Vacation Complication: 1939 Stay

This circa 1939 silent amateur reel, Vacation Complication or Gone With the Wind, blends drama and homebound charm in Oakland and Berkeley, California. A family eats fruit in the backyard, a woman hangs shadowy clothes, and a man feeds a dog by a car. Two women, Jean and Joan, bicker over travel brochures—Death Valley, Oakland maps—after friends depart via the Pacific Clipper, Overland Limited train, and 1930s autos. With their German Shepherd, Loba, they explore Oakland: Sequoia Park zoo, Lake Merritt’s lawn bowling, the Posey Tube, Oakland Airport, and regional parks like Carl Salbach Gardens near Grizzly Peak. They hitchhike across the new Bay Bridge, return by ferry, and marvel at home as “Your World,” per titles by John Corso Jr., in this black-and-white ode to staycation adventure.