FLORIDA ON FILM

Sidney Olcott's FLORIDA CRACKERS (1908) (Cracker culture)

Sidney Drew's A FLORIDA ENCHANTMENT (1914) (first gay movie?)

Alan Crosland's MIAMI (1924)

* Marx Brothers' THE COCOANUTS (1929) (first Florida landboom)

Ralph Murphy's FLORIDA SPECIAL (1936)

Jean Renoir's SWAMP WATER (1941) (Everglades or Okefenokee?) 

Walter Lang's MOON OVER MIAMI (1941)

* Clarence Brown's THE YEARLING (1946) based on novel by M.K. Rawlings (Cracker culture)

* John Huston's KEY LARGO (1948) based on novel by Hemingway (gangsters, hurricanes, and Bogey and Bacall)

Michael Curtiz's THE BREAKING POINT (1950) (more gangsters) based on Hemingway's novel, To Have and Have Not

 Raoul Walsh's DISTANT DRUMS (1951) based on story by Niven Busch (Seminole Wars) 

** Cecil B. DeMille's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952) (Circus)

Robert D. Webb's BENEATH THE TWELVE MILE REEF (1952) (Greek spongers in Tarpon Springs)

Budd Boetticher's SEMINOLE (1953) (Seminole Wars)

Fred Sears' THE MIAMI STORY (1954)

Earl Bellamy's SEMINOLE UPRISING (1955) (Seminole Wars)

Fred Sears' MIAMI EXPOSE (1956)

Don Siegel's THE GUN RUNNERS (1958) (more gangsters) based on Hemingway's novel, To Have and Have Not, reset at time of Cuban Revolution

Nicholas Ray's WIND ACROSS THE EVERGLADES (1958) (ecologist vs. oldtimers)

Harry Levin's WHERE THE BOYS ARE (1960) (spring break in Ft. Lauderdale)

John Frankenheimer's ALL FALL DOWN (1962) based on novel by James Leo Herlihy

John Schlesinger's MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) based on novel by James Leo Herlihy

Ernest Lehman's PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT (1972) based on novel by Philip Roth (Jewish culture)

Arthur Penn's NIGHT MOVES (1975) (crime)

John Frankenheimer's BLACK SUNDAY (1976) (terrorist at Miami Superbowl)

Paul Krasny's JOE PANTHER (1976) (Seminole boy comes of age)

Burt Reynolds' SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT series (1977-83) (crime: Cracker culture)

* Victor Nuñez's GAL YOUNG'UN (1979) based on story by M.K. Rawlings (Cracker culture)

* Lawrence Kasdan's BODY HEAT (1981) (crime)

John Schlesinger's HONKY TONK FREEWAY (1981) (tourists)

* Martin Ritt's CROSS CREEK (1983)  (Cracker culture)

* Earl Morris's VERNON, FLORIDA (1984-documentary on small-town Florida)

Garry Marshall's THE FLAMINGO  KID (1984)

Burt Reynolds' STICK (1985) based on novel by Elmore Leonard (crime)

* Ron Howard's COCOON (1985) based on novel by David Saperstein (retirees)

Bruno Corbucci's MIAMI SUPERCOPS (1985) (crime)

Mike Hodges' FLORIDA STRAITS (1986) (crime: Cuban culture)

**Victor Nuñez's A FLASH OF GREEN (1988) based on novel by J. D. MacDonald (corruption in Sarasota)

Alan Myerson's POLICE ACADEMY 5 (1988) (crime comedy)

George Armitage's MIAMI BLUES (1990) based on novel by Charles Willeford (crime)

Tim Burton's EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990) (modern fairy tale filmed in Dade City and Lakeland)

Edward Bianchi's OFF AND RUNNING (1991) (crime)

** Vicki Oldham's THE CLEARING (1991) (African-American culture)

* Victor Nuñez's RUBY IN PARADISE (1993) (Panhandle character study starring Ashley Judd)

George Mihalka's LA FLORIDA (1993) (Canadians in Florida)

Manuel Montenegro's MIAMI SHAKEDOWN (1993) (crime)

Tom Shadyac's ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE (1994) (comedy)

*Mira Nair's THE PEREZ FAMILY (1995) (Cuban culture)

David Frankel's MIAMI RHAPSODY (1995) (comedy)

Mike Nichols' BIRDCAGE (1996) (South Beach comedy)

Andrew Bergman's STRIPTEASE (1996), based on novel by Carl Hiassen (crime and other Florida weird)

* Mark Caragiulo and Luanne DiBernardo's BLOWFISH (Caragiulo and DiBernardo are Sarasota residents).

* John Singleton's ROSEWOOD (1997) (African-American culture: based on historic Rosewood massacre)

* Victor Nunez's ULEE'S GOLD (1997) (Panhandle family drama)

Christopher Cain's GONE FISHIN' (1997) (Everglades comedy)

Daniel Petrie's COCOON: THE RETURN (1998) (retirees)

* Peter Weir's THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998) (sci-fi in Seaside)

** Volker Schlondorff's PALMETTO (1998) (crime -- set in and around Sarasota)

** Alfonso Cuaron's GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1998) (Dickens' novel moved to Sarasota, Cortez and NYC)

* Martha Coolidge's FLAMINGO RISING (2001) based on Larry Baker's novel (cross-cultural at a glorious drive-in movie theatre) 

Tara Judelle's MANFAST, USA (2001) (comedy)

Lucy Walker's THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND (2002) (documentary: Amish culture)

* John Sayles' SUNSHINE STATE (2002) (old vs. new Florida: African-Americans, Crackers, developers)

Spike Jonze's ADAPTATION (2002), loosely based on Susan Orleans' THE ORCHID THIEF 

Victor Nunez's COASTLINES (2002)

* Carl Goldstein's A TALE OF TWO BUDS (2002), comedy set in Englewood

Patty Jenkins' MONSTER (2003), biopic of serial killer, Aileen Wournos

Ralph Clemente's FLORIDA CITY (2003)

Mike Cahill's and Brit Marling's BOXERS AND BALLERINAS (2003), documentary -- Cuban and Cuban-American  culture 

Mercedes Segovia's EL ESTADO DE FLORIDA CONTRA JOAQUÍN JOSÉ MARTÍNEZ (2003)

Taylor Hackford's RAY (2004), biopic of musician Ray Charles, born in Florida

Sam Esmail's DEEP DOWN IN FLORIDA (2004),  pulp noir short film

Wayne Wang's BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE (2005)

Jorge Dyszel's ...EN FIN, EL MAR (2005) (Cuban culture)

Pete Guzzo's THE GHOSTS OF YBOR: THE END IS BLOSSOMING (2006) (The Mafia in Ybor City)