It's the old "cute girl hides under a rock with a rifle" trick ... with a special appearance by Dr. Richard Kimble

The 1949 Allied Artists Western "Stampede" includes a fun sequence early in the movie where Gale Storm — who was keeping busy in mostly low-budget features at the time before her successful TV and recording career took off — hides under a rock and ends up holding big, tough cowboy hero Rod Cameron at rifle point.

Gale Storm in "Stampede" (1949)

Here's Gale emerging from under that rock, her icy stare fixed on her prey. The rock, seen behind her, is well-known to movie historians. It was located — and still is, for that matter — on what was then the Upper Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif. The rock is generally known as Round Rock.

Round Rock in recent years

The name "Round Rock" is a little misleading, as the rock is actually on the flat side. It's propped up against a "base rock" to form an arch — not a big arch, mind you, but big enough for Gale Storm to hide in.

"Stampede"

See — she fits inside Round Rock. Pretty easily, in fact.

Here's Cameron lurking near the front of Round Rock, trying to figure out who's been popping off rounds at him. This shot takes place moments before he runs into Storm's character and her rifle.

Having just "introduced" herself to Cameron with a few rounds, Storm's character continues to use her rifle to menace the cowboy. Aficionados of old Westerns won't be surprised to hear that he eventually snatches it away from her, at which point she loses interest in trying to kill him and becomes more flirty.

This is what Round Rock looks like from the front. From this angle it is in fact round — a bumpy version of round, anyway. The rock appears in hundreds of movies and old TV shows, usually lurking silently in the background while a chase of some kind zips past.

"The Fugitive" (1967)

Round Rock had a featured role in one of the last episodes of the TV show "The Fugitive." The episode, called "The Shattered Silence," first aired April 11, 1967, near the end of the show's four-season run on ABC. Here's David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble — on the run, as usual, and also wounded — staggering around in front of Round Rock, figuring out that he needs a place to stash his blood-soaked jacket.

You can see blood on the sleeve of Kimble's jacket as he sizes up whether Round Rock would be a suitable place to hide the thing. If you compare this view of the rock with the recent shot below, you should be able to spot similarities in the rock shapes — especially the jagged edge in front of Kimble's waist.

Round Rock in recent times — seen from the west

The "Fugitive" shot focuses on the western entrance to the arch — the opposite end from the shots seen in "Stampede."  This contemporary shot also shows the west side of the rock, including that waist-high jagged edge.

He's going for it. I won't give away what happens, but Round Rock turns out to be not such a great place to stash a blood-stained jacket. Incidentally, in case you seem to recall "The Fugitive" was in black-and-white, you're mostly right. Only the fourth and final season was in color.

Gale Storm and Don Castle find love in "Stampede"

Back to "Stampede" ... funny thing about the old "cute girl hides under a rock with a rifle" trick: This is one time when it didn't work, as Rod Cameron's character decided he wasn't interested and his brother, played by Don Castle, made his move.

Gale Storm

Gale Storm went on to star in a couple of TV sitcoms in the 1950s — "My Little Margie" and "The Gale Storm Show." She was also a singer and chalked up a few hits, including covers of "I Hear You Knockin'," "Memories Are Made of This" and "Dark Moon." Storm died just a few years ago, in 2009, at age 87.

Below are some links to "Stampede" and "The Fugitive" on Amazon.