The famous Caves of La Jolla are not only picturesque and known throughout California for their beauty, but they have also appeared in several documentaries over the centuries.
There are seven caves nestled between La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores but only one is accessible by land; the other six can only be viewed by kayaking with a guide.
The caves are set within a 75 million-year-old sea cliff and all have names: White Lady, Little Sister, Shopping Cart, Sea Surprize, Arch Cave, Sunny Jim’s Cave, and Clam’s Cave.
Sunny Jim’s Cave is the only known land-accessed cave along the California shoreline. You are not allowed to enter any caves without an experienced tour guide, because of the possible dangers from changing tides.
EARLY DOCUMENTARIES
One of the earliest documentaries to be filmed at the caves is a short dating to 1911 called “The Caves of La Jolla.” It is a silent 35 mm, black and white, and 45 minutes long.
It was filmed by one of Hollywood’s most well-known directors at the time Allan Dwan, born April 3, 1885, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
He was a director and writer, known for such films as “Bound in Morocco” (1918), “A Perfect Crime” (1921), and “Panthea” (1917).
According to an article at the time in Movie Pictures World, on Oct. 21, 1911, P. 238, about the documentary: “Many beautiful pictures have been made by foreign manufacturers of picturesque places in their own country, but none of them surpass the natural beauty and rugged grandeur of our own West. The American Co., bearing in mind that very few pictures of this class have been produced for the pleasure and instruction of the American public, has produced a marvelous picture of the Caves of La Jolla, which is stereoscopic in photography, magnificent in perceptive, sublime in grandeur, and faultless in every respect. The splendid vista unfolds itself to the spectator as if he were looking upon the actual scene himself,” Moving Picture World synopsis.
The IMDb site states the documentary was released as a split reel along with the Western “Three Daughters of the West” (1911).
Also, in the same issue:
“The scenes embrace views of the coastline of California near Point Loma. The action of the waves on the rocks has created remarkable results. Here is a majestic natural bridge resting on pillars that have escaped erosion, the arches being formed by what were the tops of caves. There are stretches of stupendous rock walls, veritably honeycombed, and presenting weirdly fantastic, rock-fashioned figures. Yonder the breakers dash mountain high on the towering cliffs, leaving partly uncovered, as they recede, ‘dark, unfathomed caves.’ Attention is directed to a view of the coastline in which the rocks show distinctly the gradual rising of the land bordering the Pacific. Geologists estimate that the rise is nearly three feet in one hundred years,” according to Moving Picture World, Oct. 21, 1911.
Another article about the documentary in November 1911’s Motography calls it, “As good as an actual trip to the caves …”
Other documentaries, shorts, and films made in the La Jolla Caves area include:
“The La Jolla Grapevine” short, “Seal or No Seal,” and La Jolla Golf Clubs among many TV episodes and podcasts.
The popular area is visited year-round by tourists and locals and has become a popular spot for all kinds of sea life sightings and more.
Some comments from visitors include:
“The caves here are lovely. You can only reach one by foot – the Sunny Jim cave, which charges a $5 entrance fee and makes you sign a waiver. Other than that, the other caves can be reached by kayak. It still is wonderful!” wrote Lauren I. on TripAdvisor.
“Check out the caves. The caves were at the top of my list of things to visit. I was not disappointed – a bargain entry fee of $5. You are going to get some good exercise, especially walking back up. Great place to take a few photos. Leave your car at the hotel and take a Lyft as it is crowded with no parking near the caves and beachfront,” wrote Anthony W. also on TripAdvisor.
DWAN
As for Dwan, he headed up the American Film Manufacturing Co. later nicknamed the Flying A, which had plenty of actors and cowboys all of whom he inherited when their director went on a drinking spree.
Headquartered in Chicago, Flying A was founded in 1910 when it held a talent raid on Essanay, another Chicago studio.
In search of the great Western frontier land and seeking to escape patent enforcers, Dwan discovered Lakeside in San Diego County and shot movies there for three months.
He then went to La Mesa where he opened up a storefront studio and filmed throughout the backcountry of San Diego County.
Between May 1911 and August 1912, Dwan filmed over 150 films in San Diego County. The films were usually Western adventures or comedies with an occasional local documentary or shorts such as “Curtiss’s School of Aviation,” “The Caves of La Jolla,” “Point Loma Old Town,” “San Diego,” “Winter Sports & Pastimes of Coronado Beach,” and “The Fifty Mile Auto Contest.”
His career lasted from 1911-61 and he worked under contract at the following studios: Universal (1913-14), Paramount (1917-18, 1923-26), Fox (1926-27, 1929, 1931-32, 1935-40, 1957), United Artists (1944-45), Republic (1949-54) and RKO (1954-55).
He was Gloria Swanson‘s favorite director as well as was highly reposed by Douglas Fairbanks y Mary Pickford, who were, at that time, the most powerful couple in the film business.
De acuerdo a Kevin Brownlow‘s The Parade’s Gone By, Dwan thought he’d directed over 1,400 films, including one-reelers, between his arrival in the industry (circa 1909) and his final film in 1961.
It was Dwan, rather than D.W. Griffith, who devised the famous crane shot used in Intolerance (1916). He also pioneered the dolly shot in 1915.
Dwan was the co-founder of Associated Producers, Inc., 1919 and founder of Allan Dwan Productions, a film production company active from 1919 to 1921, as well as president of Dwan Film Corp. formed in 1922.
Death
Dwan is buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills and according to trivia he once used the mission grounds as a location for his silent feature “Tide of Empire” (1929). Just as he was fond of opening his films with a poem after the main credits, Dwan wrote the epitaph on his grave marker in verse: “Look Down, Oh Lord, and bless me with thy grace / And make me worthy of thy sacrifice / And after death to look upon thy face / And earn, perhaps, a place in paradise.”
