Corriganville Movie Ranch - Forgotten Television & Film History / Exploring The Closed Theme Park
A visit to Corriganville Park in Simi Valley California to check out the tv and movie history that exists on site .
Toms Channel
http://www.youtube.com/tomwilsonusa
Transcript
0:02
today's adventure brings us to Semmy
0:02
Valley just a little north of Los
0:04
Angeles gonna head into the canyons into
0:07
the desert us reasons where there is
0:09
more cactus there is a cacti whatever
0:14
the plural is and history then you can
0:17
shake a stick at at the time of this
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photograph by entering this gate is
0:22
where some of the world's most famous
0:23
people once acted notice the rock
0:27
formation they're off in the distance
0:29
it is now a residential area and you
0:32
cannot enter the park from this section
0:35
but I thought what better way to start
0:36
this off by showing you where the entry
0:40
point once was the area to put your
0:42
vehicle now is just around the block
0:44
it's a public park corrigan Ville to be
0:48
more exact open to the late 30s by Ray
0:51
Crash Corrigan a place to film TV and
0:57
movies welcome everyone Adam is the whoo
1:00
here when it came to westerns this land
1:03
was a mecca for a few decades that genre
1:08
was so popular in fact it eventually
1:11
became a theme park where employees
1:14
dressed up as cowboys there were
1:16
gunfights bank robberies and the
1:19
assortment think early days Knott's
1:22
Berry Farm
1:23
Disneyland frontier land that sort of
1:26
crowd base showed up here my goal today
1:30
is to just wander around match up some
1:32
screenshots from those productions and
1:35
just show you what used to be here
1:38
before it went away I'm inviting you to
1:40
join me shall you over the years fire
1:44
has destroyed most of the structures but
1:46
luckily there are foundations and the
1:50
formation of rocks still in existence to
1:52
give us some clues quite a bit of
1:56
concrete left on the ground
1:59
you can certainly see why they chose
2:02
this location the backdrop and scenic
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views are incredible using this old
2:10
guide map to find my way around aunt I
2:12
give a general layout of the land of
2:14
birds I show how expansive this place
2:17
was standing at the moment right about
2:21
there in this clump of buildings called
2:23
silver town looking this direction over
2:25
that tree stop and the recreation
2:28
district has placed these little
2:30
information placards 1964 is when this
2:34
was taken
2:34
Pat Buttram Bill Willingham and the
2:39
ranch owner ray Corrigan shown here in
2:45
the little reenactment of a fistfight an
2:48
episode of half gun will travel showdown
2:51
took place in front of the saloon notice
2:53
the boulders at the top of the hill and
2:55
that tree to the left
3:03
the tree has fallen over the one that's
3:03
still standing was behind the building
3:06
cannot be seen in the show but those
3:08
boulders are still up top and the
3:12
concrete still remains there from the
3:15
saloon the Valley Oak can live to be
3:17
hundreds of years old
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this one documented in cinema has served
3:21
its time and fallen roots completely
3:24
exposed Boot Hill Cemetery created just
3:28
for entertainment purposes headstones
3:31
long removed if there really were bodies
3:35
here they would be pushing up daisies
3:37
wait are those daisies or are those
3:40
petunias by paying attention to the
3:42
landscape figured out that it was right
3:45
back here behind where the saloon was
3:48
once located reverse of that fallen tree
3:51
from up on this embankment you really
3:54
can tell that it was a whole town set
3:56
barber shop stores even a hotel
4:01
everything to make up the Old West
4:04
plenty of little details left out here
4:06
to let us know of its history and that
4:11
it existed some parts raised this for
4:18
example
4:20
and there's some different coloration
4:21
here on the floor hundreds if not
4:25
thousands of episodes from that era all
4:28
made right in this very spot amazing to
4:33
think about so many in fact that naming
4:35
them all off would be very tedious so
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instead of doing so I'm just gonna show
4:40
some of the ones that I find very
4:42
fascinating for example right over there
4:46
was a dancehall quite a bit grown over
4:49
since this was taken but the tree on the
4:52
very far left still stands plenty of
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foliage they're springing up from the
5:00
base kind of blocking the mountain range
5:03
in the background as well it's a train
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going by certainly adds to the ambience
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even though wood can be burned up very
5:15
easily in a fire some other parts are a
5:19
little more difficult and that's why we
5:22
still have these little sections and
5:24
partitions from the old barn and stables
5:28
this Cowboys rare indigo is about to get
5:30
in a little bit of a fistfight notice
5:33
those pillars in the background from the
5:34
barn some more information on site
5:44
however this technical angle is a little
5:44
bit further towards the base of the barn
5:48
on that end looking that direction
5:51
the cameraman would have been standing
5:53
over by the hotel / dance hall located
5:56
at the very end of this rock work
6:08
but the hill in the background one in
6:08
the same
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which means going off that info this
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would have been the bank right here out
6:24
the front door to the main street of
6:26
silver town some little mementos down
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here almost like petrified wood
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they call this the gorilla rock from
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this angle I can definitely see you see
6:55
the resemblance there to a gorilla I
6:56
certainly do and sometimes sometimes the
6:59
things like that like Eagle Rock have
7:03
you been over to Eagle route huh
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sometimes well the Sun is going down and
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you passed it a million times
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you think okay oh yeah yeah yeah yeah
7:12
that looks like a gorilla from certain
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angles it doesn't look like but from
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here definitely looks like yeah there
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were a lot actually we got it looking
7:23
like a girl old Prairie Church
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foundation over here is where that
7:30
probably schoolhouse was in there as
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well remember the days when everybody in
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the class was up basically every grade
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was in one one building do you really
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think I'm metal I remember those times
7:45
you remember those two after chores we'd
7:49
all have chores an old man Corrigan
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villian come by his name was car he was
7:56
Corrigan oh no it was Corrigan Ville his
7:59
name but they decided that naming the
8:02
town Corrigan ville Villa would be
8:04
redundant so they just called it
8:06
Corrigan Ville makes up after old Matt
8:09
Corrigan wonder if he took some lessons
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with the McGuffey readers right in here
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maybe
8:19
wonder if back in the day I ever robbed
8:19
that try that have a hard time did you
8:23
ever see that Dean in Bronco Billy no
8:27
you have you seen Bronco I never have oh
8:30
my god I never have oh I'm sorry no it's
8:34
great it's a great Clint Eastwood movie
8:35
it's a fantastic movie but he Scatman
8:39
Crothers and this ragtag band of
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entertainers of what western
8:44
entertainers get together they're
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totally out of money and decide to
8:48
literally rob a train so they get their
8:51
equipment and on Clint Eastwood they put
8:52
on their masks you know they're uh
8:54
they're they're they're bandanas you
8:56
know brought to paint Ana came prepared
9:00
million degrees
9:01
fair enough they um so they put on the
9:04
bandanas you know the West they're ready
9:06
for the train well the train is an
9:08
Amtrak the trains come wah wah and it's
9:11
coming a hundred miles an hour and they
9:12
finally just get out of the way the
9:14
Train of the Train just keeps going very
9:16
funny scene Bronco Billy I'm gonna watch
9:18
it Clint Eastwood great when I take your
9:20
recommendation
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they not only designate what was filmed
9:22
out here but they also tell you some of
9:24
the landscape and what they are these
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are sandstone rocks that's what those
9:29
formations are way up there there was so
9:31
much rain over the winter that that
9:33
cactus which is low to the ground has
9:35
shot that flower I mean whoo look at how
9:38
tall that is that must be ten or twelve
9:40
feet high that cactus flower yeah from
9:43
here well it looks like it's like a
9:44
couple feet but you're probably right
9:46
that's way up there there's a real
9:48
beehive of activity happening in there
9:51
for real it's like thousand bees I'm
9:56
gonna keep walking you uh take get
9:58
closer we get closer no no no do not get
10:01
close if that's not dangerous enough
10:03
just like a little bit of a cliff here
10:05
that you could take a tumble down this
10:07
is Trailblazer cave they used concrete
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and some wood they they they built it up
10:12
and used it in many many many movies
10:16
clearly movies Bob Steele who Gibson and
10:19
Ken Maynard this cave was was used in in
10:25
the movie Arizona whirlwind Billy the
10:27
Kid vs Dracula the range Buster's the
10:28
fugitive with David Johnson in the
10:30
episode ten thousand
10:31
pieces of silver on Nagoya and the tiger
10:34
man I wish I'd been in that and the
10:36
movie Dracula Adam comes from JK Billy
10:44
the Kid was up there to fight Dracula
10:46
he's got sharp fangs
10:48
here's another episode from a different
10:50
serial are you coming down now be
10:55
careful it's very very tricky getting
10:58
your footing Young Frankenstein one
11:07
other note when Dracula was killed what
11:10
would have been supposedly right in this
11:12
area bullets could not stop him but
11:15
after they ran out of ammunition threw
11:18
the gun at his head and it knocked him
11:20
out right here and a stake was driven
11:22
through his heart all right oh wait what
11:25
are you doing just a few feet away down
11:31
the path here's another kind of very
11:33
note of soap noticeable can I talk just
11:36
a few feet away down the path is a very
11:38
noticeable cannot talk what's wrong with
11:41
me I don't know you just push your
11:43
dentures in alright let me try it again
11:46
just a few feet away down the path
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noticeable form formulation
11:55
just a few feet away just down the path
11:57
is another very noticeable set nailed at
12:00
that time you did noticeable it's really
12:03
work a very noticeable formulation is
12:07
that another word formulation ice
12:09
formulation see the tree on the left and
12:11
that rock on the right very recent fires
12:15
that came through here about a year ago
12:16
kind of destroy the tree but you can
12:19
still see it there right there they shot
12:21
quite a bit in a little corridor Robin
12:25
Hood Lake is what that is this is
12:27
referred to as and right here on your
12:30
left is a rock that was built for Johnny
12:34
Weissmuller to jump off of is it wife's
12:36
muller or why smaller why why smaller I
12:40
checked with the family before
12:41
coming on this hike with you you want to
12:43
make sure yeah he's widowed old lady
12:45
Weissmuller no she's one of those phones
12:48
you call I called it because I got I'm
12:51
connected
12:51
I got numbers and stuff so how do you
12:54
pronounce your last best year it's Tom
12:55
Tom Wilson she said who so I sent her to
12:59
IMDB she didn't have a phone it was long
13:03
it was a long time but finally Weiss
13:05
Mueller or Weiss Miller Weissmuller
13:07
so that's the Weiss Muller rock which is
13:10
a fake a rock it's weird they pronounced
13:13
the rock wife's Mueller oh the wife of
13:16
Mueller Rock Weiss Muller who used to
13:18
jump off Weiss Mueller Rock Wow he was
13:21
very talented because if I jumped off
13:23
that head first it would not end well
13:25
but he was professional diver he was a
13:28
professional swimmer so he knew how to
13:30
correctly dive off yeah and then contort
13:32
his body upwards so he wouldn't get into
13:34
it true and this was seen in multiple
13:36
movies television shows commercials for
13:38
all we know when he got older they
13:39
filled it with those play ball oh and he
13:42
just jumped into the balls and then they
13:44
couldn't get him out I think you're
13:44
making some of the stuff he's like yeah
13:46
I'm Tarzan and the play balls of Johnnie
13:49
enough enough Weiss Muller wife's
13:51
Mueller get out of the balls but you put
13:54
me up you know it's dope it was it took
13:56
a long time to heat my be getting to you
13:57
so here's an example there you see the
14:00
diving taking place this was actually
14:01
during an Annie Oakley episode as you
14:04
can see they use it and lots of other
14:06
things as well not just wife's Mueller
14:10
mice Weiss mice
14:11
he was jungle gym jungle gym Tarzan was
14:14
first yeah Adam why don't you get your
14:15
Hollywood facts right I corrected you in
14:17
your video no no you didn't I did it
14:19
it'll never show you're gonna edit it
14:21
out yes absolutely when I'm wrong edit
14:23
it out okay as far as you know I will
14:46
20 feet up the construction of this
14:46
thing see it's pretty stable but there
14:49
is wood wedged in there
15:01
whatever you do
15:01
don't back down
15:10
I'm gonna walk over there and show those
15:10
little underground spots as well well
15:13
underwater I shouldn't say I watched an
15:16
episode where he was right here in front
15:18
of where they had the camera pointing
15:20
out and he stabbed a crocodile a
15:24
crocodile was this water was attacking
15:26
him and they were filming under the
15:28
water he pulled out like a bowie knife
15:30
and like slid it right down the belly
15:34
right there
15:35
I was daring I could probably climb down
15:39
in there but I don't know if I would get
15:40
out so you could just jump down but
15:43
getting back out there is no stairway
15:44
I'll help you up you would help me out
15:46
if I fell down in there if you fell down
15:48
in there well yeah we could recreate the
15:51
replay of the crocodile chuckle Jim
15:59
Jimmy Jim walking amongst where the
16:03
water would have been peeking out of
16:06
here be a camera this is where the
16:11
operator would have been stationed right
16:13
there some graffiti
16:25
pointing straight out this would be
16:25
completely submerged singing Cowboys
16:28
were all the rage back then here's one
16:30
perched under the branches of this very
16:34
tree you can tell by the way it just
16:36
kind of Forks off there to the left and
16:38
then his horse was tied up to the one on
16:40
the far right next to Robin hood-like
16:45
and he had another
16:47
perch basically where this bench now
16:51
resides and if he just focus upward
16:54
there's that rock and in that photograph
16:56
I just show water was pouring off the
16:59
top of it
17:00
so no diving was taking place but a
17:02
beautiful waterfall was in that spot see
17:06
it just pouring down there this is from
17:08
in the later years when it became a
17:09
theme park it could rent boats and just
17:12
paddle to your heart's content through
17:15
here a lots changed since those days
17:17
just see how expansive the little River
17:21
area was
17:24
I'll try not Robin Hood forest and cool
17:27
in this bridge right here designated a
17:30
susiana pass version has been removed
17:33
you can see it's right down there you
17:36
can no longer walk or ride a horse over
17:39
it but the basically the little pillars
17:43
still remained
17:43
once again you can really see why they
17:45
chose different spots with that little
17:48
mountain range behind it it makes for a
17:50
good good angle I keep waiting for a
17:52
horse and buggy or a stagecoach to ride
17:55
through here any minute now
17:58
right there the horse comes through
18:00
right you see it yep oh he's going very
18:06
fast because it's lunch time I think
18:08
you're getting dehydrated there's
18:10
nothing there you're seeing a mirage I
18:12
saw the horses well here see the freeway
18:17
off in the distance and just how much
18:20
terrain we have traversed quite the hike
18:23
but I do believe we have made it to the
18:25
area a Ford Apache to be more precise
18:30
the fort was right down in this little
18:32
ravine Henry Fonda John Wayne we're all
18:39
right yeah here in fact there's a
18:42
screenshot of the two of them right
18:43
there they would have been basically on
18:46
their horses and the backdrop are those
18:48
rocks directly behind them pretty cool
18:51
didn't even realize it but we've gone
18:53
full circle and we're back to the Old
18:56
West town silver town they called it
18:59
back to the foundations they made a
19:03
complete circle heading out now I gotta
19:06
grab a bite to eat at another landmark
19:08
in this neck of the woods
19:11
the much boss for quite a few good
19:13
things about this place
19:15
and just now getting around to trying it
19:18
these are the options what do you
19:21
usually go what's your government for
19:25
the cheeseburger cheeseburger
19:27
amen so the go-to is the cheeseburger
19:32
they have a mushroom burger mushrooms
19:36
dressing Oh what do you suggest
19:44
the hickory-smoked that's your
19:44
suggestion is that your suggestion all
19:47
right
19:48
the hickory-smoked their side okay I'm
19:50
gonna get the heck every smoke I'm
19:51
having hickory smoke
19:54
yes please Hickory burger this is what
19:58
we're dealing with
19:58
well it's upside-down so I should really
20:01
give them the Hickory burger fries root
20:06
beer oh good
20:09
they've got all oh good I haven't even
20:11
open mine up yeah mine's like still
20:13
tucked away down here in the bag I got
20:15
exactly the same thing as I remove this
20:18
I'm noticing the Cook has has labeled it
20:21
accordingly both that's awesome
20:29
there's a little asterisk here I got no
20:31
markings on I got no marking none none
20:33
whatsoever
20:34
it doesn't say Tom I know it doesn't say
20:36
Tom on there they might have a sharp and
20:37
you want me to go get the truth no too
20:39
late
20:39
done the whoo do you want mine no I
20:44
don't want a trip what a crunch-ry'
20:46
they're exactly the same
20:47
I'll have vote he boat what am I going
20:49
to eat
20:54
we've had a full day I think we should
20:54
call it I had a full belly my legs are
20:56
sore from hiking did you realize I was
20:58
gonna have you walk that far
20:59
not at all I need to hydrate about seven
21:02
or eight miles it was a long hike a good
21:04
and the munch box cheeseburgers pen test
21:07
and I noticed you were doing a little
21:08
bit of filming you had like a YouTube
21:10
channel but uh booths in USA maybe they
21:12
can wanted me on your channel and what's
21:14
yuvan mine and vice versa
21:16
all right how we gotta end this right
21:17
just said I do my typical water