PLACERITOS RANCH
MONOGRAM RANCH
MELODY RANCH

aerial view of Monogram Ranch
Click on image for larger view

Photo from the collection of Dennis Dickens

Originally known as Placeritos Ranch, it was commonly referred to as the Monogram Ranch prior to Gene Autry purchasing the property and renaming it Melody Ranch. The property is now owned by the Veluzat family.

The original owner, Ernie Hickson, owned the property from as early as 1936 until his death in 1952. He built all the original sets on the property.

In 1937, Monogram Studios signed a long term lease on the property with a stipulation that the ranch be known as Monogram Ranch.

After Hickson's death in 1952, Gene Autry purchased the property from the heirs. An August 28, 1962 fire destroyed most of the sets on the ranch. The television show Combat used the ranch 2 months later.

Autry sold off most of the 110 acre ranch, retaining only 12 acres.

In 1990, Renaud and Andre Veluzat purchased these 12 acres (which contained most of the standing sets before the fire) for a reported $975,000. They immediately built a western street with a lot of the buildings replicas of the original buildings.

The original western street on the ranch ran east/west. A complete adobe village/fort resided at the end of this street, offset somewhat from camera view. A complete adobe ranch, still in existence, is at the northeast corner of the current ranch. Situated around the property were several ranch houses and outlaw cabins. A main ranch set was north of the western street. A schoolhouse/church was just north of that set. Between the western street and the ranch set were the mission set and the hacienda set. To the west of the mission and ranch sets was the train depot.


The Hacienda Set

Please visit the Official Melody Ranch web site.

Here are scenes of the ranch from the 1950's:

Placeritos Ranch in 1950's
A scene of one of the western streets during the 1950's prior to the devastating fire that swept through the ranch.


Another view of the western street (from the Stephen Lodge collection)
Mexican village before the fire
The mexican village.
Mission and hacienda in the 1950's
The mission in the distance and the hacienda closeup.
Stairs
Closeup of stairs to one of the hacienda/mexican village buildings
(from the Stephen Lodge collection)
Back of one of the western streets
The backside of one of the western streets.
barn
The famous barn on the ranch (from the Stephen Lodge collection)

FILMING AT THE RANCH

Gail Davis
Filming the Annie Oakley series with Gail Davis (from the Stephen Lodge collection)

Gail Davis
Filming the Annie Oakley series with Gail Davis (from the Stephen Lodge collection)
Annie Oakley
Filming the Annie Oakley series with Gail Davis (from the Stephen Lodge collection)
Annie Oakley
Filming the Annie Oakley series with Gail Davis (from the Stephen Lodge collection)

Filming a scene on the western street (from the Stephen Lodge collection)
DIRECTIONS: From Los Angeles, take the Golden State Freeway (5) north to the Antelope Valley Freeway (14) north. Exit at San Fernando Road and turn left. Follow the road into Highway 126. Turn right at 13th Street. The street will curve around and you will soon be on Placerita Canyon Road. Turn left at Golden Oak Lane. The remaining acreage of Rancho Placerita (now Melody Ranch) will be on the left. PRIVATE PROPERTY - do not enter.

NOTE: One weekend a year, the ranch is open to the public during the Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:

"The Terror of Tiny Town" (Principal 1938) Directed by: Sam Newfield. Cast: Billy Curtis, Yvonne Moray, Little Billy, Bill Platt, John Bambury, Joseph Herbst, Charles Becker, Nita Krebs, George Ministeri, Karl Casitzky, Johnnie Fern, W. H. O'Docharty.

"Forbidden Trails" (Monogram 1941) Directed by: Robert N. Bradbury. Cast: Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, Raymond Hatton, Christine MacIntyre, Dave O'Brien, Tris Coffin, Charles King, Bud Osborne, Lynton Brent, Jerry Sheldon, Silver.

"King of the Texas Rangers" (Republic 1941) Directed by: William Witney and John English. Cast: "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh, Neil Hamilton, Pauline Moore, Duncan Renaldo, Charles Trowbridge, Herbert Rawlinson, Frank Darien, Robert O. Davis, Monte Blue, Stanley Blystone, Kermit Maynard, Roy Barcroft, Kenneth Duncan, Jack Ingram, Robert Barron, Frank Bruno, Monte Montague, Joseph Forte, Lucien Prival.

"The Lone Rider Fights Back" (PRC 1941) Directed by: Sam Newfield. Cast: George Houston, Al (Fuzzy) St. John, Dorothy Short, Dennis Moore, Frank Hagney, Charles King, Frank Ellis.

"Ghost Town Law" (Monogram 1942) Directed by: Howard P. Bretherton. Cast: Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, Raymond Hatton, Virginia Carpenter, Murdock McQuarrie, Charles King, Tom London, Howard Masters, Ben Corbett.

"West of the Law" (Monogram 1942) Directed by: Howard P. Bretherton. Cast: Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, Raymond Hatton, Evelyn Cooke, Harry Woods, jack Daley, Bud McTaggert, Milt Moranti, Roy Barcroft, Silver.

"Blazing Guns" (Monogram 1943) Directed by: Robert Tansey. Cast: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Leroy Mason, Emmett Lynn, Weldon Heyburn, Roy Brent, Eddie Gribbon, Lloyd Ingraham, Geo. Kamel, Kay Forrester, Robbie Kavanaugh, Frank Ellis, Charles King, Ken Duncan, Dan White, Chas. Murray Jr, Robert Allen, John Bridges.

"The Law Rides Again" (Monogram 1943) Directed by: Alan James. Cast: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Jack Larue, Betty Miles, Emmett Lynn, Ken Harlan, Chief Thundercloud, Chief Many Treaties, Bryant Washburn, Fred Hoose, Ken Duncan, Roy Brent, John Bridges, John Merton, Hank Bell, Charles Murray Jr., Steve Clark, Bub Buster.

"Outlaw Trail" (Monogram 1944) Directed by: Robert Tansey. Cast: Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, Chief Thundercloud, Rocky Camron, Jenifer Holt, Cy Kendall, Geo. Eldridge, Warner Richmond, Chas. King, Bud Osborn, Jim Thorp, John Bridges, Hal Price, Chas. Murray Jr.

"Arizona Whirlwind" (Monogram 1944) Directed by: Robert Tansey. Cast: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, Ian Keith, Ernie Adams, Myrna Dell, Karl Hackett, Charles King, Don Stewart, Bud Osborne, Al Ferguson, John Bridges, Dan White, Chas. Murray Jr., George Chesebro.

"Death Valley Rangers" (Monogram 1944?) Directed by: Robert Tansey. Cast: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, Weldon Hayburn, Linda Brent, Bryant Washburn, Glen Strange, Forrest Taylor, Karl Hackett, Lee Roberts, Chas. King, George Chesebro, John Bridges, Al Ferguson, Steve Clark, Wally West.

"The Sheriff of Medicine Bow" (Monogram 1948) Directed by: Lambert Hillyer. Cast: Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Evelyn Finley, Bill Kennedy, George Lewis, Frank La Rue, Peter Perkins, Carol Henry, Bob Woodward.

"Shadows of the West" (Monogram 1949) Directed by: Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, Riley Hill, Reno Browne, Bill Kennedy, Pierce Lyden, Kenne Duncan, Keith Richards, William H. Ruhl, Ted Adams, Lee Phelps, Bret Hamilton, Bud Osborne, Donald Kerr.

"The Feathered Serpent" (Monogram 1949) Directed by: William Beaudine. Cast: Roland Winters, Keye Luke, Mantan Moreland, Victor Sen Yung, Carol Forman, Robert Livingston, Nils Asther, Beverly Juns, Martin Garralaga, George J. Lewis, Leslie Dennison.

"The Golden Idol" (Allied Artists 1954) Directed by: Ford Beebe. Cast: Johnny Sheffield, Anne Kimball, Paul Guilfoyle, Leonard Mudie, Smoki Whitfield, Rick Vallin, Lane Bradford.

"The Law vs. Billy the Kid" (Columbia 1954) Directed by: William Castle. Cast: Scott Brady, Betta St. John, James Griffith, Alan Hale Jr., Paul Cavanagh.

"Gunfighters of Abilene" (United Artists 1959) Directed by: Edward L. Cahn. Cast: Buster Crabbe, Barton Maclane, Judith Ames, Russell Thorson, Lee Farr, Eugenia Paul, Jan Arvan, Richard Devon, Arthur Space, Richard Cutting, Kenneth MacDonald.