Tonight's Lake Tahoe Historical Society's Talks on the Beach was extra wonderful for this cinephile. It was a discussion of movies made here through the decades.

While natural rivals, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were also friends, and legend has it that Keaton influenced Chaplin’s decision to choose the Donner Pass (the stand-in for the Yukon during Klondike Gold Rush) area as the location for his most ambitious film project to date — The Gold Rush, regarding by critics as one of the greatest films in the history of cinema.

Rose Marie is a 1936 American musical film starring Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, and Reginald Owen that was directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The film was a huge success and became MacDonald and Eddy's best-known film. Their duet of "Indian Love Call" was a major hit for the two singers and remained a signature song throughout their careers.

While footage of the Mounties in boot camp was filmed in Canada, location filming with the lead actors was at Lake Tahoe with Emerald Bay being one of its stars.

After World War II, when much of the railroad infrastructure was torn up and used as scrap metal, the steady stream of movies shot in Truckee/Tahoe practically ended. Nevertheless, what the region lacked in quantity of films produced, it made up for in quality.

Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer exchange hardboiled banter characteristic of the noir era during a scene of Out of the Past. Also starring Kirk Douglas, this film was shot in and around Lake Tahoe in 1946. The film is a chiaroscuro-shaded slice of quintessential Hollywood film noir, replete with strong but terse private detectives, distressed damsels with troubled pasts and sinister tycoons making their crimes pay for sprawling estates at Lake Tahoe. The film features sweeping shots of the oft-photographed Emerald Bay. It is now on my list of "must watch" cinema.

A Place in the Sun (1951) showcases Elizabeth Taylor, at the peak of her craft, and Montgomery Clift, one of the great American actors, as they team up for this sizzling and devastating romance. In the film, Lake Tahoe is supposed to resemble a lake set in upstate New York, where the beautiful people spend their summers sojourning amid their wealth, luxury and general self-regard. Interestingly, Elizabeth and Montgomery's beach idyll was actually filmed in October and crew members had to hose snow off the ground prior to filming. It is also on my list.

Then of course came The Godfather: Part II. Director Francis Ford Coppola selected the Fleur du Lac, an expansive estate formerly owned by Henry Kaiser on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore, for a location shoot long critical sequences for the film. Critics argue this film, released in 1974, is actually superior to the original, which is also hailed as one of the greatest films in cinematic history.

The film’s grandiose with Michael Corleone celebrating the first communion of his son while attempting to cut deals with corrupt Nevada senators and stave off challenges to his protection racket in New York is offset by the serene setting of Lake Tahoe’s calm and clear waters, which serve to open and close the classic film and provide the perfect disposal site for Fredo.

This 1987 film, Surrender, is also on my list due to the fact that I'm a fan of Sally Field. A wealthy writer (Michael Caine), who has had terrible experiences with money-hungry girlfriends and ex-wives, pretends to be a broke, washed-up novelist, to see if the woman he loves wants him for himself, or just for his money. Filmed in the casinos and at the Lake, this should be a slice of the Tahoe I am more familiar with (my first trip here was in 1982).

Misery (1990) was filmed not only in Tahoe but in Genoa, NV too. And while I can't watch a Stephen King film, ever, I appreciate the choice of settings. I mean if you're going to be tortured, why not in beautiful Lake Tahoe?

Smokin' Aces (2007) stars an amazing array of talent,  Ben Affleck, Andy García, Alicia Keys, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Chris Pines, Common and so many more. The film is set in Lake Tahoe and was mainly filmed at MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa, called the "Nomad Casino". It received generally mixed reviews, and grossed $57 million at the box office. While I'll most likely be watching it through my hands over my eyes, it too is in my amazon queue. Robin said that while on the set, it wasn't hard to look at the actors involved.

There was so much more Robin wanted to share, along with those of us in the audience who had stories to tell. This attendee was the projectionist at the State Line Drive-in Theatre. Oh man, we need to bring back the drive-in here!