bjgreen
By Betsy J. Green
Misunderstandings between film folks and Santa Barbara residents started even before the “Flying A” settled here in 1912. The Essanay film company was filming here for several months in 1910, and accidentally caused some trouble.
A couple of local tavern owners mistakenly thought that the Essanay film company was making an anti-liquor documentary when they were actually making a comedy called “Method in His Madness.” The movie scene involved a man who fainted outside a saloon and then was given a drink to recover. “Some of the saloon men and their friends thought the motion picture company was trying to bring disgrace to the city by picturing a drunken brawl with a liquor house for the background.” – Santa Barbara Morning Press, January 26, 1910
One of the protesting saloon owners then stole a piece of the motion picture camera. Finally, the mayor and the chief of police stepped in and prevented the conflict from escalating into open warfare, and the film company promised to avoid making movies in front of the saloon.
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 .
