Classic Rock: The Old Man of the Gorge

The Old Man of the Gorge

Let me introduce a rock character I call the Old Man of the Gorge — that's him in profile in the above photo.

This is what the Old Man looks like from a little farther back. The rock, located on the site of the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., has a history of appearing in film and television productions.

"Around the World in 80 Days" (1956)

One of the Old Man's best appearances was in a movie I'm willing to bet you've heard of — and possibly seen: the widescreen feature "Around the World in 80 Days." In the screen shot above you should be able to pick out the Old Man above the rear pair of horses, nearest the center of the shot.

This is the same shot, with the Old Man of the Gorge highlighted. You can click on any of these photos to see a larger version.

At one point in the movie an Indian Brave appears on top of the Old Man of the Gorge, apparently with intent to ambush a Cavalryman.

The scene offers partial views of a few other widely filmed features of the Lower Iverson Movie Ranch, as highlighted above. Here are some links you can click on to read more about these features: Devil's Doorway, Doglips, Cactus Hill.

Rock and warrior share a closeup.

These days the Old Man shares his space with some nearby condos.

In the movie the Old Man of the Gorge can be seen as part of a group with two other rocks. For the sake of having a way to refer to them, I'll call them the "Three Amigos."

The "Three Amigos" are all still intact, on public property just below the condos. This shot shows them in their current environs.

Iverson's Upper Gorge, as seen in "Khyber Patrol" (1954)

It's not always easy to pick out the Three Amigos in wider shots of Iverson's rocky Upper Gorge, such as the above view of the Gorge in the United Artists movie "Khyber Patrol," about the British colonial period in India. This shot would have been filmed from across the Gorge, from Overlook Point on the western ridge of the Gorge, where a heavy-duty camera mount was in place. The Amigos tend to be in these wide shots of the Gorge, but you have to know where to look.

Here's the same shot from "Khyber Patrol" with the Three Amigos highlighted — along with their more famous neighbor, Lone Ranger Rock. The Amigos were and remain among the closest neighbors to Iverson's most famous rock denizen, and were along the route of the Lone Ranger as he rode up to Lone Ranger Rock at the beginning of each episode of the TV show to rear up and declare, "Hi-yo, Silver!" It all happened right here.

"Panic in Year Zero" (1962)

Depending on how the camera was positioned in the camera mount area at Overlook Point, Lone Ranger Rock and the Old Man of the Gorge have a tendency to overlap, as in the above shot from the atom bomb movie "Panic in Year Zero." The way Lone Ranger Rock and the Old Man of the Gorge are lined up in the shot makes it hard to see either one clearly.

Here's the same shot, highlighting where Lone Ranger Rock ends and the Old Man of the Gorge begins.

Traces of the old camera mount — the track and the 
mount itself — remain in place today at Overlook Point. 

The name "The Old Man of the Gorge" may have been inspired in some small way by the character the Old Man of the Mountain, who appeared in vintage Betty Boop cartoons. His featured role was in this 1933 classic that includes a brief live-action appearance by Cab Calloway and some mildly trippy animation by Dave Fleischer. Check it out:

This post is part of a series on "Classic Rocks" — sandstone giants located on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., that became a part of not only America's physical landscape but also its cultural heritage, through featured roles in old movies, cliffhanger serials and early TV shows. Other entries in the series can be seen by clicking here.

Classic Rock: The Phantom

Located in the Garden of the Gods next to the larger and more widely exposed Sphinx, or Eagle Beak (not seen here), the Phantom tends to be undeservedly overlooked. But it does get screen time in a lot of old movies and TV shows if you know where to look and can get past the "star power" of neighboring rocks Sphinx (aka Eagle Beak) and Tower Rock (aka Indian Head). The Phantom is typically seen just to the right of the Sphinx, if the camera happens to wander over that way.

"The Lone Ranger" TV show (1949) — the Phantom in background

The Phantom did play a featured role in an early episode of the Lone Ranger TV show, as seen above (with the footage also used in the Lone Ranger movie). In the shot above, the Phantom provides the background during an ambush sequence that sets in motion the whole Lone Ranger saga. Please check out this blog entry, which talks more about this famous scene.

Here's another view of the Phantom in modern times. The rock, which has any number of "moods" depending on the camera angle, seems a little grouchy here. The Phantom reminds me a little bit of one of those paintings on the wall in an old spooky movie, where the eyes follow you as you move through the room. In the above shot, I think the, um, "white stuff" under the eye, presumably left behind by an ongoing parade of birds that for some reason prefer that particular eye socket to "do their business," actually adds an emotional quality to the rock's face. I'll stop short of saying it looks like the Phantom is crying, but ... well, I think I would be grouchy too if that happened to my eye socket.

This post is part of a series on "Classic Rocks" — sandstone giants located on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., that became a part of not only America's physical landscape but also its cultural heritage, through featured roles in old movies, cliffhanger serials and early TV shows. Other entries in the series can be seen by clicking here.

Chinless Wonder: Isn't it ironic? (The Classic Rock that started this whole thing)

"Overland Stage Raiders" (1938)

The fuzzy black-and-white shot above is from a VHS tape of Republic's Three Mesquiteers B-Western "Overland Stage Raiders," starring John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max "Alibi" Terhune and Louise Brooks. While the picture quality, especially on my screen shot, leaves much to be desired, it's an important movie to me, and an important scene: This was the first time I spotted an Iverson Movie Ranch setting in a movie.

What gave it away was the Elders — the line of light-colored, vertical structures seen in the background just above the center of the photo. The Elders themselves technically aren't at Iverson — they're a short distance south of the former movie ranch, across Santa Susana Pass Road, in the hills above Chatsworth Park. But they appear in the background in countless scenes shot at Iverson, and they have proved to be useful markers for Iverson shots, thanks to their distinctive shapes.

Closer to the foreground of the movie shot is Chinless Wonder, the dark figure on the left. Chinless turned out to be elusive, taking almost a year to track down. For most of that time my leading theory was that it had been destroyed to make way for Redmesa Road and condo development. Sadly, a number of important rocks in that area were in fact destroyed when the development took place, but it turns out that Chinless Wonder survived.

Doglips: Chinless Wonder from a different angle

Eventually a lightbulb went off and I discovered that not only was Chinless Wonder still around, it was simply an unusual angle on a rock that I already knew well — one I had come to call Doglips, which you can read more about by clicking here.

Chinless Wonder as it appears today

Unfortunately, because of a thick growth of trees where the camera would have to go, it is not possible to accurately re-create the angle that produces Chinless Wonder. But I've come as close as I could in the shot above, peering out through some foliage to the north of the rock. I know it's not easy to see that they're the same rock. For one thing the lighting is just about opposite: The movie shot was taken in the morning and my shot was taken in the evening. But if you look closely and compare whatever little details you can spot, it works out.

I generally avoid calling things "ironic," because it's an often-misused label and it seems as though most of the time it's just flat-out wrong. But in this case, I'll make an exception. Given that Chinless Wonder, as it appears in the above shot, seems to be making a point of proudly pushing out its prominent chin ... OK, it's ironic.

This post is part of a series on "Classic Rocks" — sandstone giants located on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., that became a part of not only America's physical landscape but also its cultural heritage, through featured roles in old movies, cliffhanger serials and early TV shows. Other entries in the series can be seen by clicking here.

The links below should take you to various Amazon listings for items related to "Overland Stage Raiders," including the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the movie:

Classic Rock: "Doglips," aka "Chinless Wonder" — This strange rock formation on the Iverson Movie Ranch starred in countless Westerns in the 1930s-1950s

The rock formation "Doglips," on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif.

Doglips is something Salvador Dali might have conjured up. It's so weird it's hard to believe it happened naturally. Not only is it weird from the angle seen here, which is the "common" view, as seen from Redmesa Road, but it's also weird from just about every other angle.

The same rock from another angle, getting its "Chinless Wonder" on

The rock hid one key element of its personality from me for months, until I was finally able to determine that Doglips was also Chinless Wonder, a rock I had been searching for from the beginning and couldn't find even though it was right under my nose. I love this view of Chinless Wonder/Doglips looking like some kind of cocky cartoon character.

"Jungle Girl" (1941)

Here's another look at Chinless Wonder — in other words, Doglips — as it appears in the old Republic serial "Jungle Girl." It's the dark, sort of monkeyhead-shaped figure that dominates the left half of the shot. You can also catch a glimpse of the Elders just to the right of it, in the background, the light-colored rock more or less in the center of the shot. I've highlighted both of these landmarks in the shot below.

The "Jungle Girl" shot again — with two key features noted

For more on the Chinless Wonder aspect of Doglips, check out this post. And you'll find more about Doglips/Chinless wonder by clicking here or by finding Doglips (or Chinless Wonder) in the long index of labels at the right side of this page.

Here's a partial list of movies, TV shows and serials in which Doglips appears — just a fraction of the total:

Undersea Kingdom (1936)
Ghost-Town Gold (1936)
Zorro Rides Again (1937)
Overland Stage Raiders (1938)
Wall Street Cowboy (1939)
Frontier Pony Express (1939)
Jungle Girl (1941)
King of the Texas Rangers (1941)
The Perils of Nyoka (1942)
Raiders of Ghost City (1944)
Son of Zorro (1947)
The Hawk of Powder River (1948)
Lone Ranger (TV series) (1949-1957)
The Invisible Monster (1950)
Don Daredevil Rides Again (1951)
Sky King (TV series) (1951-1962)
The Roy Rogers Show (TV series) (1951-1957)
Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952)

This post is part of a series on "Classic Rocks" — sandstone giants located on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., that became a part of not only America's physical landscape but also its cultural heritage, through featured roles in old movies, cliffhanger serials and early TV shows. Other entries in the series can be seen by clicking here.

Classic Rock: The Slates — the best thing since sliced bread

This blog post is part of a series on "Classic Rocks" — sandstone behemoths located on the former site of the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., that were featured in old movies, cliffhanger serials and early TV shows. Other entries in the series can be seen by clicking here.

"Stage to Mesa City" (1947)

The Slates were located along a heavily used chase road on the Upper Iverson Movie Ranch, which meant the sandstone rock formation was captured on film with some regularity. The rock usually zips by pretty fast, but it's distinctive enough that it's often possible to spot it anyway. Watch for the Slates during chase scenes in old B-Westerns in particular. The above shot of the Slates comes from the PRC B-Western "Stage to Mesa City," starring Lash LaRue, with Al "Fuzzy" St. John as his sidekick.

The Slates as they appear today

The above recent photo of the Slates shows what they look like these days — in late winter and spring, when the surrounding foliage is green.

"Calamity Jane and the Texan" (1950)

This is another movie appearance by the Slates, in color this time. The Slates are seen at the right in the above shot from the Columbia Western "Calamity Jane and the Texan," which starred Evelyn Ankers as Calamity and Jimmy Ellison as the Texan. The shot looks to me as though it was also filmed in late winter or spring, as things were pretty green at the time.

Here's a selected listing of movies, serials and TV shows where the Slates can be found:

"The Tulsa Kid" (1940)
"Gauchos of Eldorado" (1941)
"The Phantom Cowboy" (1941)
"Code of the Outlaw" (1942)
"Canyon City" (1943)
"Phantom of the Plains" (1945)
"Story of G.I. Joe" (1945)
"The Virginian" (1946)
"Stage to Mesa City" (1947)
"Last Frontier Uprising" (1947)

"The Hawk of Powder River" (1948)

"Grand Canyon Trail" (1948)
"Partners of the Sunset" (1948)

"The Lone Ranger" (TV show, 1949-1957)
"Calamity Jane and the Texan" (1950)
"Frisco Tornado" (1950)

"Don Daredevil Rides Again" (Republic serial, 1951)

"The Roy Rogers Show" (TV show, 1951-1957)

"Wyoming Roundup" (1952)
"Adventures of Superman" (TV show, 1952-1958)
"Bonanza" (TV show, 1959-1973) (color)
"Five Guns to Tombstone" (1960)
"The Big Valley" (TV show, 1965-1969)