Marc Wanamaker: History of Filming in PV By Writer and Contributor Emily McGinn
Mary Pickford Productions
Film historian Marc Wanamaker gave a lecture on Oct. 20 for the Palos Verdes Historical Society about the Peninsula’s role in the history of film.
Wanamaker, a Hollywood native, grew up in and around the film industry.
“My father was a doctor, so early on he had patients that were in the film and TV industry, and I was brought in to be an extra kid in different TV shows,” Wanamaker says.
Eventually, he began working at the American Film Institute (AFI). One day, they got a call from Columbia Pictures that resulted in the donation of 800,000 photos to the AFI. Wanamaker took it upon himself to do the research for these photos at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It was then that Wanamaker’s passion for the rich history of film and early film studios began.
Ultimately, this research rabbit hole resulted in Wanamaker’s participation in 250 documentaries and 150 books. About 40 of those books are his own, discussing topics like the history of American and international film studios.
He also founded Bison Archives in 1971, which features a photographic collection of the history of American and Los Angeles film and television. Bison Archives is named after the second film company to come to California.
“I started to collect those items, photographs, memorabilia, etc., and then I was working in and out of the research libraries at all the motion picture studios in L.A. at the time,” Wanamaker says. “Many of the studios in the ’80s were getting rid of [the libraries], and my boss said, ‘Why don't you create your own research library focused on Los Angeles history, intertwined with the film and TV industry?’ And I did that.”
Wanamaker shares that Palos Verdes has ties to the Hollywood scene and film history. It has been the site of film locations, celebrity homes and landmarks.
For example, Mary Pickford did shooting for 1921 film “The Love Light” where Wilders Addition Park is in San Pedro.
“They built the home there. That's supposed to be Italy, and that's supposed to be the Italian coast with views of Point Fermin. They also shot in Carmel, and they intercut with the Palos Verdes coast and the northern coast. And that's really early — 1921,” Wanamaker says. “I'm sure [the movie scene] was there even earlier, but it's hard to document that.”
Other highlights of Hollywood heading to the Peninsula include Elvis Presley visiting Marineland and Jayne Mansfield’s wedding taking place at Wayfarers Chapel.
Wanamaker’s knowledge of the history of Palos Verdes spans outside the movie industry, as well — he has made discoveries of early photographs of other local landmarks we are familiar with today, like La Venta Inn.
“I think I had the earliest shot of it when it was doubling as a lighthouse and as a real estate office,” he says. “I have it as far back as 1924 — something like that.”
He also has found early photographs of the Vanderlip estate.
“I found new shots nobody ever saw of the farm,” Wanamaker says. “I found pictures of it in the ’30s.”
Wanamaker also is one of the founders of the Hollywood Heritage Museum, located across from the Hollywood Bowl in the horse barn-converted-to-a-studio where Cecil B. DeMille made his first film in 1913. You can check out more of Wanamaker’s work at the Bison Archives website.
Bio:
Emily McGinn is a journalist based in the Los Angeles area. She enjoys reporting on and writing about a variety of topics from lifestyle to news, especially in her areas of specialty, environmental science and political science.
