In Old California (1910 film)

1910 film

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In Old California

Directed by| D. W. Griffith
Written by| Stanner E.V. Taylor
Starring| Frank Powell
Arthur V. Johnson
Marion Leonard
Henry B. Walthall
Cinematography| G. W. Bitzer
Distributed by| American Mutoscope and Biograph Company

Release date

* March 10, 1910 (1910-03-10)

Running time

| 17 minutes
Country| United States
Languages| Silent
English intertitles

In Old California is a 1910 American silent Western film. It was the first film shot in Hollywood, California. It was directed by D. W. Griffith[1] of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (then based in New York City). The film is a melodrama about the Mexican era of California.

## Background

[edit]

Director D. W. Griffith discovered the little village of Hollywood on his trips to California and decided to shoot there because of the beautiful scenery and friendly people. On May 6, 2004, a monument was erected at 1713 Vine Street, just north of Hollywood Boulevard. The monument was made by Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and the film which was once thought lost was screened at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. This was the first time the film had been seen by the public in 94 years. The film was scheduled for restoration, with the restored version to be premiered at a later date.

For years the first film thought shot in Hollywood was Cecil B. DeMille's feature film The Squaw Man (1914), which does hold the record of first feature film made in Hollywood. The discovery of Griffith's film made it the first film of any length shot in Hollywood.

## Plot

[edit]

This story starts some time before Mexican independence was proclaimed in California, which occurred in 1822. Perdita Lergnello, the pretty Spanish senorita, is beloved by Jr. Manuella, a wealthy young Spaniard, who has migrated to the new world in search of adventure. A man of fine qualities, he surrenders his claim upon the girl when he finds out that her heart has been given to Pedro Cortes, a handsome troubadour from the village. Of a poetic temperament, she yields to his plea and marries him.

Twenty years later, we see the result of her mistaken marriage to Cortes. Cortes has proven to be a worthless dipsomaniac and reprobate, spending his time and the money she earns at the tavern. The most unfortunate feature is that they have a son, now nearly nineteen years old. Perdita realizes that his father's example is not favorable to the boy's well-being, resolving to save him. At this time, California is in conflict, and Manuella, Perdita's former lover, is now the new Governor, so she appeals to him to provide a future for her son. The Governor takes the boy into his own company. Perdita's son displays characteristics similar to his father, including drunkenness and theft, accumulating in the robbing of his sleeping comrades-in-arms. Perdita has despatched a letter of thanks to the Governor, which he is reading as the drunken boy is brought before him. The tone of the letter induces Manuella to be more lenient with the boy in the hope that she might live in ignorance of his real nature.

However, later she writes that she is dying, and believing her son has made a name for himself, she asks to be allowed to see him before she dies. At this moment, the boy is brought before him again having been caught thieving. Manuella is thoroughly disgusted with the boy, but in order to have his mother die happy, he decorates him, making him appear before her as a hero. When she breathes her last breath the medals are torn from his breast and he is sent to prison where the punishment for the pain that he has inflicted.

[2]

## See also

[edit]

* List of American films of 1910

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Progressive Silent Film List: In Old California". Silent Era. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
2. ^ The Moving Picture World (Jan-Jun 1910) p393 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

## External links

[edit]

* In Old California at IMDb
* In Old California at the TCM database

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by D. W. Griffith

1908|

* The Adventures of Dollie
* The Fight for Freedom
* The Tavern Keeper's Daughter
* The Black Viper
* The Red Man and the Child
* Deceived Slumming Party
* The Bandit's Waterloo
* A Calamitous Elopement
* The Greaser's Gauntlet
* The Man and the Woman
* The Fatal Hour
* For Love of Gold
* Balked at the Altar
* For a Wife's Honor
* Betrayed by a Handprint
* Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court
* The Girl and the Outlaw
* Behind the Scenes
* The Red Girl
* The Heart of O'Yama
* Where the Breakers Roar
* A Smoked Husband
* The Stolen Jewels
* The Devil
* The Zulu's Heart
* Father Gets in the Game
* Ingomar, the Barbarian
* The Vaquero's Vow
* The Planter's Wife
* Romance of a Jewess
* The Call of the Wild
* Concealing a Burglar
* After Many Years
* The Pirate's Gold
* The Taming of the Shrew
* The Guerrilla
* The Song of the Shirt
* The Ingrate
* A Woman's Way
* The Clubman and the Tramp
* Money Mad
* The Valet's Wife
* The Feud and the Turkey
* The Reckoning
* The Test of Friendship
* An Awful Moment
* The Christmas Burglars
* Mr. Jones at the Ball
* The Helping Hand

1909|

* One Touch of Nature
* The Maniac Cook
* Mrs. Jones Entertains
* The Honor of Thieves
* Love Finds a Way
* The Sacrifice
* A Rural Elopement
* Those Boys!
* The Criminal Hypnotist
* The Fascinating Mrs. Francis
* Mr. Jones Has a Card Party
* Those Awful Hats
* The Welcome Burglar
* The Cord of Life
* The Girls and Daddy
* The Brahma Diamond
* Edgar Allen Poe
* A Wreath in Time
* Tragic Love
* The Curtain Pole
* His Ward's Love
* The Joneses Have Amateur Theatricals
* The Hindoo Dagger
* The Politician's Love Story
* The Golden Louis
* At the Altar
* The Prussian Spy
* His Wife's Mother
* A Fool's Revenge
* The Wooden Leg
* The Roue's Heart
* The Salvation Army Lass
* The Lure of the Gown
* I Did It
* The Voice of the Violin
* The Deception
* And a Little Child Shall Lead Them
* A Burglar's Mistake (lost)
* The Medicine Bottle
* Jones and His New Neighbors
* A Drunkard's Reformation
* Trying to Get Arrested
* The Road to the Heart
* A Rude Hostess
* Schneider's Anti-Noise Crusade
* A Sound Sleeper
* Lady Helen's Escapade
* Lucky Jim
* Jones and the Lady Book Agent
* Resurrection
* Two Memories
* Eloping with Auntie
* The Cricket on the Hearth
* The Violin Maker of Cremona
* A New Trick
* The Lonely Villa
* The Son's Return
* Her First Biscuits
* The Country Doctor
* The Cardinal's Conspiracy
* Tender Hearts
* The Friend of the Family
* The Renunciation
* The Mended Lute
* The Sealed Room
* The Little Darling
* The Hessian Renegades
* Comata, the Sioux
* Getting Even
* In Old Kentucky
* Leather Stocking
* Pippa Passes or The Song of Conscience
* Fools of Fate
* His Lost Love
* The Gibson Goddess
* Nursing a Viper
* The Death Disc: A Story of the Cromwellian Period
* Through the Breakers
* The Red Man's View
* A Corner in Wheat
* A Trap for Santa Claus
* In Little Italy
* To Save Her Soul
* The Day After
* Choosing a Husband
* Bill Sharkey's Last Game

1910|

* The Rocky Road
* The Woman from Mellon's
* The Englishman and the Girl
* In Old California
* Faithful
* The Two Brothers
* As It Is In Life
* A Romance of the Western Hills
* The Unchanging Sea
* Ramona
* In the Season of Buds
* A Child of the Ghetto
* In the Border States
* What the Daisy Said
* A Flash of Light
* An Arcadian Maid
* The House with Closed Shutters
* Wilful Peggy
* The Modern Prodigal
* A Mohawk's Way
* The Oath and the Man
* Rose O'Salem-Town
* The Fugitive
* Winning Back His Love

1911|

* The Two Paths
* The Italian Barber
* His Trust
* His Trust Fulfilled
* Fate's Turning
* Heart Beats of Long Ago
* What Shall We Do with Our Old?
* Fisher Folks
* His Daughter
* The Lily of the Tenements
* A Decree of Destiny
* Was He a Coward?
* The Lonedale Operator
* The Spanish Gypsy
* The Broken Cross
* How She Triumphed
* The New Dress
* The Crooked Road
* The White Rose of the Wilds
* The Smile of a Child
* Enoch Arden: Part I
* Enoch Arden: Part II
* The Primal Call
* Fighting Blood
* The Indian Brothers
* A Country Cupid
* The Last Drop of Water
* Out from the Shadow
* The Blind Princess and the Poet
* Swords and Hearts
* The Stuff Heroes Are Made Of
* Her Awakening
* The Making of a Man
* The Adventures of Billy
* The Long Road
* Love in the Hills
* The Battle
* Through Darkened Vales
* The Miser's Heart
* A Woman Scorned
* The Voice of the Child

1912|

* The Eternal Mother
* The Old Bookkeeper
* For His Son
* The Transformation of Mike
* A Sister's Love
* Under Burning Skies
* The Sunbeam
* A String of Pearls
* The Girl and Her Trust
* The Root of Evil
* The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch
* The Punishment
* The Female of the Species
* Just Like a Woman
* One Is Business, the Other Crime
* The Lesser Evil
* A Beast at Bay
* An Outcast Among Outcasts
* Home Folks
* A Temporary Truce
* The Spirit Awakened
* Man's Lust for Gold
* Man's Genesis
* The Sands of Dee
* The Narrow Road
* The Inner Circle
* A Change of Spirit
* An Unseen Enemy
* Blind Love
* The Massacre
* Two Daughters of Eve
* Friends
* So Near, yet So Far
* A Feud in the Kentucky Hills
* The Chief's Blanket
* In the Aisles of the Wild
* The One She Loved
* The Painted Lady
* The Musketeers of Pig Alley
* Heredity
* Gold and Glitter
* My Baby
* The Informer
* Brutality
* The New York Hat
* My Hero
* The Burglar's Dilemma
* A Cry for Help
* The God Within

1913|

* Three Friends
* The Telephone Girl and the Lady
* An Adventure in the Autumn Woods
* The Tender Hearted Boy
* A Misappropriated Turkey
* Brothers
* Oil and Water
* A Chance Deception
* Love in an Apartment Hotel
* Broken Ways
* A Girl's Stratagem
* The Unwelcome Guest
* Near to Earth
* Fate
* A Welcome Intruder
* The Sheriff's Baby
* The Hero of Little Italy
* The Perfidy of Mary
* The Little Tease
* A Misunderstood Boy
* The Left-Handed Man
* The Lady and the Mouse
* If We Only Knew
* The Wanderer
* The Stolen Loaf
* The House of Darkness
* The Yaqui Cur
* Just Gold
* The Ranchero's Revenge
* A Timely Interception
* Death's Marathon
* The Mothering Heart
* The Sorrowful Shore
* The Enemy's Baby
* The Mistake
* Two Men of the Desert (lost)
* Madonna of the Storm
* The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
* The Conscience of Hassan Bey

1914–1931|

* Judith of Bethulia (1914)
* Battle of the Sexes (1914, lost)
* Brute Force (1914)
* Home, Sweet Home (1914)
* The Escape (1914, lost)
* The Avenging Conscience: or "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (1914)
* The Birth of a Nation (1915)
* Intolerance (1916)
* Hearts of the World (1918)
* The Great Love (1918, lost)
* Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal (1918, lost)
* The Greatest Thing in Life (1918, lost)
* A Romance of Happy Valley (1919)
* The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919)
* Broken Blossoms (1919)
* True Heart Susie (1919)
* Scarlet Days (1919)
* The Greatest Question (1919)
* The Idol Dancer (1920)
* Remodeling Her Husband (1920, lost)
* The Love Flower (1920)
* Way Down East (1920)
* Dream Street (1921)
* Orphans of the Storm (1921)
* One Exciting Night (1922)
* The White Rose (1923)
* America (1924)
* Isn't Life Wonderful (1924)
* Sally of the Sawdust (1925)
* That Royle Girl (1925, lost)
* The Sorrows of Satan (1926)
* Drums of Love (1928)
* The Battle of the Sexes (1928)
* Lady of the Pavements (1929)
* Abraham Lincoln (1930)
* The Struggle (1931)

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