1972's The Magnificent Seven Ride! was shot in the US (the previous two installments were shot in Spain), and this time starred Lee Van Cleef in the "Chris" role previously played by Yul Brynner and George Kennedy. A few portions of the film were shot at the iconic Vasquez Rocks as pictured below.
The terrain is more or less exactly the same as it appeared in the film.
Chris and Noah ride up to Mackay
Prepares to dismount
Meeting Mackay and his men
LVC selects a rock to lean against
Chris and Mackay
Vasquez Rocks is a great location in the US. It is less than an hour drive outside of Los Angeles. While not as majestic as the iconic locations of Spain, it is an instantly recognizable place to fan of American film and television.Additional photos below. Click to enlarge!
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Still being used as a film location!
Of course Vasquez Rocks has been featured heavily in many Star Trek productions. Here are a few shots-
From the episode "The Alternative Factor"
MADNESS!!!
Spock and LVC's "leaning rock"
It's wonderful Aaron. :) thank you. I like the way it still looks the same. I didn't know Lee appeared in an episode of Star Trek...?
ReplyDeleteSadly LVC was never in Star Trek. At that time he was at the peak of his European career. As much as I love both, it's hard to imagine them together!
DeleteHi, I have a motion picture and television history blog at www.bewaretheblog.com and enjoyed your article. Especially the comparison shots. I live 12.5 miles from Vasquez Rocks. I also mentioned and linked your blog article for my readers. I'm a 71 year old Lee van Cleef fan since I saw High Noon.
DeleteI don't think Lee did. They just used the EXACT spot in Magnificent Seven Ride they did in a Star Trek episode. I met a lady years ago who's brother was in a Star Trek episode. His name was Liam Sullivan and while only being in just 3 or 4 movies, he was in well over 100 TV shows over the years including a big part in a Twilight Zone episode called "The Silence" where he is a member of a country club but talks so much another member makes an insulting bet with him for a 1/4 million dollars he can't stay quiet for 1 year. Sometimes when a spaceship would crash land on Twilight Zone, they would be out in areas like this near Los Angeles. Hey Aaron! Have you ever visited Curly Howard's grave out there. I've seen pictures of it & people leave all kinds of crazy stuff for Curly including forming Nyk, Nyk, Nyk with little rocks. I liked the one where Moe made a threat to Curly to make a mummy out of him but he said "I can't be a mummy!! I'm a DADDY!!".
ReplyDeleteThe actor who played Mackay use to be on "The Waltons" & he recently died I think.
Aaron, what a gread find! Captain Kirk would have been surprised to find Chris riding up from behind - and vice versa. What a hilarious idea to combine those stills!
ReplyDeleteI love this, thanks for sharing, Aaron!
ReplyDelete"Beam me up, Angel Eyes!" :)
amazing
ReplyDelete