Sunshine in the Dark: A History of films made in Florida
When: 3:00-5:00 pm Sunday, April 5 2009
Where: HCC Performing Arts Building, Ybor City, Tampa
Tickets: Free
From the publisher's website:
Florida has been the location and subject of hundreds of feature films, from Cocoanuts (1929) to Monster (2004). Portraying the state and its people from the silent era to the present, these films have explored the multitude of Florida images and cliches that have captured the public's imagination — a nature lover's paradise, a wildlife refuge, a tourist destination, home to the "cracker", and a haven for the retired, the rich, the immigrant, and the criminal.
Sunshine in the Dark is the first complete study of how the movie industry has immortalized Florida’s extraordinary scenery, characters, and history on celluloid.
Historians Fernandez and Ingalls have identified more than 300 films about Florida — many of them shot on location in the state — to analyze how filmmakers from the Marx Brothers and John Huston to Oliver Stone and Francis Ford Coppola have portrayed the state and its people.
Prior to the 1960s, cinematic trips to Florida usually brought happy endings in movies like Moon Over Miami 1942), but since the 1970s, films like Scarface (1982) have emphasized the state's menacing aspects.
"Anyone whose interests are in cinema and Florida would do well to experience 'Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies" — Jeffrey E. Farance, film critic and entertainment editor, Daytona Beach News-Journal
In the authors' analysis of the films, which examines location settings, plotlines, and characters, they find a bevy of Florida stereotypes among the leading characters — from the struggling crackers in The Yearling (1946) to the drug-addicted con man in Adaptation (2002).
Featuring more than 100 still photographs from movies, as well as filmographies by year and genre, the book is an encyclopedic resource for movie fans and anyone interested in Florida popular culture.
Interview With the Authors
T. Allan Smith, publisher of the Olde Florida Company blog, interviewed authors Susan Fernandez and Bob Ingalls recently. Here is part one of the series of videos:
To see more of this five-part interview, please visit the Olde Florida Company blog,
or click on the following links:
Sunshine in the Dark - Part 2
Sunshine in the Dark - Part 3
Sunshine in the Dark - Part 4
Sunshine in the Dark - Part 5
Susan J. Fernandez
Susan Fernandez migrated to Florida from Kentucky with her family in 1959. She earned her Ph.D. in History from the University of Florida and specializes in Caribbean History with an emphasis on Cuba.
Fernandez taught at junior and private colleges, as well as in the State University of New York system before settling in St. Petersburg and becoming a professor at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg. She has led seminars in Florida history for the Florida Humanities Council, and maintains an interest in the social history of the state.
Other books: Encumbered Cuba: Capital Markets and Revolt, 1878-1895.
Robert P. Ingalls
Robert P. Ingalls is professor of history at the University of South Florida-Tampa. He has written about various aspects of Tampa history, including urban vigilantism from 1882-1936, and the city’s Cuban immigrant community from the 1880’s to the present. He is co-author of "Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies". Urban Vigilantes in the New South: Tampa, 1882-1936 and Tampa Cigar Workers: A Pictorial History.
