Lone Pine in Inyo County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Lone Pine's 'Movie Man'
Photographed By Craig Baker, April 27, 2023
1. Lone Pine's 'Movie Man' Marker
Inscription.
Lone Pine's 'Movie Man'. . The story of movie-making in Lone Pine must include local rancher Russell Spainhower, who for years was Hollywood’s main contact man here. “We need 50 horses and 10 wagons next week,” they’d say and Spainhower would arrange it, plus help find locations and hire local riders for the posses. In 1938, he took remnants of the “Gunga Din” sets and built a permanent mission-hacienda set (later adding a western street) out at his Anchor Ranch, still operated by the family across 395 from the airport and the Best Western. The sets were seen primarily in Hopalong Cassidy and Tim Holt westerns. Spainhower, whose grandchildren and great-grandchildren still live in Lone Pine, often met with the movie-makers here at the Dow. “The studios really depended on him,” his daughter, Joy Anderson, remembers. “They got to know him over the years and they trusted him.” ,
That says it all., Donated by the Lone Pine Film Festival , Dedicated June 1, 1996.
The story of movie-making in Lone Pine must include local rancher Russell Spainhower, who for years was Hollywood’s main contact man here. “We need 50 horses and 10 wagons next week,” they’d say and Spainhower would arrange it, plus help find locations and hire local riders for the posses. In 1938, he took remnants of the “Gunga Din” sets and built a permanent mission-hacienda set (later adding a western street) out at his Anchor Ranch, still operated by the family across 395 from the airport and the Best Western. The sets were seen primarily in Hopalong Cassidy and Tim Holt westerns. Spainhower, whose grandchildren and great-grandchildren still live in Lone Pine, often met with the movie-makers here at the Dow. “The studios really depended on him,” his daughter, Joy Anderson, remembers. “They got to know him over the years and they trusted him.”
That says it all.
Donated by the Lone Pine Film Festival Dedicated June 1, 1996
Marker is in Lone Pine, California, in Inyo County. Marker is on South Main Street (U.S. 395) just south of Post Street, on the left when traveling south. Marker is mounted at eye-level on the Historic Dow Hotel, just to the left of the front entrance, facing Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 310 South Main Street, Lone Pine CA 93545, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . Lone Pine. Visiting the Movie Sites (Submitted on August 1, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Photographed By Craig Baker, April 27, 2023
2. Lone Pine's 'Movie Man' Marker
The marker is on the column at left.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2014
3. The Dow Hotel
Photographed By Craig Baker, April 27, 2023
4. Dow Hotel
Credits. This page was last revised on May 25, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 8, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 475 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on May 12, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 3. submitted on March 9, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 4. submitted on May 12, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.
