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Also see the 40 Acres Image Gallery and Virtual Tour

40 Acres - The Early Years

Temple of Jerusalem set from The King of Kings (1927) This massive set for Cecil B. DeMille's silent classic was constructed just west of the 40 Acres main street (seen in the foreground), and approximately where the Gone With The Wind railroad depot set would be built over a decade later.

French village set from Fighting Eagle (1927) (scan courtesy Bison Archives)

Algeria set from Forbidden Woman (1927) (scan courtesy Bison Archives)

Reform school set from The Godless Girl (1929) This west-facing set for DeMille's final silent film was located in the eastern wedge of the backlot. Portions of the set stood until approximately 1963.

40 Acres aerial view - believed to be late 1920's (captioned) Seen in this aerial are most of the backlot's earliest sets built for Cecil B. DeMille's silent films in the 1920's, including the Temple of Jerusalem for "The King of Kings" (1927), along with the Jerusalem village area, a portion of which also made appearances as Morocco, Algeria and Tunis in "Forbidden Woman" and "Fighting Love" (both 1927), and which was later re-dressed as an Arab village for Selznick's "Garden of Allah" (1936). Other sets pictured include the original 40 Acres main street and its facades (later replaced by Selznick's "Atlanta" sets), along with a Napoleonic French village built for "The Fighting Eagle" (1927). Not visible in this photo (off-camera to the left) is the large reform school set for "The Godless Girl" (1929).

"Skull Island" wall and door from King Kong (1933)
The King Kong wall and gate was built re-using a portion of the Jerusalem temple set from The King of Kings

May 1938 aerial view of 40 Acres (captioned)
This aerial view of the backlot was taken seven months before the original main town and King Kong
wall & gate sets were set ablaze to depict the burning of Atlanta for Gone With The Wind

Other sets detailed on the survey map include the "Manderley" mansion from Alfred Hitchcock's
first American film, Rebecca (1940), a set which was in actuality only a small full-scale portion of the large Gothic mansion
(the full mansion set seen in the film was a soundstage miniature).

40 Acres and "Gone With The Wind"

40 Acres Transformed In this photograph, David Selznick is seen walking across the 40 Acres main street near the railroad depot. By early 1939, the 40 Acres backlot had undergone a radical transformation following the burning of the original facades lining the main street, and the subsequent construction of the Atlanta facades for Gone With The Wind. The "Atlanta Examiner" facade is seen here, along with a prop locomotive in the foreground. In the distance, one can see the corner of the church/hospital, and the residential street beyond.

1940 Aerial View of 40 Acres
Visible in this view is the railroad depot built for Gone With The Wind,
as well as the set for Scarlett O'Hara's estate known as "Tara." Left of center
in the photo is the Atlanta street set for the film.

Railroad Depot as it appeared in Gone With The Wind The Atlanta railroad depot set built in the late 1930's for Gone With The Wind became a fixture in the 40 Acres backlot for approximately 32 years. The set was destroyed by fire in December of 1971.

On the set of Gone With The Wind (scan courtesy Bison Archives) Hundreds of extras prepare for filming in this behind-the-scenes image from Gone With The Wind. Visible in the background are Culver City's Baldwin Hills, along with the Arab Village set from David Selznick's 1936 film, "The Garden of Allah."

View east down 40 Acres Atlanta street set, from Gone With The Wind
Many, but not all, of the structures/facades on the street set became permanent fixtures in
40 Acres. Those that did survive saw significant re-dressing in later years when the set
became a locale for other films and for television series' such as The Andy Griffith Show.
The large, columned structure in the center (the church/hospital in GWTW) did not survive
the later set renovations.



Aerial View of 40 Acres - 1941 (captioned)
(courtesy Jerry Krumm)

Gone With The Wind Producer Selznick at 40 Acres (scan courtesy Randy Garrett) David Selznick stands in an arch of the Atlanta railroad depot set, gazing toward the Tara mansion set on the hill above.

Late-1950's View of Scarlett O'Hara's "Tara" (scan courtesy Bison Archives)

South end of depot set - circa 1947
(scan courtesy Bison Archives)
The partial nature of the railroad depot set is revealed in this photograph of the south
end of the set. Only the east side of the set was meant to be filmed, and a scene featuring
a closeup of the south end heavily utilized a matte painting to convey a curved roof and
other features.

view of Aunt Pittypat house facade a full view such as this one of the Aunt Pittypat house facade on the 40 Acres residential street was never seen in the film.

Gone With The Wind behind-the-scenes view in this behind-the-scenes shot during the filming of Gone With The Wind, the large reform school set from DeMille's 1929 silent film The Godless Girl can be seen in the background.

Deteriorated "Tara" set in 1959, shortly before it was dismantled
from the New York Times, June 23, 1965 obituary of Producer David O. Selznick:
"Nothing in Hollywood is permanent," Mr. Selznick said in 1959 on a Hollywood set,
as Tara, the mansion built for "Gone With The Wind," was being dismembered and
shipped to Atlanta, Ga. "Once photographed, life here is ended. It is almost
symbolic of Hollywood. Tara has no rooms inside. It is just a facade. So much of
Hollywood is a facade."

40 Acres and the Later RKO Years - 1940-1955

Overhead View of RKO "40 Acre Ranch" - July 20, 1953
(photo courtesy Walter O'Connor and Joseph Musso, w/ thanks also to Jerry Krumm)

Aerial View RKO Studios and 40 Acres Backlot - 1946 (scan courtesy Bison Archives)	Tarzan Jungle (f.g.) and RKO-Pathe Studios (b.g.) - circa 1944 (photo courtesy Walter O'Connor and Joseph Musso) RKO "40 Acres" Backlot in Culver City, CA, circa 1944, showing the Tarzan Jungle in the foreground and the RKO-Pathe Studios with its water tower in the background.
Arab Village Dressed for "China Sky" (1945) (photo courtesy Walter O'Connor and Joseph Musso) Part of the original Jerusalem city for Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings (1927), this set was also featured (redressed) as an Arab village in David Selznick's Garden of Allah (1936), and continued over the years to be used as a locale in a number of films and television series. In this photograph, the set is dressed for the 1945 RKO Radio Pictures film "China Sky," directed by Ray Enright, and starring Randolph Scott, Ruth Warwick, Ellen Drew and Anthony Quinn.	Tarzan Jungle and Baldwin Hills (photo courtesy Walter O'Connor and Joseph Musso) RKO Tarzan Jungle on the RKO "40 Acres" Backlot in Culver City, CA., with the Baldwin Hills in the background. Photographed in October 1951.
Tarzan Jungle and Treehouse (photo courtesy Walter O'Connor and Joseph Musso) RKO Tarzan Jungle on the RKO "40 Acres" Backlot in Culver City, CA., showing a portion of the Tarzan tree house. Photographed in October 1951.	Bombed-out European town set, from Attack! (1956)

Partial View of 40 Acres Backlot - 1955 (scan courtesy Bison Archives) This view features the street set and building facades built in the 1930's for Gone With The Wind, with a few changes and additions since that time, and later used in television's The Andy Griffith Show, The Adventures of Superman, Batman, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, The Green Hornet and a variety of other television series and films. Also visible in this photograph at the east end of 40 Acres (upper portion of photo) is the large reform school set built for the 1929 silent film "The Godless Girl," and a bombed-out European town set which appeared in the films "The Story of G.I. Joe" (1945), "Tripoli" (1950) and "Attack!" (1956).

Explorable 1956 Map of 40 Acres
Click here for an explorable overhead view of 40 Acres in 1956,
linked to over twenty photographs and scenes from this period of the backlot's history.

40 Acres and the Desilu Years - 1957-1967
By 1957, 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 1957 when it was purchased by Desilu Productions, the studio formed in 1951 by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. For the next eleven 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.

Aerial View 40 Acres Backlot - 1963
This view of the backlot includes several prominent features, including
the Jerusalem city set for the film The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
and the sets for television's The Real McCoys (1957-1963).

Aerial View of 40 Acres Backlot - late 1963
This view is taken later the same year as 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.

40 Acres in 1965

Aerial View of 40 Acres Backlot - 1965
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" Set, The Andy Griffith Show
Aerial photo evidence reveals that many of the "Mayberry" street facades were built
after the filming of Gone With The Wind, including the Courthouse/Sheriff's
Office, the Taylor house, or the angular building in the town center (home to the drugstore),
all of which were constructed later.

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.



"Stalag 13" Set, Hogan's Heroes
(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.



Camp Henderson Barracks, Gomer Pyle, USMC
This area was also the location for the home and farm of The Real McCoys
television series which ran from 1957-1963.



Gone With The Wind's Railroad Depot Set - Nearly 30 Years Later



Arab Village



Western Street
This western street set adjacent to the Arab village set saw many appearances
in television shows, including Bonanza, which filmed five episodes here in its
later seasons. An earlier western street set was located in the southeastern
area of the backlot.

40 Acres - the Final Years

"Gone With The Wind's" Atlanta railway depot set, photographed on October 29, 1970 by Rex McGee. This set would stand for a little over another year before succumbing to fire.	The "Mayberry" courthouse and shops, photographed on October 29, 1970 by Rex McGee. The sets at this point were no longer in use, with "Mayberry R.F.D." having moved to the Warner Burbank backlot for its final season.
See all 27 of Rex McGee's remarkable photographs of the Forty Acres backlot shot in October, 1970 in this new gallery.

In 1967, Desilu sold the Culver City studio facilities, including the 40 Acres backlot, to Gulf & Western Industries / Paramount Studios. The studio and backlot changed hands again in 1968 when Paramount sold them to Perfect Film and Chemical, and yet again the following year, when they were purchased by OSF Industries. Television series such as "Mayberry R.F.D." and "Hogan's Heroes" continued to film at 40 Acres until the early 1970's (although Mayberry R.F.D. moved to the Warner/Burbank backlot for its final season in 1970-71). Sporadic film production continued on the lot as well, including "Star!" (1968), which utilized a narrow alley set constructed in the eastern tip of the lot, "Switchblade Sisters" (1975), "Lepke" (a 1975 mob drama starring Tony Curtis), "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS" (a Nazi "sexploitation" film which utilized, and destroyed, some of the standing sets from "Hogan's Heroes") and finally, "Vigilante Force," a low-budget 1976 action film starring Kris Kristofferson in which the tattered, run-down sets of the 40 Acres main town were backdrop to an explosion-filled battle.

Partial view of 40 Acres from Baldwin Hills - 1971
(with thanks to Javier Mulero - assembled from a filmed pan sequence)

Vertical view of 40 Acres - 1972

40 Acres in Ruins - from Vigilante Force (1976)

As the old English proverb tells us, "All good things must come to an end," and in 1976, the historic "40 Acres" backlot property was sold, the sets were demolished, the land was re-graded, and the site was redeveloped as an industrial park. Today, the casual visitor to the property would have little idea they were on the same site where hundreds of Civil War soldiers once laid wounded and dying, where both Tarzan and King Kong once ruled, from where Superman once took to the skies, or where Sheriff Andy Taylor and his trusty deputy once policed a small North Carolina town.

Acknowledgements
John Bertram (Culver Studios)
Julie Lugo Cerra (City of Culver City)
Jake Easton (Radok)
Randy Garrett
Jerry Krumm
Javier Mulero
Joe Musso
Allan Newsome (The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club)
Jim Nolt (The Adventure Continues)
Joel Rasmussen
Jerry Schneider
Jacob Shepherd
and
Mark Wanamaker (Bison Archives)

The original version of this web page debuted on May 27, 2006.

Much about the 40 Acres backlot remains to be discovered. If you have production information, photographs, or reminiscences to share, or if you have spotted a 40 Acres set in an old film or television show, please contact me at or via this site's feedback form.

The new Yahoo group "StudioBacklots" is an unmoderated group to which anyone can post on the specific subject of film and television studio backlots, including "40 Acres." To join this group with web-based access, which includes photo sharing features and much more, click the button on the left below, or to merely subscribe to the e-mail list, enter your e-mail address below and click on the button to the right. Join the StudioBacklots Group (full, web-based access) Click to join StudioBacklots OR Subscribe to StudioBacklots (e-mail list only) Already a member? Click here to access the group.