Why we love old movie locations — especially the Iverson Movie Ranch

For an introduction to this blog and to the growing interest in historic filming locations such as the Iverson Movie Ranch — the most widely filmed outdoor location in movie and TV history — please read the site's introductory post, found here.
• Your feedback is appreciated — please leave comments on any of the posts.
• To find specific rock features or look up movie titles, TV shows, actors and production people, see the "LABELS" section — the long alphabetical listing on the right side of the page, below.
• To join the MAILING LIST, send me an email at iversonfilmranch@aol.com and let me know you'd like to sign up.
• I've also begun a YouTube channel for Iverson Movie Ranch clips and other movie location videos, which you can get to by clicking here.
• Readers can email the webmaster at iversonfilmranch@aol.com.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Girl in the Sky keeps on turning ...

"Thunder River Feud" (1942)

Turning yet again to the endlessly intriguing topic of tricks of light and imagination, we find reason to once again go on and on about "Thunder River Feud" (1942), the Magna Carta (or whatever) of tricks of light. As usual, the enigmatic figure at the center of it all is the man behind the camera, cinematographer Robert "Did He Do That on Purpose" Cline. 


It probably has more to do with the primitive camera technology and the bad print than with art, but "Thunder River Feud" has more interesting "extras" hovering around the corners of each frame than any other movie I've seen. Take for example the scene above. Supposedly it's just some dude on a horse against a nondescript but perhaps unintentionally surrealistic background. But then when you look in the top right corner, there she is: Girl in the Sky. WTF? Click on the photo to enlarge it — she'll still be there!
If that's not enough, check out the top left corner and you might recognize a close approximation of Eugene the Jeep, from the Popeye cartoons.
Eugene the Jeep

I was unable to determine where this particular "Thunder River Feud" scene was shot, but most of the outdoor action for the movie took place on the Iverson Movie Ranch — where the many odd-shaped rocks have a tendency to fuel these sorts of flights of fancy. Even so, I have a feeling that if you could find this spot today, Girl in the Sky and Eugene the Jeep wouldn't be there.

Here's how to get ahold of the DVD for "Thunder River Feud":

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