''Florida Straits'' is a 1986 made-for-television adventure film that originally aired on HBO. It stars

Fred Ward Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor and producer. Starting with a role in an Italian television movie in 1973, he appeared in such diverse films as '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ''Southern Comfort'', '' The R ...

Raul Julia Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After ...

Daniel Jenkins Daniel H. Jenkins (born January 17, 1963) is an American actor, best known for his stage work on Broadway, including his 1985 role as Huckleberry Finn in Roger Miller's '' Big River'', for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Personal life ...

and

Antonio Fargas Antonio Juan Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation and comedy movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series '' Starsky & Hutch''. Early life Fargas was born in New ...

.Florida Straits; kinotv.com
/ref> The film had several theatrical releases in other countries as well as video premieres in later years but it originally aired in 1986. The production was filmed in South Carolina standing in for Cuba in the 1980s. It was one of a number of 1980s adventure films with a heist theme.

Plot

"Lucky" (

) operates a for-charter sight-seeing boat in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

. He keeps company with salty gambling and drinking barroom types. One day a young man, Mac (

), recently from college shows up and enters into a

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

game with Lucky. Mac is proficient at cards which believe his youthful looks. Lucky unable to pay, Mac eventually ends up in a partnership with the young man and the two of them now share Lucky's boat ''The White Witch''. As time goes on, a political prisoner from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, called Carlos (

), lands in Miami. He has been imprisoned by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

since 1961 and was a DC-3 pilot during the planned Bay of Pigs Invasion. Carlos eventually meets Lucky and Mac and persuades them to use their boat ''White Witch'' to take him back to Cuba. Carlos has two reasons to return to Cuba, a lost lady love (

Ilka Tanya Payán Ilka Tanya Payán (January 7, 1943 – April 6, 1996) was a Dominican-born actress and attorney who later became a prominent HIV/AIDS activist in the United States. Early life Payán was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and immigrated ...

) whom he thinks is still waiting for him after twenty years and a crate of gold coins he parachuted from the DC-3 just before he bailed out of the aircraft in 1961. The three end up in Cuba and face a band of rebels led by "El Gato Negro" (

Cast

as Carlos Jayne *

as "Lucky" Boone *

as Mac * Jaime Sánchez as Innocente *

Victor Argo Victor Argo (November 5, 1934 – April 7, 2004) was an American actor of Puerto Rican descent who usually played the part of a tough bad guy in his movies. He had a career span of forty years. He is best known for ''Mean Streets'' (1973), ' ...

as Pablo Cheruka *

as Carmen *

as "El Gato Negro" *

Jesse Corti Jesse Corti (born July 3, 1955) is an American actor and theater director best known for playing Courfeyrac in the original Broadway show ''Les Misérables'' and for voicing LeFou in ''Beauty and the Beast''. Career Corti also voiced the Span ...

as Guido * Raúl Dávila as Esteban *

Ed Grady Edward Louis Grady (August 31, 1923 – December 10, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actor and teacher. Early life Grady was born to Eddie Jones Grady and Maude Clara (née Hodges) Grady on August 31, 1923, in Kinston, Nor ...

as Lenny

References

External links

* * 1986 television films 1986 films Films directed by Mike Hodges American television films Films set in the 1980s 1980s adventure films Films set in Cuba 1980s English-language films {{adventure-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links