Lone Pine Film Festival
Director Earl Bellamy flanked by High Chaparral's veterans
Ted Markland (left) and Don CollierThe Lone Pine Film Festival is an annual event, held every October in beautiful Lone Pine, California. The hilly area composed of unique rock formations served as a popular location for Hollywood filmmakers who took advantage of the beautifully rugged surroundings, shooting a vast number of Westerns there including How the West Was Won, Brigham Young, Bad Day at Black Rock, Ride Lonesome, TV's Bonanza, and a host of William Witney-Roy Rogers adventures. The festival itself was established in 1989 by writer-film historian Dave Holland and a committee of fellow film buffs in an effort to preserve and celebrate movie history as well as to garner funds to construct a film history museum in the local area. The festival consistently holds interest for thousands of Western fans who travel from all parts of the world to enjoy special film screenings, guest panels, photo opportunities with Western celebs, dealer rooms with a horde of Western memorabilia, and exciting tours pointing out the exact locations where Gene Autry, Randolph Scott, Spencer Tracy, Clayton Moore, William S. Hart, Peggy Stewart, Ernest Borgnine, and Gregory Peck had trod. Here are some photos of special guests at a recent Lone Pine event Wildest Westerns attended. We plan to attend a lot more!
Stunt pro Loren Janes.
The ubiquitous House Peters, Jr. and early John Wayne co-star Marsha Hunt.
High Chaparral's actor-stuntman Robert Hoy.
