True enthusiasts of cinema arrive in Los Angeles with a long list of locations to visit, true pilgrimages depending on their favorite films. Yet, even a week wouldn’t be enough to trace all the places in Los Angeles where the history of cinema was made.
Certainly, the most well-known studios in Los Angeles and specialized tour operators come to the aid of fans, offering guided tours of movie sets and itineraries to discover the most famous locations scattered throughout the area. However, with some careful searching, you can find true hidden gems. If you are a fan of Western films, Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio is undoubtedly one of these.
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Melody Ranch History
The Melody Ranch is a 22-acre historic movie set primarily specialized in Western film productions. It has been in use since 1915 for Monogram Studios’ films. In 1953, it was purchased by the actor-cowboy Gene Autry, who continued to operate it until 1962 when a fire devastated the main street of the Western town. Until 1990, the Melody Ranch remained under Autry’s ownership, and he used it for horseback riding. Then, the Veluzat brothers, Renaud, and Andre, took over the ranch with the intention of restoring it.
The new owners acquired 74 truckloads of fences, doors, windows, counters, and saloon doors from a decommissioned studio, along with wardrobe and numerous interior props and materials. This allowed them to faithfully reconstruct the Main Street with correct proportions, based on photos and videos from that era. The Melody Ranch is now a popular pilgrimage site for fans of Western films and offers guided tours that allow visitors to relive the atmosphere of old movies from the golden age of cinema.
Movies and Shows Filmed at Melody Ranch
Even today, the Melody Ranch continues to be used as a movie and TV series set. Among the recent productions, I mention the fantasy-western Westworld, Deadwood, Last Man Standing, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, and Django directed by Quentin Tarantino (as you may have read in our article dedicated to Django’s locations). Among the historical films, notable titles include The Lone Ranger, Wyatt Earp, Gunsmoke, Hopalong Cassidy, Annie Oakley, Rin Tin Tin, The Cisco Kid, and many other films featuring famous Western actors such as Gary Cooper, Bill Boyd, and John Wayne.
Directions
The Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio is located within the Studio Zone (or 30-mile Zone), an area of 30 miles within Los Angeles that houses the major film studios. Within this zone, there are various economic benefits and incentives for workers in the entertainment industry. Specifically, the Melody Ranch is situated on Oakcreek Ave in the Santa Clarita area, approximately a 40-minute drive from downtown Los Angeles.
Attractions
The Melody Ranch comprises a large number of buildings and structures typical of the Old West settings, to the point that wandering through the dusty streets of the town is like taking a journey back in time, thanks to the meticulous attention to detail. The town includes a saloon, a church, several hotels, a bank, a jail, various shops including a gunsmith, a theater, the sheriff’s office, a hardware store, and numerous houses (including Victorian and adobe-style) and farms.
Museum
Since its inauguration during the Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival in 2001, the Melody Ranch has also been home to one of the most interesting museums dedicated to Hollywood. The Veluzat family’s collection includes not only photos, documents, unpublished videos, and memorabilia related to the Western film tradition but also other objects and costumes used in gangster films, vintage cars, gas stations, tanks, and much more. If you are interested in behind-the-scenes dynamics, in addition to showcasing various scenes filmed at the studios, the ranch guide will demonstrate the functioning of the mobile backdrop technique, using an example from a film dating back to the 1950s: “Riders in the Sky,” featuring the same Gene Autry.
Melody Ranch Tours
The set is not open for individual visits but can only be accessed through an organized tour by Newhallywood Tours. If you want to check prices, the schedule, and contact information for the tour operator, please visit their website.
