Canadian Film Weekly (Apr 28, 1948)

Page 4 Miami S EN EN ‘Miami Meanderings Florida is the flower in the hair of that beautiful lady, America. Miami Beach is where the summer spends the winter. This is where the prefabulous Miami of your imagination becomes the fabulous Miami, the reality bettering the dream. Here is where you grin at the sun and it reciprocates with a smile that can be blistering as well as friendly. It all depends how you take it. ' By night, seen from high up in that lush and financially ex clusive colony known as the Roney Plaza Hotel, Miami Beach is a bed of neon flowers of all colors growing and glowing out .of the soil-black night. By day it is a wonderland colored with aquamarine, floral greens and pastel shades. The trunks of the cocoanut palm trees, curved into many attractive shapes by countless winds, make one think of lithe and sinuous dancing girls, while the branches sway gracefully and almost collectively in their own old and enchanting rhythm. But let me now ruin this rhapsodic mood with a bit of crass comment, Although this is: the end of the season and prices have dropped, a dollar goes about as far here as it does in a dining car. On second thought, that is quite an understatement. * * * And Then I Arrived The trip to Florida. wasn’t very interesting. Railroads, while they are comfortable, take you through the shabby end of towns and seem to sneak into your destination under cover of gloom. We were greeted at the station in Miami City by a delegation of barkers and a group of lightly-attired cowgirls. They escorted us across one of the three great causeways that snake across Biscayne Bay and link the city to Miami Beach. There other members of the host tent provided a gay welcome, with gifts of Variety canes, oranges, Puerto Rican rum, passes and so on. And so we arrived at the 12th annual convention of Variety International and soon found Morris Stein and Rube Bolstad. And George Ganetakos of Montreal too. George sat with the boys at the Variety meeting. Then Joe Franklin of Halifax called up. Joe played host, driving me here, there and everywhere and what I saw because of his kindness made me realize that if Mother Nature has a favored child in her American family, this is it. Believe it or leave it, it’s even better than its publicity. * * * You Can’‘t Exaggerate Miami For years friends and relatives sent me those folded series of colored postcards and I used to look at them, convinced that the art of printing was used to give Miami attributes it lacked naturally. I found out the printing couldn’t match the truth. Joe Franklin, the Maritime circuit man, has a home here, where he has been regaining his health, and he drove the Bolstads and yours truly around. We saw the old N. L. Nathanson home and we stopped to inspect a place that had been vacated by Mayor Kelly of Chicago. They wanted $135,000 for it and as it happened I was short. of a few bucks so I passed it up. But I stretched out on the mayor’s bed while the agent wasn’t looking. As with the rest of the territory, you have to see the house to believe it. Morris Weiss of Toronto came around to the Variety sessions and you'll be glad to hear that he’s coming along pretty good and will toss his cane into Biscayne Bay one of these days. The hospitality of George C. Hoover, Mitch Wolfson and their fellow-barkers of Miami is on par with the climate, scenery and buildings. By now you know that means unparalleled. They are as generous as nature was to their settlement and their work for charity, which is outstanding now.in Variety circles, is only beginning. Canadian FILM WEEKLY Ye fj =a A On The April 28, 194g Variety SQUAR They Didn't Forget Canada Canada may be The Unknown Country, as one of our leaging writers called it, but it isn’t the forgotten one so far as Variety is concerned. The first thing Bob O’Donnell did after opening the meeting of all delegates was to call attention to the presence of © the Canadians and tell how sorry he was that John Fitzgibbons, our chief barker, couldn’t be on hand. He spoke highly of Toronto and Canada and his remarks brought the biggest hanq registered during the first few days. Then that admirable gentleman from Texas, the droll and witty Colonel Bill McCraw, rose to review his visits to the various tents and their work. “Those Canadians ran hog wild last year,” he told the barkers. “Never visit Toronto or Memphis. They won’t let you get away again.” The Colonel, an authority on hospitality, thus matched ours with the traditional southern brand, Since the Miami newsreel representatives had been ordered to the Bogota revolution just before we arrived, a special crew came up from Washington under Hugo Johnston for the White House Press Association. Most of their first day’s work was photographing the Canadian delegates with the Mexicans, then with the International officers and so on. It was the idea of Frank Boucher, Washington’s chief barker, to have the White House crew come up—and that Canada should interest them. Scratch an American and you often find Canadian content. Frank’s dad is from Hull and the last time he was in Toronto was the year the Royal York was opened. This lad is as big in spirit as he is in size—and he’s big. No sir, the maple leaf. wasn’t forgotten among the palms. * * + They Do Things Right Here An example of hospitality was that by Barker Dick Berenson, head of the Biscayne Fronton, where that jumbo-sized and speeded-up version of handball called Jai Alai is played. Although the season was over by a few days and the plant closed, Berenson kept players and staff in Miami until we arrived and everything went on as though scheduled. The thrilling contests were preceded by acts from the Havana Madrid and the group singing of the players, who are Basques. Mitch Wolfson and Bob O’Donnell donned Cestas, the basket-like ' glove which the players use to propel the over-lively ball that comes back like a projectile. O’Donnell did a better job than Wolfson of imitating the players but showed up with his arm in _ a sling the next day. That’ll learn this Texan that he just ain’f as fast on the draw as he used to be. Or will it? They have a mutual betting system on the games like we have for horse racing, and you can bet teams, players and even a daily double choice. They don’t believe that old adage about never betting on anything that talks. Another fine event was the South Sea Island party, staged where MGM made “‘They Were Expendable” and Esther Williams ‘next, “On an Island With You.” Some of the sets were still stand ing. They had a sky-written welcome, bathing, surf-riding, 4 circus set-up with several stages where Hawaiian dancers and muSiclans entertained. There was a clown band which roamed around and serenaded barkers and their ladies with popular songs lauding thet states. No, they didn’t play the Maple Leaf anthem or rag: Wwe didn’t think they knew it so we didn’t ask. Tons of barbecue and thousands of bottles of coca-cola and beer, as well as mountains of ice-cream and countless hot dogs were distributed gratis. So far it has been the thrill of half-a-lifetime and it is only half over at this writing. But the big thing to everyone 1s Ps pace that every type of North American accent has been heard in praise of Tent 33 and in support of Variety. But the ¢ accent is on fun and fraternity, hief