The connection between Miami/Miami Beach and Hollywood goes back to its earliest days as evidenced by this photo of the cast and crew of “The Palm Beach Girl” during a break from filming somewhere in Miami in 1926.
The movie tells the story of a young Iowa girl who is invited to winter with her rich aunt in ritzy Palm Beach, but is then given the cold shoulder by the hoi polloi due to her unrefined behavior. She winds up falling for a handsome speed-boat mechanic and helps him win an important race which also has the most desirable consequence of exposing the big shots for the phonies they really are.
The girl in the middle is silent film star, Bebe Daniels who had been in movies since she was seven years old and went on to have a very successful career on-screen.
She starred opposite film comedian Harold Lloyd in a long series of two-reel comedies, then starred opposite Rudolph Valentino in the film, Monsieur Beaucaire. At one time she was under contract to Cecille B. De Mille, then after numerous other films, she also appeared in Busby Berkeley’s 42nd Street in 1933. In 1921 she was arrested for speeding — 15-mph in a 10-mph zone — and spent five days in jail.
To the right of Daniels (smoking cigar) is the movie’s leading man, Lawrence Gray.