This morning we all went to breakfast at the Alabama Cafe (the hills in front of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range are called the Alambama Hills). We had a great breakfast and then four of us went to the Lone Pine Film Museum. We watched a 15 minute movie and we could not believe how many movies were made here. They started making films here in 1920, beginning with the old "silent" westerns. Such westerns as Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne were made. They have made more than 300 films here. Other familiar names filmed here such as: Clint Eastwood, Jack Palance, Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Gregory Peck, Spencer Tracy, Alan Ladd, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon and Natilie Wood, just to name a few.
Actually the Alabama Hills, the Sierra Nevadas and the Owens Valley are still being used in movies and countless car commercials. Such as scenes for the Academy Award-winning "Gladiator", Disney's "Dinosaur", "G.I. Jane" with Demi Moore, "Maverick" with Mel Gibson and "The Shadow" with Alec Baldwin were shot in the Alabama Hills. Star Trek 5 and the Tremor movies were also made here. The most recent movies were Iron Man in 2008 and Transformer 2 in 2009. And for good reason. The natural scenery remains unspoiled and unchanged since that first film in 1920, a silent Western for Paramount called "The Round Up" with Fatty Arbuckle.
This afternoon we went out into the area where many of the films were made. You drive down "Movie Road" a very nice dirt road and they tell you where some of the movies were made. The film makers left no sign of where they filmed (nothing was left behind) but some of the spots were recognizable. There is also an arch that is about 1/4 mile hike from the road that you can see Mt. Whitney through. The six of us Jay and Lucy, Mike and Sandy, and Ted and I hiked back there. The area is pretty amazing!
A fun day in Lone Pine..."Ain't Life Grand!"
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