The year(s) in review: Top 20 Iverson Movie Ranch and nearby filming location finds of 2018-2019

Have you been wondering what happened to the Iverson Movie Ranch Blog's annual list of our "Top 10 Finds" of the year? We skipped last year but I'm happy to report that the list is back to wrap up 2019 (and 2018 too).

We've expanded !!!

This year's list is expanded to a Top 20, covering two years' worth of finds. The list also reflects the wider net we've been casting in the past few years as we expand beyond the boundaries of the Iverson Ranch to explore the many interesting historical filming locations around Chatsworth, the San Fernando Valley and beyond ...

No. 16

  "Panic Rock" turns up in the William S. Hart movie "Wolves of the Rail"

William S. Hart and a distinctive rock: promo still for "Wolves of the Rail" (1918)

As a special bonus, here's a Chatsworth, Calif., movie rock find from November 2019 that hasn't been published before. The above promo shot for the silent movie "Wolves of the Rail," filmed more than 100 years ago, features legendary movie cowboy William S. Hart standing next to what was, until recently, a "mystery rock."

The same rock in 2019, overlooking the Santa Susana Pass

We found the rock in November, and as it turns out, it's a rock we drive past all the time. It's located just off Santa Susana Pass Road, 1.2 miles west of the old entrance to the Iverson Movie Ranch.

"Panic Rock" — the same rock seen in the William S. Hart photo

It's hard to miss "Panic Rock" on the drive between Chatsworth and Simi Valley (or between the Iverson Ranch and Corriganville, to put it in movie location terms). The rock is named after the movie "Panic in Year Zero."

"Panic in Year Zero" (1962): The Bomb falls on L.A.

The rock has been in its share of movies over the years, including the Cold War drama "Panic in Year Zero." In this shot the Baldwin family pulls over in the Santa Susana Pass to watch the atom bomb destroy Los Angeles.

"Panic Rock" can be found in the exact spot where the Baldwins decided to pull off the road. They couldn't get away with it today — there's no parking anywhere near there.

This shot from the movie shows Panic Rock without Ray Milland blocking the view. But the framing of the shot emphasizes the mushroom cloud and cuts off most of the rock — the horror!

"Panic in Year Zero" — Just before the bomb went off

Here's a look at Panic Rock moments earlier in the movie. Of course, it's not the same without the big Kerboom! Click here to see more shots from "Panic in Year Zero," which also filmed a lot on the Iverson Movie Ranch.

Postcard looking northeast along Santa Susana Pass, ca. 1912 (Chatsworth Historical Society)

Thanks to an old postcard, we can trace the history of Panic Rock and Santa Susana Pass even before William S. Hart dropped by in late 1917. I recommend clicking on the image to see a larger version of this detailed photo.

The postcard, which was unearthed by Chatsworth Historical Society researchers Ann and Ray Vincent, features a picture taken by prolific photographer H.F. Rile, a key figure in the early documentation of the Los Angeles area.

In addition to Panic Rock the photo features the Chatsworth Grade Road, which was the main route between the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley before Santa Susana Pass Road was built in 1917.

A small section of the "cut" for the Chatsworth Grade Road can be seen in the William S. Hart picture, but Hart would have arrived at Panic Rock via what was at the time the brand-new Santa Susana Pass Road.

The Chatsworth Grade Road remains more or less intact today, but these days it's a hiking trail.

The H.F. Rile postcard photo from about 1912 also captures a section of the Iverson Ranch, which is said to have opened its gates to its first film crews around the same time.

Ray and Ann Vincent put together an eye-popping presentation on H.F. Rile's postcards of early Chatsworth, which can be found by clicking here. While at the site you can also find their other incredible work on Chatsworth history.

Panic Rock's appearance in the "Wolves of the Rail" promo shot comes in at No. 16 on the Top 20 list, but let's get to the countdown of the full list: Here are the top 20 movie finds of 2018-2019 ...

No. 20

An obscure Iverson Movie Ranch rock seen in "Cherokee Strip" 

 

"Cherokee Strip" (Warner Bros., 1937): A rock north of the Garden of the Gods

This promo still from the Dick Foran B-Western "Cherokee Strip" turned up from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives, and we were able to track down the ice creamy rock that "stars" in the photo. Today it's partially hidden beneath foliage, but it still has much of its original "flavor."

• Click here to see our post from August 2019 documenting the discovery of this unusual movie rock on the Iverson Ranch, which includes a map to show you how to find the rock today.

No. 19

Buffalo Kill Rock, as seen in the "Buffalo Kill" episode of "Bat Masterson" in 1959

 

"Bat Masterson" episode "Buffalo Kill" (1959): Buffalo Kill Rock

This was a hard rock to find as it was concealed behind a bunch of scrub brush, but Tyler Malone spotted it clinging to the north face of Cactus Hill overlooking the former Upper Iverson.

• Click here to see the post from September 2019 where we introduced readers to Buffalo Kill Rock. (Scroll down a bit until you see the rock.)

No. 18

Filming location for the 1922 Rudolph Valentino movie "The Young Rajah"

 

"The Young Rajah" (Paramount, 1922): Iverson's Garden of the Gods

The Rudolph Valentino silent feature "The Young Rajah" is impossible to find in its entirety, but enough of it has been assembled and re-created from stills that we were able to find a big battle scene filmed in the Garden of the Gods.

• Click here to see the post from February 2018 breaking down the historic Iverson Movie Ranch shoot in 1922 for Rudolph Valentino's "The Young Rajah."

No. 17

Tyler Malone's interactive map of the Iverson Movie Ranch

 

Interactive map of the Iverson Movie Ranch and other area filming locations

Fans of the Iverson Movie Ranch and other filming locations in Chatsworth and the Simi Valley area got a nice surprise in September 2019 when movie location explorer Tyler Malone unveiled his interactive map pinpointing specific movie rocks and other features. Zoom in on the map above and click on the blue tags to get an idea how it works.

• Click here to get the full lowdown on the interactive map of the Iverson Movie Ranch and other area filming locations in our post from September 2019.

No. 16

  "Panic Rock" turns up in the William S. Hart movie "Wolves of the Rail"

"Wolves of the Rail" (1918): William S. Hart visits Panic Rock

We went into detail at the top of this post about this promo still for "Wolves of the Rail," filmed in late 1917 and released in early 1918. William S. Hart is seen at Panic Rock in the Santa Susana Pass.

• Go to the top of this post to see more about Panic Rock and "Wolves of the Rail."

No. 15

An in-depth examination of Iverson's Upper Gorge

"Wee Willie Winkie" set in the Iverson Gorge (1937)

The Iverson Movie Ranch Blog did some of its most intensive research yet in 2019 to get to the bottom of the heavily filmed Upper Gorge and get a better handle on which rocks survived and which were destroyed when the Cal West Townhomes were built in the 1980s.

• Click here to see our post from June 2019 examining the Iverson Movie Ranch's Upper Gorge, including the footprint of the condos that today occupy much of the former filming location.

No. 14

A tricky "Dick Turpin" promo still

Promo still for "Dick Turpin" (Fox Film Corp., 1925): Tom Mix climbs a rock

At first we couldn't see the "trick" to the promo still that surfaced from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives for the 1925 Tom Mix movie "Dick Turpin," but now we can't unsee it: The photo is sideways. If we rotate it clockwise 90 degrees, we can match it up with a familiar Iverson Movie Ranch filming location.

• Click here to see the photo from all pertinent directions in our post about it from December 2018, where we also delve into Bob Hope's visit to Lone Ranger Rock and Norma Shearer's 1925 exploits on the Iverson Ranch — and as a bonus, check out adorable Renee Adoree with everything from a ukulele to a contrabass balalaika.

No. 13

Planter Rock, and the end of the myth of End Rock

 

"20 Million Miles to Earth" (1957): The late, great End Rock and Ray Harryhausen's "Ymir"

In December 2018 we finally got to the bottom of the rock in the planter outside the clubhouse at the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village, and found out it has a history in the movies. No, it's not the fabled movie rock known as "End Rock" — that was always the myth, but it turned out to be just that: a myth.

• Click here to see our post from December 2018 shattering the myth of End Rock and revealing the true movie history of Planter Rock.

No. 12

Quentin Tarantino re-creates Spahn Ranch at Corriganville

 

Quentin Tarantino's 2018 re-creation of the Spahn Ranch stakeside truck (Jerry Condit photo)

We tracked the construction of Quentin Tarantino's "Spahn Ranch" set at Corriganville for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" in a series of posts published in fall 2018. The construction mobilized area movie location fans, who flocked to Corriganville to see the set in person. Tarantino's attention to detail in the re-creation was remarkable, invoking memories of the real Spahn Ranch, which was once located across the street from the Iverson Movie Ranch.

• Click here to see our post from August 2018 examining the new construction at Corriganville — at first we thought they might be rebuilding Corriganville itself — and delving a bit into Corriganville history.

• Click here to go to our post from September 2018 taking a detailed look at the Tarantino Spahn Ranch set, including some "Spahn Ranch then and now" shots.
  
• Click here for our post from October 2018 with additional views of the Tarantino set, more "then and now" shots and details about the set teardown at Corriganville.

No. 11

An intruder rock disturbs the peace at the west end of the Sphinx

 

Tracking the downfall of the "intruder rock" at the west end of the Sphinx

In a post published in July 2018, and a follow-up post in December 2018, we pretty much figured out what happened that changed the landscape around the Sphinx, one of the Iverson Movie Ranch's most famous rocks. Sometime between when the TV series "The Lone Ranger" filmed that corner of the rock in 1949 and when we started studying the location some 60 years later, a chunk of rock big enough to crush the two Cavalry men positioned there in "The Lone Ranger" broke loose and lodged itself right where it could get in the way of everything.

• Click here to see our original post from July 2018 speculating about where the intruder rock came from (we had it wrong the first time through), including photos of those Cavalry guys in "The Lone Ranger" — they got out in time — and a breakdown of what the site looks like today.

• Click here for a follow-up on the intruder rock as part of a post in December 2018 where we were able to tie up some loose ends thanks to the "Dick Turpin" photo seen at No. 14 on this list.

No. 10

The Norma Shearer Rocks and "Excuse Me Point"

 

"Excuse Me" (MGM, 1925): Norma Shearer and Conrad Nagel hug it out on the Norma Shearer Rocks

The Iverson Movie Ranch rock feature that Norma Shearer sat on when she was filming "Excuse Me" in 1925 could have easily been lost to history. My own search for the rocks was stymied for some time because they were concealed under a dead tree that fell in just the wrong place. But some timely brush removal helped bring these historic rocks to light.

• Click here to see the post from February 2019 about the Norma Shearer Rocks.

Norma Shearer on "Excuse Me Point," deep in the Garden of the Gods

The second half of our Norma Shearer-"Excuse Me" mystery was even harder to solve than the first. It was Tyler Malone who managed to decipher the clues in the depths of the Garden of the Gods to unearth the pointed rock we are now calling "Excuse Me Point."

• Click here to see modern-day photos of "Excuse Me Point" toward the bottom of our post from September 2019 about Tyler's interactive map of the Iverson Movie Ranch.

No. 9

Unlocking the secrets of a mysterious set in the Iverson Gorge

 

Pond set for the movie "Flight Into Nowhere" (Columbia, 1938)

We were mystified for years by this photo of an unusual set featuring a pond and a small adobe structure, but after spotting bits of it in the backgrounds of various productions, we eventually pieced together not only where it was — in a location I call "the Pit" in the Upper Gorge — but also which movie it was made for, the Jack Holt adventure "Flight Into Nowhere."

• Click here to see our post from October 2018 spotlighting this unusual set and unusual chapter in Iverson Movie Ranch history.

No. 8

"Morocco Cave": Walking in the footsteps of Gary Cooper in the Garden of the Gods

 

"Morocco" (Paramount, 1930): Gary Cooper emerges from Morocco Cave

In a post from December 2018 we followed the path taken through an obscure stretch of the Garden of the Gods by Gary Cooper in the 1930 Paramount drama "Morocco" to find the mysterious cave seen above, along with other rocky locations seen in the movie.

• Click here to see our post from December 2018 documenting the discovery of "Morocco Cave."

No. 7

Filming locations on the former Roy Rogers Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif.

 

"The Roy Rogers Show": One of many distinctive movie rocks on Roy and Dale's
former ranch that remain in place today in Chatsworth

In May 2019 we published the results of what we think is the first serious attempt to explore the former Roy Rogers Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., to find specific filming locations used in "The Roy Rogers Show." In the process we also revisited the legacy left behind by Roy and Dale, including their impressive merchandising empire and their various homes, ranches and filming locations.

• Click here to see our report from May 2019 on the Roy Rogers Ranch and some of the myths and legends surrounding Roy and Dale, including "then-and-now" photos of filming locations from the show.

No. 6

An elaborate Tom Mix stunt from 1928 near the Garden of the Gods

 

"Painted Post" (Fox, 1928): A trick oil derrick falls before the Gods of the Iverson Ranch

A blog post from July 2019 reveals the story behind a series of photos from a complex 1928 stunt involving Tom Mix for the lost silent film "Painted Post," carried out in the shadows of the Iverson Ranch's Garden of the Gods. We also revisited the extraordinary legacy of the early movie cowboy and circus star, who oversaw a diverse merchandising empire that raised the bar for Roy Rogers and other famous movie cowboys who arrived later.

• Click here to see our post from July 2019 about Tom Mix, his merchandising empire and his wild oil derrick stunt on the Iverson Movie Ranch in 1928.

No. 5

A hilltop shooting location for the 1911 movie "The Outbreak"

 

"The Outbreak" (Selig, 1911): Two women held captive on a hilltop in the Santa Susana Mountains

It's the oldest filming location we've ever found, and how the crew for the lost 1911 Western "The Outbreak" found its way to the top of that rocky hill remains a mystery. But for us, finding the location was as much fun as it was challenging, and our post from March 2018 about this site for the pre-Hollywood Western "The Outbreak" reveals that more than a quarter-century later the location would become a part of another sprawling movie ranch.

• Click here to see our post from March 2018 about this historic location where filmmakers decided to shoot a Western in the years before there was a Hollywood.

No. 4

Lone Ranger Rock Steps

 

"They Died With Their Boots On" (Warner Bros., 1941): Behind-the-scenes photo
reveals a set of old movie steps near Lone Ranger Rock

The origin of a set of steps near Lone Ranger Rock on the Lower Iverson remains a mystery, but the coolest thing about the steps is that they can still be found today. We reported in January 2019 on our successful expedition into the Iverson Gorge to find the steps, which may be the oldest surviving movie artifacts on the Iverson Ranch.

• Click here to see our post from January 2019 about the Lone Ranger Rock Steps.

No. 3

The site where new footage was filmed in 1954 for the opening to "The Lone Ranger"

 

"The Lone Ranger" (1954): New desert footage added to the opening sequence

The TV show "The Lone Ranger" and its familiar opening are most closely associated with the Iverson Movie Ranch and Lone Ranger Rock, but when the show's producers decided to add footage to the opening in 1954 to mark the return of Clayton Moore to the series, they filmed it in a picturesque location in the desert outside Los Angeles. We found the spot, and discovered that the show didn't just film the new opening there, but also shot a bunch of new action footage for season four.

"The Lone Ranger" (the hated third season): Tonto negotiates some shamefully bad fake rocks

Published in April 2019, our post about the "Lone Ranger's" desert filming location also examines some of the worst fake rocks ever seen in the movies and on television.

• Click here to see "then-and-now" shots from "The Lone Ranger" and learn all about the TV show's shoot in the desert outside L.A. in our post from April 2019 — and check out some historically bad fake rocks.

No. 2

Chatsworth's Squaw Man Bluff and Alpine Bump, seen in Hollywood's first feature film

 

"The Squaw Man" (Lasky, 1914): A bluff in Chatsworth that has confounded historians

We had been looking for about 10 years for the rocky hilltop appearing in the so-called "Alpine sequence" from Cecil B. DeMille's "The Squaw Man," filmed in late 1913, released in early 1914 and considered to be Hollywood's first feature film. Then one day, suddenly, there it was, in the hills above Chatsworth — one of the most breathtaking moments we've had in the many years we've been staring at rocks.

• Click here to see our post from August 2019 documenting the discovery of what had been, up until then, one of the most important lost shooting locations in Hollywood history.

No. 1

The site of Elderbush Gulch and other early D.W. Griffith filming locations

 

"The Battle at Elderbush Gulch" (1913): D.W. Griffith's town of Elderbush Gulch,
built on his ranch in the San Fernando Valley

We thought nothing could top the discovery of the historic Squaw Man Bluff and Alpine Bump above Chatsworth, but just a few weeks later we unlocked the secrets of the D.W. Griffith Ranch in San Fernando, including finding the location of Elderbush Gulch. We think it's the first time specific filming locations on the ranch have been matched with movie shots from Griffith's early films.

• Click here to see our post from October 2019 about D.W. Griffith's San Fernando movie ranch, including "then-and-now" shots from several of his movies filmed on the ranch circa 1912-1913.

Here are a few finds from the past two years that didn't quite make it into the Top 20 — click on the text to be linked to the original blog items ...

• Stranglehold Rock, in the Garden of the Gods: Finding this rock from the 1934 Mascot serial "Mystery Mountain" became a mission for Tyler Malone in late 2019 ... and it's Mission Accomplished!

• The new "naked" look for Rock Island: Someone decided to trim back the foliage that had engulfed this historic movie feature, and location researchers rejoiced!

• A "smoking gun" links the Gorge Cabin and Hidden Valley Cabin: In March 2019 we examined two historic movie sets, located on the Upper and Lower Iverson, and found that the long-whispered rumors were true: They were the same building.

• Buster Keaton, who first got wet on the Iverson Ranch in the silent film era (maybe you've heard of "Bathtub Rock"?), got even wetter when he returned to the ranch late in his career for a memorable shoot at Iverson Pond for the classic TV show "Route 66."

• The 1930s "epidemic" of movies about Colonial India: For some reason Hollywood couldn't bang out movies about India fast enough for a time in the 1930s — "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer," "Wee Willie Winkie," "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and others — and most of them were filmed in almost exactly the same spot on the Iverson Ranch.

• Chris Pratt's 2018 Super Bowl commercial for Michelob Ultra, filmed at the Fox Residence in Chatsworth, Calif. (along with some other interesting locations).

To catch up on additional discoveries on the Iverson Movie Ranch in recent years, here are links to past "Year in Review" posts ...

Top 10 Iverson Movie Ranch finds of 2017

• Click here for a rundown on the most important finds of 2017, a big year in which we tracked down a rock the original Rin-Tin-Tin stood on in 1925, the location of the walled city from the 1917 movie "Jack and the Beanstalk," the position of a fake arch where legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt worked on the Iverson Ranch in 1926, and a rocky overlook featured by Roger Corman in "Apache Woman."

Top 10 Iverson Movie Ranch finds of 2016

• Click here to revisit the biggest finds of 2016, including the location of the "grassy knoll" where Sheb Wooley's character came to a bad end in "Little Big Horn," the "Kill Rock" from the Hopalong Cassidy movie "Mystery Man," where Jesus walked in Silverland and Joe Iverson's sporty half-track grader/crawler.

Top 10 Iverson Movie Ranch finds of 2015

• Click here to review the major discoveries of 2015, when an Elvis Presley filming location, a fake cave house from the silent era, Burgess Meredith's "Siedry-Bert" inscription, a wonderland of old movie footholds and the location of the Chinese Bridge from "Tell It to the Marines" in 1926 all made the list.

Top 10 Iverson Movie Ranch finds of 2014

• Click here for a look back at 2014, a year in which Bear Tree, the Hobbit House, the remains of Freddie Frog, the Charles Bronson Hanging Tree and Tom Mix's bootholes from the 1935 Mascot serial "The Miracle Rider" were among the year's biggest discoveries.