Margarita is a short travel film produced by the Hamilton Wright Organization for the Government of Venezuela. The film, likely from the 1940s and narrated by Jack Costello, gives viewers a look at the Caribbean island off the coast of South America. The film opens with a shot of boats off the shore of Margarita, presumably near the main town of Porlamar. Men drive donkey-drawn carts from the beach, sharing the road with automobiles. Two tourists, a man and a woman, arrive at Porlamar’s airport (01:33). They visit a shop where a local woman sews a hat for the female tourist (02:15). In the bay, a man puts on a mask and dives off a boat to hunt for pearl-bearing oysters (02:39). On the beach, the divers go through the oysters looking for pearls. The divers give several oysters to the tourists, who walk up. The man and the woman decide to look for oysters themselves, and they put on flippers and snorkels and go out snorkeling (03:49). A Venezuelan archeologist shows a vase he found while he was excavating a site (04:20). The tourists walk out on top of an old fort that affords a good view of Margarita (05:02). They hold an old French cannon ball. The film then goes to the town and harbor of Juangriego (05:50), showing viewers a church. In the bay, the two tourists go waterskiing. Later, the man strolls along a rocky shoreline as waves crash about him. He then walks along a sandy beach with the woman, stopping to climb a tree and fetch her a coconut. The couple look at a rock formation next to the water (07:27), while a little farther out at sea, birds roost on a larger rock. The film shows local men on fishing boats drop nets (07:55) and, then with the help of other members of the town, pull in the massive nets. The large catch brings in tuna; the tuna are tossed on shore. The film concludes with two dances: women dance in traditional Venezuelan clothes (09:17), then boys and women dance a fishing story dance, wearing hand-made boat costumes and holding a fish replica.
Margarita Island (Isla de Margarita, Spanish pronunciation: [maɾɣaˈɾita]) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. Primary industries are tourism, fishing and construction.
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