HOME MOVIES: 1937

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1937

Format: 16mm

Description: This 1937 silent 16mm home movie shows a cruise through the Panama Canal. The film begins aboard an unknown ship, one operated by the Grace Line (probably S.S. Santa Paula based on the rear of the ship seen at 11:58 but otherwise possibly S.S. Santa Rosa, S.S. Santa Ana, or S.S. Santa Teresa). At 1:19 the ship enters the harbor of an unknown Caribbean island, with a large fortress visible atop a mountain. At 1:50 local men and children in canoes vie for coins dropped by ship passengers. At 2:50 a city is seen. At 4:29, the ship enters the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. At 5:11 a large dredge is seen at work on a barge. At 7:40, some of the locks are seen. At 7:44, passengers cavort in the ship's swimming pool. At 8:40, what might be Panama City is seen. At 11:01, passengers disembark via a primitive lift, you can see "Grace Line" on the chair. At 11:47, the ship is seen from the dock with its distinctive green funnels. SS Santa Rosa (later SS Athinai) was a passenger and cargo ocean liner built for the Grace Line. She was one of four sister ships (the others being Santa Elena, Santa Lucia and Santa Paula) ordered in 1930 from the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, NJ. Her regular route included inter-coastal service between the east coast and the west coast of the USA via the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. She was the second of ultimately three vessels to bear the name Santa Rosa for the Grace Line. At 12:09 passengers are seen aboard small railway cars for a narrow gauge trip into the mountains. It's unclear where this part of the film was shot, but probably the Dominican Republic based on the E.G.E. sign at the hydroelectric powerplant seen at 13:07. (Could also still be Panama however). At 13:56 men on horseback are seen, and people eager to sell their wares to the visitors.

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