Betsy J. Green

On December 7, 1913, the movie Sea Wolf was released. The film starred theater veteran Hobart Bosworth and was filmed on and around California's San Miguel Island.

According to the Bioscope in London, "As a virile and realistic representation of life at sea, this magnificent film has not yet been equaled, and affords a striking instance of the power of the cinematograph to set before us the greatest effects of nature." (August 6, 1914)

There are no known copies of this film.

On December 4, 1922, the movie Ebb Tide was released. Much of the movie had been filmed on California's Santa Catalina Island.

"Transportation . . . required traveling over the water in a hydro-aeroplane. Scenes on land included a reproduction of the waterfront at Papeete, Tahiti . . . On the water there was a dramatic scene in which a 330-foot schooner was burned . . . The octopus fight and scenes of pearl-diving are . . . under water through the use of a diver in a diving suit and a diving bell holding the cameraman." – Motion Picture News, September 30, 1922

The silent movie The Lotus Eater was released on November 27, 1921. Some scenes were filmed on California's Catalina Island.

A portion of the story takes place on an island in the Pacific Ocean where the inhabitants are shipwrecked folk who decide to stay on the island and traipse around in Grecian robes. (Sounds pretty good to me these days.)

This appears to be a lost film, and maybe that's fine with the islanders. ?

Thanksgiving 2020 in Santa Barbara, California will be very much like Thanksgiving here in 1918. That year, the festivities were somewhat subdued because as the local paper wrote, "the influenza ban that puts a quietus on all gatherings – and this applies rigidly to church. As a result, the usual Thanksgiving service . . . will be lacking.

"This year in Santa Barbara, there will be no means of holding the usual organized observation of the day, starting with church services extraordinary and ending with the festive . . .  family . . . parties."

The only Thanksgiving church service that was held in the area was in Montecito. Churches had been ordered closed, but outdoor assemblies were apparently allowed. So, one church in Montecito held an open-air service. "The congregation assembled in front of All Saints Church with the doors of the church open so that the music of the organ could reach the singers without."

On November 21, 1920, the film Dinty was released. Some scenes involving airplanes were filmed on California's Santa Catalina Island. Dinty is a freckle-faced newsboy whose fight to care for his ailing mother leads him into conflicts with the other boys on the street and then with drug smugglers in Chinatown.

"Six rushing reels of mystery, drama, romance, laughter and thrills," according to the Bemidji Daily Pioneer (Bemidji, Minnesota), December 10, 1920.

Available for viewing on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMJSjUN7dJc

The Photoplayer

The so-called silent movies rarely lived up to their name. Here's a high-tech gizmo called a Photoplayer that supplied music and sound effects in Santa Barbara, California's Palace Theater at 904 State Street in 1915. This one cost $5,000. In addition to playing music, the operator flipped switches to change the tone of the sound, and create special effects such as pipes, drums, cymbals, bells, siren, locomotive whistle, auto horn, horses' hoofs, castanets, tambourines, etc. The Photoplayer mea­sured 17 feet wide.

As time went on, these photoplayers morphed into even fancier and more sophisticated theater organs such as the 1928 theater organ that lives in the orchestra pit at our Arlington Theatre. This organ rises out of the floor every so often to accompany a silent movie thanks to the SB Theatre Organ Society.

Betty and the Buccaneers was released on November 12, 1917. Some scenes were filmed on California's Santa Cruz Island.

Believe it or not, portions of the film were deleted in Chicago. "Official Cut-Outs Made by the Chicago Board of Censors . . . slugging old man; rifling his pockets; flash struggle scenes between drunken sailor and girl; subtitles: 'We can chuck him down the well,' . . . throwing the captain down the well." – Exhibitors Herald, December 15, 1917.

You can view this film on YouTube and see what you think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSAPxyXueuY&list=PLwSPMzTpih4tpezb3MWCfJkBaEp_VCVya

Guess the name!

Back in 1914, a couple of kids in Santa Barbara, California gave a collie to Vivian Rich, one of the leading ladies of the "Flying A" Film Company here. Vivian, who clearly had a sense of humor, in addition to her good looks, named the dog "Guess."

"Miss Rich takes keen delight in being asked the name of her new pet," reported Motion Picture News in its October 17, 1914 issue. "Without a smile, she will say, 'Guess,' and of course the inquirer calls to mind every conceivable name. Not being successful, the usual inquiry is, 'Well, what do you call him?'" And so, the game continues.

When Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle was filming scenes for Camping Out on California's Santa Catalina Island (see photo) in 1918, a couple of uninvited guests showed up one night.

"Fatty Arbuckle will swear that D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett can smell good food farther than anybody else in the motion picture business. One morning, Fatty . . . started preparation on a big barbeque . . . Just as Fatty announced that everything was ready [for dinner] . . . the shrill siren of a fast-coming launch proclaimed visitors. The jovial Roscoe swam out to where the launch had anchored and discovered D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, who announced that they were just in time for dinner. During the barbecue, the two producers jokingly told Arbuckle the beef was so good they had smelled it away over in Hollywood." – Exhibitor's Press Book, September 1918

(This film may be shown on Ben Model's Youtube channel sometime in the future.)

On November 2, 1919, the movie Bonds of Love was released. Some scenes were filmed on California's Catalina Island.

This one sounds like a real tearjerker. A young woman is in love with a young man (guy #1), but her parents force her to marry another man (guy #2). However, she has a secret affair with guy #1. Then she has a baby and dies. Guy #2 remarries. Wife #2 discovers that wife #1 had the affair. (Perhaps there is a question about who the child's father is?)

Anyway, wife #2 keeps the secret to herself because she loves her stepchild. Eventually guy #2 discovers his first wife's infidelity and appreciates his second wife better. (There are no known copies of this film.)