Old Films of New York City

[GordonGecko]

Thought it would be fun to have a thread to collect old time video of NYC. This one isn't "home video", but I love looking at all the old buildings in this action shot movie featuring Babe Ruth:

[stache]

That's Harold Lloyd driving the cab. Interesting that even with new buildings, the atmosphere at street level is still similar, except for the old vehicles.

[scumonkey]

Isn't that 2nd passenger Babe Ruth?!

[stache]

I love looking at all the old buildings in this action shot movie featuring Babe Ruth:

Did you have your coffee?

[scumonkey]

I don't know how I missed that...still wiping the Duh outta my eyes!

[BankerToBe]

I like this one.

1921 Manhatta

You shouldn't miss it.

[roccany]

"New York: A Documentary Film" also contains tons of old New York footage. That was amazing to watch!

[GordonGecko]

I like this one.

1921 Manhatta

You shouldn't miss it.

Thank you, here it is for everyone:

[Fabrizio]

So artistic. Imagine it on a big screen. I wonder what the original music was like that they used at showings.

Think: film was still relatively new in 1921. This was pure invention.

There was not yet a huge legacy of moving images. So it seems to me the inspirational sources would be painting, still photography and classical composition.

http://www.google.it/search?hl=it&cl...strand&spell=1

[GordonGecko]

A subway ride in 1905 (evidently shot from another moving train or rail car)



(with sound!)

[GordonGecko]

Here's the same 1928 Driving in New York short with bonus footage:

[bill schintler]

Thought it would be fun to have a thread to collect old time video of NYC. This one isn't "home video", but I love looking at all the old buildings in this action shot movie featuring Babe Ruth:

I've started to identify locations here, along with corresping links to Google Streetview:

0:22
I'm having trouble with this one. I have the feeling it might be in the Five
Points area: perhaps Anthony and Little Water streets (the block west the the
current Columbus park)?

0:23
Times Square

0:26
Herald Square, looking north

0.33
Fifth Ave at W. 40th
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.752268,-
73.981995&spn=0,0.01545&t=k&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.7 52268,-
73.981995&panoid=v7F1byuUg67WugVp8iV0YA&cbp=12,42. 52,,0,-2.37

4:04
State Street and Battery PL
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.704373,-
74.01422&spn=0,0.007725&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=40.7 04373,-
74.01422&panoid=rxv2wSDc9UsNSxbRQJ1X7g&cbp=12,326. 1,,1,-0.69

4:06
Furman Street, Brooklyn. I think the building on the left has been demolished
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.701684,-
73.995498&spn=0,0.01545&t=k&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.7 01684,-
73.995498&panoid=Iw34qHBRZpK1j5Uw6Na1wA&cbp=12,22. 2,,0,-4.44

4:08
Plymouth St, Brooklyn, under the Manhattan bridge. Those old tracks and brick
pavement remain.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.70383,-
73.988725&spn=0,0.01545&t=k&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.7 03831,-
73.988523&panoid=8kZigRQ6L0l06pAwzf4sug&cbp=12,268 .88,,1,0.59

4:16
Broadway around Bowling Green Park
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.70453,-
74.014184&spn=0,0.01545&t=k&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.7 04574,-
74.014166&panoid=qfNfOAeDHqe49pRbhWEziA&cbp=12,91. 52,,0,-9.25

[stache]

bill that is AMAZING!

[GordonGecko]

This 1950's film of the 3rd Avenue Elevated Train isn't nearly as old as the previous clips, but is interesting nonetheless:

[BenM]

Here's a list from another thread. Some have been posted here, but others are haven't. The source for a lot of these is probably the Library of Congress site The Life of a City: Early Films of New York, 1898-1906. It's worth taking a look at.

A couple of months ago Turner Classic Movies played Manhatta (1921), a short documentary about the city that featured lots of shots of the skyline. I decided to see what other pre WWII movies featuring the skyline of New York I could find on Youtube and came up with these. All of them were filmed before 1940. (The titles are by the original posters)

Manhatta (1921)

Panorama of the Flatiron Building

Old Penn Station New York City (A photo montage from construction to demolition)

Louis Lumiere - New York,Broadway At Union Square(1896)

Panorama from the Times Building, New York

Manhattan Harbor Transportation and Statue of Liberty

1912 FIRST AERIAL MOVIES OF NEW YORK CITY

NYC Skyscrapers- American Mutoscope 1906

Driving Around New York City - 1928 (This is a Harold Lloyd short that starts with a great panorama shot of lower Manhattan. Babe Ruth makes an appearance.)

Skyscrapers of New York City, from the North River (1903)

Skyscrapers of New York City (Edison, 1903)

Lumiere.Brothers-Sky.Scrapers.of.New.York.City

1902 Star Theater taken apart, New York City (Time lapse photos of the dismantling of the Star Theater)


The source for a lot of these is probably the Library of Congress site The Life of a City: Early Films of New York, 1898-1906

If features 45 films of the city made during that period. Some are of the skyline, while others are about every day life in turn of the century New York.

Panorama water front and Brooklyn Bridge from East River / Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

Panorama from the tower of Brooklyn Bridge / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

Panorama of Blackwell's Island (Roosevelt Island), N.Y. / Thomas A. Edison, Inc.