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From the archives of the La Mesa Historical Society, San Diego Union 9/17/83.
It looked like Hollywood make-believe, those hard-riding, gun-toting cowboys racing through the chaparral around La Mesa in 1911. After all, they were part of the cast of the American Film Manufacturing Co.'s productions. But the bullets were real, and not all of the action was in front of the cameras.
A major reason this company, based in Chicago and known as the Flying A (because of its winged-A logo) came first to Lakeside and then to La Mesa, was the area's proximity to the Mexican border.
The border made a quick get-away feasible if the company was faced with patent infringement charges. Five motion picture companies had formed the Motion Picture Patents Co. with the aim of creating a movie monopoly through patents on cameras, projectors and other equipment. The company hired "enforcers" to augment legal action, and Company thugs often harassed independent producers and destroyed equipment.
The Flying A director was handsome, 26-year-old Allan Dwan, who became one of America's most prolific, innovative and legendary directors. The only episode of true harassment the Flying A encountered in East County was when a rough-looking character got off the train in La Mesa and went looking for director Dwan. He kept his men armed and had sentries posted to protect the cameras from snipers. The visitor said that he had been sent to make sure that the Flying A company left the area and quit making motion pictures. He suggested that he and Dwan "take a walk up the road and talk it over." Allen Dwan agreed, and shortly the pair stopped on a bridge over an arroyo where a bright tin can gleamed below. Like a scene from a movie, so the story goes, "to impress me, the enforcer whipped a gun out of his shoulder holster, shot at the can and missed it by about five yards. I pulled out my gun and hit the can twice. The enforcer left town that afternoon. From that time on we were never molested again."
Dwan and the Flying A Co. set up shop in Lakeside in 1911 but left after a few months because they couldn't find enough people for extras.
Moving to La Mesa, the company leased the Wolff Building, a new 25-foot wide store building on the north side of Lookout Avenue, now La Mesa Boulevard, where Third Street dead ends.
During the next 11 months, Dwan made more than 100 films of the one-reel variety, each lasting 10 to 15 minutes. Most were westerns, but some were contemporary social comedies and there were some local documentaries, including "The Caves of La Jolla."
Not only was local scenery used, but it also inspired the stories that Dwan whipped up as the movies were being filmed. "Love and Lemons" showed scenes of La Mesa's lemon-packing industry. "Where Broadway Meets the Mountains" used the old Grossmont Inn as a setting. "The Poisoned Flume" was made in Lakeside and utilized the old wooden flume which first brought water from the
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