"40 Acres"
The Lost Studio Backlot of Movie & Television Fame
a RetroWeb Studio Backlots website
The Desilu Years
1958-1967
| By 1958, RKO Studios and the 40 Acres backlot had already changed ownership several times, including ownership by Howard Hughes from 1948 to 1955. The studio and backlot acreage changed hands again in 1958, after it was was purchased by Desilu Productions, the studio formed in 1951 by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. For the next ten years, 40 Acres would provide exterior locations for the company's television productions, including The Untouchables, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse and Guestward Ho!. Other production companies also regularly leased or occasionally rented the backlot for exterior filming in television series such as The Andy Griffith Show, Adventures of Superman, The Real McCoys, My Three Sons, Gomer Pyle, USMC, Hogan's Heroes, Miami Undercover, Batman, Bonanza, Land of the Giants, That Girl, Mayberry R.F.D and The Green Hornet. The backlot would also continue to see occasional use in films during this period, including in 1963 for the production of The Greatest Story Ever Told, whose set for the city of Jerusalem had to be reconstructed at 40 Acres after a series of freak snowstorms halted on-location production in Arizona. |
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A Forty Acres Flyover
In the early summer of 1958, Desi Arnaz led a guided aerial tour of the Desilu studio facilities as a part of a Westinghouse promotional film. Included in the tour was a flyover of the Forty Acres backlot, travelling from east to west.
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40 Acres War Sets in 1958 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) Although purchased primarily for use in the company's television productions, Desilu continued to rent space on the Forty Acres backlot for motion picture production, including the bombed-out town sets in the eastern wedge of the property, immediately beyond the huge silent era reform school set. Here, the war sets are dressed for the somewhat obscure 1959 film, "Tank Commandos." |
40 Acres War Sets in 1958 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) In this view looking northwest, we see the back side of the silent-era reform school set, and in the distant background, the "Aunt Pittypat" house facade from Gone With The Wind |
40 Acres War Sets in 1958 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) This eastward view features the huge silent-era reform school set, with the war-torn town beyond it. Keep an eye out later on this page for a photograph of Don Knotts, Andy Griffith and Jim Nabors from The Andy Griffith Show, taken from a nearby vantage point, and with the same backdrop. |
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40 Acres War Sets in 1958
(scans courtesy Bison Archives) (after clicking on a thumbnail, you may use the left & right arrow keys to navigate from one enlarged image to another) |
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| (more photos of the 40 Acres war sets are included under Later RKO Years) | ||||
Goodbye to "Tara"
It stood for twenty years as a staple of the Forty Acres backlot, before being dismantled in the summer of 1959 and shipped away. Before "Tara" was removed, the mansion facade made a few final appearances in Desilu productions, including the television series "The Texan," as seen in the images below. Tara in "The Texan" The Tara mansion set was immediately northwest of the Western town built by Desilu, and it occasionally crept into scenes in the background, usually partially blocked by various objects, and/or with its front porch details hidden behind a barrier. In one episode, "A Time for Planting," the set appears in closeup in a flashback scene involving a derelict post-Civil War plantation setting.
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Deteriorated "Tara" set in 1959, shortly before it was dismantled (Norman Shavin photo) Here the Tara set is seen at 40 Acres shortly before it was dismantled and shipped to Georgia. See this article for an in-depth account on the set's post-40 Acres history, including its current whereabouts. |
The Untouchables at 40 Acres - 1959 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) "The Untouchables" star Robert Stack stands amidst vintage automobiles on the 40 Acres main street, dressed as 1920's Chicago. The roof of Gone With The Wind railroad depot is visible in the background, behind the single-story flat facades. |
The Untouchables at 40 Acres - 1959 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) This photograph was taken during the filming of a first-season episode of "The Untouchables" in the seldom-seen "barracks" area of the backlot. |
40 Acres Midwestern Town View circa 1960 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) This photograph of the 40 Acres midwestern town was taken during the filming of a first season episode of The Untouchables. |
40 Acres Midwestern Town View circa 1960 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) This photograph of the 40 Acres midwestern town...a view from the porch of the set soon to become the "Andy Taylor" residence in The Andy Griffith Show...was taken during the filming of a first season episode of The Untouchables. |
Flat Facade and GWTW Railroad Depot (scan courtesy Bison Archives) This photo taken circa 1959 reveals the true nature of the single-story facades which faced east up the town's main street from its western end, and whose purpose was to "extend" the illusion of a town while also blocking at least the lower portion of the railroad depot set leftover from Gone With The Wind. |
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40 Acres Western Town Sets and more
(scans courtesy Bison Archives) (after clicking on a thumbnail, you may use the left & right arrow keys to navigate from one enlarged image to another) |
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40 Acres Flat Facade these facades were positioned at the west end of the 40 Acres main street |
40 Acres Flat Facade these facades were positioned at the west end of the 40 Acres main street |
40 Acres Western Town Panorama - 1965 After clicking on the thumbnail above, click the enlargement icon at the bottom right of the image, then hold your mouse's left button to drag the enlarged image to the left or right. |
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Aerial View of 40 Acres Backlot Southwest Corner - 1960
(scan courtesy Bison Archives)
Prominent in this aerial view of the southwest corner of the backlot is a covered oil rig.
Continental Oil Co. drilled on the property in 1960, but did not strike oil.
(research credit: Jacob Shepherd)
Aerial View of 40 Acres Backlot - Feb. 1963
(scan courtesy Bison Archives)
This view of the backlot includes several prominent features, including
the Jerusalem city set for the film The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
(built where "Tara" formerly stood) and the sets for television's The Real McCoys (1957-1963).
Aerial View of 40 Acres Backlot - Dec. 1963
(scan courtesy Bison Archives)
This photograph was taken ten months following the preceding one, and from the opposite
side of the backlot, looking west. In it, the sets constructed for The Greatest Story Ever Told
have already been razed (the large area of land at the far west end), and the
Gomer Pyle marine camp barracks have also been constructed (top left), replacing
the sets for The Real McCoys.
The Andy Griffith Show at 40 Acres - December 1962
With the "Mayberry Courthouse" facade as a backdrop, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts walk toward the 40 Acres residential street during filming of the episode "The Loaded Goat" on December 3, 1962.
40 Acres in 1965
Aerial View of 40 Acres Backlot - 1965
(scan courtesy Bison Archives)
This remarkable 1965 aerial photograph offers several detailed views of the sets on
the backlot, from Andy Griffith's "Mayberry" in the foreground, to Hogan's Heroes'
"Stalag 13" in the distance. Also visible in this view is the wedge-shaped Tarzan
jungle set across Ballona Creek (upper left).
"Mayberry" Sets - The Andy Griffith Show Most of the "Mayberry" street facades were built in the 1940's (after the filming of Gone With The Wind), including the Courthouse/Sheriff's Office, the Taylor house, the church, and the polygonal building in the town center (home to the drugstore). Back in 1967, Andy Griffith commented, "Funny thing about the Mayberry we know at Forty Acres - is that even though all the buildings are false fronts, when you're working there, you get the feeling of being in a small town. You forget that on the other side of the fence is one of the biggest cities in the world." (from mrpophistory.com) The small-town feeling cited by Andy Griffith wouldn't last long once one stepped through one of Mayberry's doors...one that was real that is. As with nearly all of the structures in 40 Acres, the buildings and homes that served as the town of "Mayberry" (for example) were for the most part mere facades, and were almost never used for filming of interior scenes. With rare exceptions, there were only prop walls behind doors and windows, which gave the illusion of an actual interior. Instead, interior scenes were filmed in the Desilu Cahuenga studio facilities about six miles away in Hollywood. Conversely, even some "outdoor" scenes were filmed in the studio, on partial sets constructed to match the exterior facades in 40 Acres. For example, many of the scenes which took place on the sidewalk in front of the Mayberry Courthouse and Floyd's Barbershop were shot in the studio on a duplicate set. The lighting is usually a giveaway on these scenes, which almost always lack the genuine outdoor "feel" of those shot on the actual outdoor set. |
Star Trek cast members at 40 Acres - August 1966 Several first season episodes of Star Trek included exteriors filmed at 40 Acres, including "Miri," "Errand of Mercy," "Return of the Archons" and "The City on the Edge of Forever." The original pilot, "The Cage," also utilized the backlot's Arab Village for a scene. |
Hogan's Heroes cast members on the 40 Acres backlot Hogan's Heroes' "Stalag 13" occupied the northwestern corner of the 40 Acres backlot, and was used for exterior filming for the entire six-year run of the series (1965-1971), well beyond Desilu's ownership of the lot. |
"Stalag 13" set for Hogan's Heroes - 1965 (note the simulated snow on roofs of barracks) The Tara mansion in Gone With The Wind stood in this area of 40 Acres for at least two decades. Prior to being home to Hogan's Heroes' "Stalag 13," this area was used for construction of an ancient city featured in the 1965 film, The Greatest Story Ever Told. 
another view of the "Stalag 13" set - 1966 |
The "Camp Henderson" set from "Gomer Pyle, USMC" This view from Culver City's Baldwin Hills of the Gomer Pyle, USMC "Camp Henderson" quonset huts also includes the set seen in The Andy Griffith Show as "Wally's Service Station" (and later in the series and in Mayberry R.F.D. as "Goober's Service Station") |
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Forty Acres Desilu Years Filmography
known and possible productions which used the backlot from 1958-1967 (grey=possible, light blue=reliably documented, white=confirmed) |
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Film
Verboten! (1959) Tank Commandos (1959) (filmed under working title "Blood and Steel") The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966) Television The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-66) (occasional backlot use at least in 1960's) The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956-58) (Tarzan jungle set) The Californians (1957) The Real McCoys (1957-62) Lassie (1957-73) US Marshal (1958-59) Yancy Derringer (1958-59) Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1958-60) The Texan (1958-60) Man With a Camera (1958-60) The Untouchables (1959-60) Guestward Ho! (1960) The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68) My Three Sons (1960-67) (occasional use) Miami Undercover (1961) Window on Main Street (1961) Ben Casey (1961) Miami Undercover (1961) My Favorite Martian (1963) The Greatest Show on Earth (1963) My Living Doll (1964) The Tycoon (1964) Kentucky Jones (1964) Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964-69) Peyton Place (1964-69) I Spy (1966) (episode "Cops & Robbers") The Dick Van Dyke Show (1966) (dream-sequence intro in episode "The Gunslinger") Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971) Family Affair (1966) Batman (1966-68) The Green Hornet (1966-67) Star Trek (1966-67) (first pilot & four first season episodes) Mission: Impossible (1966-67) (first season only) That Girl (1966-67) (at least one scene in first season) Felony Squad (1966-69) Bonanza (1967-68) (episode #'s 271-275) The Time Tunnel (1967) (episode "Billy the Kid") The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967-69) Judd for the Defense (1967-69) Land of the Giants (post-Desilu, 1968) (episode "Ghost Town") Lancer (post-Desilu, 1968) Mayberry RFD (post-Desilu, 1968-69) (seasons 1 and 2 only) The New People (post-Desilu, 1969) |
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