bjgreen
By Betsy J. Green
The American Film Company, the “Flying A,” settled in Santa Barbara in 1912, but other silent movie studios filmed here before that. In fact, movies made by other film companies might have inspired the “Flying A” to move here.
In 1911, the Selig Polyscope studio filmed here, probably to use one or more of our adobe homes. I asked local adobe expert, John Woodward, about the adobe in the photo. He told me that it might be the Nicholas Den adobe on La Patera Lane in Goleta.
The movie’s title is “In Old California When the Gringoes Came.” It takes place during the late 1840s when California became part of the United States, and concerns the story of an unscrupulous American guy who is trying to cheat a Spanish family of their estate.
A Mission padre gets involved, so some scenes might have been filmed outside the mission. At the end of the movie, the bad guy is killed, and the 10-minute movie has a happy ending.
This movie may have been filmed at the same time that “The New Faith” was filmed at one of the million-dollar mansions in Montecito. That movie was also made by Selig Polyscope in 1911, and shared the same leading actor – Hobart Bosworth.
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 .
