Catalina Island's Silent History
Jeannine Pedersen
Curator of Collections, Catalina Island Museum

Santa Catalina Island has served as the location for the filming of over 500 motion pictures, documentaries, television programs and commercials for the past 90 years. Approximately 300 motion pictures have been filmed on the Island and, interestingly, 135 of the films were produced between 1912 and 1928, the Silent Film Era. During the 16 years of silent film production, many notable directors and actors frequented the Island and produced many classic films, such as Treasure Island (1918), Male and Female (1919), Ten Commandments (1923), Ben Hur (1925), Old Ironsides (1926) and The Black Pirate (1926) to name a few.

D.W. Griffith was one of the first directors to film on the Island. His feature Man's Genesis was filmed on the Island in 1912. Many of the large studios followed Griffith's lead and began utilizing the Island, primarily the Isthmus, as the backdrop of their films. Universal, Lasky Film Corporation, Paramount, Fox, Metro-Goldwyn, and United Artists were among the many production companies. Lasky Film Corporation filmed over 15 motion pictures on the Island between 1915 and 1928. Metro-Goldwyn (MGM) filmed 13 motion pictures between 1918 and 1927, while Fox filmed 11 between 1916 and 1927.

One may wonder why so many production companies flocked to the Island during this period and the answer is quite simple. The Island's unique natural beauty and accessibility were the major factors. Production crews and sets could be sent to the Island by barge and the vast, untouched mountains and beaches could be transformed into almost any place in the world, from a South Seas paradise to the American frontier. Today, it is much more convenient to fly a production staff and actors to Tahiti to film a scene. But during the age of silent film, Santa Catalina Island was as close as you could get to Tahiti or any other part of the world, including - as in the case of the classic Old Ironsides - the coast of North Africa.

In a letter dated May 4, 1926 a crewmember of the Lasky Film Corporation describes the location of the film Old Ironsides to a friend. The letter reads.

"We are located at the Isthmus, Catalina Island fourteen miles by water and twenty six miles by auto from Avalon, the chief port. This is an ideal location for the production of this big picture, "The Old Ironsides." The hills all about here are in their different shaded coats of green, and mingled with all varieties of wild flowers, the Isthmus has a beautiful dark blue bay on each side of it, a great asset for the set of this picture.

The West side of the Isthmus has a large Tripolitan fort, and the bay full of old wooden sailing vessels along with the double for the Old Constitution of the early American Navy. It is a romantic sight to see this large ship with sails all set flowing in the breeze.

The estimated cost of the production of this picture will be three and a half million dollars, Esther Ralston, Charles Farrell, George Bancroft and Wallace Berry are playing the leading parts.."

Film production on Catalina has brought many celebrities and directors to the Island over the years and has immortalized the Island on the silver screen, but one interesting and lasting impression of this unique history was the introduction of the North American Bison. An article published in The Catalina Islander on December 24, 1924 titled "Fourteen Buffalo Are Free on Catalina Island" announced the arrival of the bison. The article reads..

It is quite a unique experience to see a herd of buffalo, fourteen of them, on Catalina Island. But such is now the case when one ventures to the West end.

Mr. Tom White, who is connected with the Lasky Film Corporation of Hollywood, shipped the animals to the Isthmus last week, and they were later turned loose to browse on the hillsides west of the Isthmus. The animals were shipped to Catalina Harbor in separate crates, slowly herded by Mr. Arnold Gillatt, and driven over to the location where they will spend the winter.

It is quite possible that the Lasky Film Company will use the buffalo in a picture during the coming spring. Several of the animals weigh 1,500 pounds each.

Many believe that the bison were brought to the Island for the production of The Vanishing American, the film version of Zane Grey's classic novel, released by the Lasky Film Corporation in 1925. However, in watching the film it appears that it was not filmed on Catalina Island. Perhaps the Island scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, but nonetheless a herd of North American Bison has been roaming the hills of Catalina since December of 1924.

The age of silent film can be revisited on Saturday, June 21, 2003 at 1pm at the 16th Annual Silent Film Benefit in the Avalon Theatre hosted by the Catalina Island Museum. This year's feature is Sparrows starring Mary Pickford with organ accompaniment by Robert D. Salisbury.