Those Were The Days: Movies come to Skyland – Part 3

By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY

Historian

The Skyland area of Crestline is almost unknown today. However, in the 1890s through the early days of the 20th century, Skyland was the center of camping and resort activity. Skyland is south of Crest Forest Drive, east of “Top Town” Crestline.

The silent movie era brought many film companies and their famous stars to the mountains. The mountains around Skyland became a popular place to shoot movies, beginning in 1911, as the area had good weather, bright sunlight (because artificial lights weren’t used), varied terrains, was not too far from Hollywood, had nearby telephone service, and great lodging was available at both the Skyland Inn, The Squirrel Inn and Pinecrest Camp.

Leo Maloney was a winsome western movie star who had his own movie production company which made “off-beat” western comedies. Several were filmed in the Skyland area in the early 1920s.

Leo Maloney’s Skyland Productions had big plans. Maloney liked the Skyland area so much, his production company purchased several additional acres of the western portion of Huston Flat in 1926 and spent a purported $100,000 to build a “permanent western façade town with 50 buildings” as his movie studio. The studio had its own lake and stream and herd of horses. He began filming around Easter of 1926.

He intended to have year-round productions, employing 35 fulltime actors and crew, producing movies taking advantage of the four seasons. At least 18 movies were shot at the studio during the silent movie era.

The Leo D. Maloney Production Company made many movies, starring him there. With his partner, writer Ford Beebe, the first movie filmed was The High Hand, released on September 12, 1926, with Maloney in the starring role as Sandy Sands. The character he portrayed was that of a winsome cowboy, and he was known for offbeat comedic westerns. Other movies Maloney made in Crestline include Outlaw Express and Long Loop of the Pecos.

The buildings in Maloney’s western town set were mostly old west era, false front buildings. At the blacksmith shop building, they actually did shoe horses there but, because the forge did not work, they brought in prefabricated horseshoes.

The set was built on the south side of where Lake Drive in Crestline is now, just east of where Alder Lane is located. The movie town jail was situated across from where the Stockade is now, on the north side of what is now Lake Drive. West of the jail was where Leo Maloney had the caretaker live in a small cabin. The “modern” commissary with a kitchen and dining area and living quarters for the crew was located where the Crestline post office is today.

A false front barn, which stored a stage coach and oats and hay for the horses, was at the corner where B & L Liquor is today. Next to the blacksmith shop was a harness and saddle shop, and down the path was the general store and, of course, a saloon was across from the general store on the north side.

The Maloney western set, since it was leased out to other movie studios and production companies, had at least 18 movies produced there. Most were two-reel, silent movies, which took about two to three weeks to shoot. Several of those other movies shot there, such as Don Desperado, starred the popular Bullets, the Wonder Dog.

Some of the other producers to use the old west town were Yakima Knutte and Bob Custers. The actor Hoot Gibson shot several movies at Maloney’s set. Those movies, like the set, are now only memories of a bygone era. Plus, unfortunately, most of the movies, which lasted 15 to 20 minutes to watch in the theater, from this era of filming have been lost and disintegrated into dust.

The release of The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson in 1927 as the first sound movie, after Sunrise with Janet Gaynor, which had been filmed in Lake Arrowhead and was considered the first talkie, spelled the end of silent movies. Maloney was a famous star and was living the Hollywood movie star lifestyle, which included lots of drinking (despite prohibition), leading to his alcoholism.

Leo Maloney had two more movies on the schedule when the Pathe Picture Corporation (which distributed Maloney Production movies) went bankrupt. He was confident he could successfully make the transition to sound. He continued to act, produce and film.

Maloney had filmed his first talkie and was in New York City in 1929 to promote and get a distributer for that movie. It was poor timing as it was the week the stock market fell. He also died that next week on Nov. 2, 1929, from alcoholism, never getting the opportunity to become a household name like contemporaries such as Hoot Gibson.

Actors and movie industry people enjoyed the scenic and natural beauty of the Skyland area, so many of them bought vacation cabins there. Bela Lugosi had a cabin on Venus Way in the Skyland area. Since he came to the mountains to relax, he stayed close to his cabin. He loved nature and enjoyed his fabulous Skyland area view of the forest and the valley below. Other stars choose other parts of the Crestline area for get-aways; Clara Bow’s vacation hideaway was in current day Valley of Enchantment.

Next week: the change and development of Skyland from a camp, resort and movie set location into vacation homes by developers Ramsay and Mann.