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Caribbean Islands Travelogue Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, St. Thomas 49354 (1948)

1948 · Short film · 9 min

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Synopsis

This 1948 color travelogue is a quick look at the Caribbean Islands of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, Trinidad, Jamaica, and Cuba. Photography and live sound is by Irving Hartley and distributed by Hawley-Lord, Inc. The film opens with passengers getting on the Pan American Clipper Eagle, a Douglas DC-4, it rolls down the runway, and is shown flying to Puerto Rico (:20-1:00). A decrepit-looking building sits at the end of a pier with arched openings. The camera pans the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. A woman walks into the round sentry box (1:01-1:39). A busy street in San Juan is shown, as is a large hotel and the Capital (1:41-1:55). The Clipper flies to the Virgin Islands. In St. Thomas, Bluebird’s Castle sits high on the hills. The 1839 grave of one of the wives he killed is shown (1:56-2:24). In Trinidad, Frederick Street includes people riding on donkeys and the J. Glendinning store (2:25-2:35). A man steps out of a boat onto a dock (2:50). A 1948 Woody station wagon (3:04) drives through dense trees. A rocky cove is framed by palm trees (3:16). A man and a woman use machetes to chop tall sugar cane stalks (3:23-3:31). Women dressed in colorful native clothing and waving fans sit down while men wearing straw hats play bongos and shake gourds. A man with a giant sombrero on his back dances with women. Another woman in a colorful dress dances by twirling and twisting (3:32-4:31). A trolley car passes a traffic policeman in striped pants, white jacket, and white…

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Details

Running time
9 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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