Beatriz Michelena: Pioneer Latina Film Star
By Laurie Thompson
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’d like to shine a spotlight on pioneer Latina film star, Beatriz Michelena (1890–1942).
The actress who was to become the California Motion Picture Corporation’s leading lady and a local star in San Rafael, California, was Beatriz Michelena, born on February 22, 1890 in New York City.
Her father was Fernando Michelena, a Venezuelan-born tenor, who tutored Beatriz and her sister Vera in singing and acting from their earliest years. Beatriz’ mother, Frances Lenord Michelena, had been a Vaudeville & comic-opera star before her marriage to Fernando in 1886. Both Beatriz and her older sister, Vera, inherited and cultivated the combined theatrical talents of their parents and entered show business when they were quite young. In 1902, they both signed contracts with the “Princess Chic Opera Company.”
In 1904 at the young age of 14, Beatriz played the leading role in “Peggy from Paris,” produced by Henry W. Savage, a production which traveled to venues across the country. At the time she was using the stage name of “Beatrice Bronte.”
In 1907 at age 17 when Beatriz married San Francisco automobile dealer George Middleton, she was already a well-known soprano and theatrical star. George Middleton was the manager of the Middleton Motor Car Company and son of prominent California businessman Charles S. Middleton. Through the Middleton family, Beatriz was introduced to San Francisco’s social set. Later, George Middleton was to play a key role in the California Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC), a Northern California-based silent film studio, where Beatriz was to become a star.
The California Motion Picture Corporation was the brainchild of Herbert Payne, a lawyer & heir to a mining fortune. On September 17, 1913, articles of incorporation for one million dollars were filed for the California Motion Picture Corporation, with Payne as president and with 12 of his capitalist friends, including two of his brothers, as directors. The San Francisco Call characterized the newly formed company as the “millionaires’ motion picture corporation.” One week later, Payne took a 500-mile road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles during which he made a film of the California Missions for the Portola Festival. This and other films made for that Festival were used to promote the Panama Pacific International Exposition which would open in 1915.
When CMPC executives decided to build a state of the art Motion Picture Studio, San Rafael was chosen as the ideal spot. A March 26, 1914 Marin Journal piece noted that: “…the California Motion Picture Corporation, declares the light and atmospheric conditions at San Rafael ideal for camera work.” Their San Rafael studios were originally bounded by Forbes and 5th Avenues and J and K streets. The whole site comprised about 10 acres and included about eight buildings including a large glass-enclosed stage, a film laboratory, dressing rooms, a carpenter shop, employee lunch room and a brick vault to store their films.
When the CMPC decided to move from making advertisements and newsreels to feature-length films, they engaged William Nigh to be the director. William Nigh and Lucius Henderson directed the CMPC’s first feature, “Salomy Jane,” starring Beatriz Michelena in the title role. Beatriz’ husband, George Middleton, may have also had a hand in directing “Salomy Jane” though he isn’t mentioned in the credits.
“Salomy Jane” was the first feature-length film (6 reels) released by the CMPC and by all accounts, one of their best. It premiered before a private audience on October 8, 1914 at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. A 1914 article by the motion picture trade journal Motography called “Salomy Jane” a “masterpiece” and stated:
“There is not a dull moment in its entire six reels. Stories of the California pioneers, the men who answered the call of gold in ’49, are as fascinating today as ever.”
Based on a short story by Bret Harte and a screenplay by Paul Armstrong, “Salomy Jane” tells the story of a beautiful young woman –played by Beatriz Michelena- who is saved from a ruffian by an heroic stranger — played by British actor House Peters — whom she later helps to rescue from a lynch mob and with whom –of course — she falls in love. One of the California Motion Picture Corporation’s missions was to feature California history and the California landscape. Forests of native Redwood trees appear frequently in “Salomy Jane.” The emblematic closing scene of “Salomy Jane,” shot at Lake Lagunitas, features Beatriz Michelena and House Peters against a classic Marin County backdrop with Mt. Tamalpais rising up in the distance.
From 1914 through 1916, the California Motion Picture Corporation released 9 feature-length films, several of them based on short stories by California writer Bret Harte. All of them starred Beatriz Michelena.
Their second release,“Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,” was prominently advertised as “made in San Rafael.” Like “Salomy Jane” and “The Pageant of San Francisco,” filming commenced in August of 1914. “Mrs. Wiggs” used many Marin County locals as extras, including the entire San Rafael Fire Department. According to director George Middleton, in addition to the fire scene which was part of the film, the Fire Department was also called upon to put out an actual fire on the set when it unexpectedly burst into flames. Beatriz Michelena’s Russian wolf hound, Tzar Nicholas II, was saved from the conflagration by Fire Chief Dan Schneider.
“The Unwritten Law,” released in March of 1916 was based on a novel by Edwin Milton Royle, being a fictionalized account of the 1906 murder of Stanford White by millionaire Henry Kendall Thaw over White’s assault of actress Evelyn Nesbit. Starring Beatriz Michelena and William Pike, it featured elaborate costumes and staging. Most of the interior scenes were shot onsite on the CMPC’s glass-enclosed stage at their San Rafael studio. Downtown San Rafael, including homes and businesses, were prominently featured in the film as well. Like “Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,” locals were used as extras. The credits touted that the film was “produced in San Rafael, Marin county, California.” When it premiered at the Alcazar theater in San Francisco, the audience was packed with proud San Rafael residents. According to Director George Middleton, the San Rafael Fire Department had to be called to action once again when a large explosion and fire occurred on one of the sets. Actors Beatriz Michelena & Andrew Robson were trapped and had to be rescued.
“Faust,” based on the work by Goethe, was produced by the CMPC in late 1916, but never released in its original form. Beatriz Michelena stars in the role of Marguerite and William Pike stars as Faust. Filming was done mostly in Marin and Sonoma Counties. The San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo was used as a backdrop for some scenes to convey the medieval setting of “Faust.” Other scenes from “Faust” were shot on San Rafael’s Dominican campus. The production was left incomplete and unreleased when Middleton and his wife Beatriz Michelena submitted their resignations to the CMPC on November 6, 1916.
By late 1916, the CMPC was financially over-extended and unable to pay its bills. Middleton, Michelena and other employees were owed back salaries. In an industry which was increasingly becoming consolidated in a few hands, the CMPC struggled to successfully market and distribute its films. Following Michelena’s & Middleton’s resignations, in early 1917, the CMPC attempted to re-group and engaged actress Lois Wilson to to star in Michelena’s place and hired Norville McGregor to replace Middleton as director. A few films were made but none were ever released. The CMPC soon filed for bankruptcy.
On April 11, 1917, Middleton & Michelena formed the “Beatriz Michelena Film Corporation” also known as “Beatriz Michelena Features.” Calling upon their successes of the past, they decided to make the kind of Westerns Beatriz was most famous for. However none of these films met with the success of the early films they had made with the CMPC. In 1919 when the California Motion Picture Corporation’s mortgage was foreclosed upon, Michelena and Middleton acquired the company’s studio in San Rafael for a fraction of its value.
At a July 22, 1920 auction on the steps of the Marin County courthouse, for the nominal sum of $100, Beatriz Michelena acquired copyrights for all of the motion pictures once belonging to the California Motion Picture Corporation. This meant that she and Middleton now controlled rights to all of CMPC’s past productions. Michelena Film Corporation’s last feature, “The Flame of Hellgate,” was released on February 29, 1920. However, none of these last efforts by Middleton & Michelena received positive critical acclaim nor were they lucrative & their film corporation folded.
For a short time Middleton & Michelena raised revenue by renting out their San Rafael and Boulder Creeks studios and equipment to other film companies. Later, Beatriz Michelena continued her stage career, sometimes in conjunction with the screening of one of her silent films.
From 1927–28, George Middleton organized and oversaw a traveling “Beatriz Michelena Company Vaudeville Show” in which Michelena — accompanied by 15 other performers — performed in venues across Central & South America as well as Cuba & Jamaica. By the late 1920s, the Sun Valley Studio in San Rafael, mostly abandoned by Middleton & Michelena, had fallen into neglect & ruin. In October of 1929, the San Rafael City Council, deeming the studio buildings a hazard, ordered them to be razed. George Middleton & Beatriz Michelena appealed the decision and asked for an extension saying they would improve the property and cut the dry grass. They battled with the City Council, gaining continuances, until the summer of 1931.
On July 1, 1931, an unforeseen event sealed the fate of the Sun Valley Studio. A group of children pried open the door to the studio’s brick film vault and threw in a firecracker. Three explosions were heard across San Rafael and a large fire started which destroyed the studio and all of the valuable film in the vault: the entire legacy of the CMPC and the Michelena Film Corporation. The July 2nd Marin Journal reported: “Scenic Studio Fire Destroys Valued Films.” The article goes on to explain:
“Stored in the vault were about 3 million feet of movie films which exploded…splitting the massive brick walls. The building and contents were a total loss, amounting to over $200,000. according to George Middleton.”
Until a copy of “Salomy Jane” was discovered in Australia in 1996, it was thought that none of the films produced by the CMPC were extant. Fortunately, the 6 original reels of “Salomy Jane” discovered in Australia were sent to the Library of Congress for preservation. In the past couple of years “Salomy Jane” has been made available commercially by the National Film Preservation Foundation as part of their “Treasures of the West” series showcasing rare westerns produced between 1898 and 1938.
After the demise of their film studio, San Rafael continued to be the primary residence of Beatriz Michelena and her husband George Middleton. Tensions created by their failed business ventures resulted in their estrangement and some accounts report that they were divorced.
During the 1930s, newspapers mention Beatriz Michelena on tour with her vaudeville and moving picture show in Spain and Europe. It’s possible that her husband George accompanied her during some of that time as neither he nor Beatriz are documented in public records during much of the 1930s. In 1942, George reappears in public records living in San Rafael. He is no longer a movie producer but, instead, the manager of the defunct Ocean Shore Railroad’s right of way. The Ocean Shore Railroad once ran from California’s Central Coast to San Francisco and the railroad’s right of way formed part of the extended Middleton family’s business holdings. Apparently George & the family dreamed of resurrecting that railroad but when that failed, George dedicated his energies towards liquidating the property over which the railroad had once run.
Sadly, 1942 is also the year that Beatriz Michelena dies after a “long illness.” She was only 52 years old. Notices of her death — touting her as a former opera singer and film star — were carried in newspapers across the country. Today she is remembered as a pioneer Latino film star. In 2002, then President George W. Bush mentioned Beatriz in a presidential proclamation honoring Latino contributions to American culture.
For more on the California Motion Picture Corporation, please visit the Anne T. Kent California Room Digital Archive.
