Charles Starrett scrambles over movie rocks in 1939 — with Roy Rogers sidekick Pat Brady slappin' a fierce bass

The 1939 Columbia movie "Western Caravans" was filmed partially on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., with additional outdoor footage shot in the Western town on the Columbia backlot. The Charles Starrett B-Western also features a lot of rolling hills shots, which in that period usually means it was filmed in or around the foothills of Agoura, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles.

Charles Starrett in "Western Caravans," 1939

I haven't made a positive ID on the rocks in the above shot, but I'm pretty sure that's Cactus Hill in the background ... which would make it Iverson. If any readers recognize the rocks, please let me know. UPDATE: Never mind, I got this one — that's Water Wiggle directly behind Mr. Starrett, which puts Charlie somewhere between the North Cluster and Garden of the Gods — definitely on the Iverson Movie Ranch, and yes, that's Cactus Hill in the back. Click here to read more about Water Wiggle and its neighboring rocks in Iverson's North Cluster.

Another shot of Starrett from the same movie, this one is definitely Iverson — Elders Peak in the background nails it down, even if the foreground rocks have yet to be positively ID'd. It's another hard shot to be sure about. I've been tempted to say that's Crown Rock at the right, but I keep coming to my senses and realizing that it's probably some other rock that has a similar look. I'm still working on it, but again, if anyone can help, please speak up.

Pat Brady on bass, "Western Caravans," 1939

Pat Brady appears in an uncredited role as the bass player in the movie's cowboy band — which in real life was the Sons of the Pioneers.

Pat Brady 

Pat played bass in a ton of the old Charles Starrett B-Westerns from Columbia — typically uncredited — before building a name for himself as Roy Rogers' "comical sidekick," first in Roy's Republic B-Westerns and later on "The Roy Rogers Show."

 

William Herbert "Lum" York — Ride 'em, Drifting Cowboy!

Pat Brady was part of a long tradition of bass players providing the comic relief in old cowboy bands — a tradition that includes William Herbert "Lum" York of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys, among many illustrious others.

Much of "The Roy Rogers Show" was also taped on the Iverson Movie Ranch, including this shot from the episode "The Hijackers," originally aired Oct. 24, 1954. On the TV show, Pat had his own "comical sidekick" — his willful Jeep, Nellybelle. That's Pat walking behind the Jeep, Roy's German shepherd Bullet in the back of the Jeep, and Nellybelle with — as usual — her hood up. In the background is Flat Rock, which is still in place on the Lower Iverson.

Nellybelle — or a close approximation — even made it onto the cover of the Pat Brady Coloring Book in 1956. To my eye, the depiction of Nellybelle looks a little closer to real life than the drawing of Pat. Note that the setting appears to be a version of Monument Valley, on the Utah-Arizona border — which was generally too far from the studios' L.A. headquarters (in other words, too expensive) for the budget-conscious producers of the B-Westerns and early TV shows that showcased the talents of Pat, Roy, Starrett and the rest. That's one big reason Iverson got so much work: It was close, and it had great rocks. What more do you need?

Roy, Dale, Pat ... and Nellybelle

Click here to see additional shots of Pat Brady and Nellybelle in an earlier blog post about a flooded Iverson Village.

"Riders of the Badlands" (1941): Old pro cinematographer Benjamin Kline showcases the Upper Iverson

"Riders of the Badlands," a 1941 Columbia B-Western starring Charles Starrett and Russell Hayden, contains some fine cinematic images of the Iverson Movie Ranch. The movie was shot by Benjamin Kline, who was a regular at Iverson in the B-movie era — both as a cinematographer and as a director. Kline was DP on this one, with Howard Bretherton directing. Here are a few sample shots, all filmed on the Upper Iverson.

Nothing flashy here — just a nicely composed shot of a stagecoach at speed, filmed looking west. The riders have broken off part of the team and are making a getaway. In the background, the flat area on the other side of the trees is the neighboring Brandeis Ranch, which was also a filming location for a few years in the 1930s and 1940s. Visible in the foreground and beyond the stage are a number of the chase roads and insert roads that ran parallel to each other to enable the camera car to track the movement of the horses, wagons and stagecoaches being filmed.

Another stagecoach shot, this one shows a couple of the Upper Iverson's native oak trees along with another corner of Brandeis Ranch in the background. Parallel chase roads can again be seen, along with the line of trees separating Brandeis and Iverson, directly in the center of the shot. The line of white dots visible against the line of trees is made up of the white tips of dark fenceposts supporting a nearly invisible fence between the two properties.

A portion of the line of trees separating Iverson Ranch and Brandeis Ranch included the double row of trees seen above, in the top left corner of the shot. This is a relatively rare view of that double line of trees, revealing a dirt road running between the tree rows. This little stretch of road ran north and south, culminating in a cluster of rocks, visible at the top left. Early in my Iverson research I began calling this formation Rocks Across the Way, as the rocks are usually seen in the distance, across the expanse of the Upper Iverson. These rocks have also been referred to as the Festival Rocks by some film historians, but in my own research the name Rocks Across the Way has stuck. By my designation, the cluster of rocks in the top left corner is Rocks Across the Way-West, and the clump seen at top right is Rocks Across the Way-East. Most of these rocks remain intact today, but now they're surrounded by a gated community of large estates.

Here's a shot that combines an impressive view of about 14 of those fencepost tops — the white dots at the top of the shot, along the left half — along with a peek up the road between the double line of trees, now near the top right corner. These aren't spectacular shots at first glance, but the Iverson features depicted in these scenes generally weren't filmed in a way that made it possible to discern any detail, and these unusual angles are quite revealing. Location researchers live for this stuff.

The great Iverson Movie Ranch cinematographers: Fayte Browne

born June 1896, Oregon

died July 1952, Los Angeles (age 56)

Fayte Browne filmography on IMDb

Fayte Browne had a sadly brief career, working full time as a DP for only four years, from 1949-1952. He filmed at least one bona fide Iverson masterpiece in the Charles Starrett B-Western South of Death Valley (1949), part of a solid body of work rich in Iverson material. Trail of the Rustlers (1950) and Smoky Canyon (1952), both Durango Kid features with Starrett in the lead role, are other examples of his best work at Iverson.

Fayte Browne's Iverson masterpiece, the 1949 Charles Starrett feature 

South of Death Valley; at left is the Upper Iverson rock formation known as Grumpy.

He spent his entire career with Columbia, initially shooting a variety of projects but eventually specializing in Charles Starrett’s Durango Kid B-Westerns. From the time he shot his first Durango Kid movie — Challenge of the Range, released in 1949, on which Browne served as camera operator under DP Rex Wimpy — he virtually made a career out of the Durango Kid. He shot 24 of the remaining 30 Durango Kid movies that were filmed — his first two as camera operator and the rest as DP. Most, if not all, of these productions filmed at Iverson and featured extensive action sequences among the rocks.

He did a considerable amount of work as camera operator early in his career, some of it uncredited, working in essence as an assistant to more established — although perhaps less inspired — DPs. Browne was still doing camera operator work in 1948 and 1949, even after he had begun his career as a DP — including around the time he shot his Iverson masterpiece. After South of Death Valley he appears to have finally established himself as a DP, and he no longer was relegated to working as an assistant.

I suspect he wallowed in relative obscurity, knowing he had something more to bring to the process than was generally acknowledged. I envision him living a life of frustration and disillusionment, but who knows.

He apparently worked up until the time of his death, shooting a number of movies in 1952 before dying at the age of 56 in July of that year.

The great Iverson cinematographers: M.A. Anderson

born 1893, Chicago

died 1958, L.A.

Milford Anderson filmography on IMDb

The career of Milford Anderson, also known as M.A. Anderson, was brief, essentially spanning about nine years. He kept busy while he was at it, and wound up listed as cinematographer on 102 movies — but almost none of those were typical Iverson fare. And so the record of his work at Iverson is limited to a few brilliant productions shot late in his career.

An unusual shot of Diplodocus on the Upper Iverson, filmed by 

Milford Anderson for the 1947 Eddie Dean movie West to Glory.

He got started in 1928, just in time to shoot some silents, and then worked fairly steadily through 1936. He was essentially done by the end of that year, and would miss the heyday of the B-Western — other than one shining moment that still lay ahead of him.

He took a year off in 1937, leading us to think he may have had health problems. He did a few movies in 1938, then disappeared from the radar for the next eight years. Maybe he just found something better to do. 

Whatever the case, Anderson made a brilliant if short-lived comeback after World War II, shooting five movies from 1946 to 1949. It was during this last stretch that he shot all of his known Iverson footage, notably the rock masterpiece Border Feud, a 1947 Lash LaRue feature for PRC. He also filmed one Eddie Dean oater for PRC, West to Glory (1947), and one Durango Kid installment for Columbia, Whirlwind Raiders (1948). All three of those projects had him filming at Iverson.

He died in 1958 in L.A., at 64.