What do the Lone Ranger, the television series Wagon Train and modern western writers have in common. They will have the 19th annual Lone Pine Film Festival in common as the 2008 edition roles into the small western town October 10-12th.

Lone Pine may be a small town but it has lots of film history, going back to 1920 and featuring almost all the great cowboy stars as well as science fiction, suspense and action genres as well. In fact, the Marvel’s mega hit Iron Man filmed there and a tour at the Festival will focus on the four major sites used in the film.

The Festival has movies in two venues, music, food, a parade, various escorted tours to the movie locations and an Arts and Crafts Fair. That’s a lot for a town of less than 2000 nestled at the foot of Mt. Whitney not too far from Death Valley. The Festival has lots of small town charm and hospitality and lots of beautiful landscapes, enough for any visitor.

There are five separate bus tours to movie locations to tempt the fan. New this year is a three-hour tour to many of the sites used in Randolph Scott’s 12 movies made in the area. Also new this year is a photographer’s dream journey to six of the sites that master photographer Ansel Adams photographed. You can visit them, try to duplicate his work or give it your own creative “second view.” The tour including many of the movie sites east of Lone Pine has also been added. Called “Iron Man and Beyond: Movies Made East of Lone Pine,” the tour will feature locations from Nevada Smith, a Hopalong Cassidy and Gene Autry Film as well as Eric Von Stroheim’s masterpiece Greed.

Other tours include the popular Sunrise tour, Geology Tour, Science Fiction Tour and a Walking Tour of Anchor Ranch, used as the Bar 20 and many other ranches in the cowboy “oaters” of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Wagon Train will have its own Panel of stars from the show and will include author Jim Rosin who has just published his book on the series. Another panel will include the writers who made all those Saturdays possible and still delight us with western novels today. The Festival is very pleased to have as a special guest author Elmer Kelton. Mr. Kelton has been voted the best western writer of all time by the Western Writers Association and has received seven Spur Awards for the best novel of the year.

The Saturday night Hallmark films will include two very rare silent films starring Fred Humes, made locally in the 1920’s. On Sunday, the first feature film made in Lone Pine starring Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle will be screened. Other B westerns and cinemascope westerns never before shown at the Festival will fill out the film schedule at the High School Auditorium and the Beverly and Jim Rogers Museum of Lone Pine Film History Wild West Theater.

A real crowd pleaser is the Parade of Stars on Sunday down the Main Street. Dave Stamey will appear in concert Friday at 7 PM and 9 PM. The Festival Souvenir Button has been restructured to include all the movies, all events at the Museum, all four Celebrity Panels, and all the one-on-one question and answer sessions with the stars at Statham Town Hall. The Festival organization will be putting on a large Arts and Crafts Fair as well in the Spainhower Town Park where the Lions Club sponsors the Saturday night BBQ.

There is something for everyone and every age of movie fan this year. You can be as busy or as relaxed as you wish. Lone Pine still has the feel of old time western America. To get additional information as it becomes available, visit the website lonepinefilmfestival.org or call 760-876-9103 to get the brochure and ticket order information.

As many returning guests attest, you won’t be disappointed with your time spent at the Lone Pine Film Festival located in the High Sierra about 200 miles north of Los Angeles.