These films were shot fully, or in part, around the wider Palm Springs area. The captions in [brackets], whenever possible, include labels from the original item in “quotation marks.” We add estimated dates and other details. For best viewing experience, choose the 720p or higher setting on the player.
#161. [“Palm Springs Parade,” April 1958.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Footage of the Desert Circus parade themed “Salute to Texas” and includes a float for a local publication (The Desert Sun?), mounted officers, The Holiday House, Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Elks or American Legion, Western Hills Hotel, baton twirlers such as Donna Klaus’ Topperettes from Riverside, and other Texas-themed fare. (Devin was in the parade circa 1977-1979.)
#156. [“Gary’s House and Dinner at Home,” 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. A Palm Springs House Party. Note the Palm Springs High School letterman jackets and sweaters, Stockers Palm Springs Jacket, and high school party atmosphere at Gary’s House.
#154. [“End of Parade,” April 1955.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. Footage of the Desert Circus parade including lovely footage of the Holiday House float.
#76. [Indian Wells, Desi Arnaz’s Western Hills, Higgins-Ladd Hardware in Palm Springs, post-1957.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Higgins-Ladd Hardware was completed in November 1955 and Desi Arnaz’s Western Hills Hotel in Indian Wells, CA, was completed in 1957. It is now called Indian Wells Resort Hotel. There is also a nice shot of the Santa Rosa Mountains from an intersection presumably in Indian Wells, and a huge saguaro cactus.
#172. [“Palm Springs area, Snow Play,” ca. 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Having a little drinking party perhaps in Whitewater or up Highway 74? Woman reclined on cot smokes in the open desert air, while others horse around and slug from a whiskey bottle. Federal (probably Bureau of Land Management) vehicle pulls up (to bust them?) – underexposed, revelers and palms silhouetted by dusk sky. Another day; woman in field with snow-capped mountain in the distance. Camera pans across valley homes and mountain skyline. Family and child stopped on highway at an embankment of snow – gentle tossing of snowballs. Description by board member Sean Savage.
#145. [“1965 — Ruby & Orville’s, Vacation from Vancouver to Palm Springs When We Took Blanchards Along, and Henry Took Pictures.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family travels by car from Vancouver to Palm Springs where they attend a service at Community Church of Palm Springs, a colorful unidentified hotel, an juried art show in the remnants of the old Demuth Park location downtown (where North Palm Canyon meets Ramon Road – thank you to Tom Dolle who identified this for us) a year after it moved to its current location, Andreas Canyon on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Reservation, and a groovy midcentury building under construction (we’d love help identifying it) and at the Palm Springs home with the name “Waggoner,” before they move on to what looks like Modesto.
#35. [“Claudia,” Palm Springs, ca. 1947, 1953, 1960.] 8mm. Color and B/W. Silent. These little films featuring “Claudia” at various ages seem to have been shot here or somewhere else in So.Cal., but the footage contains mainly domestic scenes, and a day at what looks like the Salton Sea.
#4. [Palm Springs or Another Local City: Kids Playing Cards, Poolside Hang, late 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Same family as #5. Kids playing cards at a table (and drinking Like soda, the original Diet 7 Up), then hanging out at the pool, sunbathing and goofing around. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#259. [“Karen’s Graduation, End-Ray Going Back to LA…Chris, Vince Robinsons’ (?) Confirmation, Odds & Ends, Palm Springs,” late 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Close up of attendees of high school graduation in stands, events stage (which high school? grads wear blue and white), graduation ceremony, people at a BBQ in a driveway, sledding in California mountain snow, Fort MacArthur banner for an event, San Pedro parade (holiday?), family posing in Sunday bests on sidewalk, same cutting a cake and celebrating (celebrating confirmation?), and then a long POV shot from a car driving through Palm Springs capturing signage including the El Mirador marquee listing Eddy Howard as the entertainer, Don the Beach Comber, Villa Hermosa, The Hicks Center, banners hanging across Palm Canyon promoting Desert Circus, Desert Garden Date Shop, the Chi Chi club (Joe. E. Lewis on marquee), The Desert Inn, J. W. Robinson department store, Sahara Park, and Ocotillo Lodge, and then they stay at a local a camper/RV park, Desert Hills Trailer Park at 67-751 Highway 111 in Palm Springs (now Cathedral City). Footage continues to the Indio Date Festival.
#169. [Horseback Riding, Ramona Pageant, Sequoia, San Francisco, ca.1940s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. At about minute 6 this group of revelers on a great California vacation attend the Ramona Pageant in Hemet, and film some participants. Please see our note about the Ramona Pageant below in the caption for #263.
#181. [“Lena Horne Party, Chi Chi Palm Springs, Stars,” Hearst Newsreel B-roll, February 2, 1958.] 16mm. B/W. Silent (sadly). Footage of a party at Chi Chi Club in Palm Springs which includes footage of Lena plus her husband Lennie Hayton, Johnny Mathis, Army Archerd, Spike Jones and his wife Helen Grayco, Judith Exner, Joan Collins, Danny Thomas, David Janssen and wife Ellie Graham, Joe Dimaggio, Linda Darnell, Darnell’s husband Merle “Robbie” Robertson, and others. From the Edwin W. Pauley home movie collection, but produced by Hearst International News.
#224. [“Mt. Shasta, Salton Sea, Spanish Trail Motel, Nopales, Mexico. February 1970.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Includes great footage of SaltonSea and Nopales street scenes, a roadrunner and other yet-to-be-identified locations.
#179. [“New Mexico to Palm Springs, 1962.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Travelers on a bus trip to New Mexico (perhaps Gallup?) during the holidays, visiting people, hotel stays, Knott’s Berry Farm and interaction with performer, then possibly through Banning Pass to Palm Springs including terrific footage of Palm Canyon Drive, festooned with Christmas decorations, the Plaza, Spa Hotel and places like Palm Springs Camera, Desmond’s, City National Bank, Prego, Canyon Country Club. 8mm, color.
#246. [“1963, Carol Leaving L.A. on Train, Traveling East Through Rockies and Denver in 1963 Ford XL, Oklahoma State Capitol, Oil Wells, Governor’s Mansion, Carlsbad, N.M., Carlsbad Caverns, San Diego Zoo, IndioDateFestival.“] 8mm. Color. Silent. After seeing “Carol” off on the Santa Fe Railroad in Los Angeles the (R.H. Widmer?) family’s road trip around the West including Arapaho National Forest, the Continental Divide, Denver buildings, Oklahoma City, Carlsbad, NM and Caverns San Diego Zoo, ending at the IndioDate Festival (including the festival princesses, elephant, helicopter, rides and more).
#258. [“1967 – October and December — Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Cha Cha, Sun City, Arizona. Snow, Birds, Cats — Dubby, Hawk, Bunny, Birds, 1968 Rose Parade, (Construction Machines).”] 8mm. Color. Silent. As mentioned on the label, footage includes Yucca Valley (with Desert Christ Park), and Joshua Tree. The film also includes images of various wild (especially birds and also a bunny) and domestic animals, Sun City during the “snow storm of the century” that hit Arizona on December 13, 1967, the Rose Bowl Parade on January 1, 1968 (including a neat Kodak float), and construction of additions to Sun City.
#178. [“Palm Springs”, ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent.
#279. [“Palm Springs – 1951, Stevie, Buzz, Susie Swimming, Shadow Mountain – Clocks, Easter Breakfast.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. From Edwin W. Pauley’s home movie collection (see also #181 on this page). Stevie, Buzz, and Susie Pauley; on March 25, 1951 children and an Easter egg hunt at The Desert Inn (where the Pauleys were staying that weekend according to The Desert Sun, March 30, 1951) plus poolside fun and diving at Shadow Mountain Resort in Palm Desert and then back at The Desert Inn including slow-motion footage of the kids diving.
#311. [Kids in Halloween Costumes, Mojave Desert and Scotty’s Castle, late 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Footage includes kids in Halloween costumes goofing around for the camera, and a drive through Mojave Desert to Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley.
#319. [“Desert, Kids, Pups,” May 1967.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Woman and girls in matching outfits pose seated on the ground with what looks like a Corgi and her puppies on the side of the road with desert behind them. A cameraman stands by taking still photographs, and then POV from the car of the road around Palm Springs and/or high desert, a desert house, girls posing next to a welcome sign, and posing the baby in a field of flowers.
#355. [U.S. Women Olympians at Desert Inn, Desert Driving, Helms Athletic Foundation, 20th Century-Fox Lot, December 1956 and/or January 1957.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Starts with a few seconds of Our Lady of Solitude Church, then great footage of three women (1956 and 1960 U.S. Olympian/hurdler Irene Robertson and Olympic games alternate Rose Caccamise and her mother Nellie) at Desert Inn, frolicking in the pool, riding bikes, etc., then at Helms Athletic Foundation in Culver City, CA, posing with Helms’ managing director and co-founder Bill Schroeder and Los Angeles Mirror sports writer Maxwell Stiles), and at 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation and studio lot, posing with Stiles again. [Note:Search for “Caccamise” on our site to see more of her family films and Women’s Track and Field Trials for the 1956 Olympics.]
#357. [“Kiwanis Club of Banning Extends Greetings to Lethbridge,” ca. May 1930.] 16mm. B/W. Silent.
#328. [Father and Son Fishing, and (Indio?) Family Celebrates Easter, ca. 1970s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Boy in a helmet fishes with his father, then the family unit arrives at a rural home adjacent to a date palm orchard, we believe to be in Indio, where kids hunt for Easter eggs and the whole group poses for a picture with rows of date palm trees behind. Same family (and cute boy) as #310 on our “A Short Drive” page.
#263. [“Cape Cod, Hemet — Ramona Pageant, Rancho Calif., 1970.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. POV from plane (Grand Canyon, patchwork of fields, etc.), a neighborhood in Massachusetts, POV from a car capturing roadside and I-95 signage (Berkshires, Boston, Hyannis, etc.), Plymouth sites, Provincetown and Cape Cod sites, Hyannis Club, Christopher Ryder House, Belmont Stakes race, New York City streets and sites, then finally POV from plane on way to California, the Ramona Pageant (Hemet) players and scenes from the play, and finishes with a wander around the Rancho California Inn in Temecula.
The Ramona Pageant is based on the popular but controversial novel, RAMONA, published in 1884 by Helen Hunt Jackson. It presents a romanticized account of the life of a real half-Cahuilla woman — often identified as Ramona Lubo –whose husband was murdered by white settlers. The novel was intended to shed light on abuses against Ramona and Native Americans generally. Although the pageant’s main and side characters were seemingly still played by white actors in 1970 when this home movie was shot, by at least the 1990s until the present some of the cast — including the co-leads — have been Native American actors, and there have been bird singers, dancers, ceremonies and such. The descendants of Ramona Lubo, Cahuilla, on whose life it is widely accepted the novel was in part based, still live here, and we post this and other footage we have respectfully as historical artifacts of the pageant.
To read more about the history of the pageant here are two sources of many: Lorimer Michelle Marie. 2016. Resurrecting the Past : The California Mission Myth. Pechanga Calif: Great Oak Press.
DeLyser Dydia. 2005. Ramona Memories : Tourism and the Shaping of Southern California. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Ramona and the Ballad of Juan Diego (Jason Sklaver, 2026). A great documentary about the deep and respectful dive into the real histories of Ramona and Juan Diego (Alessandro in the play).
#260. [“Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), April 1977; (McDonald’s) in San Bernardino, Palm Springs, Rose Bowl — Flea Circus, Newport Beach, Rodeo Drive, San Diego, June 1978.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. April 1977: Airport and POV shot from plane on way to Dominican Republic, resort, pool, Santo Domingo cityscapes and sites with a local friend or guide, jai alai court, beautiful beaches. June 1978: POV from plane on way to Palm Springs area, the old Hadley’s Fruit Orchards, San Jacinto mountain, POV shot by car of Palm Springs including Bob Hope’s house under construction (finished in ’79), a stop at City Hall, a park or golf club?, Eisenhower Medical Center, The Springs in Rancho Mirage. The road trip continues to Laguna Beach (including the Lumberyard restaurant) and Newport Beach locations, Dana Point beaches and jetty, Santa Monica beach and walking path, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, the Rose Bowl Flea market (swap meet, not circus — seems the filmmaker is making a joke) at the Rose Bowl, San Diego harbor, mission, lighthouse, etc.
#215. [“Ocotillo Wells, ’76, On Top of Mountain, Bare Backyard,” 1976.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Two women dune buggy enthusiasts on top of the mountain in Ocotillo Wells, a dirt track, dune buggies. See also #216 below for more!
#216. [“__ Competition, Hills,” ca. 1976.] Super 8mm. Color. Sound. Dune buggies on the side of, and at bottom of, a giant sand dune (most likely Ocotillo Wells — see #215 above) plus a long POV shot of the race from inside a dune buggy (with commentary)!
#245. “Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.” Super 8mm. Color. Silent. An amateur 8mm souvenir/tourist film commercially distributed by Finley Holiday Films in the 1960s. Great shots of the older gondola and views of Palm Springs back when it was less built up.
#262. [“Palm Springs, Hearst (Castle), Gold Beach, Oregon,” late 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Documentation of the Palm Springs Mounted Police Rodeo including opening ceremony, bronco riding, cattle wrangling, barrel racing, etc. Includes an Eva Gabor sighting! Other footage includes exteriors and pool at Heart Castle, and two Coast Guard boats conducting terrifying maneuvers in rough sea off Gold Beach, Oregon.
#265. [“Music Center, Yucca, Flowers, Golf,” ca. 1973.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Woman hanging laundry, group of ladies dressed nicely walking around the Los Angeles Music Center plaza, and a poster for the play, The Great White Hope, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, green fields of pretty flowers, poppies, mountains, woman with 8mm camera in Yucca Valley and/or Joshua trees, then we’re off to the star-studded Colgate-Dinah Shore Golf Classic on April 10, 1973, at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. In the footage we see Ray Bolger, John Denver (?), golfers Phil Harris and Judy Rankin, Fred Astaire, Jill St. John, Arnold Palmer, Dinah Shore, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Frank and Barbara Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Cliff Robertson, and others.
Cover of Palm Spring Life (April 1973) featuring the Colgate Dinah Shore event. Thanks to vintagegolfwear on Instagram for ID’ing some of the golfers and giving us this pic!
#39. [“Mojave Desert, Wax Museum, Part 1,” ca. 1970s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Beautiful desert driving scenes, Joshua trees, and a desert portrait outside of the car. These views are followed by some shots of Movieland Wax Museum (founded, 1962 and closed in 2005). Liberace’s car, Mae West, Yul Brynner, the Star Trek set, That Girl (Marlo Thomas), Bonanza, Ben Hur. Sadly, we do not have part 2.
#352. [“Desert Artist Gil III (October 1964), Brawley Rodeo (November 1964).”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Unidentified (help us) painter in a desert landscape in our area (we think this is near Anza Borrego?) and footage of the Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo and surroundings.
#362. [“Palm Canyon,” 1935.] 8mm. B/W. Silent. Group of hikers picnicking in Palm Canyon. Lovely views of the group from above, in the canyon’s picnic area, rain clouds (!), and the view from parking area of Palm Springs in the far distance. The rest of the film is of a little blond toddler in the snow, sledder and snowy landscape near and on Lake Tahoe (?), huge, amazing mansion or hotel lakeside (perhaps Lake Arrowhead?), and then toddler again probably in summer as she’s in a swimsuit.
#360. [“End of Camel Race, Kern River, Bobby Thrown in Water,” ca. late 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Footage from the Indio Date Festival! Camel races at the Date Festival in Indio, Ca. Date fields in background. Started in 1921, the Date Festival still runs today (and the camel races are part of it). Some equestrian demonstrations in the same arena. This is followed by some lake scenes…. Girl being chased by man who grabs her in his arms and dunks her in the river. Sitting around campsite (camper in background). Playing with dogs.
#375. [“‘Xmas 1953 — Credit Club Xmas Party (Work), Xmas 1954, Crystal Lake Mountains — Snow 1955, Kussen (Johnson Dog), Beach, Memorial Day, Boys Choir (James), Ray’s Folks, Palm Springs, Calif.; December 1954.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Jay and Rowena Johnson film (from Whittier, CA). On this long reel is a bit scratched up and dirty, but it includes holiday parties, road trips, and vacation footage of a group of young people hanging by a hotel pool (which we are starting to really think this may be Hotel Bella Vista) in Palm Springs and exploring a bit. In May 1954 (we think) they attend a Memorial Day ceremony at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, CA. Cross-listed under “Melissa’s Obsession: Work and Social Club Parties” and “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff.”
#369. [“Indio Parade and Circus,” February 1958.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Parade for the 1958 Indio Date Festival including a float for College of the Desert before it was officially founded the next year. Footage includes floats, princesses, horse and riders, ropers…dogs and cave people, a circus and trapeze act (Cirque Araby, on the 22nd or 23rd), a camel race, and terrifying diving and aerobatics demonstrations. [Note: When we showed a clip from this parade during our 2024 Modernism Week show “Palm Springs Plays Itself”, an attendee named Vera Zaffis recognized herself in the parade! A dream come true.]
Reel RR#1. [Rockwell Family Home Movie in Big Bear and La Quinta Cove, ca. 1957-1958.] Home movie footage of the Rockwell family spending time in Big Bear as one of the Rockwell boys flying a kite on Avenida Carranza in La Quinta cove. Digital file donated by Rhonda Rockwell of Palm Springs.
#385. [Fishing at Lake Hemet, ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. A fishing party enjoying LakeHemet. The film has scratches across the middle throughout the entire reel. Was it dropped in the sand? Was it stored or run through a projector improperly? We don’t know! It’s trippy nonetheless.
#406 [Palm Springs, Apple Valley, Universal Studios, Rose Bowl, Winter 1967-1968.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Regional footage includes the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, down Palm Canyon, including at night, Rimcrest Hillside Condos, and then out in Apple Valley, perhaps Lake Arrowhead, Universal Studios, Descanso Gardens (La Cañada), and a bunch of the 1967 Rose Bowl and parade.
#384. [Salton Sea Fishing Trip, 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Lot’s of fishing footage. This is followed by scenes of the area around the Salton Sea: Desert Shores (Rancho Marina: now an RV Park); Marina is gone; Windjammer is closed; Desert Shores Trailer Park is actually in Thermal and still in business; Mudsucker Mike’s seems to be gone; Marina Mobile Estates has been abandoned, although people lived there through the mid-90s; ends at what is likely the Mobile Estates and a nice pan out to the sea.
#150. [“Football Game + Party, 1954.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. A bit dark in the beginning — shot outside at nighttime at a football game, but then we go indoors to a post-game party full of dancing teenagers. This party may be at the Price home: 970 S. Paseo Dorotea.
#148. [“Kenny, Baby Picture, August 1960.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. Babies and the pool fun! Price home: 970 S. Paseo Dorotea.
#155. [“DeDe’s House,” ca. 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local/Palm Springs home movie maker named Nick Maff, a local police offer, although we bought it at an estate sale at the Price household. See others from this family on this page. Two young women swimming in a local hillside home. We crowdsourced to identify this house on Facebook and Instagram and we think this is 1752 Ridge Road (part of screenwriter and director Edmund Goulding’s estate) in Palm Springs. See evidence here, here, and here. Thanks to everyone who chimed in!
Images above from the Goulding estate, taken mid-late 1930s. From Lauretta Edlund home movies, courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Click to view larger.
#151. [“Debbie & Family, 1955.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. Visit to a local family’s home, a lot of focus on a toddler girl. Poor quality scan, but maybe someone can help us ID these folks?
#158. [“Kenny & Jo Before Married — Last Half No Good, 1954.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. House party with folks of all ages. We don’t think the “last half is no good” –only the very end is a bit dark!
#159. [“Kenny’s Xmas — No Good, 1955.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. Christmas gift opening with family and/or friends — Indeed the second half is “no good,” but it’s weird and fun to try to work out what’s happening. Price home: 970 S. Paseo Dorotea.
#157. [“Kenny and Gary’s Party, 1954.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price.
#152. [“Xmas Party at Jo’s House, 1955.]. 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page. Holiday party: tree and presents, being drinking and chatting in the kitchen, adults and kids in the living room, opening presents, decorating the dog, etc. Crosslisted on the “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff” page.
#153. [“Violet’s House & Family, 1955.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Local Palm Springs family called Price. Filmmaker is Kenny Price. See others from this family on this page.
#848. [California Vacation: Pasadena, Palm Springs, High Desert, 1950s.] 8mm. Color Silent. Footage includes Pioneertown. Further description forthcoming.
#449. [“Halloween, Hank’s & (Unclear),” 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Halloween, Christmas, and more. Aside from holiday celebrations, this longish home movie includes footage shot around the local Beaumont-Cherry Valley area. Crosslisted on the “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff” page.
#408. [“Palm Desert to Panama Canal,” ca. 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. This over 30-min. home movie starts in Palm Desert at a nice midcentury home (great breeze walls!), then travels to San Francisco and off to the Panama Canal.
#438. [“Palm Springs – Thanksgiving Weekend 1962” plus Erawan Garden Hotel (March 1963) and L’Horizon, May 1963.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Mytinger Family Home Movies. Great footage of the Mytinger family and friends staying at the Desert Isle Hotel and Apartments in Palm Springs, at the former Erawan Garden Hotel in Palm Desert (then Miramonte Resort & Spa, and Tommy Bahama’s, and the property is officially in Indian Wells now), and L’Horizon. Crosslisted on the “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff” page. See also #439, #440, #443, #444, and #498.
#444. [Rolling Hills, Erawan Garden Hotel, Sandra’s Graduation from Univ. of Colorado and Stewardess School, early 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Mytinger Family Home Movies. Images of the family in their Rolling Hills (in the Palos Verdes Peninsula) home; vacationing at the former Erawan Garden Hotel in Palm Desert (then Miramonte Resort & Spa, and now Tommy Bahama’s); the Mytinger daughter at University of Colorado Boulder and her graduation from there and flight attendant school, etc. Search for more Mytinger Family films throughout the website.
#441. [Outtakes for The Happy Wanderers, Episode 121, “Hermit of Palm Springs,” 1965.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Episode about unhoused local “Hubcap Willie” McDavid filmed at his shanty, a nice drive in Indian Canyons (including a nice shot of the Andreas Club rock houses — thanks to the couple at one of our shows who helped us ID!), a hay ride led by former, controversial, mayor Frank Bogert (man on horse with green windbreaker and straw hat) and a “Fireside Sing” at an unidentified location but we think around Smoke Tree (?), a ride on the tram and views from the station at the top, Henrietta getting a facial at Palm Springs Spa Hotel as well as a workout session in its gym and pool led by Dr. Anne-Marie Bennström, Charles Farrell playing tennis at the Racquet Club, and tennis courts and pool at the Tennis Club. For more of The Happy Wanderers, see also #502 and #665.
#665. [Outtakes for The Happy Wanderers, Episode 123 “Ghosts of Indian Cove,” ca. 1967.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Footage includes Big Rock Airport, The Integratron, and George Van Tassel, Desert Christ Park in Yucca Valley, Pioneertown, etc. See also #441 and #502. The Happy Wanderers was a nationally syndicated travelogue television show that originally aired on KCOP and then KNBC and KTLA in Los Angeles, California, in the 1960s and early 1970s. It was hosted by Slim and Henrietta Barnard.
#513. [Marineland and Joshua Tree/High Desert, ca. 1959.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Young duo stay in Joshua Tree or elsewhere nearby high desert, and continue on to the former Marineland on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
#555. [Palm Springs Vacation, ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. We haven’t worked out yet what Palm Springs hotel this is (maybe Desert Isle?), but these folks relax in and by the pool and sunbathe, etc.
#520. [“Palm Springs April ’60, Betty Bieryla Homecoming.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Pool fun and women (friends or family?) and a quick shot of the former Desert Leisure Hotel in Palm Springs. See also #522, #526, and #535 for more from this family.
#522. [“Film of Baby & Homecoming & Palm Springs, 4-’60.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Woman posing with baby and little boy, a day at a (local-ish?) amusement park, then pool fun in Palm Springs. See also #520, #526, and #535 for more from this family.
#667. [“California Snow,” ca. January 10, 1949.] 8mm. Color & B/W. Silent. Footage starts with black/white images of a pool party, then switches to the January 1949 Southern California snow storm as it affected the Banning (note the Banning Union HS bus!), Cabazon, and Palm Springs area. The family stops at Taylor’s Service/Post Office/groceries/gas next door to Big Limit Cafe and “California’s Famous Cactus Garden” all in Cabazon on Highway 99, as they travel through — and along the San Gorgonio Pass we think — and then into Palm Springs.
Stumpf#22. [“Ocotillo Wells, Scouts (at) Orange County Fairgrounds, New Year’s Eve ’72.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family films. POV footage from a car through Texas, at the beach, and then POV again in the desert around Ocotillo Wells; then they attend a Boy Scout jamboree in the Orange County Fairgrounds, a parade, and then a New Year’s Eve party which is the same NYE Party as in #538 (McCormick family films). Crosslisted on the “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff” page. See more from this family throughout the website.
Stumpf#1. [“June 1972, Palm Springs.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family films. Stumpfs on the tram in Palm Springs and then ends at the same pool party as in #536 in the McCormick family films. See more from this family throughout the website.
WBH#5. [Vacation Reels: Trip to Catalina, Fun on Yacht, Beach Resort (Mazatlan?), Skiing on June Mountain Ski Area, El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs, ca. 1928-1954.] 16mm. B/W and Color. Silent. William ‘Bud’ Hayward family films. Black and white: shots of boats on the water around Catalina Island, family hanging out on a sailboat, POV from the boat out over the water. Color: adults hanging out and goofing off on a sailing yacht, shots of an unknown beach and beach resort (possibly in Mazatlan); people riding a ski lift at June Mountain Ski Area, and a ski slope seen from above; the El Mirador Hotel sign in Palm Springs and shots of the hotel exterior, views from a hotel balcony looking out over Palm Springs, a bit of one of the famous poolside luncheon fashion shows at the El Mirador (Mrs. Lois Hayward, Bud’s wife, is the brunette seated at a table who turns and smiles at the camera), hotel guests playing and diving in the pool. The fashion shows happened every Saturday at noon during the season. We found this particular show advertised in The Desert Sun in 1953. It features aloha-wear designed and/or imported by Waltah Clarke (the man in the palm hat next to the Ukelele player). Clarke had a shop in the hotel where he sold his wares (he was an incredible entrepreneur), and these shows helped spread his aloha gospel and did a lot for the El Mirador’s public profile. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado & DF.
#706. [Downtown Palm Springs, Carlsbad, Balboa Park?, 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Diners on unidentified patio. Oasis Hotel. Shoppers at Oasis Commercial Building. City National Bank and fountain. Palm Springs Spa Hotel. Beach along the Pacific Coast Highway. Self-Realization Fellowship Golden World Colony temple in Encinitas. Other unidentified coastal California.
#737. [“Landscape on Hwy. 111 – 1968; Outside Near Palm Springs; Chet’s Grandson and Parents […]; Along Hwy. 74; Hawthorne Parade […] 7/’67; Camp Out; Have Badge, Will Chase (Abbott and Costello film) […].] Super 8. Color. Silent. A couple camping out of their truck at various campgrounds and taking in nearby scenery and landscapes, a few panning shots of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Town, POV from a car past Roy Roger’s Museum and Apple Valley, CA, shots of the Hawthorne Parade including a Jim Hicklin KMPC helicopter as a float, POV from a car along Highway 111 through Palm Springs then up Highway 74 (a long drive!), visiting with a family, quick shots of kids and adults in a park, then back to POV from a car on the highway (74?) with snowy mountains in the distance. Ends with the Have Badge, Will Chase Abbott and Costello silent film. Note: KMPC is now KSPN (AM 710). Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#700. [“San Diego, Palm Springs, Phoenix, & Grand Canyon,” ca. 1959-1962.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#708. [“Portnoy Family Palm Springs”, early 1950s, “Helen, Barkey, & David in Burbank 1963.”] 16mm. B/W and color. Silent. Portnoy family films. (See #711 on “A Short Drive” for another.) The Portnoy family lived in Palm Springs for many years in this house at 675 S. Camino Real, the house where this footage begins. The color footage in the second half is shot in Burbank. The older daughter is Sylvia — she was manager and buyer at a local women’s clothing store called Taffy’s on North Palm Canyon. The teenager is Helen Portnoy who went to Palm Springs Public High School. The man is Louis Portnoy and the older woman is his wife Jennie. They started coming here in the 1940s. Louis was a WWI vet who was very active with the local American Legion post 519. He died here in 1985. Jennie died in 1980. Not present on screen is a third daughter named Gloria who worked at Bullock’s, but the young man may be her husband Marlowe A. Mogul. (Click here for a photo of Sylvia in The Desert Sun, on October 21, 1947, taking to task a tourist for littering. The caption reads, “KEEP IT CLEAN — Sylvia Portnoy of the Desert Camera Shop admonishes a stroller not to drop trash on the sidewalks. Clean-up time is upon us.”)
#412. [Palm Springs Golf Games, Pre-April 1969.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie begins with what appear to be wedding guests leaving a Bolindale Christian Church (Bolindale, Ohio), then captures a man and woman playing golf at Canyon Country Club (now Indian Canyons Golf Resort) — you can see the backside of the Canyon Hotel in the background, relaxing with friends by the Canyon Hotel pool, and playing more golf (on a very windy day). Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed Initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved. You can read more about Canyon Country Club here.
#413. [“Strange Hotel Palm Springs/That Special Canyon in Palm Springs, San Diego, Feb. ’85.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Home movie footage includes two women traveling together to San Diego, their hotel and the harbor, and then their stay in what likely was The Riviera Hotel (was Margaritaville Resort and is back to Riviera again — 2024) in Palm Springs, and a hike into Tahquitz Canyon, hanging out by the pool, and more. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#416. [Camping Life: Palm Springs and Other Location in California or Colorado, July 2, 1968.] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie captures lovely sunsets, unidentified Palm Springs hotel or camper/ trailer park pool, camping trailers in a wooded area (California or Colorado?), a river in a green gorge (at dusk, a bit dark), a woman and dog in a field of pretty flowers, same river in daylight, another campsite on the riverbank, more of the river, a field of poppies on a hillside, relaxing at a campsite picnic table. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#428. [Birthday Party, Fishing, Camping, Rowing — Salton Sea, late 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Footage covers a young boy’s large birthday party held in what looks like a community room (perhaps at Salton Sea); landscape shots of the Salton Sea at dusk, and activities including people fishing, water-skiing, rowing a small boat, campers and trailers, and camping right at and on the beach. Film is a bit dark in the beginning. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#497. [“Palm Springs, Marineland, June 1959; Produced by George, April 4th & 5th, 1959.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Created by we think a young filmmaker named George (last name unknown), this edited home movie captures a family staying at Lantana Lodge (now condos) in Palm Springs. He takes in the scenery, hotel, and the family playing in its pool, sunbathing; the family then goes to the long gone Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes Estates (Calif.) where he records many exhibitions by the park’s captive sea life and grounds. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#502. [Outtakes for The Happy Wanderers, Episode 164 “Riverside Honeymoon,” ca. mid-1960s.] 16mm. Color. Silent. This 16mm reel of outtakes for episode 164 “Riverside Honeymoon” of The Happy Wanders features speed boat races on Ski Land Lake in Perris, California, ca. 1967 (episode aired on KTLA, April 1967.) The Happy Wanderers was a nationally syndicated travelogue television show that originally aired on KCOP and then KNBC and KTLA in Los Angeles, California, in the 1960s and early 1970s. It was hosted by Slim and Henrietta Barnard. Includes moments from many races, spectators, and even glimpses of Henrietta Barnard at about minutes 12:55 and 13:36. Image of a sign states the National Drag Boat Association (N.D.B.A.) Race Schedule ran one Sunday a month, February through November. See also #441 and #665. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#745 [“California Southland” Outtakes, pre-1951.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Outtakes (including the opening and closing titles) from a longer amateur film of the same name by Ted Shaw, Jr., of Chicago, IL. Footage includes: the sites around Emerald Bay Beach, Three-Arch Bay and Laguna Beach: sea life, sunbathing, flowers right outside the Victor Hugo (now Las Brisas) restaurant and beach walk, Hotel Laguna in the distance, mountains, and then further away an orchard/farm, in traffic with a cavalcade of lovely old late 1940s or very early 1950s, visiting a young woman with baby goats and a dog on a farm with mountains in the background, a woman fondling some California poppies, a people walking through probably cherry or almond trees in bloom, more trees, then to Desert Beach marina at the Salton Sea, speed boat action on the water and the peer, the marina building and beach-goers; next a crowd and captain (possibly Captain Leroy Mussetter) on deck of the ship S.S. Avalon (which ceased doing the LA-Catalina run in February 1951) as it leaves The Catalina Terminal (located at 100 W. Water Street, Berths 184 and 185, Port of Los Angeles, Wilmington, CA) for Catalina Island, other ships in the harbor, oil wells, nice shots of passengers, the shore; then a bunch of lovely footage of the town of Avalon on Catalina: the Casino, harbor, kids diving for coins, people disembarking, nice shots of the beach front shops, harbor, Casino, from up higher up a mountain (maybe from Wrigley Mansion), the town, Wrigley Mansion, more Casino and boats and harbor, the ring road, and lots of other lovely footage of the town, the Bird Park, the ride back to LA, and even a closing “The End” title.
About the filmmaker: Shaw was a businessman who traveled the world with his wife, Ruth, and created 16mm travelogues along the way. He was recognized by the Amateur Cinema League for his 1937 film, Chicago, Vacation Center of the Nation. Click here for more about Shaw and here to see other films he made.
#703. [Beach and Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, ca. 1971.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#5. [Palm Springs or Another Local City: Kids and Dog Playing, Carton of Cigs for Mom’s Birthday, late 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Same family as #4. Kids playing in the pool and hanging out; kids posing in a shrubby field with desert mountains in the background; celebrating mom’s birthday at home: blowing out the candles and opening gifts on the couch. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#692. [Older Couple Dancing in Driveway, ca. 1973.] 16mm. Color. Silent. We bought this film in the area and assume this couple landed here perhaps in the Silver Spur neighborhood of Palm Desert? A car pulls into the driveway, an older couple steps out and starts dancing and goofing off for the camera. We don’t know anything about this, but we adore these two. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado, updated by DF.
#746. [“1st Part – Kyle, Sandbuggy 10/’58, Neighbors & Family. 2nd Part – Woodcutting Trip to Hancock – Esey Tierney, Idyllwild.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio. See others from this family throughout the site. A little boy sitting in a go-kart, several go-karts go around the track (located at Coachella Valley), then we see a bit of the race. Very cool! Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado. [Note: further description forthcoming.]
#747. [“5/’59 – 7/’59.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio. See others from this family throughout the site.
#749. [“Kitt Party 11/’58, Christ Park, Sandy & Margy (Party), Kids Swimming 9/’58, Trip to Ariz. 9/’58, Kids At Play, Sultan Football, Shooting Guns, Colorado River.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio. See others from this family throughout the site. A girl combing and curling her hair in the backyard; a family picnic in a wooded area; family swimming in an unknown lake and teaching a young boy to waterski; a teenage girl’s birthday party celebration at home: blowing out the candles (on cupcakes!), group of girls posing, opening gifts; Desert Christ Park under construction; kids dancing together at a party (in a dance hall?); kids playing in a swimming pool; an older man playing ball with a young boy; kids riding bikes on the street (in Indio?); Sultan football game; adults and kids practicing shooting guns out in the desert. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#751. [“Sandbuggy,” ca. 1958.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio. See others from this family throughout the site. A boy sits on a skeletal sand buggy that’s under construction, shots of the buggy frame, a man poses on the unbuilt buggy next to a Valley Auto Supply truck located in Indio, CA, progress on the buggy as it’s being built, a man takes it out for a test drive in a small sandy lot at Indio Truck Terminal on Highway 99. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#754. [“Lions Club Pancake (Breakfast), Float, Date Festival Parade & Little Nell, 2/’59 – 3/’59.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio. See others from this family throughout the site.
#755. [“2/’59 Tom’s Party In Desert, Hiking La Quinta, Carrot Picking, SB (Santa Barbara) Canyon with Hancock, Mud Flats, VAS Picts., Biskra Palms with P&H, Tommy’s Kite.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio. See others from this family throughout the site. Desert birthday party for Tom (a young boy), adults and a big group of kids hiking in La Quinta, picking carrots near the cove, hiking to and posing in some neat caves in Santa Barbara Canyon, a shot of the Valley Auto Supply (located in Indio, CA) store exterior, family hiking and roasting hot dogs at Biskra Palms, Tom flying a kite at a park. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#775. [Joshua Tree, 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. POV from a car driving down a desert road, shots of Joshua trees and scenery along the side of the road, a man walks among the trees and shrubs taking pictures, a lovely view of Joshua trees against the sunset, zoomed-in shot following a hairy caterpillar on the ground. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#777. [“Salton Sea and Panning for Gold,” ca. March 1959.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Possibly same family as #779. Water skiing on the Salton Sea, POV from the water of the beach full of tents and campers, kids goofing off on shore as adults look on; men panning for gold at a river (possibly the Colorado River), a shot of a prospector sifting for gold by a small wooden building. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#779. [Salton Sea and Playground Fun, ca. 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Possibly same family as #777. A car pulls a speedboat out of a driveway, POV from a car driving by a Salton Sea State Park sign, campers hanging out by the beach, kids playing in the water and on shore; kids posing and goofing off for the camera while playing on a swing set at a playground. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#781. [“Visiting Folks,” 1948.] 8mm. B/W. Silent. Family posing on the side of a street (outside possibly a Hamilton Department Store in the Ontario province of Canada?), family posing by and playing around an adobe house, toddler boy playing with a stick then swinging on a standing swing, men making cinder blocks (or breeze blocks?), an organ grinder monkey being admired by a crowd, princesses posing on a set of stairs at the Date Festival in Indio, and a quick shot of a performance or play. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado, updated by DF.
#786. [Palm Springs Desert Circus Parade, ca. 1950s.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Great footage of the Desert Circus parade (which was last held in 1986): a high school marching band and cheerleaders, a woman on horseback, tiny majorettes; the last half shows a large group of mainly kids (some wearing chefs’ hats) having a picnic by the fire pit out in their yard. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#678. [“Cal. (OK?), Hawaii, People, Flowers, Desert Scenery,” 1956.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Donated by Cameron Jutte. Note: we only digitized the “Desert Scenery” part. Further description forthcoming.
#800. [California Travels: Beach, Mission, Shields Date Garden, Palm Springs, Huntington Gardens, Birthdays, 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Panning shots of the family at a rocky beach, hand feeding doves at Mission San Juan Capistrano, a boy’s birthday party at home, family at the zoo (possibly L.A. Zoo) and various animals, panning view of the Exposition Park Rose Garden, an older woman in a date orchard at Shields Date Garden, the front of the Palm Springs Spa Hotel, shots of downtown Palm Canyon and a stop at The Plaza, an older man’s birthday party at home, two women at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, family fun at the pool. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#818. [“Vagabond,” early 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Same family as #817. A family travels to various sites around California: camping at Cleveland National Forest’s Tenaja Campground; a trip to Disneyland: entrance, Main Street, the Matterhorn, and lots of rides; visiting Badwater Basin; a tour through Death Valley National Park: Zabriskie Point, Devils Golf Course, Artists Palette; hiking and a quick stop at a “Indian Grinding Mortar” sign in Andreas Canyon on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Reservation; intermission: sledding down a big snowy hill (fun!); and a big outdoor family picnic for Father’s Day at a campground. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado, updated by DF.
#599. [Water Fun, ca. 1937.] 16mm. B/W. Optical Sound. This narrated national survey of water recreation features two segments filmed at the El Mirador Hotel pool, but first: NYC residents try to beat the summer heat in the Washington Square Park fountain, with free-flowing water hydrants on neighborhood streets and even by taking a leap in the Hudson River. At unspecified Olympic-sized pools, crowds watch speed swimmers from the stands, first boys and then young women, including “backstroke champion” Eleanor Holm. Over the pool at the El Mirador Hotel, riders (including former mayor and employee of the hotel at the time — former mayor Frank Bogert — the older rider) attempt a rope-suspended bucking bronco. Another location, men and women engage in a rather intense match of water polo. At the Great Lakes Exposition of 1936-37 in Cleveland, a choreographed water ballet with Johnny Weissmuller and Eleanor Holm and other synchronized swimmers. Back at the El Mirador pool, divers show their form in slow-motion and at regular speed. Description by DF board member Sean Savage.
#845. [Palm Springs: Desert Circus Parade, Two Men Posing, New Citrus Trees, and Golf Course, ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Same family as #846. Footage of a good chunk of the Desert Circus Parade with performers on horseback, a shot of a palm tree-lined road snowy mountains in the background, a man posing, fountain by the airport, two older men posing by citrus trees, distant view of golfers on O’Donnell Golf Club course. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#846. [Joshua Tree National Park, Tram, Picnic, Ice Skating, 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Same family as #845. Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park, men and women posing by a large rock formation, a woman in a flower field picking flowers, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and POV from inside the tram, older men and women having a picnic at a wooded campground, two older men skating around an ice skating rink. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado.
#752. [“Easter 1959, Nell ’59, Padres Ball Team, Sandy’s Haircut, Kids Swimming – 3/’59 – 4/’59.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio. See others from this family throughout the site. Kid swimming and diving in a pool, a San Diego Padres baseball game, most likely in today’s Davis Field, against Sacramento Solons in Indio on Padre Field on March 25th or 30th, 1959– see The Desert Sun, March 26, 1959 and March 31, 1959; Sandy showing off her new haircut, Easter egg hunt in the backyard. [Note: “Nell ’59” is actually in reference to reel #754 on this page.]
Solons and Padres were part of the PCL (the Pacific Coast League). Palm Springs hosted the Solons for their Spring training that year, but at least some of games took place in Indio. Description by Pathways Summer intern (2024) Janeth Delgado, updated by DF.
#756. [“Square Dance, 12/27/59.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Family from Indio.
#517. [“#16 Vacation July 4-14, ’51, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Long Beach, Catalina Isl., L.A., Ferndell (Trail?), Riverside […] Palm Springs, Home, 2nd Reel.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Same family as #516. Cliffs/ocean, lawn pottery (Laguna?), Laguna sights, beach, two ladies and a boy – Long Beach?, POV from car, motel facade, POV, Knott’s Berry Farm visit, S.S. Catalina ferry, Catalina Island sights, ferry back, nice park, POV driving (Riverside?) and down Palm Canyon in Palm Springs, Casa de Beverly Hotel Apartments sign, Hotel del Tahquitz sign, Palm Orchard, visiting in PS.
#554. [Young Adults Visit Joshua Tree and Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, late 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color Silent. Friends or family on side of road in Joshua Tree National Park area, cholla field, parking lot and entrance of the Tram.
#566. [Palm Springs Airport, Palm Canyon Drive, El Mirador Hotel and Storyland (Fresno, CA), 1962.] 8mm. Color. Silent. PS Airport tarmac, landscape, crosswalk on Palm Canyon at The Plaza, man walks down West Chino, El Mirador pool; Title: “Thanksgiving 1962 at Grandmother’s”, visit to the newly opened Storyland in Fresno, CA.
#570. [Our Desert, Joshua Tree, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and Mt. San Jacinto, after 1965.] Super 8mm. Color Silent. Desert, ocean or Salton Sea in distance, Joshua Trees, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, San Jacinto from the top (snow).
#583. [“1954 Las Vegas & Palm Springs.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Nancy Moore films. Filmmaker Nancy Moore shooting her forehead, Wilbur Clarke’s Desert Inn (Las Vegas) sign, the pool, Palm Springs landscape, swimming in and sunning by the Del Marcos Hotel pool, at home — lady, kid in swing, dog on a patio, Moore setting up a shot with her in it on patio, a seal in a cage outside of Las Flores Cafe/Fish House (Malibu, CA), older ladies dressed up, and a visit to Wayfarers Chapel, or “The Glass Church,” designed by Lloyd Wright and originally located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
#590. [Couple Visits Palm Springs, ca. March 1956.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Nancy Moore films. Crowd outside a church at what may be in a girl’s graduation of some kind, at home (doesn’t look like Palm Springs) after event it seems — boy pogo-sticking down sidewalk and girl laughing and eating a cookie, girl and women waving, trio + filmmaker (backwards) walking down Palm Canyon, women outside a cafe (still to be determined), American flag outside of The Desert Inn we think, people relaxing, filmmaker Nancy Moore watering lawn on residential street, exterior of house, filmmaker putting herself in shot, new baby.
#602. [“Trip to Indio; Los Angeles, Oct./Nov. 1966; Includes: Marineland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Forest Lawn, and Disneyland.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Road trip with Caucasian man and woman, their two toy poodles in an Airstream trailer. Begins with an Airstreamers rally at the Indio Polo Grounds during the Date Festival held February 18-20, 1966: pans and tracking shots of the shiny Airstreams parked amongst the palms, campers enjoying a fried chicken picnic. Marineland of the Pacific park in Rancho Palos Verdes: flamingos and penguins, acrobatic dolphin and seal show, dolphin pulls dog on surfboard and more, plus panoramic, high-angle views of the park. Wayfarers Chapel, RPV. Knott’s Berry Farm: Calico Railroad locomotive rolls into Ghost Town, with some park views from train. Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale: statuary and fountains. Universal Studios tour: ticket booth, views of backlot from park tram, Jack Benny’s 1937 Packard, our home movie maker pokes at motionless Jack The Ripper figure to see if he’s real, soon Jack is moving towards the filmer’s wife. Disneyland: Mickey Mouse and visitors at front gates, extended section with nice park views on a relatively quiet day. Grand Canyon National Park: pack mule descent and many views. Back on the road with a stop at a trading post in Gray Mountain and on to the Hoover Dam, Death Valley (Scotty’s Castle, Zabriskie Point and more). Film runs out on sunset. Description by board member Sean Savage.
#603. [Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, Salton Sea, ca. 1960s?] 8mm. Color. Silent. Salton Sea views from moving vehicle, stopping at Salt Creek, sea waves on shore. Palm Springs High School exterior. Driving a palm tree-lined road with snowy peaks in the distance. Joshua Tree National Monument, entrance and park views. Description by board member Sean Savage.
#607. [Royal Date Gardens, Indio, CA, ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. The Royal Date Gardens and shop in Indio were owned and run by Roy and Alva Hunter, from the 30s through at least the 1980s. Footage of snow-capped mountains, sign and façade of the shop, the palm tree orchard, then a group of unidentified filmer and three women passengers driving over the border into Arizona and through desert scenery, making stops to pose and take in the sights — two middle-aged woman and glimpse of young woman filming with home movie camera. Description by board member Sean Savage and DF.
DO#48. [First Bell and Howell Camera Test, 2025.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Bell & Howell t20xl Super 8 (ca. 1981) Camera test #1 – Pro8/03 ASA 50 Daylight Balanced Film processed and scanned by Pro8mm in beautiful Burbank, CA. Shot by Devin. The camera was part of a vintage market haul (along with a projector, a viewer, and a tabletop screen). Still in box, still shrink-wrapped. So the thing that OFTEN destroyed these cameras (exploding batteries) was never going to be an issue! The focus ring was jammed for most of this reel (just from disuse). It now moves freely and easily. There is a bit of our vintage bone & bamboo Mah Jong set, some nice footage of Cathedral City Pride 2025 (with our friends Joyce and Keith), and some nice shots (though, again, a bit overexposed and out of focus) of Desert X 2025. This is a pretty delightful camera… Very light and compact and mostly point & shoot. Our goal is to amass a little stable of working cameras for a big project we are working on (we heard this was a terrific time to apply for arts/humanities grants…) Processing done by the nice folks at Pro8mm, who are helping us with the project as well.
If you are feeling creative, Deserted Films recommends searching eBay, Etsy, estate sales, yard sales, and thrift stores for cameras. You can take a chance and see if it works (we’ve had OK luck and a few duds) or you can work with vendors that have tested (and in some cases, restored) these machines. Pro8mm and similar vendors can outfit you with the right film and processing/scanning. It is a little costly. But we think the results are pretty magical! Hooray for small-gauge filmmaking in 2025!!!
#595. [Ingleside Inn (Palm Springs, CA), ca. 1942.] 8mm. Color. Silent.
#615. [“Joshua Tree Nat. Monument and Start of Rose Parade, 1961, #3.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#622. [“Palm Springs Tramway, 4-’79.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#625. [Virginia City and Reno, NV, and Palm Springs, ca, 1958.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#629. [Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, ca. 1972.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#637. [Desert Hot Springs and Disneyland, ca. 1967.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent.
#647. [(Palm Springs Road Race “Airport Races”, Stock Cars, January 23) ‘54; Easter ‘54; (Illegible) 12-5-‘53; Train at Palm Springs; Primitive Māori (film); The Gang Busters with Officer 444 (film); The Movie of the Month: Atomic Bomb (newsreel); (Los Angeles Harbor and Ferry to) Catalina, July 4th ‘54; Christmas ‘54; Parties (Illegible).”] 8mm. Color and B/W. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#671. [“Palm Springs Police Show – (April 6) 1963.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. A film by Lee Moorer (Dinah Shore’s personal assistant or co-president of her fan club.
#682. [“Palm Springs Rodeo Parade, 1963.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. A film by Lee Moorer (Dinah Shore’s PA or co-president of her fan club. Still under research.). See also 671, 672, 673, 675. Further description forthcoming.
#676. [“Indio Date Festival 1959.”] 8 mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#914. [“June 12 – ’69 – Jill’s Graduation; June 13 – Palm Springs Tram; Salton Sea.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#681. [California Picture Book (Castle Films, 1941).] 16mm. B/W. Silent with intertitles. Palm Springs at 8:24. Further description forthcoming.
WBH#1. [“1955 Camping in Grandpa Hayward’s Camp Car at Painted Canyon (Near Indio); The “Beach House” and Little Corona with the Heyes; Surfing at San Onofre with the Walkers.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. William ‘Bud’ Hayward family films. Further description forthcoming.
#686. [Indian Family of the California Desert AKA Rugged Desert (Encyclopædia Britannica Films, 1961).] 16mm. Color (faded). Sound. “A film by Cynthia Chapman, Arthur Evans, Richard Harber, Harry James; Consultants: C.E. Smith, PH.D., Lowell Bean, M.A.” Set partly at the old Desert Museum (predecessor of Palm Springs Art Museum). Narrated by Katherine Siva Saubel, scholar, educator, tribal leader, author, and activist committed to preserving her Cahuilla history, culture and language, and the first president of the Malki Museum in Banning, CA. History and culture of the Cahuilla, reenactment of typical days in the lives of Saubel’s grandparents, hunting and gathering, their diet, initiation rituals, games, etc.
#935. [“Easter 1946, (’47?) Snow Xmas Toboggan, Xmas at Home, Mtns. Dr. Mickow Took, Cabin, Dairy, Fiesta Wilson Hi(gh.) 1948.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. 7-in. Same family as #858. The cabin is in Fallsvale in the San Bernardino Mountains. Further description forthcoming.
#858. [“Reel #6 – Alaska,” + Palm Springs, 1939.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Same family as #935. Help us ID the painter and his bus near the El Mirador Hotel. Further description forthcoming.
#857. [Disneyland, Long Beach, Palm Springs, December 1966.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
DO#49. [2nd Bell and Howell Camera Test, 2025.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Bell & Howell t20xl Super 8 (ca. 1981). The exterior of the Palm Springs Cultural Center. POV walking towards and through the door towards a poster for our June 1, 2025, “Home Movies Out of the Closet” program (a collaboration with The LGBTQ+ History & Archives of the Desert (Archives) and the Palm Springs Cultural Center, and UCLA Library Film & Television Archive). Walking inside the building we see various people bringing or volunteering to inspect films for our mini-Home Movie Day event beforehand. We see one home movie being screened – footage of a building and what appears to be a parade. POV driving through the Palm Springs area, we see some windmills, and various desert landscapes, and the entrance sign to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. More POV driving down Palm Canyon Drive, and a few mid-century modern houses. A quick shot of the entrance to Melvyn’s and the Ingleside Estate. POV driving towards the mountains with palm trees on the left hand side. Overlooking the valley with houses in the distance. Description by DF volunteer Robert Boles and DF.
#861. [“Woestijn, Salton Sea, Dadel Tuinen, Palm Springs, Kabel Baan, Lion Country Safari”, ca. 1972.] 8mm. Color. Silent. This group visits what looks like the nearby high desert, Taco Bell, Albert Frey-designed North Shore Beach and Yacht Club at the Salton Sea. Laflin Date Gardens in Thermal, CA, stay at the Westward Ho hotel in Palm Springs (now the Ace Hotel), Denny’s (now King’s Highway), PSP airport, the Plaza, take a trip up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the former Lion Country Safari in what’s now Irvine Ranch, CA, and finally watch a man take off, fly and land an experimental (also its name) biplane with a propeller on top. BTW “Woestijn” means “desert,” “Dadel Tuinen” means “date gardens,” and “Kabel Baan” means “cable car” in Dutch.
#866. [Date Festival Parade (Indio, CA), February 21, 1972.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#860. [“Palm Springs, Feb. ‘51.”] 8mm. Color. Silent.
#875. [“1953 Pearl & Kids.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. Marcus Decker family films. Two men arriving and walking through what appears to be a row of orange trees. They are greeted by family, a woman wearing a sweater with the letters “PK” (Pearl Kramer), a young girl greets the men. One man is swinging the little girl in the air. “PK” is smoking and waving at the camera, another woman is admiring and grabbing an orange. Two young girls run up to the “PK” woman. (The sign out front of the house reads: “Casa de Sueños — The Deckers.” We think this home was at 432 Patterson Drive, in Monrovia, CA, before it was torn down in the early 2000s.) We cut to a pool where two women and one man are swimming around using pool floats, they are laughing and waving at the camera. Description by our volunteer Robert Boles and DF.
#874. [“1953 Himmelfarbs at House.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. Marcus Decker family films. The home is likely 432 Patterson Drive, in Monrovia, CA, before it was torn down in the early 2000s. Further description forthcoming.
#876. [“Desert Hot Springs, April 1952.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. Marcus Decker family films (Monrovia, CA). Three men goofing around and swimming in a yet-to-be-identified Desert Hot Springs hotel/motel swimming pool. A man with sunglasses waves at the camera and then he and the other gentleman swim to the other side of the pool where there are a few women, one of them in an inner tube. Then in a nearby desert landscape a man wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and red hat kneels holding with a rifle and cocks the gun. Another man wearing a white T-shirt and white hat standing next to a car. A man wearing a long sleeve shirt and hat is now kneeling with a rifle and fires off a shot. The man wearing the white T-shirt and hat has a revolver that he is firing into the desert landscape. The man with the long sleeve shirt is standing and firing a rifle into the desert. Description by DF volunteer Robert Boles.
#879. [“Globe, Mildred & Joyce, Leo, July 1953.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. Marcus Decker family films. The home is likely 432 Patterson Drive, in Monrovia, CA, before it was torn down in the early 2000s. Further description forthcoming.
#881. [“Pearl & Rose’s, Palm Springs, Feb. 1954.”] 16mm. Color. Silent. Marcus Decker family films (Monrovia, CA). A man standing next to a pool in a Palm Springs home toweling himself off. Two women having fun in the pool both in inner tubes. Another woman is laying in a lounge chair staring at the camera, next her is the same guy toweling off. A woman sitting wrapped in a towel appears to be asleep. The man from before is now sitting next to the woman wrapped in a towel and they are looking and smiling at the camera. The towel man and woman wearing a black top are hugging and smiling at the camera, then the woman that was wrapped in a towel now in a black and white bathing suit has joined the towel man and the woman and all three walk towards the camera. Now the man and the woman in black are smiling and walking towards the camera. The towel man is swimming, the woman in the black and white bathing suit is now in the pool. Description by DF volunteer Robert Boles.
#871 [Palm Springs Pool Fun & Wedding, Part 1, ca. 1952?] 8mm. Color. Silent. Possibly same family as reel 872. Further description forthcoming.
#872 [Palm Springs Pool Fun & Wedding, Part 2, ca. 1952?] 8mm. Color. Silent. Possibly same family as reel 871. Further description forthcoming.
#901. [“Hemet Xmas ‘71, Easter ‘71.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#903. [“Salt + Sea,” ca. 1975.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. 3-in. Playing pool, motorbikes and RV on the beach at Salton Sea, playing cricket, speedboat. Brits maybe? Further description forthcoming.
RES#1. [“Palm Canyon 1945, Bill and Marge.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. R.E. Simmons collection.
#743. [Kids’ Hike in Palm Canyon (?), and Versailles Hotel in Palm Springs, ca. June 1957.] Super 8mm. Color.
#923. [“April ’76, Joshua Tree.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#928. [Girl Scouts (?) Hiking in Palm Canyon, Petting a Fox, Making a Paper Mâché Camel, ca. 1973.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent.
#919. [Camel Races and Equestrian Events at Date Festival, ca. 1957.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#920. [PS Aerial Tram and Birthday Party, ca. 1966.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
#931. [Coachella Valley Visit by Son and Parents: Trip to Salton Sea and Shield’s Date Garden, Palm Springs, and Graduation, ca. 1964.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Incl. the Biltmore Hotel exterior, Tram entrance, and not sure which high school or college. Further description forthcoming.
#865 [”Palm Springs, Calif. ‘70.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. A road trip to palm springs which passes by a billboard for the Camelot Theater (now Palm Springs Cultural Center!) The housing development the filmmaker focuses on at the end is Seven Lakes Country Club, taken from above in the Rimcrest neighborhood.
#922. [“May 1968 Ramona (Pageant), Kids in Backyard.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Please see our note about the Ramona Pageant above in the caption for #263. Further description forthcoming.
