"Invaders From Mars" (1953) Blu-Ray Home At Last

Above, after opening the package. 

Finally, I was able to get my Blue-ray of Invaders From Mars (1953) from the post office.

Either it snowed too much to risk the drive to the post office or the post office clerk didn't show up for work. 

The clerk has been terminated for too many "no shows".

Today, I was able to pick up the package and will watch the movie tonight during dinnertime. I think the last time I saw the movie was back in the early 1990s while I was working the graveyard shift at Indian Springs (formerly where the Iverson Movie Ranch was located). 

The movie scared the bejeezus me when I was a kid. When I saw it 30-something years ago, I laughed as the Martian costumes had visible back zippers showing. Now, with this Blu-ray and the new restoration, we can see the zippers a lot better.

"Stagecoach" (1939) and Monument Valley

Above, The Mittens and Merrick Butte in 1939 in Stagecoach. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Today was spent with my cousin Ralph rummaging around at Amoeba Music on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.

I picked up the John Ford-directed movie that brought stardom to John Wayne: Stagecoach (1939). It was also one of the first, if not the first, movie to make use of Monument Valley as a backdrop. Other locations included areas near Kernville, Chatsworth, Iverson Movie Ranch, Calabasas, Kern River, Newhall and more.

Above, The Mittens and Merrick Butte in Monument Valley in 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Stagecoach is also noted for the final shootout between the Ringo Kid (Wayne) and Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler). Tyler first played the Mummy Kharis in The Mummy's Hand (1940). Along with the Mummy, Stagecoach also featured Count Dracula, John Carradine.

Superman At The Iverson Movie Ranch

Above, an old Iverson Movie Ranch sign at the Valley Relics Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back in the heyday of Hollywood, much exterior filming took place at the old Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth.

The movie ranch was located in the northwestern section of the San Fernando Valley in the area where the Ronald Reagan Freeway (California S.R.118) and Topanga Canyon Blvd. intersect.

The producers of the Adventures of Superman also made use of the movie ranch and Jim Nolt posted some clips from the show that featured exteriors filmed at the ranch. Episodes include "The Man Who Could Read Minds", "Panic In The Sky" and "The Big Squeeze" from 1953.