The Alabama Hills provide a wonderful place to pretend to be in the movies, chasing the bad guys, saving the damsel in distress, charging up the hill, or even riding a horse or a mule. Shown here is the author in 1981 at eight years old, along with his friend Brandy. (Author’s collection.)

ON THE COVER: This scene shows Anne Baxter aiming a Winchester lever-action rifle from atop an Alabama Hills filming location for Yellow Sky (1948), a 20th Century Fox production. (Courtesy of Melissa Galt.)