LONE PINE IN THE MOVIES C E L E B R AT I N G T H E C E N T E N N I A L S Packy Smith —publisher Ed Hulse —editor Michael Bifulco —design & page production Elizabeth Gulick —design assistance Richard W. Bann Ed Hulse Don Kelsen Chris Langley Packy Smith —contributors Lone Pine in the Movies is published annually by Riverwood Press for the Lone Pine Film History Museum. The contents of this issue are copyright © 2012 by the Lone Pine Film History Museum, 701 South Main Street, Lone Pine CA 93545. All rights reserved. Nothing in this magazine may be reprinted in whole or in part, in any media or format, without written permission from the publisher and copyright holder. Photo and Art Acknowledgments: All vintage stills, posters, and lobby cards reprinted in these pages are copyright their respective years of publication by Universal Pictures Corporation, Paramount Pictures Corporation, and their corporate successors in interest. Newly shot photographs of Lone Pine used in “A Paramount Portfolio” are copyright © 2012 by Don Kelsen.
5
Introduction
6
Silent Six-Guns in the Sierras
Editor Ed Hulse sets the stage for our tribute to two legendary Hollywood studios celebrating one hundred years in the motion-picture business.
Recollections of early Universal Westerns produced at Lone Pine, compiled by Chris Langley from comments by citizens, journalists, and filmmakers.
26 Ragtime Cowboy Ken and His Uncle Carl
Richard W. Bann chronicles the career of cowboy star Ken Maynard, who reached the pinnacle of success working for Carl Laemmle’s Universal.
49 Last Hurrah at Lone Pine: A Western Star Fades
Real-life hero and screen sensation Audie Murphy attained stardom at Universal only to see it slip away while at Lone Pine in his waning days.
63 The Trouble with Tremors
The fondly remembered science-fiction sensation of 1990 posed innumerable challenges for cast and crew during production in the Alabama Hills.
77 Arbuckle of the Alabams: Making The Round Up
The earliest extant movie shot in Lone Pine is also historically important as the first feature film to star silent-screen comic Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle.
89 Zane Grey at Paramount Pictures
Film adaptations of the famous author’s best-selling Western novels were photographed in such picturesque locations as Lone Pine and Death Valley.
107 A Paramount Portfolio
Award-winning cameraman Don Kelsen photographs scenic spots that appeared in Secrets of the Wasteland, a 1941 Hopalong Cassidy film, matching his new pictures to old stills.
Silent Six-Guns in the Sierras Recollections of Universal Westerns made at Lone Pine during the pre-talkie period by Chris Langley
T
he Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1912 following years of ceaseless effort by Carl Laemmle, an ambitious German immigrant who entered the picture business as a nickelodeon-era exhibitor, later managed a string of film exchanges, and began making his own motion pictures in 1909. Originally, the Universal was a conglomeration of scrappy independent producers united against Thomas Edison’s monopolistic Motion Picture Patents Company, which maintained a stranglehold on the movie business in the 20th century’s first decade. Laemmle’s partners, rugged individualists all, chafed under his leadership. One by one they either left the company or were bought out. As part of a contentious severance agreement, Adam Kessell and Charles Baumann reluctantly surrendered to Laemmle the “101 Bison” brand name that appeared on the successful Western pictures released by their New York Motion Picture Company. The genre always occupied a place of prominence on the Universal program of weekly releases, and the Bison brand was an important corporate asset. In addition to Western one- and two-reelers, producers working for “Uncle Carl” supplied a steady stream of Western serials and feature films. In 1922 the Universal Film Manufacturing Company became Universal Pictures Corporation. Brilliant young production chief Irving Thalberg was among several studio executives who urged Laemmle to cut back on Western production and devote more resources to a better class of film. But the humble horse opera remained a staple of Universal’s assembly-line output throughout the entire silentmovie era.
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Universal’s 230-acre lot in the San Fernando Valley—which was actually incorporated, given its own Post Office, and named Universal City—had more than enough rolling hills and grassy plains to accommodate Western producers. Various cabins and entire streets were built on the lot, so that filmmakers need not leave Universal City while cranking out their “oats operas.” But audiences eventually tired of seeing the same landscape—especially since Universal released so many Westerns—and producers pleaded for additional money to make jaunts to picturesque locations outside the San Fernando Valley. The early Twenties saw Universal casts and crews traveling up to Lone Pine on a regular basis, and Uncle Carl’s people ultimately made more Westerns there than did any other major studio. Although most of the films themselves are lost, we have records of their production in the form of surviving still photos and journalistic accounts that appeared both in the local newspapers and the movie-industry trade journals. It is to those sources that we have looked in documenting filmmaking activity of the Teens and Twenties. During the silent era Universal marketed its Westerns under brand names. Low-budget feature films, offered in yearly blocks of six to eight pictures of five reels each, comprised the “Blue Streak” line. The various series of two-reel short subjects—which Universal, unlike most studios, offered all through the silent years, up through the 1929–30 season—were sold as the “Mustang” line. Universal reserved the brand names “Jewel” and “Super Jewel” for its most prestigious features (such as 1925’s The Phantom of the Opera, 1927’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and 1929’s Show
Hoot Gibson on location in Lone Pine with crew and wife Sally Eilers during production of one of Hoot’s 1929-30 films for Universal.
Boat), but big-budget, non-series Westerns could be so designated. Toward the end of the silent era, when he was the studio’s top Western star, Hoot Gibson saw his films marketed as Jewels, because they were somewhat more lavishly mounted and a reel or two longer than the typical Blue Streaks. Since movies with the Jewel name were rented to exhibitors for higher prices, Universal easily recovered its investments in the better Gibson films. Since the five-reel Blue Streaks were inexpensive productions, the best way of achieving “production value” was to shoot them on location in areas with picturesque vistas that differed in appearance from the familiar terrain on Universal’s back lot. But since the budgets—averaging $15,000 for each fivereeler—didn’t readily allow for costly excursions to places like Lone Pine, it was not uncommon for Blue Streak producers to “double up”—that is, shoot
two pictures at once with the same cast, thereby halving the expenses associated with location shooting (food, travel, lodging, livestock rentals, and the like). Many Universal silents shot in the Alabama Hills and nearby locales were produced in this manner. Jack Hoxie was certainly a prolific pioneer of filmmaking in the area, making at least 14 films during the period on location in Lone Pine and Death Valley for Universal. The films are Men in the Raw (1923), The Back Trail (1924), Daring Chances (1924), The Red Warning (1924), Fighting Fury (1924), The Man From Wyoming (1924), The Red Rider (1925), A Roaring Adventure (1925), The White Outlaw (1925), The Demon (1926), Six Shootin’ Romance (1926), Riding Romance (1926), Wild Horse Stampede (1926), The Rambling Ranger (1927), and Rough and Ready (1927).
LONE PINE IN THE MOVIES
Jack Hoxie comforts Marguerite Clayton while keeping Sid Jordan under control in Men in the Raw (1923), his first Universal film shot in Lone Pine.
The area’s local newspapers often carried interesting notes on these motion pictures and aspects of their production. Since many of the films themselves are lost, these brief reports frequently add minor but noteworthy details to the historical record. One 1923 story, for example, stated, “One of That’s Jack Hoxie with his brother Al (in foreground, on cliff) spying on their pursuers in Back Trail (1924).
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the largest crowds in the history of the Lone Pine Town Hall turned out to see Jack Hoxie’s production of The Man in the Raw [sic]. This picture was filmed in the vicinity of Lone Pine and Cottonwood Lakes. . . . The Lone Pine Theater will show a number of these Hoxie pictures filmed here.”
The Mt. Whitney Observer wrote about the completion of the Jack Hoxie film in its December 5, 1925 edition. “The Desperate Game, the name of Jack Hoxie’s new starring venture, is virtually completed, in spite of the several days of murky weather that prevented picture-taking of any nature.” (Desperate Game was the working title of the film Wild Horse Stampede.) “Last week considerable work was done in the canyons and at Mrs. Banks’ cabin on Diaz Lake. This week the work has included the taking of cattle scenes on Dave Holland’s ranch, and also some wild horse scenes in which approximately 250 horses were worked.” The writer then talks about some of the events involving Hoxie, director Al Rogell, and other crew, as well as locals, that give a picture of what it was like when these movies came on location. “A bit of comedy was injected into the work last week. Due to a the fact that Marin Sais [Hoxie’s real-life wife and occasional leading lady] is dressed like a man, even to a moustache in a portion of the picture, a case of mistaken identity as is so often seen actually occurred. While on horseback around the bend in the road, awaiting her cue a man rode by and stopping asked if she had a match. Miss Sais, equal
Jack Hoxie as the leader of vigilantes preparing to ambush rustlers in Red Warning (1923). Jack Hoxie mobilizes the vigilantes in the town of Lone Pine for Red Warning (1923).
to the occasion, replied that she didn’t, as she wasn’t smoking. She then rode through her scene and upon returning to the group and dismounting the man saw who it was, and in spite of his astonishment, hastily apologized.” The paper also reported that Hoxie and Rogell shot roughly 180 pounds of birds in the annual turkey shoot. “So on Thanksgiving, a big banquet was held at the chuck wagon at which were invited many local people. All expressed themselves as greatly enjoying the dinner, and speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Naffzinger made a few remarks of appreciation for the things Universal had done for Lone Pine.” A group of crew members, including production manager James Hum, went on a hunting party. The
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Above: Al Hoxie (left) starred in some minor Poverty Row silents but was more effective in support of his brother Jack, as in the Lone Pine film Back Trail (1924). Left: A nattily attired Jack Hoxie in a tame scene from Fighting Fury (1924), with the Alabama Hills as backdrop.
Opposite page: Jack Hoxie in a scene from The White Outlaw (1925), one of his few existing films shot in Lone Pine. Below, a lobby card from the same film offers a panoramic view of the Alabama Hills.
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company went to a dance at Butterfield Hall. There, the reporter relates, “Miss Fay Wray introduced the Charleston to Lone Pine.” Hoxie and Rogell each captained a baseball team that included locals. Hoxie’s team won in the morning and Rogell’s team, “after a ten inning fray,” took the afternoon game. Also: “Several reels of rushes have been shown at the Hall, displaying some splendid acting and wonderful photography. Particularly the night scenes have been unusually beautiful.” On August 7, 1926 the paper carried a story about The Red Rider, which was going to play at the Legion Hall in Independence that week. “The picture is unique in that it is the first time that an attempt has ever been made to place on the screen the Indian’s side of the story of the conflict between the red and white races in America. It tells of the inroads of the white race, of the operations of unscrupulous ‘palefaces’ in robbing the Indian of his lands.” Of another Hoxie film, an account in the paper’s May 17, 1926 edition stated, “Clever fists, a quick familiarity to ride served a young man, Jack Hoxie, well in the dangers he was to encounter and the result that he strove for was obtained in a dramatic manner in his latest Universal Western, A Roaring Adventure, coming to the Legion Hall next Monday night July 17.” The writer then informed local readers that “Some beautiful natural background was obtained in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where the exteriors were filmed.” The Inyo Independent wrote of Hoxie’s film Fighting Fury on May 29, 1926, calling it “a peculiar melodrama of mystery and adventure in the country along the border between America and Mexico with Hoxie playing the role of a young Spanish Don whose main purpose in life is to bring an end to the careers of three crooks who murdered his parents
LONE PINE IN THE MOVIES 11
Unidentified actor (possibly an extra from the town of Lone Pine) with Jack Hoxie in The Demon (1926).
twenty-five years before.” The writer added, “Scenery used in filming the picture is that around Lone Pine. For added photographic effects, the greater part of the picture, the action of which took place at nighttime, was filmed with a special filter screen, which has a marvelous power of imitating the exact light of the moon.” On March 2, 1928, it carried the following squib: “Jack Hoxie, with a company of approximately thirty, is expected to arrive in Lone Pine about the fifteenth of the month to film one of Peter B. Kyne’s famous novels.” (We have not been able to identify this film.) The account continued: “As the story deals with the old freight wagons that ran to Santa Fe, New Mexico, a hundred head of mules will be required to make the picture—so maybe some of us had better hide out until the required quota of these stubborn animals is obtained.” Of The Red Warning, the reporter posited, “Of course you all know this is the picture made in Lone
12 LO N E PINE IN THE MOVIES
Pine with Lone Pine folks doing the acting. You will be anxious to see the mugs of all the hometown guards in this picture that a twenty-mule team would not be strong enough to pull you away from the Lone Pine Hall until you’ve seen every inch of every reel. Come early and get a good seat.” Joy Anderson, daughter of local rancher Russ Spainhower, as a young girl met Hoxie several times— at least partially because her dad was always working with the movie companies. “I remember Jack Hoxie first,” she recalled for Lone Pine in the Movies before her recent death. “We saw more of him because of the eating facilities. A lot of the props and the extra horses were put up there at the ‘Old Place’ (where the Spainhower, Boyer and other families lived, behind the Museum down a road now named after Hopalong Cassidy). The corrals provided room for the extra horses. He called me ‘Sweetheart.’ I was pretty quiet. Sis was called ‘Miss Quack,’ because she was always talking in the background. When we would see
them come in, Jack Hoxie would ask ‘How’s my little sweetheart?’ ” If Hoxie was on location in Lone Pine the most, William Wyler (then at the inauspicious beginning of his long and illustrious career as a director), Fred Humes and Fred Gilman returned the next most frequently. The story begins with Wyler, a cousin to Universal president Carl Laemmle, coming to the studio in February 1922 when it was “still an open-air circus on the outskirts of Los Angeles,” as Jan Herman writes in his article “William Wyler: Early days at Universal,” published in Griffithiana 51/52 (October 1994). Wyler’s success lay ahead of him, because he started as he recalled as an errand boy. “Because of feckless attraction to motorcycle, gambling and pretty actresses,” wrote Herman, “everyone on the studio lot knew him as ‘Worthless Willy,’ a nickname coined by Universal’s condescending This striking portrait of Hoxie and his horse Scout comes from The Demon (1926). production chief, Irving Thalberg.” Eventually Wyler would overcome the nickname and reputation to Thalberg railed against what he felt was the become one of the most lauded and successful film low quality of Universal’s output and Laemmle’s directors. adherence to the concept of a “balanced” program As he did with so many relatives, Carl Laemmle of serials, short subjects, and inexpensive features. gave his cousin the job but few actually spoke to He believed—rightly—that Universal needed to the young Wyler. He had to earn his way and “pay concentrate on producing more expensive feature his dues” as it were. He got early experience on films to grow with the industry and remain a Universal’s classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame formidable competitor. When Laemmle balked at (1923) as an assistant to the Assistant Director. His implementing such changes and began secondjob was mobilizing a group of extras in crowd scenes guessing Thalberg’s decisions, the ambitious young taking place in the Notre Dame plaza. executive defected to Louis B. Mayer’s M-G-M.
LONE PINE IN THE MOVIES 13
He had the last word without actually saying it: Laemmle saw profits dropping in 1924 and stepped up production of Jewels. But Uncle Carl refused to jettison the balanced-program concept and the company continued pumping out formulaic Westerns for the masses. It was during this tumultuous period in Universal history that Wyler got his opportunity to become a “full” director after a couple years toiling as an assistant. Since Universal’s Mustang and Blue Streak Westerns were cheap and plentiful, they were great training grounds for directors: If one turned out bad, it made little difference, since the series were sold in blocks. The financial downside to making a stinker was therefore minimal. But working fast and with little money forced tyros to learn their craft or fall by the wayside. The directors with talent survived, Hoxie in the Alabama Hills for A Six-Shootin’ Romance (1926).
and some of them graduated to more expensive, prestigious films. Of the Westerns he directed in his salad days for Universal, Wyler had this to say to film historian Kevin Brownlow: “They were all very elementary stories. They’d start with action, finish with action and have some action in the middle. There was very little time for plots or characterization or anything like that. You’d have a little love story, but mostly villains, heroes, a sheriff or some other complication.” His initial experience behind the megaphone was obtained while covering for director William Craft when the latter would skip out for an afternoon. During this period Wyler also served as assistant director to William Crinley. They went on location to Lone Pine, which was fast becoming a favorite Western location.
“In June 1925, Crinley and Wyler and a company of roughly 20 players spent several weeks in Lone Pine making two Mustang ‘stunt thrillers’ starring Fred Humes,” wrote Jan Herman. “Although many Universal companies had come there before, this was the first time for both Crinley sand Wyler.” The Crinley production unit apparently shot in the Alabama Hills and out on the flats across the Owens River. Neither picture was named by the newspapers that noted such productions at the time. But in all likelihood they were Taking Chances and The Gold Trap, each released before the end of the year. Axel Madsen in his authorized biography on Wyler describes the process for making this series of films. “The actors were cowboys, but considered stars and although the pictures had a lot of action, Two more scenes from A Six-Shootin’ Romance (1926), which paired Hoxie with frequent co-star Olive Hasbrouck.
LONE PINE IN THE MOVIES 15
Jack Hoxie and his canine companion have just rescued this baby in The Ramblin’ Ranger (1927).
there was room for character development and for plot. Nothing elaborate was attempted—lights were never used outdoors, only reflectors which also served as the leading lady’s folding screens when she changed costumes. . . . Production manager Martin Murphy was there to keep the lid on expenses, always trying to cut down on the posse from eight cowboys ($7.50 each per day) to six or from five to four. Going on location meant living two or three to a room in claptrap hotels, but going out of town added ‘production values’ to the film.” Madsen even references a time that “Willie” (Wyler) staged a whole sequence complete with stagecoach and badmen riding up during the ten minutes the train was at the Lone Pine depot. Of the Mustang two-reelers, author Jan Herman quotes Wyler as saying, “It was a hell of a good school for learning the elementary fundamentals of
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making films, which lie in movement. Movies are not stills. They are movement. And those Westerns—all routine elementary stories—had to move.” This was followed by a very prolific period of time for the director. He would make 15 two-reelers in a row, averaging one a week and ending this explosion of film at the end of October, 1926. Two films are of interest for us: Square Shooter and Horse Trader as they were both made in Lone Pine during this period. This was unusual since general he worked back home at the Universal Ranch. Some 135 Mustang two-reelers were made between 1925 and 1927 by just four directors, Wyler being one. He eventually graduated to five revelers. On May 13, 1927, while his previous Western was being beaten up and ridiculed by critics, Wyler started on a film called Smiling Sam. Upon release it was retitled Blazing Days. This was a step up for
Wyler because it starred Fred Humes, Universal’s number-two cowboy star after Hoot Gibson. It also starred Ena Gregory, just 18 when she made this film, having emigrated from Australia with her mother six years before. Gregory later remembered, “Wyler was all business. He didn’t josh around. He was definitely the director in charge of everything. He wasn’t tough, but he was serious.” In recent years the Lone Pine Film History Museum has recovered a copy of Blazing Days, and the long-held assumption that this film was shot in the Alabama Hills has proven untrue. Still, it appears to have been made in the general area. Either way, the critics were not impressed. On June 24, just before his 24th birthday, Wyler started on his tenth film and second feature. Its working title was True Blue but it was released as The Stolen Ranch. Fortunately, this film survives and turns out to have many things that make it special to a Lone Pine audience. A real rarity, a silent film shot in and Humes framed by the Sierra foothills in Blazing Days.
Fred Humes gets the drop on Bruce Gordon in Blazing Days (1927).
Top: Cast and crew on location for The Stolen Ranch (1927). Leading lady Louise Lorraine seated at left in overalls; director William Wyler (with hat) seated at right; Fred Humes stands next to Wyler. Bottom: Humes (right) with unidentified player in Arizona Cyclone (1928).
around the Lubken Ranch, Stolen Ranch was another starring vehicle for the charming cowboy actor Fred Humes. After you have seen one of his smiles on the screen in this film, you’ll see that the word “charming” is not an exaggeration. The film is somewhat different from other Westerns of the time. It has a bad man who has stolen a ranch, but the themes revolve around the damage
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war causes soldiers and how their communities must help them recover. The emphasis is less on gunplay than ranch life, and the famous rocks are only glimpsed occasionally. It is a Blue Streak Western with a story by Robert F. Hill, one of Universal’s true workhorses during the silent era. The plot revolves around two veterans—one suffering from shell shock—who return from World War I, only to discover that the family ranch has been claimed by a thief. Wyler of course would return to the theme of soldiers’ civilian lives after combat: His 1946 classic, The Best Years Of Our Lives, told of three servicemen similarly trying to adjust to civilian life after World War II; it was showered with a stunning seven Oscars. The two leads in Stolen Ranch—both older than their young director, age 23—were Fred Humes and Louise Lorraine. A corporal in the Great War, Humes was then a friend of Hoot Gibson, Universal’s reigning Western star. They were similar types, and both emphasized comedy. Humes, however, was one
of many who failed to survive the advent of talking pictures. After several years working as a stunt double, bit player, and stand-in, Humes gave up movies in 1936, became a miner, and died a dementia victim at age 74 in 1971. Miss Lorraine was a former “Wampus Baby Star,” a petite, durable heroine of silent serials and the second actress to play “Jane” to Elmo Lincoln’s “Tarzan.” Lorraine was then married to yet another Universal cowboy star, Art Acord. She left movies before Humes did, and died in 1981 in her eighties. While not documentary in style, The Stolen Ranch provides a glimpse into what ranch life must have been like in the 1920’s in the area. The Lubken Ranch house burned and was replaced by a house that is located on the site today. The ranch is for sale and was highlighted in a recent Los Angeles Times article. The film also shows the beautiful locations and the famous outcropping of rock out in the pasture that was used in Tom Mix’s version of Riders of the Purple Sage, filmed two years before. Fred Humes puts up a whale of a scrap in Rider of the Pass (1925), one of his early Universal two-reelers. Herman quotes Wyler, “The only way we could get up to Lone Pine was to make two pictures at the same cabin and coming out of the cabin. We’ll shoot the time because everyone had to be fed, the hotel bill rest at the studio.” paid and so on. Well, we had some bad weather, and This kind of challenge would pop up again and I was a day behind schedule and the studio called again in Lone Pine over the years, and directors and said, ‘Come home tonight.’ I needed another day resorted to various strategies knowing how to finish, because everything wads around a cabin impressive Lone Pine locations were. that was out there on a beautiful location with the Wyler continued with his recollection: “Well, I mountains in the background. I couldn’t possibly hadn’t worked out the plot. I’d changed the script. leave it. They said, ‘Shoot them all going into the In those days we were allowed to change things any
LONE PINE IN THE MOVIES 19
way we wanted as long as the action kept going. So I got the villains and the hero to come riding in fast, single, double, from one direction, from the other direction. I got them coming out of the cabin, shot up, crawling, riding fast, with the girl, without the girl, rescued, not rescued. That way I could make up anything I wanted to on the following day when we didn’t know what we were going to shoot inside the cabin. We had all the entrances and all the exits in every possible combination.” During the period nearly ten other films made it to the Lone Pine area under the direction of Universal Pictures. Hoot Gibson who lasted a long time in talkies was here in five Universal silent pictures: The Ridin’ Kid from Powder River (1924), Hey! Hey! Cowboy (1927), Clearing the Trail (1928), The Silent Rider (1928), and Points West (1929). Ridin’ Kid was here in June 1924 and was well covered in the Big Pine Citizen, sister paper of the Mt. Whitney Observer. With the headline “Movies Active in Alabamas,” the reporter wrote, “The Hoot Gibson-Ed Sedgwick Picture Company are here on the ground and shooting many feet of film every day. The weather conditions have been ideal all week and a great amount of good work has been accomplished.” We learn some of the content of the film: “Indian fights, covered wagons and many pother interesting things come into the making of this picture which when finished will be, if not the best, one of the very best productions ever turned out by Mr. Gibson.” There were over 75 people on location and the reporter listed many of the stars before writing this surprisingly poetic passage: “Mr. Ed Sedgwick is directing, and as the picture progresses and he sees more of the country and the wonderful possibilities for picture production in and about Lone Pine brings forth his unqualified praise; and whether working or not Hoot is always on location, seeking high places where his eyes can wander out over the thousand years of sage to the great grey desert with the many purple ranges fading into the dim east.” The unnamed reporter noted that 12 carpenters had been brought in to build the set for the film and then departed. “That they did their work well can be proven to any one who will ride up Lone Pine canyon, to the Old Ruiz ranch where a village has been erected, old, fire-scared [sic] and storm twisted, the greyness of time covering everything.
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The new material and can be taken and made over to represent in a few days what it takes nature fifty years to do indicates to one what a large part art has in the making of a picture.” This report alluded to the fact that when Universal came on location they tried to employ a lot of local residents in various positions. “A great many local people are employed to furnish atmosphere and play minor parts in this production. Al Gallaher is assisting Tenny Wright of the company to find suitable locations and hire the extras.” Often mention was made of locals employed in films when they came to be screened at the Legion Hall in Independence but the paper of May 16, 1926 made no mention of that but gave a good summary of the plot. “Hoot has the part of a young man who has grown up in the cattle country, and who, since youth has lived for one thing alone, and that is to avenge the only one person from whom he can remember having received kind treatment. The old man’s death came one night in a fight against great odds—a band of cowboys who had threatened the nester, as they termed him, in vain, and finally resorted to ambuscade and murdered him.” The Mt Whitney Observer, Lone Pine’s own paper that published for a decade or so, carried in its Friday, February 18, 1927 edition a story titled, “Lone Pine Grows in Favor as Picture Filming Place.” The reporter talked to three visiting film writers about filming locally. One of them was Ernest Laemmle, a nephew of Uncle Carl’s. (By the way, part of the Laemmle family settled here and there are family members still living in Darwin and were in Lone Pine until recently.) But the reporter primarily spoke with Charles Logue. “Lone Pine is fast becoming the favorite background for the world as an ideal location for the filming of motion pictures where mountain scenic beauties are a factor, according to a statement made by Charles Logue, one of the trio of story writers for the screen who are staying at the Dow Hotel the past few days while working on a story amid surroundings where they find inspiration.” He continues, “Eastern theater managers are demanding more and more Western pictures with fine settings, just such as are found here and nowhere else . . . and Mr. Logue predicts a great future in store for this section from this industry alone, to say
Fred Humes delivers a knockout punch in this exciting scene from Rider of the Pass, on which William Wyler was assistant director.
nothing of the great possibilities of increased tourist business.” He goes on to quote Logue as saying that they formerly would go to Truckee to make their Alaska pictures, but now they will come up to the Owens Valley. “Mammoth is a fine location for snow scenes. When the road from Lone Pine to the Cottonwood Lakes is built, there will be another ideal section for snow pictures.” (Note: This road was never built, nor were the many other trans-Sierra routes proposed over the years.) Continuing the Observer piece: “It is gratifying to residents of Lone Pine that three writers should prefer
to remain in our town to do their work. They admit that the good hotel is one factor that influences them to stay.” The story finishes by pointing out Laemmle had been here five times already, specifically for The Sunset Trail, a 1924 feature starring William Desmond. The Sunset Trail apparently was quite popular and played in the valley in November 1924 and again May 1926. The reason for the double engagement may have been that so many locals were in the film. The Observer stated, “The picture story is an adaptation of Henry Herbert Knibbs’s Overland Red, and in fact that was the name the film carried when it was
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Hoot Gibson (center) confronts Tully Marshall while Walter Long watches in The Ridin’ Kid from Powder River (1924).
filming locally. It tells the interesting adventures and romance, of a carefree hobo of the desert country. William Desmond has this role and Gareth Hughes plays a young hobo just learning the ropes and traveling more for his health than his pleasure. . . . The Lone Pine country and the Mojave desert were the background used in filming the picture. The players were on location near Lone Pine when the Los Angeles Aqueduct was dynamited.” However the paper carried a review in the form of a news article that showed the unnamed writer’s disappointment with the film. Since it is likely that this particular movie will never be seen again, his opinions tell us much about the filming and the final product. “The Sunset Trail was a well made picture and proved that the hottest desert as well as the most
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inviting mountain scenes could be taken in and around Lone Pine with true realism. Many of the desert scenes looked so stifling that it was hard for some people to imagine they were taken within two or three miles of Lone Pine. “The Sunset Trail illustrated the enormous waste of time and money attached to the movies by scenes shot that do not appear in the final story. For instance, the scene taken at the Trinity Church, which require practically the entire day to film and in which a great number of local people appeared was not even shown on the screen in any form whatever. However, the photoplay started off good as far as home talent was concerned. Among the most prominent at the beginning were Mr. and Mrs. Dave Holland, Will Plunked, and Wm. Skinner. The latter knows how
That’s Hoot Gibson being dragged through the town of Lone Pine in Hey! Hey! Cowboy (1927).
it feels to be knocked down by a movie star as he portrayed the part of the train brakeman who was floored by Wm. Desmond. Other scenes included the front of the Skinner Store, Lone Pine Rooming House, Post Office and a view of Main Street in general.” A story in the August 20, 1926 Observer noted “Local Scenes and People in recent Motion Picture.” Referring to a screening of the completed film, the reporter stated: “Chasing Trouble, featuring Pete Morrison [a former wrangler and minor Universal star], shown at the Lone Pine Hall last Friday evening was an especial treat, due to the fact that from the very opening scene practically the entire picture was taken here and also included ‘shots’ of local people that brought rounds of applause. The majority of the scenes were on the Lubken Ranch and the area back of the Alabamas, while Lone Pine depicted the town of Paradise in the movie, and Burkhart’s pool room and Edward’s store were the location for many
of the scenes. Henry Olives was one of the villainous villains, as well as Charles Domino. R. B [Russ] Spainhower played a role likewise, but was a trifle more civilized.” We conclude these recollections of early Universal films on location in Lone Pine with a few brief notes culled from the area newspapers. The Western Rover (1927) starred Art Acord is one of the last films he made for Universal and was directed by the ever-reliable Albert Rogell. More interesting were two Ted Wells starring vehicles made in Lone Pine end of March of 1927. The Clean-Up Man finished on Sunday, and as reported in the April 1st paper. There were 28 in the cast and crew, and the picture starred Peggy O’Dea as well, and was directed by Ray Taylor. “Lee Haines, local first aid to the movies, worked with them. The principle scenes were taken up Lone Pine Canyon. Some village scenes were shot in town Sunday. . . . None of the names in this company are known to
LONE PINE IN THE MOVIES 23
Hoot Gibson gets a piece of cake from pretty Blanche Mehaffey in this scene from The Silent Rider (1927) actually shot outside one of the buildings in the town of Lone Pine.
our people.” Russ Spainhower helped with locations and livestock “as he usually does with all the film companies that come here.” On June 3, the paper reported William Wyler was back with 32 members of the Ted Wells Universal Company with Thunder Riders, a five-reel Blue Streak Western. “Most of the members of the company have been ion Lone Pine before, and many of them on more than one occasion.” The reporter was keeping tabs on Wyler’s progress in the movie business. “Wm. Wyler has directed a number of Westerners here, and Thunder Riders is the final of a series of six features he has just completed. Following this picture, Mr. Wyler will be elevated to the ranks of Super-Jewel production for
24 LO N E PINE IN THE MOVIES
Universal, and his next picture will be a costly one with an allstar cast.” Additional company news from the story: “Mr. Wyler is assisted by Law Collins, who is also acting as business manager. Mr. Collins directed a number of two-reel pictures here a short time back, and has acted as assistant director and business manager for a number of other companies that have been on location in Lone Pine. Mr. Collins will again assume the directorial reigns for Universal upon completion of this picture. Mr. Jack Kelley is acting as assistant to Mr. Collins. Ted Wells, the star, has largely supplanted Art Acord and Jack Hoxie in Universal ranks, and has proven even more popular in his roles.” There is one final note about Ken Maynard working in the area. He was in Lone Pine for ten days finishing a picture to be called The Wagon Master. The paper notes, “Most of the shots were taken in the Alabama Hills although two days were spent at the Dry Lakes east of the depot.” As always, the paper listed local people involved in the production. This film is noted for being the first sound film to have a cowboy singing, and it was in Lone Pine. But that’s a story for Richard W. Bann to tell elsewhere in this issue. . . . ☐☐☐