The Hollywood Connection
Big Bear Lake has been a favorite location for the film industry ever since the Bison Motion Picture Company arrived in Big Bear back and began filming in 1911. Since then Hollywood and Big Bear has had a love affair that continues to this day. Few people realize that the film industry made a huge difference in Big Bear’s early history. This historical section has photos and stories about how it all happened.
Roy Rogers – Happy Trails at Big Bear Lake
This video tells of Roy Rogers and Dale Evens, and their involvement in the Big Bear Lake community back in the 1940’s & 1950’s. It includes clips from a few Movies and TV shows that Roy and Dale filmed in and around Big Bear. The images for this video were...
Hollywood Discovers Big Bear
In March of 1911, a film company from Hollywood, called the Essanay Company, arrived at the Pine Crest Resort near Lake Arrowhead. They unloaded their equipment, and began filming a short one reel film entitled “Romance of the Bar O”. It is believed that this was the...
Cecil B. DeMille
Famous film director/producer Cecil B. DeMille was one of the first Hollywood producers to use Big Bear as a location for a filming. Just three years after the Bison Motion Picture Company had arrived in Big Bear, DeMille was up here making a silent film called “The...
Cedar Lake, Film Set
A couple miles west of the Big Bear village, up in the hills off of USFS road 2N10, nestled in the woods, is a small manmade lake. This lake is the home of the Cedar Lake Christian Camp that provides lodging and camping accommodations to private groups. It is also a...
The Story of Cedar Lake
A couple miles west of the Big Bear village, up in the hills off of USFS road 2N10, nestled in the woods, is a small manmade lake, which is the home of the Cedar Lake Christian Camp. Today it provides lodging and camping accommodations to private groups, and...
Cecil B. DeMille
Famous film director/producer Cecil B. DeMille was one of the first Hollywood producers to use Big Bear as a location for a filming. He not only filmed in Big Bear Lake, he built a home up here, and became involved in real estate development on the south side of...