By Betsy J. Green
Betty Harte starred in an early silent movie filmed in Montecito. She was born on May 13, 1882. Harte had the leading female role in “The New Faith,” a religious movie filmed at the Gillespie estate in Montecito in 1911. (Both she and her co-star die at the end of this movie, so one wonders how well this movie was received.)
“This is a story of a Roman noble … who was converted to the Christian faith by one of his slave girls, and who suffered martyrdom.” – Moving Picture World (New York, New York), July 15, 1911
Betsy’s Way Back When book — Movies & Million-Dollar Mansions — is now available in local bookstores and at Amazon.com. This is the seventh book in her series on the history of Santa Barbara. Learn more at .