“Salomy Jane” 100 Years Old
by Laurie Thompson
“Salomy Jane,” a Western set in California’s Gold Rush era and the first feature-length film released by the California Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC), premiered at a private screening at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on October 8, 1914.
Though the CMPC’s corporate headquarters were in San Francisco, their studios were located on 10 acres in today’s Sun Valley neighborhood of San Rafael. In those days, the Sun Valley area was mostly open countryside and rolling hills, forming a perfect backdrop for out-door scenes meant to evoke the old California West. The CMPC’s state-of-the-art studios also included an impressive glassed-in stage so they could shoot interior scenes with natural light.
“Salomy Jane” was based on a short story by Bret Harte which was turned into a screenplay by Paul Armstrong. Set in the fictional location of “Hangtown” in the days of 49, it is a fast-paced melodrama which tells the story of a beautiful young woman -played by CMPC’s leading lady, Beatriz Michelena- who is saved from a ruffian by an heoric stranger -played by House Peters. “The Stranger” has come to town to avenge his sister’s honor and Salomy Jane later helps rescue him from a lynch mob and, of course, they fall in love.
The natural beauty of Marin County features prominently in the film. A harrowing stagecoach chase scene showcases the precipitous curves along the Fairfax-Bolinas Road. The “Hangtown” set which included a stagecoach stop, a tavern and a number of small cabins, was built near the town of Lagunitas in West Marin. The closing scene of “Salomy Jane,” used by the CMPC as their main publicity still, captures the hero and heroine kissing on the shore of Lake Lagunitas with Mt. Tamalpais in the background. California’s giant sequoias also play a prominent role in “Salomy Jane,” and the film served as a vehicle to introduce these ancient trees to the rest of the world.
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
