Salomy Jane

Early Hollywood filmmakers were more interested in the resume of prospective actors than the makeup of their ethnicity. And because film acting was considered to be less than an admired profession, Hispanic talent wasn't discouraged from employment. One of the earliest Latino stars hired by a movie studio was Beatriz Michelena, an international stage actress/singer living and working in the San Francisco area in the early 1910's. When a newly-formed studio was established in 1913 by a group of rich, prominent investors, Michelena was one of the first performers to be hired.

Based in San Rafael, The California Motion Picture Corporation had an objective to showcase the beauty and the history of the state. Its first production was a western, "Salomy Jane," starring Michelena as the title character. The motion picture was hailed by those who saw its October 1914 premier in a San Francisco hotel, and some who had seen the studio's body of work claim "Salomy" was its best.

Michelena was told her performance was on par with film's top star, Mary Pickford. The studio cast her in its next five pictures, but her demands for higher production values and her treatment as a "star" created greater expenses for the soon cash straped company. Her extravagances compounded by the studio's poor distribution network doomed the enterprise.

Michelena and her wealthy car dealership husband bought out the flailing studio and produced one movie which turned into a dismal failure. She took up the stage again, and never made another film. The studio's building with a vault filled with all her movies were set on fire when a group of kids lit fireworks inside the abandoned structure. Not one movie of hers survived the fire--until a copy was found in Australia in 1996 and fully restored.