Where did Fuzzy Knight place the dynamite in "Boss of Bullion City" ... and how much damage did he do?

Fuzzy Knight, left, Johnny Mack Brown and Maria Montez in "Boss of Bullion City" (1940)

Veteran B-Western sidekick Fuzzy Knight has a scene in the Universal picture "Boss of Bullion City" where he places some dynamite in a rock, and in the process he appears to use an ax to chip away at the rock. I wanted to see whether I could find the exact spot, and whether any actual damage was done to the rock.

"Boss of Bullion City" — Fuzzy Knight at work on the South Rim

Here's a shot of Fuzzy at work on the rock. Finding the spot was easy, as it's in a widely filmed part of the Upper Iverson and the instantly recognizable Wrench Rock appears at the left of the shot. The area where Fuzzy is working is part of the T-Cliff, also known simply as the Cliff, one of the largest rock features on the South Rim.

In this shot Fuzzy is swinging the ax right into the hole as he tries to make the hole large enough to fit the dynamite. Some of the screen shots I was able to get off my DVD version of the movie are a bit ... well, fuzzy. But the shot pinpoints where the ax came in contact with the rock.

Fuzzy checks his work, and we get a look at the hole in the rock.

Even in a wider shot, the hole is plainly visible. One thing that makes this spot relatively easy to locate is a missing piece of rock surface right near the dynamite hole. This section where the surface has fallen off can be seen in other productions and can be easily found at the site.

This version of the shot points out two key elements in finding the dynamite hole: the hole itself, and the nearby area where the surface material has fallen off the rock. I have pondered the question of whether the missing hunk of surface material has anything to do with the production of this sequence for "Boss of Bullion City."

A closeup shows Fuzzy placing the dynamite in the hole he has apparently created in the rock. The question of whether the antics of Fuzzy and the rest of the "Boss of Bullion City" crew may have helped pry loose the nearby surface material is probably unanswerable — but that doesn't prevent us from contemplating it.

Is Fuzzy contemplating the damage to the rock?

Production on the movie would have taken place in 1939, which was still early in the use of the Upper Iverson as a filming location. I have yet to run across any earlier movie shots of this area, which could help determine whether the damage to the rock was fresh at the time "Bullion City" was in production. In the absence of such evidence, I'm willing to assume the slab fell off as part of the natural erosion process.

It may be worth pointing out that I'm not investigating any damage from the dynamite itself, as any explosions would have been handled by special effects. The possible damage I'm tracking involves the creation of the hole in the rock where the dynamite was placed and any collateral damage to nearby rock surfaces.

"Teenage Caveman" (1958): Robert Vaughn, the dynamite hole and the missing slab

Here's the same spot as it appears almost two decades later in Roger Corman's cult film "Teenage Caveman." That's future "Man From U.N.C.L.E." Robert Vaughn in the title role of the Teenage Caveman. I may be stating the obvious, but Vaughn was no teenager at the time — he was about 25 when the movie was made.

The pertinent features seen in "Boss of Bullion City" are easy to spot again here, but to avoid ambiguity, here's a labeled version of the photo.

This is what the rock looks like today, with Fuzzy's handiwork still easy to spot. The site retains both its presumed natural scars — notably the missing slab of surface material — and its movie scars, such as the dynamite hole.

The dynamite hole and missing surface hunk are marked again here. One thing you may have already noticed is that a bigger, better hole for setting up dynamite appears to already be in place at the base of the rock — seemingly a more logical place to do meaningful dynamite work.

The obvious question comes to mind: Why would the filmmakers want to bash a hole into the rock in the first place — especially in such a silly spot, and especially when a better hole was already available directly below that spot. Of course, we're beating our heads against a rock wall if we're looking for logic in a B-Western.

Field operative Cliff Roberts snapped this closeup of Fuzzy's dynamite hole on a recent visit to the site. My faith in human nature tells me to assume the hole occurred naturally, rather than being created by Fuzzy or a crew member swinging an ax into the rock. But it does have the appearance of something that was created intentionally, and I'm probably giving the film crew too much credit.

The Iverson Movie Ranch Western street, one building at a time ... Part VII: The Sheriff's Office

"The Hills of Utah" (1951): The Sheriff's Office

This small, square structure on the east side of the Iverson Movie Ranch Western street, seen here in the Gene Autry B-Western "The Hills of Utah," was all about law enforcement, typically appearing in movies and on TV as a Sheriff's Office or County Jail.

"Night Raiders" (1952)

Whip Wilson holds court outside the Bitter Springs County Jail in the Monogram Western "Night Raiders." Once again playing a law enforcement role is the Iverson Movie Ranch's Sheriff's Office.

This shot of Fuzzy Knight outside the building in "Night Raiders" gives the impression that it's evening, but the shadow of the west-facing building hints that it would have been filmed in the morning.

"The Caravan Trail" (1946) — Lash LaRue, left, and Eddie Dean

Lash LaRue and Eddie Dean collaborate in the PRC B-Western "The Caravan Trail" while the Sheriff's Office, in the background, makes one of its earliest color appearances.

"Oklahoma Justice" (1952)

The sign over the door reads "Sheriff's Office" in the Johnny Mack Brown B-Western "Oklahoma Justice," from Monogram. The movie was filmed by master B-movie cinematographer Ernest Miller, who was behind the camera on some of the greatest Iverson Movie Ranch showcases.

"El Paso" (Paramount, 1949)

The Sheriff's Office did assume other roles from time to time, including appearing as "Joe's Cafe" in the Western "El Paso." That's the Sheriff's Office on the left, lined up next to the two distinctive two-story facades that marked the east side of the street. Another name for the Iverson Western street is El Paso Street.

"The Range Rider" (1953)

The Sheriff's Office made a number of appearances in the TV show "The Range Rider." This one comes from the episode "The Black Terror."

"The Cisco Kid" TV series

Another non-law enforcement role came up in the TV show "The Cisco Kid," where the Sheriff's Office plays a mining supply store. The Sheriff's Office can be seen on the left in this behind-the-scenes shot.

"The Lone Ranger" TV series (1954)

The Sheriff's Office wasn't the most interesting building on the Iverson Movie Ranch Western street, but one fun feature it had was this gate area out back that it shared with the Barn. The gate opened into a large corral occupying much of the space to the east of the town set.

This shot comes from an episode of the TV show "The Lone Ranger" called "The Frightened Woman." The episode premiered Sept. 30, 1954, early in season four of the show's five-season run.

"Ghost Town Renegades" (1947)

The gate behind the Sheriff's Office was typically left open, and the gateway at times provided a "window onto the world," looking south and southeast. This shot from the Lash LaRue movie "Ghost Town Renegades" reveals part of the Eucalyptus Grove along with Cooper Rock.

Cooper Rock is named after Gary Cooper, the man responsible for building the town in 1944, for his 1945 Western "Along Came Jones." This shot also highlights the Eucalyptus Grove, or simply "The Grove."

That's Lash LaRue on the right, along with his frequent sidekick Al "Fuzzy" St. John, eyeing the situation in front of Cooper Rock in PRC's "Ghost Town Renegades." You may or may not have noticed that this blog post has now mentioned both of the two main "Fuzzys" of B-Westerns.

"Silver Canyon" (1951)

Here's a shot taken from a similar angle, but from farther back, with the General Store entering the picture on the left. The shot comes from the Gene Autry movie "Silver Canyon."

Cooper Rock can again be seen in the background, with the camera's telephoto effect making it appear larger and closer than it actually is.

"Night Raiders" (1952)

Either that gate was mighty tall, or Whip Wilson was mighty short — a conclusion that's hard to miss based on this shot of Wilson at the gate in "Night Raiders."

"Calamity Jane and the Texan" (1950)

Dominating the frame in this photo from "Calamity Jane and the Texan" is the General Store, on the left. But the shot provides additional context for the gate, which can be seen in the right half of the frame.

The gate was set back from the street as part of a dirt plaza area shared by the General Store, the Barn and the Sheriff's Office. I'm surprised this plaza area didn't get used more than it did, as it would have been a great place to stage a shootout.

"The Iverson Movie Ranch Western street, one building at a time" is a series of posts on the movie and TV history of each of the major structures making up Iverson's town set, which stood from 1944 to 1957 and appeared in hundreds of productions.



To see all of the posts in the series on the Iverson Western street, please click on the following links:

Part I: Casa Grande
Part II: The Livery Stable
Part III: The Saloon
Part IV: The Hotel
Part V: The General Store 
Part VI: The Barn
Part VII: The Sheriff's Office
Part VIII: The North and South Adobes
Part IX: The Lost Dutchman
Part X: The original north end of town
Part XI: The North and South Towers
Part XII: The Harness Maker
Part XIII: Rainbow Mine Co. 
Part XIV: The Church/Schoolhouse  
Part XV: The Corral Rocks Shack
Part XVI: The decline and fall of the Western street