 landmark

Everyone who takes busy Topanga Canyon Boulevard through Chatsworth, Calif., drives past Stoney Point. Situated on the east side of Topanga near the 118 Freeway, it's the town's largest and best-known landmark.

 

A view of Stoney Point from the Iverson Movie Ranch (Cliff Roberts photo)

Sticking out above the flat San Fernando Valley, this high-rise sandstone rock formation is a close neighbor of the former Iverson Movie Ranch, sitting just across Topanga to the southeast.

 

"The Grapes of Wrath" (1940): Stoney Point crashes a promo still

The massive butte has a tendency to pop up in the backgrounds of movies and TV shows filmed on the Iverson Ranch. That's Stoney Point on the left in this promo still for John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath."

 

How about putting a McDonald's on Stoney Point?

Longtime blog followers may recall that Stoney Point once came dangerously close to having a McDonald's on top of it — or worse. If you find that hard to believe, and who wouldn't, please click here for the full story.

 

Stoney Point for sale in the mid-1970s

Stoney Point was once offered for sale for $280,000. This real estate listing from about 1975 suggests installing a cable car to help bring customers to the top. And they were serious about it.

 

Rock climbing on Stoney Point

Miraculously, Stoney Point was saved from development, becoming an L.A. city park in 1982. Today it's a popular spot for rock climbers, and a system of trails — while not always easy to find — winds its way to the top.

 

"Seinfeld": Kramer and George on a TV version of Stoney Point

Stoney Point even made an appearance on "Seinfeld." In the 1993 episode "The Stall," Kramer and George go rock climbing on one of its steep faces, although closeups were shot on a soundstage with a fake rock.

 

"Seinfeld": A landmark rock meets a landmark sitcom

Wide shots featured in the "Seinfeld" episode show the actual Stoney Point, presumably with stand-ins, and not the series stars, hanging from Stoney's sheer cliff face.

 

"The Captive God": William S. Hart filming in Chatsworth, 1916

But Stoney Point's screen appearances go back way before "Seinfeld," and way before TV. We have to go all the way back in time to the silent era — more than a century ago — to trace its movie history.

 

An early screen appearance by Stoney Point

The William S. Hart feature "The Captive God," filmed in Chatsworth in 1916, included images of Stoney Point looming in the distance.

 

"The Captive God": Stoney Point at top right

Stoney Point is a little more recognizable in this screen shot from the movie.

 

Silent film-era crew on "mystery rock"

In at least one instance, a silent-era film crew hauled its cameras and other gear all the way to the summit of Stoney Point. This shoot resulted in a terrific behind-the-scenes photo, which baffled film historians for years.

 

Back when "knickers" were in style

Zooming in on the film crew, we can get a sense of how old the photo is, based in part on the movie equipment but also on the styles of clothing worn by the crew. The shot is clearly from the silent film era.

 

Plenty of other clues in the mysterious photo

The photo, which features a distinctive rock with a flat top, can still be found on a number of websites, often described as an "unknown location," or worse, credited to the wrong location.

 

The mystery photo, incorrectly identified as the "Iverson Ranch" and "1922"

Here's just one of the many examples of false information associated with this photo that can still be found online. The photo was not taken on the Iverson Ranch, and was not taken in 1922.

 

It's not true!

Sorry to make a big deal out of this, but it's important that people realize this information is incorrect. It's hard to get this kind of stuff right, so no disrespect to whoever posted the false info. But I wish people could resist the temptation to present "information" as fact when it's not actually true.

 

There are always exceptions, of course

We're just kidding around here, but we do make an effort to check our facts, and we don't mind saying something is "thought to be" if we don't know for sure. But when it comes to this photo, we know for sure.

 

Aerial view of Stoney Point (Google Maps, 2024)

When I began researching the old photo, it wasn't long before I became interested in a triangular rock located at the very top of Stoney Point.

 

The old movie rock in modern times

It turned out to be the same historic movie rock, which I was able to confirm on a recent expedition to the summit of Stoney Point.

 

The same movie rock, in the '20s and almost 100 years later

Taken almost a century apart, the two shots of the rock are so similar that I was practically standing in the footprints of the photographer who snapped the behind-the-scenes photo in the 1920s.

 

Jimmie Adams and Doris Dawson in "Swiss Movements" (1927)

I was also able to pin down which movie it was that was being filmed when the old photo was taken. It was a Jimmie Adams comedy short called "Swiss Movements," from Christie Film Co.

 

"Swiss Movements": Two actors and a "bear," out on a rocky ledge

This is the sequence the film crew was working on when the behind-the-scenes shot was taken. The scene features two actors trapped on a rocky ledge, being harassed by someone in a bear suit.

 

"Swiss Movements": Jimmie Adams dangles his legs over the edge

This shot appears only briefly in the movie, but this is the angle the crew was filming when they stood on top of the flat rock. Here we see the film's star, Jimmie Adams, trying to avoid being mauled by the bear.

 

"Swiss Movements": The climbers head back down the ledge

In another shot from the same sequence — taken from a different camera position — the "bear" is out of the picture and the two actors attempt to head down the rocky ledge.

 

Key rock features that make up the shot

Notice the pointed rock and angular slope indicated here. I found it interesting that the "Swiss Movements" sequence is essentially about rock climbing — the same thing Stoney Point is still known for.

 

The pointed rock and angular slope in modern times

Here are those same rock features in a photo taken on our recent visit to the summit.

 

The filming location in context

A wider shot provides some context for the scene, showing more of what the rocks look like as part of the extremely rocky environment atop Stoney Point.

 

Pinpointing the "Swiss Movements" scene

The yellow rectangle approximates how the pointed rock and angular slope are framed in the movie.

 

Setup for the "Swiss Movements" shoot

In another photo from our Stoney Point expedition, we see the same rocks the "Swiss Movements" crew would have found when they arrived at the location in 1927.

 

How the shoot was set up

The rock on the left, with its flat top, provided the ideal spot for the camera, reflectors and key members of the crew, while the actors worked on the slightly more perilous angular slope.

 

The remarkable photo from 1927

And luckily for us, a still photographer who was also on the scene snapped the shot that enabled us to put together how the sequence was filmed — right down to the spindly ladder everyone had to use to get up on that rock.

 

Jimmie Adams on the Stoney Point summit (1927)

"Swiss Movements" includes plenty of other shots taken on top of Stoney Point, although many of the rocks are still waiting to be found. Here's one other group of rocks we were able to match up on our recent hike.

 

Looking west from Stoney Point

When Jimmie Adams steps aside, we get a pretty good look at the cluster of rocks he was standing in front of. These rocks are situated along the western edge of the summit area.

 

The same rocks in modern times

I didn't get the exact same angle, but you may be able to make out the rocks from the movie — especially toward the right of the frame. We also get a better look at the Santa Susana Mountains to the west.

 

Identifying markers and matching rocks

Here are some of the key markers in the two shots, to make it easier to see how the rocks match up.

 

"Swiss Movements" (1927): Click here to watch the video

Here is the video of the comedy short "Swiss Movements." The movie includes many more shots taken on Stoney Point. Please let us know (in comments or by email) if you make your way up there and match up any shots.

 

Chatsworth Historical Society presentation on Stoney Point

For much more about the history of Stoney Point, including its movie history, please click here to see a presentation given in 2022 by Ray and Ann Vincent of the Chatsworth Historical Society — back before we knew the full story behind the "Swiss Movements" photo.

Where was the "Mystery Adobe Ranch"? One of the biggest mysteries about the early Western movies is finally solved

Hollywood's "Mystery Adobe Ranch" of the 1930s

Back in the early years of the talkies, Hollywood discovered an obscure ranch outside of Los Angeles where film companies could shoot Westerns.

 

"Terror Trail" (Universal, 1933): A wide shot of the Mystery Adobe Ranch

Westerns were the most popular genre of the era, and the "Mystery Adobe Ranch," as it later came to be known, appeared in a number of the early talking Westerns, spanning a period roughly from 1932 to 1937.

 

"Terror Trail" (Universal, 1933)

The ranch enjoyed a brief but productive run as a go-to filming location, and can be seen in movies from Universal, Columbia, RKO, Mascot, Republic and other studios.

 

Buck Jones and Barbara Weeks in Columbia's "Forbidden Trail," filmed on the ranch in 1932

Early cowboy stars who made movies on the mystery ranch included Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Hoot Gibson, Charles Starrett, Bob Steele and Harry Carey.

 

The Mystery Adobe Ranch: Long gone!

By the time people like myself and my film historian colleagues came along and started trying to figure out where those old Westerns were shot, the "mystery ranch" was long gone.

 

Janss Conejo Ranch in the filming days (top), and Avenida de los Arboles
in Thousand Oaks, in modern times (bottom)

But that usually doesn't deter us. Most old filming locations — the buildings, at least — are gone now, but we try to figure out where they were anyway.

 

Janss Conejo Ranch — easy to identify, with or without the buildings

Sometimes it's a ridgeline that provides the best clue, as in this widely circulated "then and now" shot from the Janss Conejo Ranch, a historic filming location in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

 

Janss Conejo's readily identifiable Mountclef Ridge

With Janss Conejo — known today as Wildwood Park — the ridge is especially distinctive, which makes pinpointing the location relatively easy. We usually don't have this much to go on — and usually don't need it.

 

"Terror Trail," 1933: Tom Mix on the Mystery Adobe Ranch, but where was it?

But the Mystery Adobe Ranch was different — a mystery so persistent that many of us feared it would never be solved. But everything changed earlier this month, when we had a breakthrough.

 

"Outlaws of the Prairie" (Columbia, 1937): Filmed on the mystery ranch

The first domino fell when Marc Wanamaker, who maintains the exhaustive repository of Hollywood history known as the Bison Archives, discovered a pertinent reference in some old Columbia files.

 

The Mystery Adobe Ranch: Could this be the "Holman Ranch"?

The Columbia document referenced something called the "Holman Ranch," noting that it was in Calabasas. Marc sent out word to a group of movie historians, and none of us had ever heard of the Holman Ranch.

 

Could this hill be somewhere in Calabasas?

They say two heads are better than one, and in this case we had about six heads involved. We all started doing follow-up, whether it was reaching out to local historians, scouring aerials or poring over old newspaper clippings.

 

The same hill, hiding in an obscure spot in Liberty Canyon

After Jerry Schneider found a historical reference to a possible location near Calabasas for a Holman Ranch, I went out to the location to see whether it was the right spot ... and bingo! It was a perfect match.

 

"Terror Trail" (1933): looking north from the Holman Ranch

This shot from "Terror Trail" shows a part of the old ranch, along with the hills to the north.

 

The same hills in 2024, seen from the former Holman Ranch location

Those hills are still there, and still look pretty much the same.

 

The Holman Ranch's trademark oak tree, in the 1930s

One of the best surprises from my visit to the site involves this huge oak tree, which was situated just in front of the main ranch house and made appearances in almost all of the movies filmed on the ranch.

 

The same oak tree in 2024 — a grizzled version of its former self

I was delighted to find that the giant oak tree has survived — and it hasn't really changed all that much, although today it looks like an older and possibly wiser version of its younger self.

 

Today the old ranch is accessible to hikers

The former ranch location has been preserved as public land, and today is part of Malibu Creek State Park. It's open to hikers, with an access point near Liberty Canyon Road and Park Vista Road.

 

Thanks, guys!

Congratulations to all the dedicated researchers who have been tracking this unusual filming location for years, and a big shout-out to everyone who was part of the great collaboration that finally solved the mystery.