Never say Never!
We start with a Mission Briefing, inside this KVWV truck located at the Paramount Studios lumber storage and mill.
The Big Black Vehicle arrives…
The briefing involves election fraud in Mexico. In this swank 1966 apartment, the record player is disabled as we browse the folders on I.M.F personnel needed for infiltration.
“Cinnamon” is perfect for this assignment and “every” mission period.
We have our small yet tactical force. “Rollin Hand” is a code name we used. It describes how we rolled our “Doobies” on the backlots…
This Mission starts in Mexico, look behind the curtains, this is Mayberry…
Behind this ‘False Front” is the Mayberry Post Office. A Police Station, for this episode. Directly across the street, where camera is, is Andy Griffith’s Courthouse. The backlot uses several disguises in this Golden Age classic. Several Mayberry and Gone With the Wind facades will be altered. T.A.G.S was still shooting this street almost daily, so these set decorations and modifications required “striking.” This backlot was as busy as anywhere in Hollywood. T.V was never as good as this era.
Our I.M.F Force has arrived…
We need a free and honest election…Liberation !
Window set dressing…often-this kind of stuff ends up in my forts. Winston Churchill is a perfect trespasser motivational influence! We would sneak up to these widow displays from the back entrances and remove set decorations. Right after a scene was filmed and before set decorations could retrieve their items.
On the set of Roger Corman’s “CAPONE,” an entire tobacco shop was relocated upstairs in my fort. This included cigars and brier pipes relocated to the Mayberry R.F.D House set. This happened after a gangster was shot from a passing car band was blasted through the picture window. That story in full detail can be found in Book One titled…”Bootleggers, Tommy Guns and L.S.D”…Hole in the Fence–Book One.
This election…is rigged!
A day of reckoning -I.M.F in Volkswagon- Election fixer in dark glasses.
Downtown, Mayberry was built to be Atlanta in 1938. When television was born, this Main Street was disguised as any Metropolis in the world. Paint, cars, signs, and costumes can transform your mind. Production wants you to experience different places, all within the comforts of the studio.
Long before Mexico, this street was used as Atlanta in …Gone With the Wind
Lets unpack this picture...The West End of Atlanta/Mayberry. The Desilu Watertower overlooks the backlot. He pictured above the Atlanta train depot, still standing in 1966. False fronts were installed to block the view of this iconic depot used in GWTW.
There were two theaters in Mayberry. On the corner on the left side, you can see a marquis. An alleyway, not shown, separates the theater from Main Street.
This is that corner, minus the train depot. My picture taken in 1972. The single one story row of buildings that blocked this view of the depot is no longer standing. I took this photo after they had been removed. This is where the pavement begins on this dirt backlot. It was dirt for Gone With the Wind. No backlot in history used so little cement.
Same corner in…Gone With the Wind
Mayberry became the next identifier on this main street. The Untouchables branded it as Chicago, Metropolis in Superman, Gotham City in Batman and Berlin in Hogan’s Heroes.
Election interference…”I was pushed off the road!“
This crash was where the theater alongside the Mayberry Hotel stood. Donkeys are first responders.Concerned voters assist with election ballots inside ambulance.
Meanwhile, in the nearby jungle“We need some gas- Cinnamon”
“I need a smoke Rollin!“ I have seen this gas station before…
Wally’s “Gasolina” Station
This famous turn into Goober’s Gas Station
Goober’s filling station. This dirt road parallels the La Ballona Creek. Gomer Pyle films across the way…
If only I had some music to unwind-says Cinnamon…Mission Accomplished!
To the left of this jeep is the filling station. Music for a successful “Mission Accomplished.”
Final thoughts;
I thought I would share my version of Mission Impossible dating back to 1966. These screen grabs, combined with my photos and personal experiences paint at picture of a wonderful era of television. As God would lay out my future, I worked on the first feature of the same name with Tom Cruise. Paramount rented the Universal -“SKY” backdrop and water basin for some stunts and inserts.
Paramount owned Desilu when this T.V series was in production. Hogan’s Heroes was also a regular Paramount location on the 40 Acre backlot. These streets were like revolving doors, different shows, every day-non stop. Crime had no chance with all the capped Super Heroes and detectives roaming these streets.
I Spy, The Green Hornet, and Batman followed Superman and the Untouchables. Sheriff Taylor also patrolled this street with Barney through much of this 60’s decade. It was originally designed as Atlanta in GWTW.
I rode my bike here in the late 60’s. I came just to look through the fence. I was in search of all these- “Heroes.”
The marvel of television allowed me to watch episodes then go relive scenes where they were filmed. Basically, “I lived my T.V set.” Even my parents were amazed by this passion burning inside me. We would sit and watch television together and I would have my own stories…like a real life Opie Taylor. I put a fort upstairs in the Andy Griffith house.
My folks saw the Hogan’s Heroes tree stump effect become my own personnel hide out. That big bulky item moved in and out of my bedroom to various locations around my house. Everyone wanted to go -“under the lid.” My house had signs with bullet holes nailed to it. I even had a working Barbers Pole that would spin and light up when plugged in.
I was quite the sight. I could be seen towing tree stumps, various props of all sizes, spears, bows and arrows, etc. I had weapons ranging from rifles to ray guns. I brought B.B guns to play inside Combat sets. I fought real Marines from Camp Pendleton. I gave tours of Camp Henderson to these same soldiers. Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors- was a recruiter and recruitment soared.
Most kids carried school books, but I carried props. I even had bushels of King Kong horse fir, so much I attached it to my dog. That was quite the monster looking creature. My dogs trespassed at times with me. I wasn’t like all the other kids, needless to say.
It’s fun being the “Black Sheep.” I never wanted these times to stop and they never did. My life evolved into living this lifestyle everyday. 35- Universal working years later, I feel a need keep and hand down my history. I did not realize then I was living in the Golden Age. I thought things would never disappear. But disappear they did.
Thankfully, I took notes, no matter what time of night I came home. I gobbled up discarded “call sheets” and have taken more studio pictures than anyone alive. MGM blessed me with hundreds of Art Department pictures. I became a legend long before I worked at these studios. Everyone knew me, or about me-at MGM. I had an endless supply of blank ammo shells, what kid has that?
Not bad for a trespassing kid who even snagged the studio “Trespassers List” from a guard shack. I knew 50 percent- of the captured folks!
I thank all of you. You like to return to that marvelous era I specialize in capturing. This era is called- The Phantom of the Backlots. I always knew I was experiencing “special things.” A salute-from me to you…
Written and lived by…Donnie Norden
But wait-There’s More…Glamour Tram is back up and running. Come take a tour with me. This site on WordPress reads like a book. You must scroll to the beginning for “cast of characters & training exercises.” Otherwise, your just lost on the tram route, which is really fun anyways…
Real life Tram Tours with Donnie Norden, you too may be on my celebrity list of “miscasts.“
More adventure stories now on sale at Amazon. Follow The Phantom in his escapades back in time…
As always…Boots on the ground stories–Written and Lived by…Donnie Norden
Phantom of the Backlots 