MORE SILENT MOVIES FROM CUBA (1908-1913)

Last March Balladeer’s Blog examined several pioneering silent movies made in Cuba, from Havana’s Fire Drill (1897) – the very first Cuban-made film – to 1901 coverage of the Constitutional Assembly, to 1906 film footage of the religious festival La Tutelar de Guanabacoa, which could be openly celebrated back then.

Wrapping up the nine shorts was Cuba’s first horror film – 1907’s La Leyenda del Guije del Rio Sagua – about an evil man being transformed into a clawed, hairy monster called a guije.

A TOURIST IN HAVANA (1908) – A documentary short depicting the sights to be seen by tourists in 1908 Havana. The director was Enrique Diaz Quesada, who founded the first film studio in Cuba alongside his brother Juan. This short debuted on September 15th at Havana’s Payret Theater.   

EL CABILDO DE NACION ROMUALDA (1908) – Another Quesada short, this one capturing a publicly performed Cabildo Afro-Cuban religious ceremony. Such Cabildos dated back centuries and originated as figurative “bread and circuses” for the Cuban slave population, but they also preserved songs, dances, chants and drum music dedicated to the deities that had been worshipped back in Africa. No copies of this movie have survived. The work was filmed at a garden in the Esquina de Tejas. Pepe Acosta produced.

RESTORATION OF THE REPUBLIC (1909) – Part of the silent newsreel series Cuba al Dia, this covered the departure from Cuba of the disgraced and corrupt Provisional Governor Charles E. Magoon.

INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT GENERAL JOSE MIGUEL GOMEZ (1909) – Another newsreel, this one filming the inauguration of Magoon’s elected successor.

JUAN JOSE (1910) – First filmed version of the irreverent Spanish satirical play of the same name written in 1895 by Joaquin Dicenta. The storyline involved a worker fighting with his employer over a woman they both love. This 1910 production ran 16 minutes and starred Boffield Garrido.       

THE PATRIA AND THE CUBA ENTERING HAVANA HARBOR (1910) – Footage of the American built cruise ships Patria and Cuba arriving in Havana Harbor. The ships had been built at the request of the Cuban government.   

THE FUNERAL OF MORUA DELGADO (1910) – Footage of the funeral of former President of the Senate Martin Morua Delgado, the first black Cuban Senator. Though serving as Minister of Agriculture when he died, he is most remembered for his writings against slavery in the 1800s and for introducing the amendment to Cuba’s electoral laws forbidding political parties limited to one race.

Morua Delgado worked for harmony among the races and opposed the Independent Party of Color, which he felt was dividing Cubans based on race. 

THE FLIGHT OF AVIATOR MCCURDY OVER HAVANA (1911) – Film footage of the flight of Canadian pilot James McCurdy over Havana. His flight path ran from Cuba’s Columbia Military Airport to the Morro Lighthouse in Havana. McCurdy was awarded three thousand pesos for the accomplishment.

BASEBALL IN 1912 (1912) – Filmed footage of a baseball game. No copies have survived.

THE EPILOGUE OF THE MAINE (1912) – Yes, as in “Remember the Maine!” The U.S. raised the remains of the Maine from the bottom of Havana Harbor and towed it out to the high seas to let it sink in far deeper water.

BOHEMIA CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL (1912) – Short documentary covering Bohemia magazine’s festival at which they provided free toys for the children of Havana.     

DEPARTURE OF TROOPS FOR SANTIAGO DE CUBA DURING THE RACIST WAR (1912) – Cuban troops were sent to the Oriente province to face the armed protests of the Independent Party of Color, the Blacks Only political party now banned by the Morua Amendment. President Jose Miguel Gomez is still criticized for using excessive force in the campaign.

MANUEL GARCIA, THE KING OF THE FIELDS OF CUBA (1913) – Action film directed (of course) by Enrique Diaz Quesada. It was a bandit saga romanticizing the real-life Manuel Garcia, a gunslinging outlaw leader active in the last few decades of the 1800s. His legend held that he stole goods from the wealthy to give to the poor. Filming took six months, the longest production time for any Cuban film up to that time.   

THE CARNIVALS OF CIENFUEGOS (1913) – Film footage of that year’s carnival celebrations in the city of Cienfuegos.

CANE SUGAR INDUSTRY (1913) – A documentary in Quesada’s Riches of Cuba series. This one depicts the process of making cane sugar at the Chaparra Sugar Mill in Oriente.

INAUGURATION OF MARIO GARCIA MENOCAL (1913) – Newsreel footage of the inauguration of Cuba’s new President Menocal.

I’LL COVER MORE IN THE NEAR FUTURE AS CUBAN CINEMA PRODUCED MORE DRAMAS AND FEWER DOCUMENTARIES.