I know the guards, Al Black, pictured in guard shack and MGM Lot 3 entrance. Another grizzled veteran, Les Green. Al was the most difficult guard to escape from due to his athleticism, Les, well, he may just shoot you, MGM security often used “salt rock” in the backlots…Al Black has chased me more than any guard at MGM, he never caught me, he had is hands on me as I jumped off the fence once and I needed stitches to close the gash. He was grabbing my hand right when I jumped. This is a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
My Art Department picture dated Feb 9, 1949-10 A.M, to be exact …Right side of frame has the fence and on the other side is another Eucalyptus Road in a grove on the oil field side.
Every great adventure begins with...A Hole in the Fence. The Eastern MGM border connects to the Southern border here. The fence post “rusted “is original to MGM. The wall you see was also a chain link fence back in the Backlot days.
Just ask Todd Spiegelberg about lurking dangers…The MGM Curse is still in effect...This is the area we snuck in at, the weak link in the chain of fences. I couldn’t help but laugh at his injury, he is now in the club of –Blood Brothers. We have all had bad days, it’s how you earn stripes
Roads less traveled – many still exist. Chances are, you will find me here wondering around Eternity Road. Be careful if your dog picks up the scent of Brimstone.I am the closest thing to Hyder Simpson you will ever meet.
Yellow line indicates the area most used to trespass.In a jungle know for Tarzan...We often Appeared Notice Eucalyptus Road inside MGM, but it has a sister grove on the oil field side of the fence.
This is that Eucalyptus grove today. My dog hunts where Mr. Hyder Simpson and his dog RIP went “coon hunting” in The Twilight Zone.
Wildlife that passes by to this day include…Coyotes, foxes, raccoons, skunks, owls, Canadien Geese, ducks and Crawdaddy’s. I transported crawdad’s from MGM Lot 2, as the lake was being drained once and for all, I transferred the crawfish whose pond was turning to mud, to this MGM lake that partially still exists. Picture me on a ten speed bicycle, going back and forth down Overland with buckets of crawfish hanging on my handle bars. I was so despondent, on a mission of mercy…
A Full Moon- over MGM Lot 3
Many of these trees still exist, witness to all history, both in film and oil production. The drainage channel is here to prevent rain run off from inundating the former MGM Backlot and now it’s replacement …Raintree. This concrete catch basin was a safe refuge, like a trench in WW1. When your being pursued, this was you exit and and security unloads their weapons. Real Combat, happens here!
Original trees east border, wall replaced barb wire fence. The steel pole in the picture most right was for oil well tie downs. This was an oil field when MGM was shooting on their side of the fence. This area has had their oil wells removed that existed going back to 1924. Original trees still can be found all over this development. This lot was the first one I saw demolished, of course I was devastated.
In my MGM Art Still-notice the fence. A four footer with 3 strands of barbwire, Made to discretely blend into the landscape. WLA College lies beyond this area today. The Football Field-the team name in the 70’s, when Warren Moon, NFL Hall of Fammer was the QB, was “The Oilers.”
My first ever sneak in happened at this rock formation which of course is fake. All kinds of platforms to position actors on. Shells remained from Combat, here- and in all the French Villages in the series. That show was all things...GUNFIRE!
Eternity Lane-“Man will walk into hell with both eyes wide open…But even the devil can’t fool a Dog!” …No truer words
I live this everyday...Every dog I’ve ever had has watched this episode with me then-then we go relive it!
We Begin in an era of war, “Vietnam”- music “Woodstock” and the infamous MGM Studio Auction.
The landscape we traverse backwards through. MGM filled the 60’s with the best War TV of any studio ever by far. Combat, The Rat Patrol, Garrison’s Gorillas, and Jericho. Features include The Dirty Dozen, The Bridge at Remagen, and Kelly’s Heroes. Ice Station Zebra even filmed here on MGM Lot 3.
The gunfire these shows delivered were twice what you see on your TV screen. Reverse angles create more and more noise, machine guns, rifles and bombs. Part of growing up next to MGM, it was the hook that became overwhelming and fueled an addiction that has never stopped. I have all these series and watch stuff daily-60 years later.
What you may not realize is, half this landscape still exists. On the oilfield property and also WLA College. As flowers bloom, hummingbirds hum and butterflies flutter, I remember when gunfire was king. Upsetting and even terrifying nature’s paradise. The sounds of war are long gone, peace has been achieved.
The Eucalyptus Road was actually two roads, one existing the oil field side and the other on the MGM side of the fence. This is the jungle area of a backlot that covered 67 acres. Three of the four studio fences were framed by Eucalyptus trees. This backlot had more trees than any backlot with Universal a close second, depending on your math. Universal has the most Oak Trees.
Looking back now in a time when almost every old set in existence has been removed from our Hollywood backlots I respect something I never expected to say ” this development captured the spirit of this MGM Lot 3. A partial lake with “my generation of transported Lot 2 crawfish” and many original trees were preserved. I rescued the craw daddy’s from death when they drained the Tarzan Lake on Lot 2 and bucketed them cross town to this former MGM lake. Lot 2,Studio Estates, saved nothing, absolutely nothing.
Plaques of how things were remind all who read them of what once was. I feel like I’m at MGM Lot 3. It is embedded in my mind as if it’s still 1969.
Written and lived by…Donnie Norden
Phantom of the Backlots 
Great post. Isn’t much of the foliage of the backlot preserved in a condo complex called Raintree estates or something like it? I heard they still have a lake that was used in the Tarzan movies.
Love these posts. I stayed in an AirBnB in the Raintree complex about 10 years ago and took photos of the lake. There were plenty of photos inside a clubhouse near the pool, showing old MGM stars, and some plaques describing what was once there. But it would be great to see where that lake was on the backlot. It’s not as large as the one pictured above, and it’s hard to tell from aerial pictures of the lots I’ve seen. Is Raintree built on the old Lot 3 or Lot 2? Thanks Donnie.
Hi Sean- You stayed on MGM lot 3. That’s kinda how I would promote an Air Bb if I was running one there.
Wonderful layout- obviously I hated it as a young kid.
But seeing how time played out and how the rest of Hollywood was destroyed.
This is a hidden gem. The oil fields help capture much of the background.
My favorite place to escape.
Thank you my friend!