Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies

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 firs...