Lone Pine is Hollywood's Western Movie Set
California Film Festival Celebrates Western Movies
Sep 10, 2009
Here, at the foothills of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in North America, hundreds of movies have been shot. Still, passenger arriving in the International Terminal of the Los Angeles airport have been greeted for years by the gigantic panoramic photo wall advertising the best known movie location in California – Alabama Hills above Lone Pine.
Annual Lone Pine film Festival
The Annual Lone Pine Film Festival is always a popular draw. It celebrates the timeless movie classics, and the history of movie making in California.
So, the stars come – and big ones. Among dozens of big names, Ann Rutherford says she was “more than happy to visit this beautiful place again.” She didn’t just co-star in western classics such as “The Oregon Trail” shot in Lone Pine – but is one of the stars in probably the most famous movie of all times: Gone With the Wind.
During the festival, the still beautiful and charming Dana Wynter entertained audiences with her Lone Pine anecdotes. She enjoyed very much acting in westerns such as Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Rockford Files, and others. However, her only qualm at that time was having to wear blue jeans she considered too tight and too uncomfortable.
Top Lone Pine Event is Annual "Panel of stars"
One of the best-attended events, of course, is the highly advertised “Panel of the Stars”. Who wouldn't want to see and hear Morgan Woodward (How the West Was Won), Andrew Prine (The Marshall’s Boy), Donna Martell (Hills of Utah), Richard Anderson (The Six Million Dollar Man) in person?
The favorite “bad guy” of the western movies in the 50’s and 60’s, George Keymas, loves to be identified with two western classics filmed in Lone Pine. “And it does not bother me that I started as a B-actor in B-movies at all,” he told his audience.
Westerns Are in Again
Western movies might not be fashionable, but millions of people all around the world still love them. As some of the star panelists at the film festival expressed, the “Western Channel” is the best proof for that. Therefore, nobody was surprised at the long lines at the festival box office.
Breathtaking Alabama Hills
Highly informative and entertaining were bus tours to the actual locations where these movies were shot. Many of the visitors were surprised that the locations of so many famous movie “still look the same after decades.” The festival organizers did an excellent job in placing still pictures of the movies exactly where cameras would have been positioned when shooting the movie.
Most of the visitors from all over the US and abroad were virtually astonished by the sheer beauty of the Alabama Hills. With Mount Whitney as backdrop, it is surely of one the most gorgeous places on earth. It is no wonder Hollywood’s location scouts took advantage of that.
Lone Pine Film Museum
Many visitors were highly excited about the new “Beverly and Jim Rogers Museum of Lone Pine Film History”. The Inaugural Opening took place during the festival with a cocktail party and inaugural dinner with the stars who made Lone Pine famous. This culmination of decades-long efforts by Lone Pine residents and officials to build a large movie history museum is considered a major accomplishment. This will surely boost the tourism business in this High Sierra town.
Cheryl Rogers Barnett, daughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, introduced her new book “The All-American Cowboy Girl” in Lone Pine. Her publication is full of fascinating anecdotes from and about many western movie heroes. Rogers Barnett serves on the Board of the new Museum.
Not just Western Movies
Lone Pine and its fascinating landscape is emblematic of America’s movie history. The Alabama Hills for years served as a depiction of America’s West in movies shown around the world. And it wasn't just westerns shot here. Many producers of science fiction and other movie genres took advantage of the uniqueness of this place. The Lone Pine Film Festival is preserving the memory of this work for generations to come.
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