In November 2018, the Woolsey Fire swept through the area. More recent productions at Paramount include The Lake House (2006) starring Sandra Bullock, HBO's Westworld (2016-2017), and American Sniper (2014). Members of the public would often camp out for the day and watch the show get created in real-time! Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1998), a television show that used Paramount Ranch as their permanent, everyday set. In the early 1990s, Jane Seymour and Joe Lando captured hearts in Dr. National Park Service Purchases Paramount RanchĪfter purchasing a portion of the original Paramount property in 1980, the National Park Service revitalized the old movie ranch.
Most of the track still winds through the grass and oak woodlands of the park.įrom 1957 to 1980, the ranch would see more ownership changes, but filmmaking continued. The raceway was featured in The Devil's Hairpin (1957) and Disney's The Love Bug (1968). Some considered it one of the most challenging in the U.S., and it closed 18 months later after two fatal crashes occurred in December of 1957. The Paramount Raceway opened a year later. William Hertz sold the property in 1955 to three businessmen investors who renamed it the Paramount Sportsman's Ranch. As a result, television companies began shooting westerns at the ranch, such as The Cisco Kid and Bat Masterson.
Hertz Era Western TownĪn ardent fan of movie westerns, Hertz built a permanent western town utilizing Paramount Pictures' old prop storage sheds. Paramount Ranch found renewed life as a film location when William Hertz bought the southeast portion in 1953. The golden era of moviemaking at Paramount Ranch came to an end when changes to the studio system prompted Paramount Pictures to sell the ranch. The art of illusion was mastered on the landscape. It offered filmmakers the freedom to create distant locales such as colonial Massachusetts to ancient China in The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), a South Seas island in Ebb Tide (1937), and numerous western locations, including San Francisco in Wells Fargo (1937). The diverse landscape, however, was the real star of the show. Army in Caught in the Draft (1941).Ī veritable "who's who" of Hollywood practiced their craft here for almost a century. Bob Hope played the part of a vain movie star whose biggest fear is to be drafted into the U.S. You can experience the area where Claudette Colbert was sentenced as a witch in 1692 Massachusetts in Maid of Salem (1937). When Paramount Pictures leased the ranch in 1923, they began a historic era of film production. Film History – The Paramount Pictures Era
Be on the lookout for our two native oak species-coast live oak and valley oak.Įxperience the rare valley oak savannah, which may become extinct within decades because of climate change. Wildlife sightings might include red-tailed hawks, acorn woodpeckers, coyotes, and deer. Paramount Ranch has also hosted weddings, star parties, music festivals, classic movie nights, and various other activities.Įquestrians and mountain bikers may access these multi-use trails. and movie productions that were filmed here. It offers several miles of easy to moderate scenic hikes through chaparral, riparian, and valley oak savannah plant communities. The Paramount Ranch property is a working movie ranch that allows the public to see filmmaking in progress. It is the National Park Service's only site dedicated to interpreting American film history. Paramount Ranch has been a special place in film history since 1927.