Bronson Canyon
Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many movies and TV shows, especially westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the present. Its craggy and remote-looking setting, but easily accessible location, has made it a prime choice for filmmakers, particularly of low-budget films, who want to place scenes in a lonely wilderness.
Location and history
Bronson Canyon is located in the southwest section of Griffith Park, thus is easily accessible from Hollywood.
In 1903, the Union Rock Company founded a quarry, originally named Brush Canyon, for excavation of crushed rock used in the construction of city streets. The quarry ceased operation in the late 1920s, leaving the caves behind. The caves became known as the Bronson Caves after a nearby street, giving the area its more popular name of Bronson Canyon (the same street indirectly provided the stage name for actor Charles Bronson, who chose the name of the Bronson Gate at Hollywood's Paramount Studios, which in turn derived its name from Bronson Street).
Scenes of the main cave entrance are normally filmed in a manner that shows the entrance at an angle because the cave is actually a very short tunnel through the hill, with the rear opening easily visible in a direct shot. The most well-known appearance of the tunnel entrance is likely as the entrance to the Batcave in the Batman television series of the 1960s.
Partial list of motion pictures filmed in Bronson Canyon
This list includes films with one or more scenes filmed in Bronson Canyon, including many serials filmed on location.
- Lightning Bryce (1919)
- Riders of the Purple Sage (1925)
- The Lightning Warrior (1931)
- Hurricane Express (1932)
- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
- White Zombie (1932)
- Sagebrush Trail (1933)
- The Three Musketeers (1933)
- The Vampire Bat (1933)
- Mystery Mountain (1934)
- The Phantom Empire (1935)
- Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936)
- Zorro Rides Again (1937)
- Dick Tracy Returns (1938)
- Hawk of the Wilderness (1938)
- The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939)
- The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941)
- Call of the Canyon (1942)
- Leather Burners (1943)
- Pirates of Monterey (1947)
- Silver River (1948)
- Atom Man vs. Superman (1949)
- Jungle Jim: Mark of the Gorilla (1950)
- Flame of Araby (1951)
- Unknown World (1951)
- Carson City (1952)
- Robot Monster (1953)
- Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953)
- Killers from Space (1954)
- The Day the World Ended (1955)
- Crashout (1955)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- The Lone Ranger (1956)
- It Conquered the World (1956)
- The Searchers (1956)[1]
- Men in War (1957)
- Night of the Blood Beast (1957)
- The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)
- The Cyclops (1957)
- Earth vs. the Spider (1958)
- Monster from Green Hell (1958)
- The Return of Dracula (1958)
- Teenage Caveman (1958)
- The Jayhawkers! (1959)
- Invisible Invaders (1959)
- Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)
- The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960)
- Eegah (1962)
- Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962)
- The Magic Sword (1962)
- Ride the High Country (1962)
- The Gun Hawk (1963)
- They Saved Hitler's Brain (Madmen of Mandoras) (1963)
- The Human Duplicators (1965)
- Batman: The Movie (1966)
- Mondo Bizarro (1966)
- Flaming Frontier (1968)
- Head (1968)
- The Mighty Gorga (1969)
- Equinox (1970)
- Octaman (1971)
- Lost Horizon (1973)
- Mrs. Sundance (1974)
- Flesh Gordon (1974)
- The Human Tornado (1976)
- The Choirboys (1977)
- Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (1979)
- The Return (1980)
- The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)
- The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
- The Evil That Men Do (1984)
- Thrashin' (1986)
- The Wizard of Speed and Time (1989)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- The Roller Blade Seven (1991)
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Guns of El Chupacabra (1997)
- George of the Jungle (film) (1997)
- The End of Violence (1997)
- The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001)
- Cabin Fever (2002)
- Fangs (2002)
- The Scorpion King (2002)
- Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003)
- Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)
- Vampire Blvd. (2004)
- Diabolical Tales (2007)
- D-War (2007)
- Princess of Mars (2009)[2]
- Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2010)
- Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus (2010)
TV series filmed in Bronson Canyon
- The A-Team
- The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
- The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
- Alias Smith and Jones
- Bat Masterson
- Batman
- Beauty and the Geek
- Bonanza
- Combat!
- The Dukes of Hazzard ("Hazzard Connection")
- Falcon Crest
- Gunsmoke
- Have Gun, Will Travel
- Little House on the Prairie
- The Lone Ranger
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
- Mission: Impossible (1960s)
- The Monkees
- The Outer Limits (1960s)
- Perry Mason (1960s)
- Rawhide
- Salute Your Shorts (The Cursed Skull)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Star Trek: Enterprise
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Star Trek: The Original Series
- Star Trek: Voyager
- Tombstone Territory
- Twin Peaks
- V
- The Virginian
- Wonder Woman
Partial list of novels set in Bronson Canyon
Video Games featuring Bronson Canyon
- In the 2005 video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, the custom character created by the player meets Andrew Reynolds to convince him to being featured in a video in order to save the fictional skate ranch, Green Pipes Point. The character is taken together with Reynolds to Bronson Canyon where the player has to do a 50000-point combo into the cave which takes the custom character launching off the Hollywood Sign, going off with pyrotechnics. After this stunt, Reynolds agrees to do the video.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park. |
- Vasquez Rocks, another Los Angeles County landmark used as a location in numerous films and television episodes
References
- ↑ Rothel, David (1991). Ambush of Ghosts: A Guide to Great Western Film Locations. Madison, WI, USA: Empire Publishing. pp. 39, 150–5. ISBN 978-0-944019-10-8.
- ↑ "Princess of Mars". Internet Movie Database. IMDb. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
External links
- Bronson Canyon in the Movies
- List of 101 movies that used Bronson Canyon
- Bronson Canyon - Representing the divine on earth
Coordinates: 34°07′22″N 118°18′56″W / 34.12287°N 118.31550°W
Hollywood Hills | Griffith Park - | Griffith Park |
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Hollywood Reservoir | Bronson Canyon | Griffith Park | |||||
Hollywood Hills | Hollywood Hills | Griffith Park |