BEHIND THE SCENES – A Pearl Hunt in Goleta

by bjgreen October 26, 2024, 8:00 am 1.0k Views

Image: A scene from “The Blue Moon” (Exhibitors Herald, October 23, 1920)

Dateline: October 1920

When the “Flying A” was nearing the end of its days, the studio filmed scenes for a movie in the Goleta Slough. The story called “The Blue Moon” was set in the Wabash flats of Indiana, but the studio decided that they could film closer to home.

“A night scene of a pearl hunt on the river, when the ‘blue moon’ – a pearl that looks ‘like a full moon in a cold sky’ – was found . . . Some of the river scenes were filmed on a portion of Goleta Slough, a tidewater inlet from the Pacific Ocean . . . The opening scenes take place on a picturesque houseboat built especially for this picture.” – Exhibitors Herald, October 16, 1920

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Written by bjgreen

Betsy J. Green is a Santa Barbara historian and author. Her books are available in local bookstores, and at Amazon.com. (Shop local if you can.) Learn more at betsyjgreen.com.