Hell’s Heroes

As part of the June Lake Revitalization Committee’s efforts, the June Lake Historical Society will present a free night at the movies, Friday, Nov. 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the June Lake Community Center. The screening is open to the public.

The featured film will be “Hell’s Heroes,” a 1929 black and white classic, in which many of the exteriors were filmed in Bodie, as well as inside the old church. It was one of the first talkies filmed by Universal Pictures. The film’s director was the then unknown William Wyler, who went on to win three academy awards and was called the craftsman of American western cinema, second only to director John Ford.

The 68-minute film will be presented by amateur film historian Ken Harrison, a regular visitor to June Lake. He will discuss the actors and locations used in the film, as well as the story’s development which led to a 1948 John Wayne picture, “Three Godfathers,” and the planning of a 2013 remake. “What makes this film so historical is that it was shot in pre-fire Bodie. We’ll see all the buildings as they existed three years before the devastating fire which destroyed 90% of the town,” Harrison said.

As an opening “cartoon” Ken will also screen the first two minutes of the 2009 film, “Alvin and The Chipmunks,” the opening sequence for which was filmed on Oh! Ridge. “The reason most town folks don’t know about the Chipmunk movie being shot here, is that Alvin, Simon and Theodore weren’t actually in town,” Ken quipped.

Historical Society members will also serve popcorn and soft drinks on a donation basis.

For more information, please contact Ken Harrison at 760.754.1170 or Patti Heinrich at 661.400.0922.