Amateur Movie Makers (Dec 1926-Dec 1927)

MAJESTIC MORRO CASTLE No Cuban Movie Would Be Complete Without It architecture, draw-bridges and moats, now gone dry : the curious little boats that ply back and forth over the water ; maybe a shark-hunting party under the shadow of Morro's guns ; a panoramic view from Morro light, and another from the roof of the SevillaBiltmore hotel, taking in the Presidential Palace, narrow, winding streets, curious old houses, wonderful carved doors that would resist a battering-ram. artistic colonial balconies, where one may perchance glimpse the face of a modern Juliet ; street types ; old churches and convents, where nuns and friars are far removed from the world and its frivolities ; the Cathedral, where the bones of Columbus once reposed ; stately arcades ; the old Palace where the Spanish Captains General ruled in state and with iron hand, and fronting it the curious little chapel, opened to the public but once during the year on Columbus Day, built upon the very spot where the first mass was celebrated in thanksgiving for his safe landing, a stone's throw from where his vessels anchored ; the Post-Office, an old convent that was occupied as barracks by English troops that took the city years ago, and never since devoted to its holy offices ; Santa Clara convent, the heart of Havana in the days of the Conqueror, Hernan Cortez, now the busy seat of Cuba's Public Works Department. Back to modern days ; the magnificent course at Oriental Park, where in a beautiful setting the sport of kings draws to the great grandstand and the exclusive Jockey Club a notable gathering of prominent people from everywhere, a constantly changing" and ever interesting sight; the open Patio of the Hotel Almendares with its famous tea dances ; the National Casino, remindful of the European resorts ; the parks, and monuments, and driveways, the residential sections, where dwell in state the aristocracy of Cuba in elegant homes of Spanish and Italian architecture, with their lovely flower gardens and a glimpse of a patio and a playing fountain here and there. A pleasant ride to the country must not be missed, over good roads lined with wonderful trees that form a bower of scarlet flowers overhead, their roots squirming and twisting for many feet above ground, for all the world like great serpents in agony ; stately royal palms, cocoanut palms, groves of giant bamboo, fields of banana plants, orange, lemon and grapefruit trees, pineapples, tobacco, and sugar cane. Then a visit to a great sugar mill, where the juice of the cane, brought in from the fields, is converted into a third and more of the world's supply of sugar ; then to a cigar factory, where the finest cigars in the world are handrolled by experts just as they were by their ancestors years and years ago. from leaf grown in small fields as carefully tended as diamond mines are worked. Curious tropical fruits and vegetables are everywhere ; picturesque native homes, the "bohio," so like those of Africa and Ceylon, with sides and roofs thached from the leaves of the palm, and before which, after the day's work is over, the native gathers his numerous family to pass the hours in honest diversion, dancing the native dances, sing. ing folk-songs to the music of the guitar. And on feast days there are cock fights where bets are wagered and excitement prevails, as though it were a championship prizefight in the North. A native climbs a tall palm tree, hand over hand, a rope about his waist, to gather the leaves to build his house, or the curious bunches of palmiche nuts to fatten his hogs for the market, or maybe for home consumption at a barbecue on Noche Buena ( Christmas Eve ) or Nuevo Ario (New Year's). Then stretches of tropical landscape, thick jungles of precious woods, beautiful valleys, Yihales and the Yumuri. And in Santiago or Oriente Province, with its beautiful harbor and its winding channel that made Hobson famous in his effort to bottle up Cervera's fleet ; Canev, and San Juan Hill, where Our Teddy charged at the head of his Rough Riders ; the stately ceiba tree, un {Continued on page 47) PATIO OF THE AMERICAN LEGATION Nothing Could Separate True Lovers On A Set Like This Thirteen