Betsy J. Green

In the "Flying A" film The Lonely Heart, the heroine, who must be lonely (or perverted?), caresses a toad. The Santa Barbara, CA studio was desperate for publicity for this 1915 movie, and the local papers must have been desperate for "news" to fill their pages – so there were five articles about the toad, or was it a frog?

There seemed to be some amphibian ambiguity going on, not to mention the question of what to feed it – flies or crackers? Not surprisingly, several amphibians gave up their lives for "Art" during the filming.

On October 19, 1927, Shanghaied was released. Parts of it were filmed on California's Santa Catalina Island. According to a trade magazine, "Shanghaied  is a vivid melodrama of San Francisco, and the sea. It is the story of a man who, tricked by a girl, sets out to tame her and revenge himself." (Exhibitors Herald, May 7, 1927)

How about this for a winning combination – an angry gypsy, a kindly hunchback, babies switched at birth, and a guy named Marmaduke Smythe? Then throw in a flaming meteorite that contains a diamond bigger than anything Elizabeth Taylor ever owned, and you've got high-class entertainment. Yes, indeedy! How could you go wrong?

The Diamond From the Sky, a 30-part serial movie produced in 1915 by the "Flying A" movie studio in Santa Barbara, California was a winner, and the only thing that went wrong was that no one saved any copies of the movie. Oops!

On October 13, 1924, Buster Keaton's film The Navigator was released. Scenes from the movie were filmed on California's Santa Catalina Island.

When the film was shown in the theater there in the fall, the local paper, The Catalina Islander, wrote, "When the comedy was being filmed last spring under the direction of Buster Keaton, many interesting stories were told of incidents which happened. If the picture is as comical as some of the tales . . .  it certainly will be a 'scream.'"

An Impressive Adobe on Cliff Drive with a Colorful Past

This month I profiled a home that many people pass by every day that's worth taking a look at. Check out my Great House Detective column in this week's Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2020/10/08/impressive-adobe-overlooking-cliff-drive/

The "Flying A" was Flying High in Santa Barbara, California in 1914

The folks from the "Flying A" studio (American Film Company) were filming in locations such as stores on State Street, all around the county, and even out on the Channel Islands. Many interior scenes were shot in the company's large glass studio. The studio was located on the corner of Mission and Chapala streets. A few of the original buildings remain, most notably the building shown in the top left of the photo.

On September 23, 1915, Santa Barbara's American Film Company ("Flying A") released The House of a Thousand Scandals. The movie – about a Utopian commune – was filmed at one of the seaside estates in Montecito. The commune members run around in Grecian-style sandals and skirts even though the movie is set in modern times. The skimpy attire gives rise to the scandals in the film's title. This movie no longer exists and neither does the mansion – fortunately, there are still photos of both.

A First in Santa Barbara

The earliest reference that I've found about movies being shown in Santa Barbara, California dates to 1898. An article in the local paper about a vaudeville show at the opera house (the original Lobero Theater) mentioned that the show included "the Waragraph, a scientific wonder of life, showing the recent naval events, the military parades and a Spanish bull fight." – Santa Barbara Morning Press, October 16, 1898

The "recent naval events" mentioned were scenes from the Spanish-American War in Cuba in 1898, produced by the Edison Wargraph Company. These were some of the first moving images that audiences here had ever seen projected on a screen.

On September 8, 1913, the movie For the Crown was released. Santa Barbara's American Film Company, the "Flying A," filmed most of this two-reel historical costume drama at a big estate in Montecito, California.

The plot involved plenty of swordplay, a fair maiden who needed rescuing, and ended with the vanquishing of baddies. This film is one of 63 silents that were filmed in Montecito. It is considered "lost."

On September 4, 1911 (109 years ago today), the one-reel silent movie How Algy Captured a Wild Man was released. The movie was filmed on California's Santa Cruz Island. The Santa Barbara Weekly Press called it, "A real 'sure-'nuff' dandy show. Anyone with any sense of humor will enjoy this picture story."

This is one of about 250 movies that were filmed on California's Channel Islands.