Mono in the movies: Fair Wind to java
Released by Republic Pictures in 1953, “Fair Wind” was the Indiana Jones film of its time.
Republic was the studio of early stardom for the likes of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck. However, by post- WWII, the then matinee-producing studio was known for only two things; action and special effects. In this film, viewers get both. Unfortunately, that’s about it.
MacMurray and Ralston.
Old timers in Lee Vining remember seeing the tall ships crisscrossing Mono Lake in 1952. The filming included battle scenes between the ships. Locals would have also have seen the working volcano set, built on one of the lake’s islets. Some of the volcano set is still in place.
Fred MacMurray plays Capt. Boll, as he seeks sunken treasure and rescues love slave Kim Kim, played by Vera Ralston, all while fighting pirates and avoiding the deadly Krakatoa volcano. This film represented MacMurray’s last shot at becoming a Hollywood hunk. MacMurray often joked with the cast, “Why am I in this picture?” Eight years later he transitioned into a Disney dad and his fatherly TV show, My Three Sons.
Unfortunately all the ship deck scenes were shot in a flooded Hollywood sound stage, so that probably means the stars were never at Mono Lake.
The lakeside village sets appear to have been matted – the combining of two different filmed images, the lake on the top, and the villages on the bottom – or small models shot close range to appear full size against the lake’s backdrop. So those structures probably were never were built on Mono Lake.
One will notice the errors in geographic continuity in later scenes, switching mid-scene from the Mono Lake shoreline, to beach sand with ocean waves.
Filmed with a process known as Trucolor, Mono Lake’s dramatic scenery, especially the opening title sequence, was the most noted feature of this film, although the flogging of the woman love slave Kim Kim raised a few eyebrows at the time.
“Mono in the Movies” is a collection of films shot on location in Mono County, housed at the June Lake Library. Each of the 25 titles in the DVD collection is available for check out at any Mono County Library branch. Ken Harrison, a frequent visitor to June Lake, is a freelance writer for the San Diego Reader newspaper. He is the collection’s historian in researching, obtaining, and reviewing each film. Contact Ken at: [email protected]
