Rock Island: Free at last! Famous movie rocks come out to play for the first time in decades

Much of Rock Island has finally been freed from its cloak of foliage

Big news on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., where someone decided to remove the ivy and other foliage that had consumed the famous movie rocks known as "Rock Island."

The same rocks in 2015: Enshrouded in ivy and shrubs

This is what that same group of rocks looked like up until a few weeks ago, in a photo taken from almost exactly the same spot. This shot is from 2015, but this is essentially how Rock Island has looked since the 1990s.

"RI-4," the southwest cornerstone of Rock Island

These first few shots feature "RI-4," part of the much larger "Rock Island" formation. I've blogged about Rock Island before — you can click here to see an in-depth movie history of the formation.

Immediately to the north of RI-4 is RI-5, which is visible from this angle for the first time in almost 30 years. RI-5 is seen on the left, directly above the silver car.

RI-4 and RI-5 are just two of the five major rock formations that make up Rock Island, but they are the two that benefited the most from the recent landscaping work.

Rock Island, in the Cal West Townhomes (Google Maps)

The rocks are located on the east side of Redmesa Road, about a quarter-mile north of Santa Susana Pass Road. Rock Island as it exists today provides the scenery for the Cal West Townhomes swimming pool area.

RI-1 through RI-5: The major rock formations that make up Rock Island

For research purposes, I employ a numbering system to identify Rock Island's five major formations. As noted here, the individual rock formations are identified as RI-1 (for "Rock Island-1") through RI-5.

Rock Island before the condos were built (1971 aerial photo)

The rocks stood out much more — they really did form an "island of rocks" — before the Cal West Townhomes were built in the late 1980s.

"They Died With Their Boots On" (1941): Rock Island in all its glory

Rock Island formed a magnificent movie backdrop in its day. Here the formation is seen in one of its defining appearances, in the Errol Flynn-Olivia de Havilland movie "They Died With Their Boots On."

The rocks that stand out most in "They Died With Their Boots On" represent the "front line" of Rock Island —  RI-1, RI-2 and RI-3, which stand side-by-side to form Rock Island's "eastern wall."

The "crown" of RI-4 can be seen peeking out over the top of RI-2.

"Three Ages" (1923): Buster Keaton in his "armory" high atop Rock Island

The same crown is featured much more prominently in the silent Buster Keaton comedy "Three Ages." I blogged about this sequence back in 2014 — click here to see that post.

You may have already figured this out, but this is the part of RI-4 that I'm calling the "crown."

RI-4's crown today, out in the open for the first time since the 1990s

Today, for the first time in decades, we can once again see RI-4's crown — and it's even above the fence line. The angle is lower here than in "Three Ages," but the photo is taken from close to the same direction.

You may or may not find little details like this interesting, but I get a kick out of seeing a little round hole in the rock and knowing that the same hole showed up in a movie filmed almost 100 years ago.

There's the same hole, right behind Buster Keaton as he's flinging fake rocks in "Three Ages."

"Have Gun Will Travel" (1960): RI-4 looms over a horse-drawn wagon

RI-4 had a prolific career in the movies and TV. This shot comes from the "Have Gun Will Travel" episode "The Fatalist," the season premiere for the show's fourth season, which first aired on Sept. 10, 1960.

Once again, the little round hole is easy to spot.

Even behind iron bars ... RI-4 lets its freak flag fly

It's a shame that the rock has to be viewed behind a prison-like iron fence today, a price that comes with the "plush" life of a swimming pool rock. But in celebration of the ivy removal I'll refrain from calling this the "Rock Island Prison," as I have in the past. Instead, let's call it an outdoor museum with a cool rock exhibit.



Remember how they "paved paradise" in the Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi"? The line about putting the trees in a tree museum also works for a rock museum. Click the "play" arrow above to hear the song.

"Zane Grey Theatre" (1958): Barbara Stanwyck, John Archer ... and RI-4

Here's another TV appearance by RI-4 — the ghostlike white blob behind Barbara Stanwyck and John Archer. The shot comes from a "Zane Grey Theatre" episode called "The Freighter," which premiered Jan. 17, 1958.

Triangular rock on RI-4's south side

One of the trademark features of RI-4 during its movie and TV career was this triangular rock. For some reason it has always reminded me of the Ghostly Trio in the Casper comic books I read as a kid.

The triangular rock resurfaces (2019)

The triangular rock can now be seen for the first time since anyone has been researching this stuff. Today the rock appears more short and squat than in the filming days.

That's because much of the rock — like the bulk of Rock Island — was buried during the 1980s, when the area was graded for condo development.

Using the "Have Gun Will Travel" shot, we can illustrate where the dirt was poured during grading. Everything below the dotted red line was buried — if the wagon had still been there, it would have been buried too.

"Bonanza" (1962): Rock Island, shot from the south

The grading line can be extended by examining a wider shot of Rock Island, such as this screen shot from the "Bonanza" episode "The Ride," which premiered Jan. 21, 1962.

The rocks on the right side of the shot — including the "east wall" of Rock Island, consisting of RI-1 through RI-3 — suffered even more from grading than did RI-4. Some of them are at least three-quarters buried.

RI-1, aka "Eraserhead," in 2019

Rock RI-1, which I also call "Eraserhead," illustrates the extent to which these towering movie rocks were cut down to size by the condo grading. Only a fraction of the rock remains above ground.

RI-1, or "Eraserhead," in 2015, after an earlier round of ivy removal

RI-1 wasn't affected much by the latest foliage removal, as it already had its ivy removed about four years ago.

RI-1 in 2011, before any ivy removal efforts

Before the ivy removal in early 2015, RI-1 was having a hard time expressing its inner Eraserhead with all the plant matter it was carrying around.

"Overland Stage Raiders" (Republic, 1938): A quintessential Rock Island appearance

One of the classic views of Rock Island appears in the John Wayne/Three Mesquiteers movie "Overland Stage Raiders." The formation is shot from the south, with "Eraserhead," or RI-1, prominently featured.

Not only is this angle probably Eraserhead's most "Eraserhead-like," but you may also notice that RI-4 is looking especially "Ghostly Trio-esque" here.

Three meaningful holes in Eraserhead

Focusing on RI-1, notice the large hole in the rock — the "mouth" of Eraserhead, if you like — along with two much smaller holes above it.

As indicated here, the two smaller holes can still be found above ground, but Eraserhead's trademark large "mouth" hole has been buried and can no longer be seen.

Eraserhead in 2014 — the two small holes can be identified

Taking a look at the "front end" of Eraserhead as it appeared in 2014 — when it was still mostly covered in ivy — we can see the two smaller holes that remain above ground.

RI-1 and RI-2 in 2015

RI-1's closest neighbor, RI-2, has always been the most "shy" of the five major Rock Island formations. It's a hard rock to see, largely taking a back seat to the flashier personality of RI-1.

RI-2 in 2015, after the first round of ivy trimming

But RI-2 also benefited from the 2015 foliage removal, which amounted to a coming-out party for Rock Island's most introverted major rock.

The rock seen in the lower right corner is the "back end" of RI-1, and the "tower" near the top of the frame is the top of RI-3.

RI-2 in 2019, virtually unaffected by the latest trimming

Other than having had a small dead tree removed at some point, the portion of RI-2 that remains above ground still looks pretty much the same as it did in 2015.

RI-2 in 2019

Here's another shot of RI-2 as it appears today, from a different angle. Still not much to see here, but once again, the bulk of the rock is hidden underground.

RI-3 in 2015, doing work as the swimming pool's token rock showpiece

RI-3 didn't really get anything out of the recent foliage removal either. RI-3, which sports a fancy rock "doo-dad" on top, has always been the token landscaping "showpiece" out in the pool area.

"Have Gun Will Travel" (1960): RI-3 anchors Rock Island's eastern wall

RI-3's former scale is in full bloom in this screen shot from the TV series "Have Gun Will Travel." The shot comes from the episode "The Fatalist," which kicked off the show's fourth season on Sept. 10, 1960.

RI-3 always managed to stand out even as a member of a stellar formation made up of rock towers loaded with charisma and star quality. The fancy doo-dad on top was part of what made it special.

Just to make sure we're on the same page, this is the "doo-dad" I keep talking about.

When we checked in on RI-3 back in 2015, the fancy doo-dad was a little harder to find than it was back in the filming days, but it was still there.

As with the other features of Rock Island, the bulk of RI-3 as it exists today is hidden underground.

RI-3 in 2019 ... the doo-dad is now hidden

As if it didn't already have enough problems, RI-3's world in 2019 has become increasingly congested. The tree in front of the rock has grown since 2015, and today it blocks the view of RI-3's trademark "doo-dad."

Rock Island in 2019, including RI-3 and RI-5 (Google aerial)

The famed RI-3 "doo-dad" remains visible from overhead, as noted in this Google aerial shot. I also want to point out RI-3's neighbor in the "lounge chair area," RI-5.

RI-5 remains hard to see from most angles

RI-5 has traditionally been the most difficult of the major Rock Island formations to understand, and even after the recent foliage removal, it continues to pose challenges.

RI-5 in 2015: Shrouded in ivy

However, RI-5 has finally begun to shed some of its secrets. This shot from 2015 shows what the rocks looked like up until the latest round of trimming — pretty much just one big mystery, hiding beneath a lot of ivy.

RI-5 in 2019: Behold the long-lost movie rocks!

Now that the ivy has been removed, we're able to actually see the rocks. This is the same general area seen covered in ivy in the previous photo, although the two shots are not taken from the exact same spot.

RI-5's southern exposure (2019)

Some of RI-5's best angles remain impossible to see because of the surrounding trees, but enough of the rock has emerged that we're able to do some preliminary matching with old movie shots.

For example, this group of rocks along RI-5's western face can be spotted in a number of productions.

"Atom Man vs. Superman" (Columbia serial, 1950): Rock Island and its neighbors

Those same rocks appear in this shot from Chapter 1 of "Atom Man vs. Superman," a terrific showcase for the Iverson Movie Ranch. Maybe you can spot RI-5 without looking ahead — I will identify it a couple of photos below.

While we're in the area, I'll point out that RI-4 can also be seen in the "Atom Man" screen shot.

This shot identifies the part of RI-5 seen in the 2019 photo a few shots up. I'll include the recent photo again below to make it easy to compare the two shots.

RI-5, from the west (2019): The same rocks seen in "Atom Man vs. Superman"

These are the same rocks along the western face of RI-5 that are highlighted above in the "Atom Man vs. Superman" screen shot. Before the recent ivy removal, these rocks could not be seen.

"Colorado Ambush" (Monogram, 1951): Iverson's rocky Upper Gorge

Here's another appearance by RI-5, in the Johnny Mack Brown B-Western "Colorado Ambush." The rock formation may be harder to spot here than it was in "Atom Man vs. Superman."

RI-5 is seen from a different angle in "Colorado Ambush," emphasizing what might be called the "back end" of the rock feature.

It's impossible to duplicate the "Colorado Ambush" angle today, but this "southern exposure" shot that also appears higher up in this post highlights the rock's sloping back end.

Also featured in the "Colorado Ambush" shot is Devil's Doorway, which remains in place today, hidden among the Cal West Townhomes.

The rocks closest to the front of the shot did not survive the condo development in the late 1980s.

"The Fargo Kid" (RKO, 1940)

The Tim Holt B-Western "The Fargo Kid" again shows off the rounded back end of RI-5. The rock can be seen above the riders, on the left side of the screen.

"The Roy Rogers Show" (1953): Another angle on RI-5

RI-5 appears again in the "Roy Rogers" episode "Phantom Rustlers," from still another angle. The episode premiered on April 5, 1953, during the show's second season.

The "Roy Rogers Show" angle can't quite be duplicated today, but the angle on this shot is in the ballpark. The obvious problem here is we can't really get a good look at the rock — but the photo gives a feel for its environs.

"Superman" (Columbia serial, 1948): Cartoon Superman flies in

Another noteworthy appearance by RI-5 takes place in Chapter 13 of the serial "Superman," the first filmed version of the Superman story, released two years before the sequel "Atom Man vs. Superman," mentioned above.

In the "Superman" shot, a flying cartoon version of the title superhero closes in on a car traveling southwest along Iverson Ranch Road, which was the main entry road for the Iverson Movie Ranch.

As the action progresses, we get a look at a number of nearby rocks, and the always impressive Batman Rock begins to appear at the right of the screen. At this point cartoon Superman is flying just above the car.

Moments later, the oddly drawn cartoon version of Superman has landed on the car, and Batman Rock looms in the background — an early appearance by Batman and Superman in the same movie, in a way.

Note from the Homeowners Association to Cal West residents

A friend of mine who lives in the Cal West Townhomes tells me that the Homeowners Association included a note about the foliage removal in its regular newsletter, which I've transcribed above.

An encouraging part of the Homeowners Association note

I hear the foliage trimming wasn't done entirely for maintenance reasons, but was also seen as a way to showcase Cal West's rich movie history. Either way, the note highlighted above is good news for movie history buffs.

Batman Rock: Rock Island's neighbor to the west

Batman Rock, to the southwest of Rock Island, can be seen in the lower left corner of the Rock Island aerial. If you happen to be in the area checking out Rock Island, Batman Rock is just across the street.

To get a look at Batman Rock today, you could walk a short distance west along Horizon Place — either along the driveway itself or on the dogwalking path just north of it — and look back over your left shoulder.

"Batman and Robin" (Columbia serial, 1949): Batman Rock at top right

You'll be looking for this rock — that's the west face of Batman Rock. I believe this shot from "Batman and Robin" is largely responsible for the rock's name.

Batman Rock as it appears today

Batman Rock can still be found in pretty much the same spot, but today more of the rock is hidden behind trees. It's a private residential area, but that shouldn't be an issue if you just want to take a quick look at the rock.