Movies Way Back When: The OTHER SB Film Company

By Betsy J. Green

The American Film Company (“Flying A”) was not the only movie studio headquartered in Santa Barbara. Back in 1914, the Santa Barbara Motion Picture Company (“Ess Bee”) also made a couple of movies here. One was “The Envoy Extraordinary” that was filmed at four of the million-dollar mansions in Montecito. The scene in this photo took place outside the first “Bellosguardo.”

“The company is composed of wealthy men of Santa Barbara, and when Johnston [the director] wants a big scene, he invites the wives of the company members to come to the studio and bring their silverware, cut glass, art collections, and costly bric-a-brac . . . in a recently made scene, the setting was valued at between $25,000 and $30,000, and many of Santa Barbara’s leading society women took part in the ball filmed.” – Motion Picture News, August 22, 1914

NOTE: This month marks my 8th anniversary of Edhat posts! Thanks for reading!