Most likely filmed by famed international documentary filmmaker Andre de LaVarre this silent film was released by the Cunard White Star ship lines to promote travel to Panama and the Panama Canal, which at the time had seized the imagination of the American public. At 1:30 the film shows the Chagres River and Gatun Lake and at 1:48 the Gaillard Cut. At 2:10 views of the Canal are seen. At 2:27 a U.S. Navy submarine transits the Canal.This is the SS S-9 (SS-114) was a second-group (S-3 or “Government”) S-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 20 January 1919 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 17 June 1920 sponsored by Mrs. James E. Palmer, and commissioned on 21 February 1921 with Lieutenant Commander Thomas Shine in command. She was struck from the register in 1937. It’s possible that this footage shows the vessel in 1927 when it transited the Canal on its way to the USA East Coast.

At 2:58 the largest man-made lake in the world is seen from a Cunard ocean liner. At the docks is what appears to be a fishing vessel. At 3:30 the double locks are seen at Gatun. At 4:00 an ocean liner is seen in the massive locks. At 5:40 an electric mule locomotive is seen pulling a ship through the locks.

At 7:30 the Tivoli Hotel in Panama City is shown. Perched on Tivoli hill, from which it derived its name, the grand Tivoli Hotel served as the centerpiece of Canal Zone society from its opening in November,1906, to the day it closed in 1971. Officially, US President Teddy Roosevelt is considered the first person to stay at the Tivoli although some members of his official party preceded him by a few days as hotel guests.

At 7:51 the Washington Hotel in Colon is shown. It is currently used as a casino. This hotel was built at the behest of President William H. Taft, a frequent visitor to Colon during canal construction. Taft was convinced of the need for a good Atlantic side hotel and in 1910 he authorized construction of the new Hotel Washington. He decided on its architecture, selected the architects, and set the sum of $500,000 as the top limit for its cost. . On March 13, 1913, the Washington -as we know it today- housed its first guest, a well-known American named Vincent Astor. Ten days later it was opened formally to the public.

At 8:26 a single stack ocean liner is seen at port. This is possibly

RMS Scythia, a Cunard vessel built in 1921. At 8:40 views aboard the ship are shown including the pool, and at 9:14 drinks / martinis are served from the bar. At 9:22, marketplaces and tourist spots are seen with “oriental merchants”. At 10:17 Canal Zone homes are shown. At 10;46 the beach outside the Hotel Washington is seen.At 11:00 the train which services the Canal is shown, and the 50-mile trip across the Isthmus promoted.

At 11:40 Panama City is shown again with its quaint Spanish buildings and “water marketplace.”

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