Production NotesThe Pluto's Cave Incident
Pluto's Cave in the desolate lava fields north of Mt. Shasta is a forbidding place, bringing Tolkien's "Mordor" to mind. After a trek through the jagged rocks, gnarled trees and stunted scrub brush you reach a huge pile of boulders called "The Devil's Hopyard". Deep underneath this mound lies a vast domed chamber called "Satan's Cathedral". The caves themselves are even more sinister, appearing to have man-made domed ceilings and eerie skylights where the cavern roof has fallen in. Pluto's Cave is not a tourist attraction. It is hidden far out in the wilderness and is not easily accessible. In its further reaches it is a dangerous place and should be avoided by all but experienced spelunkers.
While we were filming inside the cavern in July of last year, a huge brush fire swept down on the Pluto's Cave area. We were nearly a mile back in the cavern, shooting the Intragravatron in operation, when we received an urgent radio call from Colonel Fitch (Colonel Rich in the film) at our base camp warning us that the fire was heading toward the secret cave entrance where we had hidden our vehicles. We made a rapid and not very safe evacuation, coming into the daylight just as the wind changed, driving the approaching fire in another direction. We were able to return underground and complete our shooting schedule by dusk, but the very next day the huge fire caused the closure of the one State road across the lava fields. We had finished shooting just in time.
Poke Runyon, Writer-Producer
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