The Fallbrook Story is a short subject film that told the story of a water rights battle between the citizens of the Fallbrook, California

Fallbrook, California

Fallbrook is an unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. The Fallbrook census-designated place population was 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census....

 area and the federal government.

The government wanted to have exclusive rights to the water from the Santa Margarita river for the use of adjacent Camp Pendleton, a U.S. Marine Corps base, in conflict with the established use by local ranchers. At the time film director Frank Capra

Frank Capra

Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...

 served on the Board of the local water agency, the Fallbrook Public Utilities District ("FPUD"). He produced the short film (without on screen credit) to tell the story from the ranchers perspective, leading to front page publicity from the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

. As a result, the federal government subsequently withdrew their claim on exclusive use of the water. The film was introduced on camera by Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...

. A copy of the 16mm film is in the archives of the Fallbrook Historical Society.