Author: Phantom of the Backlot

Pat sits across from me, obviously still shaken by his ordeal. His first words are… “Why did he go after me? There is one of me and ten of you!” “Never mind that,” I snap back. Then I asked, “Did you get a good look at him?”

PAT… in his Ted Evans Motorcycle hat and shirt

“Yeah,” he said, “he was hanging his bald head out the window, shouting ‘Stop! Or I’ll shoot!'” Okay… there is one guy we see often, with a bald head, I ponder. I have seen him on foot before… he is short and stocky. Jimmy was not with me this afternoon, but he needs to know immediately that the rules have changed. Shooting is acceptable!

Pat continues, “he aimed the gun and yelled… ‘Stop!’… and I jumped through an open window into the hunting lodge. Then he fired!”

“Yeah, he was burnin’ rubber all around the lodge… I could see it from the fence. He could have caught a handful if he realized these guys were scared stiff,” I retort.

I continue… “I bet those shots made you pick up your speed a little bit… I always told you you’re slow… good job Pat, you saved lives today.”…”man those shots were LOUD!”

We need to find out more about this Bald guy. As I tell Jim, this is a bit disconcerting. It has been going so well, this backlot trespassing thing. We almost simultaneously come up with a plan. We will ride our bikes to all the guard shacks on Lot 1, in the weeks ahead, casually visiting bored guards. We will put on our best young man charm and dig for information regarding this mean bald guy.

Time to do backlot homework… on guards and their tendencies. Finally, fun homework!

But there is more filming going on before that takes place and we will have to fly blind, for now. Nighttime, though much more scary, may be a safer alternative. Anyway, the next filming will be Friday night, a chase scene, involving Charlton Heston and Chuck Connors. After all, it’s on my call sheet!

Well, Pat is a trooper. He wants to return to the scene of the crime with me tonight, this last Friday before Halloween. I would understand if he was a bit gun-shy. But… If you fall off a bike, get right back on! So… If you get shot at while being chased, shoot back! Same idea. Pat has moxie, I like that leprechaun.

We can’t pick our guards. We play the hand we are dealt.

The lot looks fantastic at night, lit up enough to be seen from space by the Apollo astronauts. Pat and I get in at the opposite end of the lot, at the train station. It is still the safest way to start and is the closest set to my house. Once inside, just follow the lights.

From the look of the set, the camera is setting up in front of the public library. The very first scene of the night is being set up. Transportation has parked picture cars on the street, in front of it. Across the way, but out of view to us, is an alley way that history will show has had more shootouts than any alley in the world. This alley exits to a cemetery set that was moved here. It’s the same tombstones we hid behind when we first came through our Hole in the Fence. they have been moved here to New York street. We are in the same building that we watched the scoops do their job from, last week.

We are looking out windows and curtains, as Set Lighting’s arc lights penetrate our veil, eerily. We notice graffitti on the wall behind us, lit by a bluish lighting. It says, Merry Christmas from 20th Century Fox. St. Valentines Day Massacre  12/21/67. This gives me chills… a moment in time captured on a wall forever! Another show I need to see!

This warehouse set below was built inside a garage on Brownstone street for this climactic scene…

Chuck Connors is shooting it out, as I speak. The Rifleman is after Omega Man. Round after round of blank ammo, firing away. Blanks are just as loud and fire discharges from the barrel, just like the real deal. Makes me proud to know there is a mountain of blank cartridges inside a warehouse close by.  From this same window, you could have seen Pat get shot last Saturday.  I have seen this movie, like a trailer. Reality and show biz walk a fine line, in this gated paradise.

We can see Charlton better when in between- filming. His trailer is below us. As is catering. Turns out, there is a crew dinner at midnight. But, we also see MGM security mingling around. We go on the roof, just below the massive cat walks and soak all this in. Our vantage point now is similiar to the owls who watch from those same catwalks.

There are two owls that we see every evening and I find the spot where they sleep during the day. I wake them up one day, exploring above the alley set. There is a stack of critter bones under their relaxation areas. I wonder how many shows they have watched. Caterers and food attract rodents and then these guys swoop down for the kill. Being in the business I’m in... Trespassing… I will cross paths with these birds …often.

This set tonight has stars… not the million extras the day scenes had. Just the heavies showed up tonight. An intimate little chase and shootout. We have had more people involved in our shootout than this show has. I look over and relive our chase, in between the filming of their chase scenes. This is a really cool feeling. Like we are making our own history.

The view we had on the caterer from the top roof of the picture just above this one.

We case the catering area, as drivers’ lunch begins at 11:30 pm. Problem is… we are not old enough to drive and do not look like Teamsters. That plan probably won’t work… to eat lunch with grizzly show biz drivers and B.S. with them while we get our food… “Yep, I traded my 10 speed KenWorth for a 12-speed White Freightliner… I love driving the open roads… pass me the ketchup would ya brother?”

No, too much can go wrong here, we just do not look like truckers! They look gnarly, much tougher than guards. Tattoos, pony tails and red bandanas… I just started shaving a year ago, and I look like a catholic boy. Pat looks worse… he is so short, he would need a booster seat to drive a big rig. These are the things you think about when you become hungry and bored.

If something goes wrong with these guys… we could be getting chased out of here by a honeywagon, or a motor home, or the big mean water truck that wets down the street.

We decide to leave, as the clock strikes midnight… the latest I have ever trespassed. For now anyways..

Another show is being filmed at MGM, it is called Westworld. MGM is still producing quality movies as we move towards 1973

This show would have been filmed on Lot 3… but it was sadly torn down.

The backlot used for the western street scenes were filmed at The Burbank Studios backlot. This is the first MGM feature that needed to find a western street, due to the sale of Lot 3.

The decimation of MGM Lot 3 starts the official decline of movie backlots. Lot 2 does not have a western street, but Desilu has a mighty fine one… just ’cause it’s always fun to play hooky as a cowboy. I am eyeing a saloon on that street that would make swell fort.

Next up… Who shot Pat Rich?

All stories written and lived by Donnie Norden
Edited by DQ

Going to school five days a week is a grind. I ride my bike and leave early every morning. My journey to St. Augustine happens to lead me along the studio’s fence lines. First, I pass the backlot, and I peek through the many existing holes as temptation stares back at me. Eventually, I arrive at school, with an arm full of books and Pee Chee folders and a head full of MGM daydreams.

This is my normal routine, but on this morning, I am flabbergasted by the images appearing on the backlot side. It is as if a circus had arrived. Tents, with movie extras in rag tag looking clothing dominate the landscape. There is a calm order as people are dressed by wardrobe, touched up by make up artists, then fed breakfast by caterers. I can see all of this from a hole which has transformed itself into my personal TV set.

This hole is about 12 inches wide and 2 inches in lenghth. Strategically placed, it is the best hole to see things from on the entire fenced lot. It is located on Montana Ave., just south of Overland. New York street towers above this fence.

Trucks of every size and shape are squeezed into the perimeter of this massive set. All this is in the foreground of my hole. Orange dump trucks, some parked, some driving, are being positioned on the the iconic N.Y.  street, itself—the street most famous for MGM musicals. I have no idea what I am looking at quite yet, but I must head to school  or I will be tardy. All day, my body is in class, but my mind is on the backlot.

I tell my best friend, Pat, a leprechaun looking lad who is tough as nails. He is going to go with me when the school day ends, to figure out what is going on at lot 2. I have a couple of other pals who have been bugging me for a tour and I am inviting friends from both Culver and St. Augustine for a large site seeing tour this Saturday.  That is still days away.

Today, Pat and I will take the plunge into the backlot under feature film conditions.  That means people are everywhere you turn, on this set. As the clock on the school wall hits 3 pm, Pat and I are on our bikes heading to the circus. We stop and peek inside the same hole that captivated me this morning. Let me just say that it’s even better now.

CHAOS is being filmed. Garbage trucks that I saw this morning, are scooping people up on the streets. I told Pat this is going to be cool… but not this cool!

We climb in at the train station, after parking our bikes and dumping our books off at my house. I have never seen so much activity on the lot. We encounter set “dressing;” craftsmen are positioning props, such as tables, chairs, and porch lights, to give a different look to a regular old building. Obviously decorating the mansion for another show. They see us walk by, watching us, as we act like we belong. The Bronco passes by without seeing us… another plus.

We arrive at the perimeter of NY street after a long methodical, calculating  journey.  On the way, we identify the movie through a cardboard sign in a car windshield,  Its title is called Soylent Green.

We climb to the top of a five story building to observe below. The fence is a short distance away from this structure, which is handy in an emergency. There is a guard on set that we recognize. He seems to be guarding the large craft service tables, full of delicious looking goodies. We see the iconic MGM sign and water tower in the distance from our perch. The Lion is roaring today.

We cannot believe what we our watching. There is a huge building getting the brunt of the action and it obscures our view. This is the hub of activity as rioters are being scooped up.

As time passes, it is starting to get dark. The assistant director calls a wrap and immediately, like ants below, things are rapidly put away. That is our cue to leave also. We glide to my house, still captivated by what we just witnessed. No one in my neighborhood has a clue about what is going on just a couple blocks away.

Everyone is locked into their daily routine. Mine happens to include backlots. Anything can and does happen here.

Word spreads like wild fire. Two schools are impacted and many kids are becoming curious about this event. Extras are being used and many locals, or residents without jobs, are in this mob scene. 20 dollars and a box lunch are the offerings. I arrange a time to meet at my house, for a grand tour, this Saturday. Be there or be square!

There is still more filming before then, as I am reminded, on my way to school the following morning. Day two… more of the same, but by Friday, the entire set is empty of actors and extras. Just workers moving stuff around.

I figure it is over with, now, and it’s a set strike, so, when I give a tour tomorrow, we will be hunting souvenirs in this area.

A sunny morning is upon us and the magnitude of what we are about to do is apparent by all the bicycles parked in my driveway. Pat brings a couple guys I never met who go to Venice High.

Gerald, a kid on my block, also brings guys from Culver. Pat and I are Catholic boys and three schools are represented here. We start by playing with my Combat ammo magazines… we pour out the gunpowder, then light it. Enough said…

This fires everyone up and the mission is on. “That is a sample of what awaits,” I  proudly say. By the time we get to to the tracks, we have a dozen kids. I don’t know all their names so let’s call them The Dirty Dozen.

I lead them down the train tracks as I think to myself, this could backfire… too big of a crowd. But, I will get away for sure, if we have a security issue… These guys will be lost inside here.

This mission starts like a game of follow the leader. We have all day and plan to cover all we can. We are very adventurous, due to all of our experience in recent months, of doing this stuff. We visit all the same stuff we visited earlier… same sets, different kids.

Train depot first. Kids love trains. Snow room next. Kids love snow. Then, we run into German Village. We look at Combat bomb craters that still exist on this street. A moment of silence for the greatest show ever. Everyone sees the battlefield that my ammo was used in.

Very impressive, indeed. I am a rockstar at the moment, and The Dirty Dozen follows me like puppies.

We run across an old foot bridge that extends over the lake and into the jungle. There, we try to silently weave our way through the jungle. We are close to the Soylent Green set.

We approach as cautiously as a mob can. New York Street towers beyond this jungle and we are close. These guys want souvenirs, and so do I. I think the best place is the huge building that was a hub in the rioting scenes I saw earlier this week.

We run across a New York street. There are about 10 intersections around these parts to give the appearance that it goes on forever. The building we enter is big enough to hold an airplane.

Inside is Soylent Green and Soylent Red, and smashed windows and glass everywhere. It hasn’t been cleaned up and it is exactly how the shot was finalized. We walk into that moment of time. We all stuffed our pockets with this colored bread. Rolls, biscuits, and dyed bagels. We do not know what this show is about and I am like a detective. I am figuring that Soylent Green is food… that is what this set is about, hence the name.

At that moment, I see a call sheet on a table and that is a treasure. All the info I need to plan ahead. This is gold. I stuff it in my back pocket. Each pocket on my blue jeans is full. The Dirty Dozen has filled their pockets also. We are packing Soylent Green.

I fulfilled my obligation at this point. I delivered this group to a huge movie set and we are leaving with the coolest souvenirs, so that we can relive the whole event again, when this show comes out. Confidently, I walk out under the famous theater marquis that extends onto 5th avenue. This is the hub of New York street. You have seen it a million times.

This is the front of the theater street where this part begins…

I am still buzzed from our find, when I see, then hear… the Bronco speeding towards us… Oh darn! Decisions… decisions… everyone stares like a deer in the headlights.

Waiting on my move, I pivot and run back inside. A quick 180 degree had this group tripping all over themselves… literally, as everyone runs into each other. The Bronco is hauling ass. I reckon he’ll get out and run inside, lookin’ for us. But the guard stays behind the wheel and chases the one rogue kid that goes on his own. That would be Pat, my pal from St. Augustine.

He diverts the security away from The Dirty Dozen, and I use this moment to run quite a distance, to the fence. Fake palm trees are blocking the fence. They are laying flat, are tricky to navigate… if you’re scared. It appears this group is.

I sit on top of this section of old fence and survey my troops, when suddenly, there is a clowd of dust, a motor revving and a guard shouting, “STOP!” Low and behold …two gunshots!

Pat takes one for the team. Catholic boys are tough, mind you. Now a syndrome identified as rubber legs kicks in. None of these guys can climb, they are so scared. I climb back in to help a couple of guys get back out, I could have been home safe already.

Eveyone makes it, as they topple over to safety… like their life depended on it. We all run back to my place, minus one.

The bikes leave rapidly, in sucession, never to return. Their one memory of MGM. Enjoy your Soylent Green!… Any more volunteers?

I wait an hour, as the last bike operator arrives… Pat… safely. No blood, no holes, just a bit dirty.

I sit him down and pour him an ice cold Hawaiian Punch, then calmly ask…

“What just happend?”

This ravaged call sheet was in my back pocket during the chase.

All stories written and lived by Donnie Norden
Edited by DQ