The year was 1983. I was sitting in Big Bear Lake’s Village Theater. At that time there was only one and it was a single screen. They also always had a double feature. One ticket, two movies! What ever happened to that concept? The only down side to our little theater was that we got the major movies about six months after they came out everywhere else in the country. Ahhh…small town living.
So back to my story. I was sitting in the theater watching the movie “War Games” with Matthew Broderick and wouldn’t you know, Big Bear’s own 7-11 is on the screen! 
It was the scene where he got arrested by the F.B.I.. Everyone in the theater started whispering and clapping. (Hey, not much happened in Big Bear in 1983.) There were a few other scenes with Big Bear locations as well and it was pretty exciting stuff.
Over the years I have seen many movies and TV shows with Big Bear locations and it is always brings back a little bit of that old excitement. I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising. Hollywood is only a few hours away, after all, and our town offers one of the few alpine settings close by, but when you grow up somewhere as small and close-knit as this (it used to be much more so), the entire valley is your “home”. And even though movie stars are just people, Hollywood has its own kind of excitement that cannot be denied.
As this coming Sunday is the Academy Awards, I thought I would spend the week sharing some of Big Bear’s ‘Hollywood Connection’ with you.
RS Vacations - Big Bear Lake, CA 