Western Street B

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Created at the same time as it's more popular sibling Western Street "A" in 1935 , this portion of the Western set was not as rich in make up. It was rarely featured as a main street and only contained a few façades and structures. One of them being the largest on the Western set, simply called Showboat. A massive structure that towered over many of the façades and often called The Town Hall, can been seen in movies such as Cat Ballou, Whirlwind, A Good Day for A Hanging, just to name a few.

The North West corner of the street housed a Barn/Horse Stable. Originally moved from a different location on the Ranch, it is believed that the structure it self was original to the lot and thus probably constructed in the mid 30's. The Stable was used often in early Westerns and even the serials and remained pretty much the same all the way up to the January fire of 1970 when it burned down. It was rebuild and enlarged, and remained that way, until it was torn down along with the rest of the Western Street set in the 90's

Simply known as Residence on "B" street, this little façade was seen in more shots than the rest of "B" street. It was located in front of the Stable and could be seen from the main Saloon on "A" street and was next to the Church. Built in 1936 and mainly used as a backdrop façade throughout its existance, it survived the fire in 1970 but was torn down with the rest of the set in the 1990's

The second largest structure on Western Street "B" was the Church. Seen in early serials such as "Blondie" and "The Three Stooges", it was originally built along with the rest of the Street, it sported a early century middle American style and stayed the same, except for a brief period during the filming of "The Wild One" with Marlon Brando in 1953, when it was turned in to a Gasoline Station, until it was taken down in the mid 1980's. It actually survived the disastrous fire of 1970 and stayed pretty much the same until the late 1980's, when it was taken down.

As mentioned, The Town Hall was the largest structure on the Western Street set and was constructed with the rest of the set. It can be seen in early serials like "Captain Midnight" and others, as well as in almost every Western movie shot on the Ranch, albeit a small appearance. Used more than any of the other structures on "B" street, this façade doubled also as a Hotel, a Courthouse and part of a Showboat. As with several other structures on the Western street set, one could film inside as well, as it featured a mini soundstage.

The façade was part of a larger set called the Showboat, and clearly featured a resemblance of Mississippi River boat when seen in its entirety. The back end of the structure still showed part of its former glory days and at one point in time still had its paddle wheel, but was seldom used .

Western Street "A" had two main Saloons, one located at the beginning of the street and one at the intersection between "A" and "B" so to speak, across from the Town Hall building . It was a full structure that could be used from all sides. Doubling as a Saloon, a Hotel, a Drug store and a Bank in many features, it was a well used façade and stayed virtualy unchanged, except for the movie "The Wild One" with Marlon Brando when it was turned into a two story brick Bank building. It survived the big fire of 1970 and remained there until it was torn down along with the rest of the Western Sreet set.

The back end of the Western Street set, closest to the Convent and where "A" and "B" joined, was built around 1936 and can be seen in an episode of "The Three Stooges" from 1939. It served mainly as a backdrop for Western "A" but on occassion was used as a main location and was even seen as a Harbor in "Here Come The Brides" from 1967.

A final view of Western Street "B" seen below from opposite ends of the street. One from "Whirlwind" with Gene Autry from 1951 and the other from "The Monkees" from 1967.