Dustin Farnum — To Corsica With “Dusty” (1920) 🇺🇸

“Want to go to Corsica?” Dustin Farnum asked me.

“Do I?” was my reply, in the unmistakable tones signifying that I most certainly did.

by Maude S. Cheatham

“All right,” said Dusty. “We are going on location to Catalina Island — which makes a fine Corsica — to shoot scenes for my new picture, The Corsican Brothers, and I’ll show you what a Barney Oldfield of the sea I am.”

Now, in the vernacular of the motion picture world, location means any place away from the studio where scenes for a film are made. Going on location is an ordinary occurrence and there are many ways of reaching the destination, but it was left to Dustin Farnum to set an absolutely new standard by taking his company across the thirty miles of Pacific Ocean to Catalina in his own splendid seagoing yacht, the Ding.

I was excited, for the trip promised to be full of thrills, and I arrived at the Los Angeles Yacht Club promptly on time, where we boarded the Ding, which Mr. Farnum keeps anchored here along with his pet fishing boat, the Juanita, and his new swift motorboat, Miss  Los Angeles, with which he hopes to win the motorboat races this autumn.

The star, arrayed in spotless flannels, with his prized captain’s cap perched on his head, was rushing about, giving the engine a final oiling from a can that might well serve the Twentieth Century Limited, and his greeting was punctured by the famous Farnum smile.

“This is the happiest time of my life — when I have my hands on this steering-wheel,” he remarked, as he skillfully sent the yacht thru the maze of sea craft that crowded San Pedro harbor.

The fog that had hovered all day along the coast lifted just as we swung into the ocean. Millions of white-crested waves, riding a choppy sea, were catching and reflecting the sun’s rays, adding a brilliance that was most exhilarating, and the first few minutes were spent drawing in deep breaths of the crisp air and enjoying the animated picture spread out before our eyes.

“Gee, but I’m happy! I wouldn’t change places with any one in the whole world,” laughed Mr. Farnum, as we settled into a steady speed “I wasn’t satisfied until I got my navigator’s license. I am my own captain now.”

The Ding is 300 horsepower, can go 22 knots an hour, turn in her own length, and every inch of the 65 feet is devoted to comfort. There are shaded decks, staterooms that are marvels of convenience, while the complete kitchen, tiny as it is, stirs the housewifely interest in every feminine breast.

“No stilted etiquette goes here,” laughed Dusty. “We just have a good, happy time.

“I’ve always been crazy about boats,” he went on, eagerly, as I curled up in the window seat near the steering-wheel. I remember the very first one I ever owned. One summer up in Bucksport. Maine, grandfather bought me a punt and I was the proudest kid in the State. I remember, too, that I took one of grandmother’s best sheets for jib and sails and took a wheel from brother Bill’s little wagon for a steering-wheel. Imagine a punt all dressed up like that!” And the big fellow laughed at the memory.

“How was the fishing this season?” I asked, recalling that both Dustin and William are members of the Catalina Tuna Club.

“Great! Don’t get me started on fishing, for I’m a wild man on the subject. I’ll tell you, tho, what Bill and I did this summer. In ten days we caught thirty-four pounds less than two tons of tuna! Some catch! We had an eleven and a half hour battle with one big fellow, then lost him.”

The world and its cares, its struggles and efforts seemed far away, and we could easily “play” there was no land in sight, just a limitless expanse of ocean. We had reached the deep, heavy swells, and the yacht rose and fell with fascinating regularity, while everyone settled down to the pure enjoyment of the trip.

Suddenly, from out the space directly in front of us rose a huge, dark object that looked like a boxcar floating in the water. The next instant the brown body of a whale lifted itself to the surface, becoming a living fountain as he spouted a spray of water six feet into the air.

With a quick turn of the wheel, Mr. Farnum sent the Ding swerving on its side,” as he swung to the right, successfully missing the whale by a safe margin. He was fully 40 feet long and had we struck him the long tail might have caused damage. Anyway, we were glad to give him the right of way.

Hardly had this excitement subsided than we found ourselves entering the Crescent Bay of Avalon. With the picturesque mountains as a back curtain, white houses clinging to the sides, piers and boats filling the foreground, and the whole scene flooded with the gorgeous glow from the sun, which was setting behind the Island, it was indeed a picture.

“I assure you,” said Mr. Farnum, “Catalina has made a native son of me, for I think it the most wonderful spot in the world. Last summer, while on a little trip to New York, I received a letter telling me there was a great run of tuna off Catalina. I closed my eyes for a moment and I could see the quiet waters of the bay and feel the salt breeze, and gee! but I was homesick. It was hot in my room, at the Lambs’ Club, and the air coming in at the windows from the crowded pavement below was stifling. What do you suppose I did? I stepped the phone, made reservations, and in a few hours I was beating it back to California and… Catalina!”

Early the next morning we climbed along the rugged coast to the spot selected for several scenes by Mr. Farnum in his role of Lucien, the brother who stayed at home, in The Corsican Brothers. Later, in the fragrant gardens of a fine old residence, more scenes were filmed.

With the crashing of the breakers against the cliff, the deep blue sky overhead, the quaint costumes of the actors, I was swept into the very atmosphere of that far away Island — with its romance and love-tales, its loyalty and vendetta!

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Above and below, “Dusty” aboard The Ding, his beautiful yacht, and center as Lucien in The Corsican Brothers.

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Left, a house breathing the old romance of Corsica, and center a picture of The Ding.

Later, in the fragrant garden of a fine old residence some scenes were filmed.

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Collection: Motion Picture Magazine, February 1920