SANTA CLARITA VALLEY HAS STARRY HISTORY.

Byline: Daily News

SANTA CLARITA -- The Santa Clarita Valley with its small-town charm and dramatic vistas has served as a Hollywood backlot since the early days of filmmaking.

Starting at the turn of the past century, Westerns were set in the valley's rugged topography. Stars such as Harry Carey, William S. Hart and Hoot Gibson lived and worked in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Film historian Marc Wanamaker will talk about the history of moviemaking in the Santa Clarita Valley at 2 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Saugus Train Station at Heritage Junction, 24101 San Fernando Road, Newhall.

The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society will host the free presentation, which follows a 1 p.m. ice cream social.

Wanamaker, an expert on film history, founded Bison Archives, a film- research institution. He is the author of several books, including ``MGM, When the Lion Roars'' and ``Hollywood: Then and Now.''

Carey, whose film career spanned both the silent and talkie eras, introduced film director John Ford to the world and starred in Ford's first movie in 1917. He also built a ranch in San Francisquito Canyon and hired a group of Navajo Indians to run a trading post on the property.

The trading post and much of the ranch were swept away in the St. Francis Dam flood of March 12, 1928. Carey and Ford were friends and mentors to actor John Wayne, who also made a number of movies in the Valley.

``Two Gun Bill'' Hart was a silent movie actor known for his attention to realism in his Western films. His movie career lasted from 1914 to 1925 ending with the classic ``Tumbleweeds.''

Hart bought a ranch house in Newhall in 1921 and later, upon his retirement, built a hilltop mansion where he lived until his death in 1946. Hart in his later years counted among his friends legendary lawman Wyatt Earp and Western artist Charles Russell.

Hart built and financed the American Theater, the first movie theater in the valley in 1940. He willed his ranch to Los Angeles County to be used as a county park.

Hart's later movie career was overshadowed by flashier Western stars such as Tom Mix. Mix filmed some of his movies in Newhall and established one of his early ``Mixvilles'' there.

His most notable film in Newhall was ``Three Jumps Ahead'' (1923) in which he purportedly ``jumped'' 90-foot-deep Beale's Cut on Tony the Wonder Horse. Mix's heroic jump was in reality performed by a stunt man using a ramp. Beale's Cut also was seen in the 1939 John Ford/John Wayne classic ``Stagecoach.''

Gibson made movies in the valley, but was also known for his ownership of a rodeo arena in Soledad Canyon in the 1930s that was later transformed into the Saugus Speedway.

Santa Clarita still houses a number of movie studios ranging from high- tech soundstages to the old Melody Ranch.

For information, call Pat Saletore or Alan Pollack at [phone] or visit the society's Web site at www.scvhs.org.