Betsy J. Green

Ancient Romans in Montecito

Dateline: July 1911

The New Faith was a religious drama that was the first commercial movie filmed in Montecito, CA. Scenes were filmed at James Waldron Gillespie's El Fureidîs estate. This was the most popular spot for filming silent movies in Montecito.

"James Waldron Gillespie's Italian villa in Montecito was used as the background for a Roman play, The New Faith." – Morning Press, July 8, 1911.

The location got rave reviews. "The settings of many of the scenes are extremely beautiful; white summer palaces, sunken gardens, with fountains and mirror pools, making backgrounds very suggestive of Roman days." – Moving Picture World, July 15, 1911

Shake, Rattle, and Roll!

Dateline: June 29, 1925

The earth moved, and Santa Barbara was never the same.

Ninety-nine years ago today, a powerful earthquake hit our city in the early morning hours.

Buildings tumbled to the ground, a dam burst, and the ocean shuddered.

A year from now, there will be ceremonies, activities, and – of course! – books to mark the quake's centennial.

I'll keep you posted in the months to come.

SBHS Looks Ahead to the Future

Dateline: June 1924

"Officials, Parents, Students Gather in Spacious Building to Observe Ceremonies Marking Opening . . . The thousand persons who attended the dedication of the new high school, the hundreds who worked on the bonds and the building of it are ephemeral; but, according to the speakers, the great school structure will still be fulfilling its purpose 100 years from now, when they have passed away." – Santa Barbara Morning Press, June 20, 1924

Happily, the school building is still here a century later.

A Frightening Discovery in SB

Dateline: June 1915
"Excited Italian Finds Sword, Then Trouble. Santa Barbara Police Thought They Had Murder Mystery on Hands. An excited Italian recently rushed into a Santa Barbara, Cal. police station and, placing a shining two-edged sword on the lieutenant's desk, his eyes showing the terror he was laboring under: 'I finda theese in de woods. De blackhand, I tinka, is guiltee.'

"Then began one of the liveliest little mystery chases the police of that city have participated in for some time. The trail finally led them to the woods, just outside the city, where one of the bluecoats had the Italian point out the spot where he found the sword. Not 10 feet away from the spot, lay the scabbard to which the sword belonged.

"While the search was under way, Irving Cummings and Harold Lockwood, members of the cast of The Lure of the Mask [a silent movie being filmed in Montecito] . . . came up all out of breath and asked if a sword had been found.
"They explained that they had fought – for film purposes only – a duel near where the sword was found, and that, on departing, they had forgotten all about it. The explanation was accepted, and Santa Barbara and the excited Italian resumed their ordinary occupations." – Tribune (Great Falls, Montana), June 27, 1915

Filming on Santa Cruz Island

Dateline: June 1917

More than 40 silent movies were filmed on California's Santa Cruz Island. Many were made by Santa Barbara's "Flying A" studio, but there were others who took advantage of this picturesque isle.

In 1917, the Butterfly Pictures Company of Los Angeles filmed a five-reel (c. 1 hour) adventure drama called The Flame of Youth on this island.

"The larger part of the scenes was taken on Santa Cruz Island, and are as beautiful as anything seen in recent pictures." – Moving Picture Weekly, June 16, 1917

Another Rough Fight

Dateline – May 1915
It wasn't easy being the star of an adventure serial in the silent movie years. Actors suffered damage to their wardrobe as well as their anatomy. (Many film actors and actresses in Santa Barbara's "Flying A" studio had to provide their own costumes.)
"Irving Cummings . . . who is playing the lead in The Diamond From the Sky, has acquired a limp as the result of his encounter with a crowd of tramps in the boxcar fight. It was all for the sake of this ["Flying A"] romantic film story . . . and he doesn't mind even if he did put a new dress suit out of business." – Motion Picture News, April 29, 1915.
"Cummings says that he has done nothing but ruin clothes since the picture started." – Billboard, May 8, 1915

Surfing By Car?

Dateline – May 1924
The latest watercraft dashing through the waves in Santa Barbara a century ago were Dodge Watercars. A couple of local men had purchased these cutting-edge speedboats.

Hope Ranch Cliff Collapses

Dateline – May 1915

I hope that Santa Barbara's "Flying A" movie studio alerted the residents of the area about this. For an episode of the silent movie serial The Diamond From the Sky, a fight between hoboes and gypsies was staged on the beach below Hope Ranch. The gypsy camp on the beach is destroyed when one character pushes a rock down a mountainside.

"The cliff formation at the Hope Ranch beach served . . . and about 40 tons of earth were dynamited in order to get the . . . effect." – Santa Barbara Morning Press, May 11, 1915

Santa Barbara's First Mobile Home?

Dateline – May 1924
It's hard to imagine that an adobe was moved, brick by brick, but that was how it was said to be done. This adobe was originally located near the intersection of Anacapa and Carrillo streets, but had to be moved in order to avoid being demolished. Fortunately, it was moved – and is still here today as part of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, where it is appropriately called the Historic Adobe.

The End of Silent Movie Days in Santa Barbara

Dateline: April 1943

The "Flying A" ceased operating in Santa Barbara in 1921. A few Hollywood studios came here to film on the studio's property in the 1920s, but the end finally came in 1943 when the remaining studio property was demolished except for the studio building at the corner of Mission and Chapala streets, and a portion of the administration building that still stand. – Santa Barbara News-Press, April 4, 1943

Longtime Santa Barbara resident Mary Grimm told me that "During the war years in the 40s, the studios had been torn down and just the cement floors remained. The neighborhood kids used to go over there with our roller skates and brooms, sweep the trash aside, and have a grand time roller skating."