SCV In the Movies presents…

“The Beast of Yucca Flats”

With Tor Johnson as the Beast

Cinema Associates 1961

With host Jessie Seely

[Part 1] [Part 2]

We know that this sorry excuse for a movie was shot in the Santa Clarita Valley, but we don’t know exactly where. If you recognize any of the locations, shoot us an email.

The quick exterior of a diner appears to be the old Bamboo Cafe in Newhall, but the rest of it looks like the area stretching from Mint Canyon (Canyon Country) to Acton. Note the presence of yuccas and the absence of Joshua trees, which you’d see if it were closer to Palmdale.

Our best guess puts the airplane at the old 6-S Ranch Airpark, north of Soledad Canyon Road between Camp Plenty and Whites. The landing strip closed for business in 1960. Canyon Country was still wilderness and scattered ranches.

This film was released in 1961, the same year Canyon Country saw its very first tract homes (North Oaks), roughly where the landing strip had been located. The area was still considered part of Saugus; the name “Canyon Country” wasn’t used prior to the opening of North Oaks.