| Crazy Irishmen Embarrassing Pasadena Society | | | | remain motionless. He quivered with pain and the |
| There was a time when Hollywood was just a | | | | flies were landing on the open sores. As the sun |
| bunch of Manzaneta bushes parked on a steep | | | | roasted the pair, Ulmont knew that he was going |
| semi-arid hill. And at that same time, circa 1912, | | | | to have to save this horses' life. Either he would |
| the movie industry was housed in Pasadena, | | | | succeed, right then, under the baking sun of |
| California and New Jersey. This was before the | | | | Southern California, or the horse would thrash |
| fame of Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle and | | | | about, free itself and cause even more bleeding, |
| the explosive public awareness of the movie | | | | then he would run into the desert and get himself |
| industry in the early 1920's. Before the Fairbanks | | | | lost and bleed out within a few days, OR he |
| family and Clara Bow were famous, the movie | | | | would simply be "put down" by the crew. |
| industry was a bunch of (largely Irish extraction, | | | | The Beginning of a Great Relationship - |
| before the Russian Jews came to town) | | | | As Ulmont put it, this was a momentous time in |
| entrepreneurs, is what you would call them today | | | | his life. The horse episode made his movie-making, |
| --with cameras, scripts drawn up on a nightly | | | | ranching job even more memorable. It was one |
| basis and horse-wise actors who every morning | | | | of those moments that had lots of meaning. He |
| got up in Pasadena, made their way across the | | | | brought the horse back to the corral, and |
| Arroyo Seco, (where the Rose Bowl is today) | | | | ministered to him through the night. The next |
| and shot movies in the high desert of what would | | | | day, Ulmont and the rest of the crew were |
| become "beautiful downtown Burbank". When | | | | having coffee before that day's shooting. They |
| they were not shooting westerns and exterior | | | | were laughing and chatting. Ulmont was leaning |
| shots in the open, they were using Pasadena as a | | | | against the corral. The day was about to become |
| backdrop for costume dramas. (See picture below | | | | even more memorable. |
| of DW Griffith's costumed cast during that time.) | | | | The crew suddenly went silent. They were all |
| My Grandfather, Ulmont Healy was one of those | | | | smiling at something over Ulmont's shoulder. |
| horse-wise cowboys. He was from Wisconsin and | | | | Ulmont felt the breath of a horse on his back. |
| had a yearning for the theatre. He would later | | | | The formerly wild and crazy horse was now a |
| tour the nation with a theatrical troupe, but this | | | | sweet, compliant,"thankful" animal. He was coming |
| was his first job outside of Wisconsin. He had not | | | | to have a moment with the man who had saved |
| yet married. He had not yet gone to France as a | | | | his life. Ulmont smiled and patted him on the nose. |
| doughboy as a member of the American | | | | After that they were fast friends, and the horse |
| Expeditionary Forces. He took care of horses on | | | | was with Ulmont every day. It was the beginning |
| the caissons in Northern France in 1918. | | | | of a great relationship. It was also the beginning of |
| At this time, he was still a young man on an | | | | Ulmont deciding he was going to pursue acting. |
| adventure. He parleyed the horse sense into a job | | | | As the pressure on the movie-makers increased, |
| with these movie makers, and his hopes came | | | | they realized the local constabulary and law |
| true. He ended up getting a new classification as | | | | enforcement personnel were going to make it |
| "actor", making this new "high tech" business called | | | | impossible for them to keep on doing business in |
| motion pictures. His love for the theatre and his | | | | Pasadena. In the beginning people thought it was |
| practical horse skills merged into the luckiest job a | | | | nice to have their elegant homes photographed |
| young guy could ever get (as far as he was | | | | and made part of the new film world. But, as |
| concerned). Ulmont got to become a real working | | | | time went on, they realized Pasadena was not |
| actor because of his love of horses. Because of | | | | going to be the future of the movie business. One |
| this, he also ended up walking up and down the | | | | way or the other, through zoning or harassment, |
| elegant streets and stairways of Pasadena in | | | | these men were going to go somewhere else. If |
| period costumes and making historical movies too. | | | | you want to make something happen, Pasadena |
| George Patton's Family Looked Down on These | | | | has the will. Check out the history of the Rose |
| "Noisy Carousing Young Men". | | | | Parade and Rose Bowl. On the contrary, if they |
| These events and a charming story with a white | | | | want something NOT to happen, they also had |
| horse named "Midnight" would be memorialized in a | | | | the will and the way to make them cease and |
| Reader's Digest article in the 1950's, authored by | | | | desist. |
| my Ulmont, but there is much more to that | | | | "Hooray for Pasadena" - |
| story, described in this article. | | | | So, as time passed, the movie makers eventually |
| Initially Pasadena Society let these movie makers | | | | moved along. History was going to happen |
| into their community. Pasadena families, largely | | | | somewhere else. They moved their efforts to |
| intially built from post Civil War Southern Gentry | | | | the hills northwest of Los Angeles. Still open and |
| and other rich families from the East and Midwest | | | | undeveloped, the residential development of the |
| (like the Wrigleys), eventually grew tired of this | | | | place called "Hollywood" had not yet happened. It |
| army of thespians and did not really appreciate | | | | was just over the hill from that Burbank desert |
| this group of men inhabiting their pleasant palacial | | | | area, so it made sense. Stop and think, it feels like |
| homes and serene avenues. Pasadena was large | | | | it was all meant to be. After all, how could a song |
| estates and beautiful homes along next to the | | | | work if the lyrics went: "Hooray for Pasadena!" It |
| homes of the servants who worked for these | | | | just doesn't bounce with the same kind of |
| families. George S. Patton's family had a ranch in | | | | carefree merriment. |
| the Pasadena area. These movie makers were | | | | W.C. Fields would settle in Pasadena, and Einstein |
| just guys trying to invent a new industry and as | | | | loved the place. Pasadena kept its identity and still |
| it turns out, help invent a new art form that | | | | has its own public image, which has been |
| would become what it is today, But at the time, | | | | maintained over the scores and scores of years. I |
| they were just viewed as rough, loud, young men | | | | ended up attending a school in Pasadena, and we |
| who roamed around at alll hours, drinking and | | | | would make money working on the Rose Bowl |
| carousing, and had all these strange new | | | | every year selling snacks and drinks. Pasadena |
| machines. They were making films like the one | | | | has never regretted moving those guys out of |
| pictured below. They ended up being called an | | | | town. You can see why. |
| embarrassment. Probably the best movie to use | | | | Technically, movies don't have to have a PLACE |
| to draw this picture would be "The Unsinkable | | | | where they could be made, but Hollywood did |
| Molly Brown". If you have seen it, you will | | | | make sense as the next 15 years would unfold. |
| remember how Denver Society reacted to Molly | | | | Southern California's sun and weather made it a |
| and her husband. At any rate, guys like D.W. | | | | perfect place for shooting and partying. The 20's |
| Griffith and others were making the "blue bloods" | | | | burst with technological development. In the 20's |
| squirm. More on that later. | | | | people were getting refrigerators, telephones, |
| "I shot at myself as an Indian in the morning, then | | | | cars, indoor wiring and indoor plumbing. It was a |
| I shot at myself again as a Cowboy in the | | | | time of change unlike any other. Movies and Movie |
| afternoon." | | | | theatres sprang up all over America, and then |
| Ulmont would tell family of how their shooting | | | | sound in movies was invented just when the |
| days would go. The shooting crew would make it | | | | great depression would give people a reason to |
| over to the desert west of Pasadena (where 134 | | | | attend the movies even more. As people would |
| goes through, right around where "The Tonight | | | | say: "Maybe life was miserable outside, but we |
| Show" is shot at the NBC Studios). He would get | | | | could go inside to see the movies." |
| a real twinkle when he told us how the shooting | | | | The Legacy Continues - |
| would go: "These were silent movies remember, | | | | Ulmont went back to Wisconsin to care for his |
| so we would get our horses and paint them up | | | | dying Mother, and then went off to Europe to |
| like Indian horses, and put on our Indian costumes. | | | | fight in WWI. He ended up getting a back injury in |
| We would charge in one direction shooting arrows | | | | France. You guessed it. He was minding the |
| and rifles. Then we would have lunch. Then in the | | | | horses. The American Army was not fully |
| afternoon, we would take care of the horses, | | | | mechanized in World War I. Caissons, vehicles with |
| change their appearance to look like Cavalry | | | | cannons on them, were drawn by horses, and |
| soldiers horses, then we would put on our cavalry | | | | soldiers were needed to take care of them. It felt |
| and cowboy costumes and shoot at the | | | | more like the Civil War for soldiers like them. |
| imaginary group of Indians going in the other | | | | When he returned, he got married and had three |
| direction. Basically we would shoot at ourselves | | | | daughters. He never returned to Southern |
| going each way. The same people would be the | | | | California, but he did tour the nation with a |
| Indians and the Cowboys." | | | | theatre troupe and inspired one of his daughters |
| "Midnight was a White Horse, but he was Bloody | | | | to become a Thespian. Ulmont would help her get |
| Red with Cactus Needle Wounds." | | | | her first job in the professional theatre after |
| On one shooting day, the hands were taking care | | | | graduating from the Univesity of Iowa where she |
| of the horses and noticed the "big white wild one" | | | | had befriended the young playwright, Tennessee |
| was not to be found. Ulmont went looking for him. | | | | Williams. She had a full life on stage and worked |
| After going through a couple draws, he saw the | | | | steadily to the age of 85. She would end up in |
| white horse caught in a stand of cactus. He was | | | | Disney movies and acted in a film "Wait for |
| extremely bloody as his movements were just | | | | Spring, Bandini" shot in Boulder, Colorado with |
| giving him more spikes. After awhile the horse | | | | Joseph Montegna and Faye Dunaway. |
| was just terrified and immobilized. Ulmont came | | | | The legacy of Ulmont's love of the written and |
| up on him. He was a quiet, long and tall handsome | | | | the spoken word continued, when In the 1950's, |
| cowboy type as a personality. He came up slowly | | | | when he was in his 60's, Ulmont penned the article |
| on the horse to calm him. He could see the look | | | | for Readers Digest to fix that story in the desert |
| of terror in his eyes and all the numerous cactus | | | | as a snapshot in time. He always looked back on |
| wounds all over his body. The cowboy with him | | | | those events as a moment in history that had its |
| suggested that they just put him down with a | | | | own uniqueness. |
| pistol shot right then. He did not look like he could | | | | When Pasadena was "Hollywood", Umont was |
| survive. Besides, who would sit there and pull each | | | | there -- being an Indian, being a Cowboy, being an |
| and every spine out of his blood body? | | | | actor shooting movies, saving a suffering animal's |
| It turns out, Ulmont would. He insisted that they | | | | life and coming up with a unique vision for his |
| not shoot him. The subtext here is that this horse | | | | future. This story is a little slice of life that |
| was such a wild horse that he was not really | | | | provides a tableau of a time in America that is |
| appreciated by his caretakers. He was so unruly | | | | now long gone, but still treasured. Below is a |
| and aggressive that he was deemed not to be | | | | description of a photo of one of DW Griffith's |
| worth the effort. "If you save him, you still have | | | | 1912 movies. |
| that wild horse that's not worth the trouble!" | | | | 1912, D.W. Griffith filmed the below movie on the |
| Ulmont put up his hand in silent protest. He said, | | | | grounds of the Fenyes Estate (now the Pasadena |
| "Go on back, tell them I'm taking care of | | | | Museum of History) at 470 West Walnut. The film |
| "Midnight". Like naming a tall guy "Shorty", Ulmont | | | | was listed in the Fenyes diaries as "The Queen's |
| named his white horse a dark horse name. For | | | | Necklace." However, Griffith's biography lists no |
| hours Ulmont, standing in the draw of this desert | | | | such film. It is very possible that they changed |
| area that would become Burbank, carefully pulled | | | | the name of the film once it was released. |
| each cactus spine out of Midnight's hide. He | | | | Research is on-going by the Pasadena Museum of |
| carefully proceeded trying to avoid as much pain | | | | History to identify the actual film name. |
| as he could. The animal stood quietly and tried to | | | | |