Catalina Island

Hollywood's Exotic Back Lot

Many celebrities and actors worked and played on Catalina island during the 1930s.  Some developed life-long love affairs with the island and its surrounding waters.  Charlie Chaplin and his wife, Paulette Goddard were frequent visitors and loved angling for marlin and tuna around the island.  James Cagney and his wife were known to anchor their schooner racing yacht, Martha in Descanso Bay. Cecil B. DeMille, a prominent film director who filmed at least three pictures on Catalina was quoted in The Catalina Islander as saying .. "Catalina is the only place where I can get away to work amid real inspiration."

The onset of WWII changed life on Catalina Island and in Hollywood significantly.  Catalina Island was closed to tourism and the use of the island for filming was suspended.  After WWII filming picked up again although as aviation technology flourished in the private sector, it became easier to travel to an exotic locale rather than recreate it on Catalina Island.  As a result, the use of the island for motion pictures decreased.  This was not the end of filming on Catalina Island, though.  The 1950s ushered in the world of television and a host of new producers and directors discovered the island once again as an exotic, yet convenient location.  Since 1950 hundreds of commericals, television programs and music videos have been shot on Catalina Island, as well as countless catalogs and magazine photo shoots.  

Although the film industry's use of Catalina Island has slowed, it certainly has not stopped.  Many memorable productions have been filmed on the island in the last fifty years!  Films such as Rosemary's Baby (1968), Chinatown (1974), The Hunt for Red October (1990) and Jaws in 1974.  Famous films such as Ben Hur (1925), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Ten Commandments (1923) also found their way to Catalina Island.

Catalina Island has had a unique relationship with Hollywood's filmmakers for almost a century.  The island has been immortalized on the silver screen hundreds of times and been transformed into a variety of locales.  Today, she awaits the next cast and crew to add another production to the already long list of memorable movies filmed on her shores.  Because of the island's film history the four-day Catalina Film Festival is held each year in September.  

Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Betty Grable, Johnny Weissmuller and John Wayne were among regular visitors to Catalina Island as were Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan and many other well-known names. 

Even Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) known as Norma Jeane Dougherty lived on the island for a year during her first marriage to Jimmie Dougherty (1921-2005).  This time on Catalina did much to shape her future Hollywood persona. When she eventually left Catalina Island as Norma Jeane she was destined to become Marilyn Monroe around the world.  Her short and troubled life was rarely happy, but her many biographers generally agree the time she spent on Catalina was among her most content.  

Jimmie and Norma Jeane on Catalina Island

While not many celebrities live on Catalina Island full-time, the island has been a popular celebrity hot spot for decades. Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and many others have also been spotted soaking up all Catalina Island has to offer.

Catalina Island has served as the location for the filming of over 500 motion pictures, documentaries, television programs and commercials over the past 90 years.  Of those 500, approximately 300 were motion picture productions.  Beginning as early as 1911 and continuing with great momentum through the silent film era and the introduction of sound to motion pictures, Catalina Island served as the location for more than 225 films.

Throughout this history, Catalina Island has been transformed into the coast of North Africa from Tahiti to the American Frontier and back again.  It has been mistaken for the lost continent of Atlantis and the home of that famous mechanical shark, Jaws. In short, Santa Catalina Island holds a unique place in the history of motion picture production as Hollywood's exotic back lot.  

One may wonder why so many production companies flocked to Catalina Island and the answer is simple.  Catalina Island's unique natural beauty and accessibility were the major factors.  Production crews and sets could be sent to the island by barge with the vast untouched mountains and beaches could be transformed into almost any place in the world.