This western featured rodeo star Bill Pickett and celebrated the contributions of the black cowboy in building the West. It was one of the first Florida films to have an all-black cast and to portray African Americans in a positive manner.

Even after most movie studios had moved from Florida to California, films continued to be shot on location in Florida, including Hell Harbor, the first full-length "talkie" to be made in the state. This movie told the story of the descendants of pirate Henry Morgan. It was filmed in Tampa because the area resembled the Caribbean in the days before hotels covered local beaches.

Betty Grable starred in this musical romance set in Miami, although many scenes actually were filmed at Cypress Gardens. Florida's exposure in this film led to the shooting of many other films in the state during the 1940s.

Scenes were shot in Silver Springs for several of the movies in the Tarzan adventure series, including Tarzan's Secret Treasure. This movie was the last to pair Johnny Weismuller (as Tarzan) and Maureen O'Sullivan (as Jane) together in the jungle.

Florida provided the location for several patriotic World War II films, including A Guy Named Joe. In this movie, Spencer Tracy played a pilot who died and became the guardian angel of a young pilot in love with Tracy's girlfriend. Much of the filming was done in Tampa at Drew and McDill air fields.

In the actual World War II raid dramatized in this film, sixteen B-25s bombed Tokyo, but were forced to land in China when the planes ran out of fuel. Spencer Tracy played war hero Jimmy Doolittle. The movie was filmed at Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, where the real pilots in the raid were trained.

Delayed at first by the inhospitable Florida wilderness and then by the outbreak of World War II, The Yearling finally was produced in 1946 and proved to be worth the wait. This endearing story about a boy and his fawn written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture. Parts of the film were shot at the Cross Creek homestead where Rawlings wrote the novel, now a state historic site.

William Powell played a fifty-year-old man who renewed his youthfulness by falling in love with a mermaid. However, as this film proves, romances between mermaids and humans can be difficult. Some scenes were filmed at Weeki Wachee, well known for its "mermaids" who perform underwater.

Filmed at Eglin Air Force Base, Twelve O'Clock High told the true story of Major General Frank Armstrong. The film explored the inner conflicts of a general who had to send his men off to fight and depicted true heroism in an unglamorous view of war.

This movie dramatizing circus life was directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Betty Hutton, James Stewart, and Charlton Heston. DeMille required all of the actors to perform their own stunts. The Oscar-award-winning movie was filmed at the Barnum and Bailey headquarters in Sarasota.

This romance film was the second movie to be shot in the wide-screen process. A Greek sponge diver from Tarpon Springs fell in love with a girl from the rival Key West sponge divers. Filmed in Tarpon Springs and Key West, the movie featured colorful underwater pictures of Florida's ocean reef.

Esther Williams, an Olympic swimmer who later became an important MGM actress, starred in this lavish musical romance that featured beautiful swimmers and spectacular water production numbers. The movie was filmed against the beautiful scenery of Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven.

In this science fiction masterpiece of suspense and horror, a team of scientists traveling up the Amazon River discovered a dangerous creature that was half-man and half-fish. To make the dramatic effects even more terrifying, the film was shown in 3-D. Filmed in Wakulla Springs and Tarpon Springs, it was enormously successful, grossing more than $3 million, and was followed by two sequels.

In this screen adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, an Italian widow portrayed by Anna Magnani overcame her grief to find romance with a trucker played by Burt Lancaster. Williams created the role especially for Magnani, whose performance earned her an Oscar for best actress. Parts of the movie were filmed in Key West.

Filmed in Fort Lauderdale, Where the Boys Are told the story of a group of college women spending spring break at the beach. This movie helped to establish Fort Lauderdale as a popular spring vacation destination among college students.

Written, produced, and directed by Jerry Lewis, The Bellboy also starred Lewis as the title character. The film relied mainly on visual humor since Lewis's character spoke no lines. It was filmed in twenty-nine days at Miami's Fountainbleu Hotel.

A number of popular films shot in Florida during the 1960s included Follow That Dream starring Elvis Presley, in which Presley was part of a family of "simple-minded folks" who staked out waterfront property. The movie was filmed in Ocala.

One of the famous James Bond movies, this film featured many of the high-tech gadgets that viewers have come to expect from "007" films. Bond met his adversary, Goldfinger, at the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami.