Adventures of the Three Stooges on the Iverson Movie Ranch, Part III: "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules"

The third and final entry in the series "Adventures of the Three Stooges on the Iverson Movie Ranch" focuses on the 1962 movie "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules," in which Iverson is used to depict ancient Greece. The movie is probably the most highly regarded of the three movies in this series, although admittedly the bar isn't very high when it comes to the later Stooges efforts.

This Dell "Movie Classic" comic book was issued in connection with the movie in 1961, with the movie itself following on Feb. 15, 1962. Hamming it up with the Stooges for the cover shot is Samson Burke, who plays Hercules in the movie. "Hercules" did reasonably well at the box office, making the Stooges some money and helping to make up for their being underpaid throughout most of their careers.

Here's an example of what the comic book looks like on the inside.

"The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" (1962)

The Stooges lineup for "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" includes, as always, Larry and Moe, with the rotating third spot filled this time around by Joe DeRita (or "Curly Joe"). With them in the shot above are Vicki Trickett and Quinn K. Redeker. Behind Quinn, in the top left corner, is the time machine that has just delivered the group to Greece in the time of Hercules, circa 800 B.C. — although they're really on the Upper Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., in 1961.

Moe and Larry on the South Rim, in "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules"

This shot includes a "special effect" of the time machine materializing over ancient Greece (supposedly) — and also features a beautiful view of a rock I call Water Turtle. The rock appeared in many movies and TV shows, and is still in place on the former Upper Iverson. Today it's part of a private residential property, and as far as I know it has never been documented by film historians in its contemporary setting.

I have a hard time explaining the name "Water Turtle," but here's a picture of a real one. Maybe the name works for you, maybe not.

"The Golden Stallion" (1949)

Here's an earlier movie appearance by Water Turtle — looking less "turtle-like" this time, but revealing some of the background hills and neighboring rocks. This shot from Republic's 1949 Roy Rogers movie "The Golden Stallion" includes an unusually large herd of horses on the Upper Iverson — unusual because filmmakers had to pay by the head for bringing livestock onto the site, so they usually kept it to a minimum.

A substantial battle sequence was filmed at Iverson for "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules."

This view of the battle includes a few Iverson rocks. The battle was filmed in the South Rim area of what was then the Upper Iverson.

Another shot from the battle introduces the Greek hero Hercules — even though that's his Roman name. His Greek name was Heracles, but for some reason he has gone down in history as a Greek hero known mainly by a Roman name. Anyway, the above two shots are filmed in the same spot and include most of the same rocks.

That's Eagle Beak Rock in the top-left corner, as the production continues to shoot in the South Rim area on the Upper Iverson.

"Oklahoma Territory" (1960): Gloria Talbott sees something; Eagle Beak Rock in the background

Here's another look at Eagle Beak Rock from almost the identical angle, from the United Artists B-Western "Oklahoma Territory." The point of this shot is to show Eagle Beak Rock with more of its surroundings — but also seen here are some of the same rocks that appear in the "Hercules" shot above this one.

"Rocky Mountain Rangers" (1940)

This shot of Eagle Beak Rock, taken from a familiar chase angle, is more representative of what the rock usually looks like when it appears in movies and TV shows. That's Eagle Beak Rock at the far left. The shot is from Republic's Three Mesquiteers movie "Rocky Mountain Rangers" — which is in my personal pantheon of the Greatest Iverson Productions. This is such a big deal that I capitalized all three of those words: Greatest Iverson Productions.

"Calamity Jane and the Texan" (1950) — Eagle Beak Rock

Another familiar view of Eagle Beak Rock, in color this time, as seen in the Columbia Western "Calamity Jane and the Texan."

"The Golden Stallion" (1949)

Here's what Eagle Beak Rock looks like up close.

Eagle Beak Rock is seen here in its contemporary setting, as part of a residential landscape.

Prominent Rock, also known as Medicine Rock, appears directly behind the Greek warrior's head, at top right, in another battle shot from "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules."

This is Prominent Rock from the same angle — from farther away, in color and in the top-left corner this time — as seen in the 1949 movie "The Golden Stallion." The shot gives an idea of the kind of space the filmmakers had available to stage that battle sequence in "Hercules."

Another shot from "The Golden Stallion" illustrates how Prominent Rock could be featured artistically, effectively becoming a part of the action. At least that's what I see. Your mileage may vary.

From a different angle, here's a photo of Prominent Rock as it looks nowadays. This shot is from 2009. The photo also shows Round Rock, the much smaller rock near the bottom left corner.

This screen shot shows the setting for the first encounter between the Stooges and the ancient Greeks, with more South Rim rocks in the background.

Later in the movie, the action shifts to the Lower Iverson. In the above shot the Stooges are seen entering the Eucalyptus Grove area, with Flat Rock visible in the background near the Stooges. In the distance, near the center of the shot, you can see a portion of Stoney Point, off in the haze. Stoney Point is one of Chatsworth's best-known landmarks, a popular rock-climbing area next to Topanga Boulevard just below the 118 Freeway.

Here we get a closer view of Flat Rock, above Curly Joe's arm. Something else of interest here is the triple-stack rock directly above Larry's head.

 

For what it's worth, here's a detail taken from the above screen shot, zoomed in on the triple stack (and part of Larry's head). A larger rock is behind the triple stack, making it hard to see the smaller rock at the top of the stack.

"Escort West" (filmed in 1958, released in 1959)

The triple stack can be seen again at the far left in this screen shot from the Victor Mature movie "Escort West." It's worth pointing out that the producers chose to film a water feature for this shot — whether it was a puddle left over from a rainstorm, or they brought in their own water to create the effect. Water features were not common at Iverson, where filmmakers typically had to haul in their own water. Even so, two of the Three Stooges movies in this series — "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" and "Have Rocket, Will Travel" — both included scenes featuring Iverson Pond. (See below for more about that.)

"Have Gun, Will Travel" (1959)

A quick glimpse of a slightly blurry triple stack pops up again here, in an episode of the TV Western "Have Gun, Will Travel." It's the same stack of rocks seen in the previous shots. This episode from the show's second season, "Death of a Gunfighter," first aired March 14, 1959.

That triple-stacked rock is still around today. Here's a shot of it in recent times, along with Flat Rock to the left.

A closer look at the triple-stacked rock as it appears today reveals that it is a manmade creation. The rocks are real, but they've been joined by cement, which you can see between the top two rocks.

"The Roy Rogers Show" (1953)

I haven't determined the date when the triple stack was created, but as the above shot from "The Roy Rogers Show" proves, it was around at least as early as 1953. The shot comes from the episode "Gun Trouble," which first aired Nov. 22, 1953. It's likely that this three-rock stack goes back even further, as a lot of that type of cement work took place at Iverson around 1950-1951. Another example of cement-assisted rock stacking is Gold Raiders Rock, named after the 1951 Three Stooges movie "Gold Raiders." Click here for more about Gold Raiders Rock.

"The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" (1962)

As they did a few years earlier in "Have Rocket, Will Travel," the Stooges paid another visit to Iverson Pond for "Hercules." Iverson Pond was a feature of Sheep Flats that appeared after a good rain. Incidentally, this is the only time I can think of that I've seen actual sheep in a production shot at Sheep Flats.

At Iverson Pond we meet a whacked-out shepherd played by comedic actor Emil Sitka, who worked extensively with the Three Stooges over the years. Toward the right of the shot, rising out of the pond, is Pond Rock. Directly above Pond Rock, peeking out through the tree, is a partial glimpse of Center Rock, which is discussed in detail here. I also talked about both Iverson Pond and Pond Rock in the entry on the Stooges' "Have Rocket, Will Travel."

The Stooges and their much taller traveling companion — Schuyler, played by Quinn Redeker — listen to the shepherd's story, with Sheep Flats in the background. The rocks in the background are mostly still in place, with the bulk of them located in the swimming pool area of the mobile home park that now occupies Sheep Flats.

Something of interest in this shot, though it's a little hard to make out, is the small shack in the background, which I call the Corral Rocks Shack. You may want to click on the photo to see a larger version.

"Bonanza" (1960) — The Corral Rocks Shack

This shot comes from the "Bonanza" episode "Denver McKee," which premiered Oct. 15, 1960. The shot features Dan Blocker as Hoss, with a dead guy on the ground near him and the Corral Rocks Shack behind him. The shack's name is derived from its location next to a group of rocks I identify in my research as the Corral Rocks.

"Marshal of Heldorado" (1950): The Corral Rocks Shack, with some of the Corral Rocks

A shot from the Lippert B-Western "Marshal of Heldorado" provides a good look at the shack's neighboring rocks, the Corral Rocks, many of which have their own names. The large, pitted rock in the top right corner is one I identify as Big B, which is also one half of a pair of large rocks widely known as the Cave Rocks.

The Corral Rocks Shack's origins go back at least to 1945, when it first began appearing in movies. It was most likely built during the construction of Iverson Village, which stood from 1945 to about 1957. But the tiny shack was surprisingly resilient, outlasting the town itself by several years.

"The Virginian" (1963)

The above shot is probably the final appearance of the Corral Rocks Shack in any production. It's from an episode of the TV series "The Virginian" called "Strangers at Sundown," which aired April 6, 1963. The episode would have been shot during the winter of 1962-63.

Corral Rocks Shack, hiding in background

The land seen in this screen shot was sold later in 1963 to be turned into a mobile home park, becoming the first part of the Iverson Ranch to be sold off. This setting and the area seen in shots above of the sheep herd are all part of the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village now.

 "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" (1962)

The action in "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" builds up to a climactic chariot battle filmed mostly on the Upper Iverson, with one scene shot at Iverson Pond, on the Lower Iverson. The frame above takes place in what is now the Cul de Sac area on the former Upper Iverson's South Rim.

This sequence lends itself more to video — here's the clip:

Columbia title card, 1936

The Stooges are best known for the 190 Columbia short features they cranked out from 1934-1959, which can still be seen in regular rotation on TV. In the early title card above, note the spelling of "Curley," which would later evolve into the more widely recognized "Curly," as seen below.

Moe, Larry and Curly were the quintessential Stooges lineup. Curly Howard — real name Jerome Lester Horwitz — was the younger brother of Moe Howard (Moses Harry Horwitz) and Shemp Howard (Samuel Horwitz), and in many ways, the star of the show. You know: "Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk," "Soitenly!," "Oh, a wiseguy," etc.

Curly

Curly died in 1952 after years of poor health. He suffered the first of several strokes around 1944 and was replaced in the Stooges lineup by Shemp in 1946. Moe and Larry were a part of every configuration of the Stooges, with only the third spot rotating. Larry Fine was unrelated to the Howards.

Columbia title card, 1952

Shemp Howard's return to the fold in 1946 reunited the original Stooges lineup. Shemp had already done his first tour of duty back in the early 1930s, when they were known as "Ted Healy and His Stooges." Healy was reportedly an exploitive boss who underpaid the hard-working Stooges. But after they left Healy they wound up in another difficult situation, with tough-as-nails Columbia studio boss Harry Cohn taking over where Healy left off and taking advantage of the Stooges for years. During Shemp's second go-round with the Stooges, he was a part of the 1951 movie "Gold Raiders," one of the Stooges' feature films shot at Iverson. Shemp died in 1955 at age 60.

Columbia title card, 1958

Joe Besser signed on for a brief run as the third Stooge from 1957-1959 — a period that is not highly regarded by the Stooges faithful. Along with Larry Fine, Besser was one of the few Stooges who weren't related to brothers Moe, Shemp and Curly. Also noteworthy, sort of, about Besser is that he became part of a tradition of name confusion involving the third Stooge, with a Joe, a Curly and a Curly Joe all in the rotation at various times — along with a Shemp.

Book: "The Three Stooges Hollywood Filming Locations"

I'm a long way from finished examining the extensive body of work contained in the Three Stooges shorts, but I'm reluctantly arriving at the conclusion that they did not film any of the shorts at Iverson. The Stooges cognoscenti have been examining shooting locations for the Columbia shorts for years, and at least one fairly comprehensive book has been written on the subject. That's the cover above.

The previous entries in our Three Stooges series can be found by clicking here for Part I, on "Have Rocket, Will Travel," or here for Part II, on "Gold Raiders."

Adventures of the Three Stooges on the Iverson Movie Ranch, Part II: "Gold Raiders"

Welcome to the second post in the series "Adventures of the Three Stooges on the Iverson Movie Ranch." The Stooges' 1951 Western comedy feature "Gold Raiders" is one of my favorite Iverson movies. By that I mean it's a favorite from a location standpoint, showcasing the Iverson Movie Ranch in spectacular fashion. I'm not commenting on its quality as a movie, as my main focus when I've watched it has been on studying the backgrounds.

Please click here to see the previous post in this Three Stooges series, focused on the 1959 movie "Have Rocket, Will Travel." Part III, on "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules," can be found by clicking here.

"Gold Raiders" has interesting backgrounds right from the title sequence, with the movie's title appearing against the backdrop of the South Rim of the Upper Iverson. You can see part of Turtle Rock in the top-left corner. However, the shot is flipped horizontally. That is, in the real world the background looks like this:

Even though the title appears backward here, this is the proper orientation of the rocks and other features in the background, including Turtle Rock, now seen at top right. Whatever reasons the producers had for flipping the shot, I believe the top of the rock feature was intentionally cut off because otherwise the rock would be too recognizable, making it hard to get away with showing it horizontally flipped.

Turtle Rock has survived, and this is what it looks like today. You may be able to match up some of the rocks in the above two shots, especially the distinctive oblong rock perched at an angle and the small round rock below it, which appear at the very top of the frame in the "Gold Raiders" title shot. (The oblong rock is only partially visible.) These days Turtle Rock is part of the Indian Falls Estates gated community just above the 118 Freeway at the top of Topanga. But in its heyday the feature appeared in countless movies and TV shows, especially B-Westerns, where it was repeatedly popping up in the backgrounds of chase sequences. More about Turtle Rock can be found by clicking here.

We're still in the opening credits, and things are getting even more interesting. Here the rock formation known as the Three Stooges can be seen at top left. The Three Stooges rock formation got its name independently of any involvement with the comedy team the Three Stooges, and the appearance of the rocks in this movie is pure coincidence — but I find it mildly satisfying that the Three Stooges rocks appear in a Three Stooges movie.

Detail shot of the Three Stooges from the above screen shot

From this angle the feature appears to consist of two main rocks, so why not the Two Stooges? Because that wouldn't be much of a cultural reference, but more to the point, the formation is in fact made up of three large rocks. The third one is hard to make out here because it's directly in front of (and smaller than) the wider rock that makes up the right half of the pair.

"Wild Horse Ambush" (Republic, 1952)

Here we get a better look at why it's THREE Stooges. This shot from the B-Western "Wild Horse Ambush" shows the Three Stooges rock formation from a different angle. That's Platypus filling up most of the left half of the frame, Fish Head to its right and the smaller, unnamed "Third Stooge" at far right.

Platypus and Fish Head have been featured in a number of previous posts, which can be found by clicking on the links in this sentence. I suppose the "Third Stooge" can be thought of as the Shemp/Curly/Joe Besser/Curly Joe DeRita slot in the lineup.

About a minute into "Gold Raiders" we see basically the same shot we saw in the title sequence, minus the opening credits and with cowboy star George O'Brien riding in. O'Brien shares the lead in the movie with the Three Stooges comedy team — and shares this shot with the Three Stooges rock formation, again at top left.

To give you an idea of where things stand today, this image comes from an Internet mapping site's bird's-eye view, and it shows what is apparently the Three Stooges rock formation, still intact, but now integrated into the backyard of an estate within the gated community that makes up most of the former Upper Iverson. Access is all but impossible these days, and this may be the best look the public can get at this group of once famous movie rocks. This view is from the north, while most of the movie views are from the south. In this view, Platypus is on the right with just a tip showing, Fish Head is the most visible rock, at left-center, and the "unnamed Stooge" is at far left.

A Google aerial view offers another look at the layout the Three Stooges rock formation now calls home. Seems like a nice spot, with a tennis court, swimming pool and palm trees. This view has the "normal" orientation, with Platypus on the left, Fish Head in the middle and the unnamed Stooge toward the right.

Detail shot of the Midway Rocks

Another point of interest in the opening credits shot above is the horizontal rock just above the word "Screen." It's the main rock in a small cluster I call the Midway Rocks, located roughly midway between the North and South Rims of the Upper Iverson.

"Shadows on the Sage" (1942)

The 1942 oatburner "Shadows on the Sage," in which Tom Tyler, Bob Steele and Jimmie Dodd play the Three Mesquiteers, offers another view of the Midway Rocks, at the right in the above screen shot, in the distance, with the large horizontal rock still dominating the formation. Also, here again the Three Stooges — the rocks — can be seen, just above the guy in the cowboy hat, partially obscured by foliage. Like the Three Stooges rock formation, whatever's left of the Midway Rocks is now found in the backyard of a residential estate.

"Manhunt of Mystery Island" (1945)

Directly above the Midway Rocks in the "Shadows on the Sage" shot is a small (dark) foothill with a pointed top. The above shot from the 1945 Republic serial "Manhunt of Mystery Island" shows this dark peak again, near top center, along with its "twin," to its right. The twin looks larger from this angle, but in reality these two distinctive peaks are similar in size and appearance. For that reason they've earned a mildly lewd nickname that I won't repeat here — but feel free to use your imagination. This shot is taken from a different angle from the others, but again shows the Three Stooges rock formation at top left — again looking more like Two Stooges. An interesting bonus here is that the shot provides an unusual view of the concrete bridge on the South Rim, visible in the foreground. The bridge had a tendency to blend into the background, and this is possibly the only view I've seen that reveals the unusual V-shape of the concrete wall forming the left (west) side of the bridge.

The bridge remains in place today, although it is highly deteriorated and difficult to find. As one might infer from the above photo of it in recent times, it has fallen into disuse and is buried under a fierce patch of wild bamboo. It's extremely hard to get a good look at these days. The above shot shows a portion of the eastern wall of the bridge.

Back to "Gold Raiders," here's a beautiful shot of Center Rock from the movie, as we move from the Upper Iverson to the Lower Iverson and Sheep Flats. Center Rock is still in place today, but as I've mentioned a few times on this blog, it's stuck in some kind of maintenance area in the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village, located on Topanga Canyon Boulevard at the Simi Valley Freeway (the 118).

This recent shot of Center Rock shows what some of its environment looks like today. Click here to see a post that goes into more detail about the fate of Center Rock, with additional movie shots of it.

This shot from "Gold Raiders" shows a rock that's still in place too at the mobile home park, although its glory days are clearly behind it. These days the rock can be found next to a garbage area by the swimming pool. The rock tends to have a variety of names depending on who you ask, but the one I'm using these days is Phineas, after Phineas Gage. Otherwise, it could be referred to as "The Rock Next to the Garbage Area by the Swimming Pool in the Mobile Home Park." Whatever you call it, this monstrosity showed up in a ton of old movies. I have also heard it referred to as Wacky Clam (I blame myself for letting that one get through) and Eyes Rock.

Phineas Gage, including his doctor's depiction of his injury, from 1868 (at left)

The Three Stooges weren't the only comedy team to make movies at Iverson. The above shot comes from the 1942 Abbott and Costello feature "Ride 'em Cowboy," a contemporary Western musical from Universal. This screen shot offers another look at Phineas. Its "three eyes" are among its most distinguishing features.

I can't come up with a modern shot of Phineas from any of the movie angles, but here's the rock from a much different angle. It's impossible to match up with the movie shots above, so you'll have to take my word for it, but it's the same rock. Phineas pretty much fills up the center of the shot, and the garbage area I talked about, which is not seen here, is behind that tree on the left. If nothing else, this shot illustrates how the area surrounding Phineas has filled up with modern junk like brick walls, concrete steps, metal railings, picnic tables and lounge chairs.

For a moment the action shifts back from the Lower Iverson, and the site of what is now the mobile home park, to the Upper Iverson, now the site of a gated community of sprawling residential estates. In "Gold Raiders" the Three Stooges are running something called Three Aces Variety Emporium, and in this shot their wagon travels past a South Rim rock feature known as the Frankenstein Group.

Another shot of Frankenstein and his group, this one is found in the 1949 movie "Golden Stallion." The name Frankenstein comes from the rock's high "forehead."

Here's a look at Frankenstein as it appears today, from a trip to the Upper Iverson a few years ago. Click here to see an earlier entry about Frankenstein.

Iverson Village is featured prominently in "Gold Raiders." The above overview from the movie looks toward the north (by northeast), with the ridge all the way in the back of the shot formed by Oat Mountain. Immediately behind the town is Smooth Hill, with its rounded peak occupying much of the left half of the photo. To the right of Smooth Hill we can see the tip of Notch Hill, but the notch that gives it its name is not visible from this angle. Notch Hill is more commonly seen in shots of the Upper Iverson, but here it is viewed from the Lower Iverson. Is it just me, or is "Harry Temple Livery," seen in the sign at the right of the shot, a playful reference to Moe's haircut?

You may have already spotted a sign in town for the IOOF lodge — visible in the overview and again in the above shot of the lodge itself. That sign appeared in multiple movies shot at Iverson, but it seems especially appropriate to a Three Stooges movie, as the full name of the lodge is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Incidentally, some of the buildings in town are just fronts, and in the above shot you can tell by looking through the windows at the top, which expose a portion of the open back of the building.

The reference to a Western town prominently featuring an IOOF lodge is historically accurate, as the Odd Fellows Lodge was the country's largest fraternal organization during the period known as the "Golden Age of Fraternalism," roughly 1860-1910 — a span that includes much of the settling of the American West. It was typical of towns in the West during that period to have a branch of the IOOF lodge right in the center of town. Another movie that features the same IOOF sign in Iverson Village is "The Longhorn," a Bill Elliott B-Western from Monogram, released the same year as "Gold Raiders."

Gold Raiders Rock

Here's an interesting rock that's still in place on the old Upper Iverson. The rock — the one the shooters are hiding behind, at the left of the screen shot — took on the name Gold Raiders Rock because of this appearance in "Gold Raiders." The rock is manmade, in a way, with the smaller boulder at the top having been cemented in place. In earlier productions the same rock can be found without the smaller rock on top, as seen below. "Gold Raiders," in 1951, was one of the first appearances of the rock with its new top in place.

This is what the same rock looked like just one year earlier, in the 1950 movie "Calamity Jane and the Texan" — before the rock had the smaller rock placed on top of it. Gold Raiders Rock — before it became Gold Raiders Rock — is the prominent rock near the bottom-right corner, partially blocking the view of one of the horses. None of these angles are going to match up perfectly, but you may notice that the low rocks all the way in the bottom-right corner are the same ones seen in the photo above this one, filling up the bottom third of the shot.

Another view of Gold Raiders Rock before it was "prosthetically enhanced," this one is also from a 1950 movie, "Frisco Tornado," a Republic B-Western starring Allan "Rocky" Lane. This view shows the eastern side of the rock.

Here's Gold Raiders Rock in modern times. You may be able to see the cement holding the top rock in place — especially if you click on the photo to enlarge it. A number of these cemented rock "toppers" began appearing at Iverson around the same time, circa 1950-1951. I'm always curious why a certain rock was cemented on top of another rock at a certain point in time, but in general, we don't get clear-cut answers to those kinds of questions. I do know that around that same time the movie ranch was transitioning from being mainly focused on films to hosting mainly TV productions, and it may be that the Iverson family decided to "freshen up" some of the landmarks to help give the place a new look and encourage new business. After all, many of these rocks had already appeared in hundreds of productions, and the risk of overexposure was a legitimate concern.

In this view of Gold Raiders Rock in recent times, the low rocks seen in a couple of the shots above can again be seen, filling up the foreground. For more about Gold Raiders Rock, click here to see the rock in a "Bonanza" episode, and here to see it in the TV show "Adventures of Superman."

Here's the link again to Part I of this series of blog entries on the Three Stooges, focused on their 1959 movie "Have Rocket, Will Travel." And here's a link to Part III, on "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules."