05/16/2023 Chatsworth Historical Society - Chatsworth Westerns Blaze Glory, Mattel's Blaze Horse & Fury 1
Chatsworth Western Fun - Blaze Glory,
Mattel's Blaze the galloping horse, and Fury
Fury 1955-1960
Mattel's Blaze the Galloping Horse
1961-1962
Blaze Glory 1968
05/16/2023 Chatsworth Historical Society - Chatsworth Westerns Blaze Glory, Mattel's Blaze Horse & Fury 2
This presentation will discuss and show three westerns filmed in Chatsworth
•A 10 minute Western Spoof filmed in 1968, Blaze Glory
•Two TV commercials of Mattel's "Blaze the Galloping Horse" filmed in
1961 and 1962
•Episode 5 of the television show Fury, filmed in 1955, which introduces the
Fury Barn at Iverson Movie Ranch.
•This presentation will be posted at our website, chatsworthhistory.com, Digital
Archives, Presentations
•For a playlist of all videos in this presentation, go to this link
Introduction
05/16/2023 Chatsworth Historical Society - Chatsworth Westerns Blaze Glory, Mattel's Blaze Horse & Fury 3
•In August 2016, Wendi Gladstone invited her friend Tony Krizan to share his
research on the Wawona Stagecoach Road in Yosemite to the SSMPA at the
Rockpointe Clubhouse.
•After the presentation, Tony visited us and noticed that we lived near the railroad
tracks. He then told us about a short movie that he made in 1968 on those same
tracks in Chatsworth, titled Blaze Glory.
•Wendi found the movie on YouTube, and Tony shared some photos and memories
•Perhaps it was destiny that led him to Chatsworth, so that he could share the
following with all of us….
1968 Blaze Glory
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•Tony shared that most of the film
was within the mountains
surrounding Chatsworth Park South.
The Lake Scene was photographed
in the Malibu Mountains. The
western town was at the old Fox
Studio in Los Angeles.
•The technique used in the film is
stop-motion pixilation, written and
directed by Chuck Menville and
others. Chuck also plays the lead as
Blaze Glory.
•Tony Krizan is one of the henchmen,
wearing the reddish-brown vest and
dark green shirt.
1968 Blaze Glory
Photos taken during filming and shared by Tony Krizan.
Tony is in the middle of the first photo, and at the right in the
second photo. Notice date on the second photo is Jan 68.
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Film Historian Dennis Liff confirmed the railroad tunnel scene was
filmed at the western portal of Tunnel 27, and other scenes were
filmed between Tunnel 26 and 27, at the north edge of today's
Chatsworth Park South.
1968 Blaze Glory
Scenes above show 1968 Blaze Glory, and 2022 Google 3D above
Chatsworth Park South, looking due SW above railroad 26-27 gap.
Scenes at right compare 1968 Blaze Glory to 2020 Tunnel 27 west.
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•The film was first advertised at the Bruin Theatre in
Westwood in December 1968.
•In December 1969, it was seen on the Glen Campbell
Goodtime Hour.
1968 Blaze Glory
1968-12-30 Los Angeles Times
1969-12-10 Glory Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
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•I came across this commercial,
"filmed" at Iverson Ranch,
searching for "Blaze" on YouTube
(looking for Blaze Glory)
•This commercial used Iverson
Ranch footage as a background
for the chase scene...
•In December 1961, you could buy
Blaze the Galloping Horse at
Toytown for $30 (around $300 in
todays dollars)
Mattel's "Blaze the Galloping Horse"
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•One year later, In December 1962,
they were advertising Blaze, The
Talking Horse.
•He talks and gallops too!
•You could buy Blaze the Talking
and Galloping Horse at the
Broadway for $29 (around $300 in
todays dollars)
Mattel's "Blaze the Galloping Horse"
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•This segment was inspired by a recent find from the
Valley Times Collection at the LAPL website,
documented fully in our April 2023 Smoke Signal.
•I remember Peter Graves from Mission Impossible
and the Airplane comedies. I was wondering why
Peter Graves was in Chatsworth for the photo shoot
in 1959.
•Peter Graves starred in the 1955 to 1960 television
series “Fury”, as Jim Newton who operates the
Broken Wheel Ranch. Much of the outdoor footage
was shot on the Iverson Movie Ranch in
Chatsworth, where the "Fury Set" was built in 1955,
specifically for the series.
1955-1960 Fury
The May 1959 Devonshire Golf Course official opening at
Roy Roger's Sports Center in Chatsworth.
Pictured from left are Pat Brady, Ashley Lofea, host pro;
Peter Graves, Roy Rogers, Pat Knowles and Jackie Cooper.
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•Tonight we will be
watching Episode 5
of the first season,
"Scorched Earth",
which shows the
television series
moving to the new
1955 Fury Barn at
Iverson Ranch in
Chatsworth.
•The first four
episodes and
introduction were
filmed near Idyllwild,
CA.
1955-1960 Fury
The Fury Barn, built in 1955, in Fury Episode 5 of Season 1, "Scorched Earth"
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1955-1960 Fury
The Fury Barn, from
the Iverson Ranch
collection, facing
west.
Rocky Peak Park
(Pyramid Peak) in
background
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•The Iverson Ranch
Fury Set included a
small house, a
cabin, corrals, and
other features, but it
was dominated by a
large barn.
•The Fury Barn was
built in 1955, the
Midway House in
1956, and the Fury
Barn House in 1958.
1955-1960 Fury
In 1937 the Iversons purchased the 160
acre Frank Reposo homestead above their
homestead, and later created the two filming
locations seen above.
The Fury Set and Midway House Area
The Fury barn was at today's 11833 Poema Place
in Indian Falls, a gated community.
Photos courtesy of Dennis Liff at
https://iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com/
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In addition to being
used throughout five
seasons of Fury, the
set was used in many
films, before it burned
to the ground in the
Newhall/Malibu fire of
fall 1970.
1955-1960 Fury
Left: The main cast
of "Fury" at the
Midway House in
1956; L-R: William
Fawcett, Peter
Graves and Bobby
Diamond
Right:1962 Burt
Reynolds in
Gunsmoke at the
Midway House
1967 David Janssen, as
Dr. Richard Kimble in The
Fugitive, arriving at the
Fury Barn House.
Photos courtesy of Dennis Liff at
https://iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com/
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•While Peter Graves was filming Fury
in Chatsworth from 1955 to 1960, his
older brother James Arness played
Marshall Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke
from 1955 to 1975, which was filmed
in Thousand Oaks.
•Both were born with the last name of
Aurness; James changed the spelling
of his last name, while Peter chose to
use their mother's maiden name of
Graves.
1955-1960 Fury
Peter Graves (1926-2010), James Arness (1923-2011)
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•The Fury television show had 5 seasons, for a total of 116 episodes.
•They are available on YouTube using the links below. Seasons 2 through 5 have an introduction
and end credits in German, but the rest of the each episode is in English.
•Fury Season 1 26 episodes
•Fury Season 2 20 episodes
•Fury Season 3 26 episodes
•Fury Season 4 22 episodes
•Fury Season 5 22 episodes
•You can also buy most of the first season (23 episodes) on a 3 DVD set "Fury The Lost Episodes"
on Amazon or Ebay.
1955-1960 Fury
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Sources and Acknowledgements
•Special thanks to Tony Krizan for sharing photographs and memories of Blaze Glory.
•Special thanks to Dennis Liff for help with identifying the Blaze Glory screenshots filmed in Chatsworth.
•Dennis Liff –website at iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com. This site is searchable, and has over 400
posts relating to movie sites in and around Chatsworth. Search for "Fury" and "Peter Graves".
•Prepared by Ann & Ray Vincent in May 2023
