Note: My new book Screenwriting with Brass Knuckles is available on Amazon in both paperback and eBook.
Years ago when I traveled more for productions than I do today, I started this postcard section where I shared various shots on the road. And that also gave me a break from writing a daily posts. So today’s post is in that spirit, but a throwback postcard.
Way back to when I was in film school at the University of Miami. (Back when the cost of film school wasn’t as astronomical as it can be today.) Today’s postcards are from a photography class I took in the spring of 1982. I think they hold up pretty good for student work.
The first shot is of The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Today it’s a luxury hotel, and that’s what it was when it first opened in 1926. But in-between it had a couple of lives. I’m not sure how the great depression was for business, but in 1942 the government converted to the hotel into what was called the Army Air Forces Regional Hospital.
At some point it was used as The University of Miami’s School of Medicine, and was a Veteran’s Administration hospital until 1968. According to Wikipedia, it was abandoned for many years until becoming a hotel again in 1986.
When I took this exterior shot in 1982 is was a tragically beautiful building. This was well before YouTube and urban explorers, but I would have loved to have seen what it looked like inside after years of neglect. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) was still fresh on mind my so it wasn’t hard to imagine a Jack Nicholson-like character typing away in the lobby. (My assignment must have been to shoot something fitting for infrared film. )
The faded edges of the printed from years gone by have only added to the mystery I was hoping to capture as a student.
The Hollywood connection to the hotel is not only various celebrities that stayed there (Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby and Tarzan—Johnny Weissmuller), but many movies and television and TV shows that were shot there (Bad Boys, CSI Miami, and Miami Vice).
The second shot is from Vizcaya Museum and Gardens overlooking Biscayne Bay. It was built between 1914—1922 as the winter estate for businessman James Deering who made his fortune from farm equipment. In case you missed it, this huge estate was just where he wintered. Apparently there was a lot to be made selling harvesters to Midwestern farmers who helped feed people in the United States.
Enough to live like a king. Of course, this is photo is not James Deering, but just a random king I stumbled upon at (with the help of some internet research) the Florida State Renaissance Festival in March of 1982. (They stopped doing the annual festival in 2003). A rather timeless photo. I’d like to thing that this is someone’s grandfather and they get a kick out of seeing it somehow.
Now that I’m in a Miami state of mind, tomorrow I’ll share the secret I learned about talent during my short stint as a walk-on on the UM football team and at the film school there. Advice that’s also timeless.
P.S. If you ever have a weekend in Miami and want to get a 1-2 taste of grand ole Miami it’d be hard to beat checking out The Biltmore and Vizcaya.
Thanks for including the photo from Vizcaya! –