Is this a zoo, what century are we? What goes on inside this poorly fenced Adventureland? Airplanes from World War 2 lie in a field of sagebrush, as if they were shot down. Not by gunfire, but by low TV ratings. MGM has something for everyone. These backlots draw inspiration for writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, and the genius- Rod Serling;
In a cement flood control channel…we appear.
A trampled, rusted old barb wire fence allows easy entry, inviting any and all who dare inside its boundaries. It looks like a herd of animals hastily exited here before us. An abandoned barn sits vacant as if life stopped abruptly, not long ago. The unmistakable scent horses and hay stacks makes us think some Mustangs might still be hiding out.
Next to the barn on what could be some French farmland, bombers lay in ruins. B-17’s sit empty, void of crew, in deafening silence. Jimmy and I wonder most quietly, but each thinking the same things. Silence is how you first react to amazing things. That awe while processing the images, the abandoned and lonely landscape. Objects can be identified by unique smells. This is the opening credits for our own… Twilight Zone
We boys in my neighborhood play Army all the time…and here we stand where it looks like a great air battle liberated this farmland. It’s as if we’re dreaming. We climb and crawl into one of the fuselage doors that parachutists begin or end their missions jumping out of. Machine gun turrets, or little glass bubbles line the plane and are just the right size for kids our age.
This was a flying fortress…as we look out a window and down the wing, the propellers gently turn in the wind. It’s as if they are trying to fire up these old engines. The smooth skinned young flight crew has arrived. School teaches us history, but this place is history-we have the class room to ourselves!
12 O’Clock High has a property tag on one of these fuselages. This indicates how long ago this has been lying here. That series was made by 20th Century Fox, but MGM Lot 3 is a Disneyland with weapons. Swastikas painted on the cockpit might as well represent T.V shows these bombers finished their distinguished service on this MGM Backlot.
Across from this airplane graveyard sits MGM Lot 3, a 67-acre wonderland with exterior sets ranging from multiple western streets; a lake that goes on and on that’s wrapped by a jungle nestled below rolling hills packed with oil wells. The sounds and smells of the petroleum industry seem part of this lot as Standard Oil Company has a large oil field just beyond the studio fences.
You see these oil derricks often in the background of loosely framed exterior shots in many TV reruns. A huge painted sky stands out as the most distinguishing set of all. It is massive, the painted backdrop alters itself like a chameleon, depending on the sun light. New Orleans and France also represent themselves here. There are winding tree lined dirt roads that appear to go on forever. Hyder Simpson and his old hunting dog RIP have been seen wondering down this eternity lane.
Continue if you dare do so…
One side of the fence is magical, the other side is reality… and far too serious. But you must dare yourself to visit the magic. It is forbidden. Trespassing is what the studio calls it.
Well what fun is life without risk? I was born ready, nothing ventured, nothing gained. This land calls out to Jimmy and I…
Holes in the fence happen…naturally and artificially. Climbing is easy when you’re a kid, so getting in is easy. The rush begins immediately. Generally, you hide…every chance you can. Slow and steady. No clocks here. These lots have movie production prepping or shooting, all the time. Night and day. But weekends are generally just a guard and a big empty lot. Plus, kids get weekends off from school also, so it’s a perfect match.
MGM does not use dogs. Lot 3 should be patrolled by dogs. It is almost twice the size of all the other backlots. But thankfully they do not. They leave it up to old men who take turns driving a jeep that packs a salt rock gun inside it…. Yes, you can be shot here!
First, they have to find you in this labyrinth of hiding places. That’s why we pick and choose the paths most isolated and off the beaten trail. There are false fronts, everywhere, it’s a world of trickery and illusions.
Hiding behind the sets…and in many cases, in the sets, is the key to successfully avoiding unwanted meetings in security. This sounds intimidating because it is. Most people shy away, honoring the No Trespassing requests posted along the fences. Especially as you hear accounts from older kid trespassers who have been…shot at!
Lack of challenges puts security in auto-pilot mode. We even see them nap, often… I told you they should go with dogs!
I recognize equipment that was on Lot 2…now at Lot 3. The backlot world is interchangeable with many moving parts, literally. The Rat Patrol moves their squad back and forth down Overland, the public street that connects these lots, depending on what village or train station they are attacking. Combat did the same, as did Garrison’s Gorillas, starring Ron Harper.
Combat was canceled in 1967, but the crew jumped on to The Rat Patrol, then Garrison’s Gorillas. More quality war TV.
The Rat Patrol, starring Christopher George, followed that ill-fated but really cool TV show and had a bit more success. , A.D Flowers expertly does special effects for all these shows. Constantly blowing things up…safely!
I have a Combat board game we play on Copperfield Street, in an upstairs that still has large holes from a German Panzer Tank and a Rat Patrol lunch box that has been inside the equipment that is painted on its tin exterior. I live for this stuff. I play with games inspired by shows exactly where they were filmed. Reruns take us backwards to war torn ravaged sets. Shell casings from a machine gun nest lay on the floor, beneath our tennis shoes as we …roll the dice for our next battle.
I have eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of my Rat Patrol lunch box…inside the real German half-track from the Rat Patrol series. And I drank my Kool-Aid out of my Rat Patrol thermos. Gomer Pyle is my Desilu lunch pale. I buy my lunch pails because they- come to life!
I have yet to be chased here, at Lot 3…and don’t want to. I have run into trespassers who warned us this happens here…getting shot at, that is. It hurts badly, the salt rock-I’m told.We have no doubts about that. On the film Soylent Green, a chase occurred with Bronco Bob Coleman in the notorious Red Jeep. The loudest gun shots I ever heard as I ran off with handfuls of Soylent Green. We put our lives on the line for dyed green loafs of stale bread.
“Being hit” by blast of rock requires soaking in a tub to recover.We try to avoid that, at all costs. Your choices are… keep a lot of distance, cut and run like a jack rabbit and crisscross…so they can’t aim straight. Doorways are your friends, but don’t get in a building where you’re trapped. Words to live by.
Jimmy, my best pal, and I, are like a modern Lewis and Clark. We deal with the same harsh but rustic surroundings. They dealt with Indians. We deal with guards. Both will scalp ya. But just like them, we successfully map this wild frontier. We can make fake storms here, I see snow in storage bungalows. Dirty, dusty decades old snowflakes are overflowing from box after box. MGM Lot 2 also has a snow room.
In fact, this is where you would film Lewis and Clark. Anything you can imagine can happen here. It’s where the right side of your brain can enjoy itself. Creative time and space for your mind to expand. Not the dribble you get brainwashed with at school. We sneak in comic books from these war T.V series. We are our own cartoon book.
Lot 3 could be a train museum. A real steam engine pulls passengers half way around the Lot. The Harvey Girls, starring Judy Garland, capture this in the song “On the Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe.” This defining number sang by Judy herself, capture for eternity what backlots are about. History goes backwards here, but it’s captured on film for us to enjoy today. I get goosebumps when I see scenes and productions that used my old sets.
“Willoughby, next stop is Willoughby,” shouts the conductor. That is a Twilight Zone episode, starring James Daly. In this episode, shot at our little train station at Lot 3, James succumbs to the corporate grind and dreams of of this backlot town, called Willoughby. He wants only to live the simple life that exists inside these fences. This train stops at Willoughby!
That episode describes how wonderful my life is becoming. I live in Willoughby!
Inside these studio fences is an unmistakable sense of history. You feel it, see it, it exists. Pure Magic!
I am catching on, that inside these fences is a time machine of history—created where I am standing. One side of the fence is the harsh reality of school, responsibility, and expectations to succeed. But inside these fences, time merges…not a care in the world.
Time you learn to appreciate stuff not taught in school: a special time that you hope never disappears.
This Church Steeple has been center stage of some of the best battles ever captured on film.
Just inside the main gate, this village greets you…
A calm body of water fit for Gondolas.
This Ghost Town is famous for Magic Dust. Sprinkle some on yourself and the Hangman’s Knot will come untied. “That’s what she is…she’s Magic!”
The jail cell is the Art Department Picture picture of North Side of Ghost Town.
Rance McGrew showed up to work on this street famous for saloons -in shiny Cadillac Convertible
Call my Agent Please
Lee Marvin arrives by horse here at Fort Canby in a lot 3 Dust Storm in – The Grave
Fort Scott also appeared as Dachau in Deaths-Head Revisited
Cloudy Street…
The Cotton Blossom was sold at the MGM Auction in 1970 and ended up in a theme park in Missouri.
The Cotton Blossom found a new home closer to the Mississippi River. It survived much longer than the MGM studios backlot did.
This picture from MGM’s Art Department is amazing. Baldwin Hills Oil Fields, Standard Oil owned this area back then, and those wonderful old derricks stand out. Oil production preceded film production starting in 1924. Oil is still being pumped out of the ground here. Filming stopped as clocks hit …1970. Oil and film combine on this backlot production filmed next to the fake rock formation set. This castle was removed before I had a chance to actually see it in person. The Fake Rocks was the first set we would hide in, this was the section we snuck in at. A four foot, chain link, barb wire topped fence was your physical barrier. We could see inside clearly and could be seen just as clear. Those rocks have platforms to stand on or kneel.
Palm trees were mostly fabricated that you see in the background. Made of molding and composite materials. They get moved around where needed. There was a storage area where they laid horizontally. They were moved by mobile cranes. Notice in this exact angle above, none exist…They are props in an adult toy chest.
So, put on your tennis shoes, and grab your fishing pole, we got a huge lake inside…are you coming?
Written and lived by Donnie Norden…
Donnie here...Checkout my other WordPress site, The Glamour Tram. Real life stories from behind the wheel of of this 16 tire contraption. If you rode a tram in the 80’s, I may have been your driver. Please Subscribe on WordPress…All Aboard–The Glamour Tram…
Phantom of the Backlots 