Movies Way Back When: Chewing the Scenery in 1916

By Betsy J. Green

This expression generally refers to an actor behaving melodramatically, but in this case, the scenery was actually chewed — by a goat! A scenario writer for the “Flying A” studio in Santa Barbara, had sketched out 114 scenes of a movie on paper and left them lying on a table on his front porch.

When he returned to continue working on his story, he discovered to his horror that his housemate’s goat was happily munching on his storyboards. He “grabbed the goat by the whiskers with one hand and made a desperate lunge for the disappearing manuscript with the other. He was only partly successful, as when he counted the salvage, there were only four scenes, and they looked as if they needed a trip to the laundry.”


Betsy’s Way Back When book — 1919 — is now available in local bookstores and at Amazon.com. This is the sixth book in her series of the history of Santa Barbara, one year at a time. Learn more at betsyjgreen.com​.

bjgreen

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.

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