Beatriz Michelena was the head of the California Motion Picture Corporation. She and her company made several films in Santa Cruz County, including "Salomy Jane" (1914), "The Lilly of Poverty Flat" (1915), "A Phyllis of the Sierra" (1915), and "Just Squaw" (1917). Josephine McCrackin wrote of her:
"Daughter of a renowned tenor of San Francisco's pioneer days, herself a prima donna with an assured place on the modern operatic stage, a girl with a wealth of artistic tradition behind her, Miss Michelena's gifts do not stop there. She has rare beauty, vivacity, wit, intellectual attainments and athletic grace."
'Bret Harte in the Movies,' "Overland Monthly", June 1915. p. 496
This photograph is from the Barbara Giffen collection in the History Archives, Museum of Art and History at the McPherson Center, Santa Cruz, California. It is the property of the Museum of Art and History and may not be used in any way without the express permission of the owner. Used here with permission.
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