100 years ago in Spokane: ‘Wide variety’ of local scenery pleases film producer

Catherine Curtis, a filmmaker from the East Coast, said that she was “frankly skeptical” when the idea of a movie studio in Spokane was first suggested by Homer B. King, her business manager.

But she finally consented to come to Spokane to take a look.

“To say that I am pleased is putting it mildly,” she wrote in a column in the Spokane Daily Chronicle. “Since coming here, I have found that Mr. King’s word picture hardly did justice to your magnificent scenery.”

Spokane’s main advantage, she said, was that it had “such a wide variety of scenery within so small a radius.”

The result was that it was possible to make a dozen feature films within 50 miles of Spokane without duplicating a single scene.

Because the “daily overhead of the usual picture runs well over $1,000,” speed was of the essence, and that meant “confining the work to shortest radius possible.”

Curtis had taken over the bankrupt movie studio in Minnehaha Park and was at work on several feature films.

From the summer fun file: A “Chronicle Junior” – a young correspondent – wrote to the paper about his summer vacation.

He visited Priest Lake with his parents and “killed three snakes and caught lots of fish.”

He also dived into too shallow water and “made a lump on my head.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1810: The German festival Oktoberfest was first held in Munich to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.