The Studios

The Studios- Lots and Backlots ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Monogram Studios- Backlot

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The western street looking north.

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The western street looking south.

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Republic Studios- Backlot

Republic Studios- Backlot ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

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Fighting Kentuckian filmed here

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Dakota Street- Duke's Dakota and many more were Filmed here.
Some scenes from Sands Of Iwo Jima also shot here

Warner's Brothers- Backlot
Warner Brothers, Western Street

Warner Brothers- Studio Backlot ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

In late May 2003, the Laramie Street western sets were bulldozed away,
being replaced by a new suburban street.
The following pictures are from the personal collection of Stephen Lodge.

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Looking north or northeast.
This is what was at one time called Laramie Street;
that was when Warner's had another huge Western Street set.
Together that made for blocks and blocks of streets.
This was taken around 1980, when, I think, they were doing the new Maverick series
with James Garner.
I remember an article in Life magazine in the late '50's that showed the WB
back lot Western streets from the air and there were
at least six companies shooting on one block,
around the corner, on the next block, etc.

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Looking east or southeast. Note the side street.
This side street could be used as an entirely different town,
when shot from different angles.

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Taken from the side street looking west or southwest toward the main street.
I remember this angle from old Mavericks, Sugarfoots, Cheyennes, etc,
in the '50's because it looked like a back lot set to me even then.

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Looking south or southwest. Note the familiar mountain in the background.
I think it's Mt. Lee--the other side is the Hollywood sign.
It can also be seen in many pictures shot on the Universal back lot
which parallels Warner Bros.

RKO/Culver City Studios- Part One
California

Scenes from The Searchers, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon,
The Flying Leathernecks, Tall In The Saddle amonst others were filmed here

RKO/CULVER CITY STUDIOS ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

40 Acres
The Lost Studio Backlot of Movie & Television Fame
(1926-1976)

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Gone With The Wind" Atlanta set built for that film.

Known as the Forty Acres even though the actual acreage is little more than 28 acres
(the backlot and the Culver City Studio sites cover approximately 40 acres),
this primary backlot for the RKO Studio
(another one existed in the San Fernando Valley community of Encino)
came into existence around 1926/27.

The history of the Culver City Studio and backlot actually goes back
to September 1918 when Thomas Ince purchased property from Henry Culver.
The Ince Studios were in business from 1919 to 1924.
In 1925, Cecil B. DeMille acquired Ince's holdings.
To film his "King of Kings", DeMille leased 28 1/2 acres of land close to the studio.
This property became known as the Forty Acres backlot.
On this property, DeMille built the biblical city of Jerusalem.

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In 1928, RKO was created and took over the ownership of the Culver City property.
For the movie "The Bird of Paradise", they built a jungle and native village.
This jungle became the nucleus of the future Tarzan jungle.
The native village and the Jerusalem gates can be see in "King Kong".
In 1935, David O. Selznick leased the property from RKO
for his Selznick International Pictures. On the backlot, he constructed
the town of Atlanta, a railroad station,
and the Tara mansion for "Gone With The Wind".
Portions of the Jerusalem sets, including the gates,
were dressed to appear as Atlanta and they were burned to the ground.
Portions of the Atlanta sets were later used in "The Andy Griffith Show" television show
as the town of Mayberry. T
o see where the Mayberry portion of the set was in comparison
to the entire Atlanta set, watch the film "The Magnificent Ambersons".

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The Selznick picture, "The Garden of Allah", in 1936
redressed the remaining Jerusalem sets into an Arab village.
This set was utilized in the RKO Tarzan flicks.

Across Ballona Creek from the main backlot, the lake and jungle for the Tarzan features
was created. It was here that Sol Lesser recreated the MGM treehouse,
but only one half. The right portion was a matte painting.

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Selznick at the train depot gazing at Tara

In 1948, Howard Hughes purchased the property.
In 1955, the General Tire and Rubber Company became the new owners,
while in 1957, Desilu gained ownership of the lot.
Paramount purchased the Desilu holdings in 1967 and sold off
the Culver City property in 1968 to Perfect Film and Chemical.
In 1969, OSF Industries Limited became the new owners; in 1977,
Laird Industries; in 1986, Grant Tinker and Gannett Company; and finally in 1991,
Sony Corporation.

The stalag in "Hogan Heroes" was also located on the backlot.
In 1976, the Forty Acres backlot was bulldozed and turned into an industrial park. On the opposite side of Ballona Creek, a fire station occupies the area of the jungle.
The Studio is located at 9336 Washington Blvd in Culver City.
The nearby backlot location is bounded by Ince Street, Lucerne Avenue,
Higuera Street, and Jefferson Blvd.

WESTERN STREET
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RESIDENTIAL STREET
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RKO/Culver City Studios- Part Two

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In the view above from 1958, one can see a number of "40 Acres" landmarks,
including the "Mayberry" courthouse (right edge, center) and the mansion
from Scarlett O'Hara's plantation "Tara," from the film Go

GARDEN OF ALLAH

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.................................................. ................... THE JUNGLE

RKO/Culver City Studios- Part Three

MISCELLANEOUS VIEWS
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UA/Samuel Goldwyn Studio

Scenes from Stagecoach, Red River,
The High And The Mighty, The Horse Soldiers were shot here

And also movies like Porgy And Bess, Some Like It Hot,
Robin Hood, The Roy Rogers Show, The Hawaiians etc.etc.

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The History of the United Artists Lot (also known as the Samuel Goldwyn Studio)
by J. A. Aberdeen

When United Artists was formed in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin Mary Pickford Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith, the founders never intended the company to be like a regular Hollywood studio. It started solely as a distribution company. Its mission was to release films made by independent producers, therefore it had no studio lot. However, many of the independent producers owned their own property, like the Charlie Chaplin Studio on Sunset Boulevard.

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Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks
at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard
and Formose Avenue in 1922.

The closest thing to a studio lot was the 18-acre property owned by
Pickford and Fairbanks on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard
and Formosa Avenue in Hollywood.
It was originally owned by Jesse Durham Hampton, and then became known as the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio.
As United Artists began to lure independent producers away from the major studios,
many of the producers like Samuel Goldwyn .
Joseph Schenc rented offices and stages on the property.
In the early 1920s, the lot was renamed the United Artists Studio,
though it was operated as a separate entity from United Artists the distribution company.
Goldwyn and Schecnk financed the expansion of the studio, creating an awkward ownership structure. Pickford and Fairbanks controlled the deed to the land,
but Goldwyn and Scheck owned the actual facilities on the lot.
In 1935 when Scheck left United Artists, Goldwyn took over his share
. And when Fairbanks died in 1939, Pickford reclaimed his portion.
Thus Mary Pickford and Samuel Goldwyn remained joint owners of the land,
which caused bitter arguments over the years, as both were head-strong independents,
but neither had clear majority control.
When Goldwyn left United Artist under strained conditions in 1940,
he renamed the lot the Samuel Goldwyn Studio, over the protest of Mary Pickford,
who still owned half the property.
Goldwyn and Pickford bickered over the studio until their disagreement
created a deadlock that landed them in court, and put
the lot up for sale at auction in 1955. Goldwyn, assisted by James Mulvey, outbid Pickford, and became sole owner of the property.

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The lot provided a home for many independent production companies
over the years, and continued to be known as the Samuel Goldwyn Studio until 1980.
Among the famous movies filmed there were Wuthering Heights (1939),
Some Like It Hot (1959), and West Side Story (1959).
Television producers also called the studio home, including Sid & Marty Krofft.
In 1977, after when George Lucas had wrapped principle photography on
Star Wars at the Elstree Studio in England,
he re-shot some of the Cantina scenes at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio.

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In 1980 Warner Bros. purchased the site as an auxiliary to its Burbank headquarters,
and renamed it the Warner Hollywood Studio.
After Warner sold the property to a private film company in 1999,
it remained in operation with a new identity called The Lot.

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The UA-Samuel Goldwyn Studio, now known as The Lot (1998).


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