List of films and TV series set in Santa Catalina Island, California

This is a list of films and TV series set in Santa Catalina Island, California, United States. It covers topical settings and storyline subjects set in or around Santa Catalina Island. Included are individual episodes of TV series.

Films[]

This film-related list is incomplete; you can help by . (October 2021)

1910s[]

• Man's Genesis - 1912 film by director D.W. Griffith, one of the first films made on Catalina Island^[1]
• A Prizma Color Visit to Catalina - 1919 film in Prizma Color.

1920s[]

• Terror Island - 1920 silent film, starring Harry Houdini and directed by James Cruze, filmed on Catalina Island^[1]
• Leap Year - 1921 silent film, starring Roscoe Arbuckle, co-directed by James Cruze, partially filmed on Catalina Island
• The Dangerous Maid - 1923 silent film, starring Constance Talmadge, partially filmed in Catalina interior.
• The Isle of Lost Ships - 1923 silent film, starring Anna Q. Nilsson, directed by Maurice Tourneur
• Captain Blood - 1924 silent film, starring J. Warren Kerrigan and Jean Paige, with Catalina substituting for Barbados.
• Feet of Clay - 1924 silent film, starring Rod La Rocque and Vera Reynolds, directed by Cecil B DeMille
• The Navigator - 1924 silent comedy film, directed by and starring Buster Keaton, filmed over a 10-week period in Avalon Bay on Catalina Island
• The Sea Hawk - 1924 silent film, directed by Frank Lloyd
• Women Who Give - 1924 silent film, directed by Reginald Barker, with the island coastline impersonating Cape Cod
• Half a Man (film) - 1925 silent film, starring Stan Laurel
• Never the Twain Shall Meet - 1925 silent film, directed by Maurice Tourneur, with pickup sequences on the island after the production returned from Tahiti
• The Trouble with Wives - 1925 silent film, starring Florence Vidor, and Esther Ralston, for beach sequence
• Old Ironsides - 1926 silent film, directed by James Cruze, the island posing as the shores of Tripoli
• Sadie Thompson - 1928 silent film, directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Gloria Swanson with Catalina filling in for Pago Pago
• Condemned - 1929 film, starring Ronald Colman and Ann Harding released with both talkie and silent versions.
• Scarlet Seas - 1929 film, starring Richard Barthelmess and Betty Compson

1930s[]

• My Past - 1931; starring Bebe Daniels
• Island of Lost Souls - 1932; Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi^[1]
• Rain - 1932 film^[1]
• The Narrow Corner - 1933 film; starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Patricia Ellis
• Treasure Island - 1934 film^[1]
• Mutiny on the Bounty - 1935; Charles Laughton, Clark Gable^[1]
• Murder on a Honeymoon - 1935 film, starring Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde Withers, takes place on Catalina Island
• Pirate Party on Catalina Isle - 1935 short film; features a pirate-themed variety show set on the island^[2]
• Captain Blood - 1935 film^[1]
• Captain Calamity - 1936
• Captains Courageous - 1937 film^[1]
• You're Only Young Once - 1937; Andy Hardy family vacation movie, starring Mickey Rooney
• Blockade - 1938 film starring Henry Fonda and Madeleine Carroll
• Isle of Destiny - 1939

1940s[]

• Typhoon - 1940 film; starring Dorothy Lamour and Robert Preston

1950s[]

• All Ashore - 1953 film; Mickey Rooney and Dick Haymes
• Dangerous Charter - shot in 1958 but released in 1962, designed to show off the Panavision process
• Battle of the Coral Sea - 1959 firm.

1960s[]

• Platinum High School - 1960 film; Mickey Rooney and Terry Moore.
• Much of the 1964 film Raiders from Beneath the Sea was set in and around Avalon.
• Several scenes in the 1966 romantic comedy film The Glass Bottom Boat, starring Doris Day and Rod Taylor, were filmed in and around Avalon and Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island.^[1]
• The 1967 teen comedy film Catalina Caper, starring Tommy Kirk, was filmed on Santa Catalina Island. This movie was later featured in episode 204 of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• Some of Summer Children (1965), a neo-noir film directed by James Bruner, was filmed in Avalon.

1970s[]

• The Night of the Squid (16 January 1970), a documentary by Jacques Cousteau, was filmed in front of the Casino.
• In Bless the Beasts and Children (1971); starring Bill Mumy, parts were filmed east of the Isthmus, including Catalina's "buffalos" (bison) and some locals.
• Several scenes from the 1974 film Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, were filmed on Catalina, including one showing the Casino.^[1]

1990s[]

• The 1994 film Sherlock: Undercover Dog was both set and filmed on the island.
• The closing sequence of the 1997 film Suicide Kings, starring Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flanery, Johnny Galecki, Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto, and Henry Thomas is a sequence of aerial shots from various parts of Catalina Island. A long flying pan out the western harbor of the Two Harbors isthmus starts the sequence.^[1]
• Portions of the 1998 film Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, starring Sean Hayes and Brad Rowe, utilize the Catalina ferry terminal in San Pedro, California as well as locations on Catalina Island, including Avalon Harbor and the Casino building. The film closes with the song "Love Slave of Catalina".

2000s[]

• The 2003 movie Aquanoids was filmed almost exclusively on the island. In the movie, Avalon was referred to as "Babylon Bay" and the island as "Santa Clara."
• The 2006 TV comedy Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door, featuring Crystal Allen, Ken Marino and Patrick Duffy, takes place on Catalina Island.
• The ending to the 2008 film Step Brothers is supposed to be a wine mixer on the island of Catalina but was actually filmed at the Trump National Golf Course.^[3]

Television[]

This television-related list is incomplete; you can help by . (October 2021)

1960s[]

• A 1962 episode of Route 66 called "There I Am - There I Always Am" starring Martin Milner, George Maharis and Joanna Moore was filmed at various locations on Catalina, including Avalon and Little Harbor. Filming took place between March 26 and April 1, 1962.

1970s[]

• A 1972 episode of Cannon called "The Island Caper", starring William Conrad, Keenan Wynn, was filmed on Catalina, showing various parts of Avalon including the Casino.
• A 1975 episode of Mannix called "Bird of Prey", starring Mike Connors was filmed on Catalina, showing various parts of Avalon including inside the Casino.
• A 1976 episode of Quincy, M.E. called "Hot Ice, Cold Hearts", starring Jack Klugman, Robert Alda and Lynnette Mettey, was filmed on Catalina, showing various parts of the Avalon Harbor and parts of Avalon.
• Catalina was one of the settings for the 1977 CBS TV series Code R.
• Several scenes from an episode of the TV series Emergency! were filmed on Catalina Island

1980s[]

• In 1984, Catalina and the Avalon Casino were the filming locations for the Airwolf episode titled "Sins of the Past", though the island was given a fictional name.
• In 1989, actor Chad Allen is seen visiting Santa Catalina Island in the promotional video The Real Chad Allen. Allen is seen visiting Avalon there and also snorkeling off the coast in the vicinity of a sunken ship.

1990s[]

• In 1993, the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful filmed on Catalina for several episodes, most notably at The Inn on Mount Ada.
• A 3-part episode during Season Six of the TV series Growing Pains where the story was set in Europe, was filmed on the island. In at least one episode, the Casino can be seen in the distance.

2000s[]

• In 2002, the TV show Endurance was filmed on Parson's Beach, near the west end of the island.
• In an episode from the first season of the Fox series Arrested Development titled "Staff Infection", employees of the Bluth Company get lost on Catalina Island, and are found and transported by a sheep herder in his animal trailer.
• In the MTV reality series Daddy's Girls, Angela and Vanessa decide to spy on their friend, Alycia. As payback for them spying, their cousin Jessica lies and tells them that Alycia went to Catalina, leading Angela and Vanessa to spend hours searching the island.

2010s[]

• The pilot episode of action series SAF3 takes place on the island.
• Episode 2 of Season 2 of Fear The Walking Dead, "We All Fall Down", takes place on Catalina.
• The series finale of Love, "Catalina", takes place on the island.

See also[]

• List of films set in Los Angeles
• List of television shows set in Los Angeles
• List of years in film
• List of years in television

References[]