"Prohibition and the South Florida Connection"

[Rachel Galvin]

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(On left:) Director Steve Waxman talks about his film during Q&A following the film

By Rachel Galvin

Director Steve Waxman had a premiere of his documentary "Prohibition and the South Florida Connection" at Cinema Paradiso on Oct. 18. For those who missed it, it will be shown on WLRN on Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. http://www.wlrn.org/prohibition/

Adrienne Kennedy, Special Projects Manager at WLRN, was so impressed with Waxman, who came in with not one, but four different proposals to WLRN.

"We had a difficult time deciding which one we wanted to do. That is very unusual," she said, adding that they felt this film was perfect because it fit into an already planned series by Ken Burns about Prohibition.

Using music to weave together interviews and black and white footage, in the film, Waxman craft-fully tells the story of a by-gone era, a time when the temperance movement ensured alcohol was banned in order to keep husbands home and out of saloons. But just because it was banned didn't mean it wasn't being drunk. In fact, its prohibition led to a brand new business, and it was booming right here in South Florida.

From the visit of the axe-carrying Carrie Nation (who first came to Palm Beach in 1904), who set to chopping alcohol literally out of the heart of South Florida, to the reenactment of the tale of rum-running siren Spanish Marie, he introduces characters involved in the rum-running industry that happened right off South Florida shores.

Although bootleggers fought off the Coast Guard, Pirates and each other, the bootleggin' business seemed fairly easy.

In the film, Bob Jarvis, from Nova SE University, said, "It was a cat and mouse game between the Coast Guard and the rum-runners."

Speakeasies were opened in places like the still-in-business Tobacco Road in Miami and Cap's Place in Deerfield Beach. The business brought in characters like Al Capone, much to the chagrin of some of the local authorities, although some seemed to turn a blind eye (or even get involved in) much of the rum-running.

Those who came to Florida for alcohol, gambling and the like wanted to make sure the alcohol they received was "the real McCoy," meaning it was coming from one of the premier people in the business -- Bill McCoy. Otherwise, it could be "rotgut," a mixture that literally hurt the body. Others were able to sell tonics "for medicinal purposes." This is just one eye-opening historical tale that draws audiences in to this intriguing tale.

The film includes a great picture of an early South Florida,which went "dry" prior to the rest of the country. It also and talks about the land boom that happened in the 1920s and its fall after a large hurricane hit Miami in 1926. It shows some of the happenings that led to the creation of South Florida as it is even today, including how Broward County was formed.