[1940 FLORIDA HOME MOVIE MIAMI XMAS PARADE, LUXURY YACHTS, BILTMORE HOTEL AQUATIC GALA]

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1940

Description: Dating to 1940, this extraordinary 400' Kodachrome 16mm silent home movie was shot by an unknown filmmaker. It captures a visit to Florida, featuring scenes from the Miami or Miami Beach Christmas Parade at night, with extensive footage of various floats. Additionally, it includes footage of the historic luxury steam yacht Rover, later renamed Southern Cross after being acquired by Howard Hughes in 1933. The film also showcases the famed Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables (also known as the Miami Biltmore Hotel) and scenes from one of the renowned aquatic galas. As many as 3,000 people would gather on Sunday afternoons to watch synchronized swimmers, acrobatic performers, bathing beauties, and even alligator wrestlers. Based on the performances shown in the film, it is suspected that members of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus – who wintered in Sarasota – were also involved. Footage includes various elaborately decorated floats with themes such as ‘Aquamarine’ and ‘Eclipse’, with parade participants riding atop (00:08). Dance performers and a marching band participate in the parade (00:53). Additional views of floats (apparently made with aluminum foil) feature themes including ‘Sun Temple’, ‘Palm Beaches’, and ‘Rainbow’, as well as floats representing locations like ‘Hollywood, Florida’ and ‘South Miami’, alongside promotional floats for “Wometco Theaters” (now Wometco Enterprises), “Pepsi-Cola”, and the “Florida Power and Light Company” (01:02). Footage shows a boat sailing along a waterway through an upscale Miami neighborhood (04:34), followed by scenes from the water’s edge showing a Nativity play setup, large homes, palm trees, and a man smoking a pipe (04:48). A riverboat named “Seven Seas” passes by (06:03). The luxury steam yacht Rover (later Southern Cross) is shown (06:34). Two men are seen celebrating Christmas (07:20). Flamingos stand in water as ducks swim nearby (08:05). A clown performance follows (08:35), then high diving acts – including a dog diving into a pool (09:01). A performer on stilts (09:50), a singing act (10:20), synchronized swimming (10:36), and an adagio acrobatics performance (10:54).

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s67DSoeKVSs

Metadata Source:YouTube