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This selection of 55 “actuality”
films is drawn from the Library of Congress’s Paper Print
Collection, an archive that includes hundreds of early films shot
by Edison and Biograph cameramen on the streets of New York around
the start of the 20th century, as the movies themselves were being
born.
Begun in 1896, these short, documentary-like films contain no plots,
no stories, and no characters – such things having not yet
been invented – but are instead real-time glimpses of actual
events, people, and places. Primitive yet powerful, the films show
not staged scenes but real life, the people in them not actors but
ordinary New Yorkers, going about their daily business, utterly
unaware they are being captured forever by this new and magical
medium.
The following list, which includes the film
title, studio, date, and director (d), or cameraman (c), links to
the Library of
Congress "American Memory"
website, which allows users to download the entire film or watch
it online. (A few of them link to the
Internet Movie Database).
Arrival
of emigrants [i.e. immigrants], Ellis Island Biograph 1906,
c G. W. "Billy" Bitzer
At
the Foot of the Flatiron, Biograph, 1903, c A. E. Weed
Automobile
parade, Edison, 1900
Bargain
day, 14th Street, New York Biograph 1905, c.Frederick F. Armitage
Beginning
of a skyscraper, Biograph, 1902
The
Black Hand, Biograph, 1906, d Wallace McCutcheon, c G. W. Bitzer
Broadway
& Union Square, New York, Biograph, 1903
Buffalo
Bill's wild west parade, Biograph, 1902
Coney
Island at Night, Edison, 1905, c Edwin S. Porter
Delivering
newspapers, Biograph, 1903
Departure
of Peary [and the] "Roosevelt" from New York, Biograph,
1905
East Side Urchins Bathing in a Fountain, Edison, 1903, c Edwin S.
Porter
Electrocuting an Elephant, Edison, 1903
Elevated
railroad, New York, Biograph, 1903
Emigrants
[i.e. immigrants] landing at Ellis Island, Edison, 1903
Excavating for a New York foundation, Biograph, 1903
Excavation for Subway, Biograph, 1902, c Robert K. Bonine
[Fireboat
"New Yorker" in action--excerpts], Edison, 1903
Funeral
of Hiram Cronk, Biograph, 1905
Herald
Square, Edison, 1896, c William Heise
How
a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York "Herald"
Personal Columns, Edison, 1904, d Edwin S. Porter
Interior
N.Y. subway, 14th St. to 42nd St., Biograph,
1905
The
Life of the American Policeman, Edison, 1905, d Edwin S. Porter,
c Edwin S. Porter
Lower
Broadway, Biograph, 1903
Move
on, Edison, 1903.
N.Y.
Fire Department returning, Biograph 1903.
New
York City "ghetto" fish market, Edison, 1903.
New
York City dumping wharf, Edison, 1903.
New York
City in a Blizzard, Edison, 1902
New York Harbor Police boat Patrol capturing pirates, Edison,
1903.
New
York police parade, June 1st, 1899, Edison, 1899.
Opening
of new East River bridge, New York , Edison, 1903.
Opening
the Williamsburg Bridge , Biograph, 1904
Panorama
from the Times Building, New York, Biograph, 1905, c Wallace
McCutcheon
Panorama
from the tower of Brooklyn Bridge , Biograph, 1903, c G. W.
"Billy" Bitzer
Panorama
of Blackwell's Island, N.Y. , Edison, 1903.
Panorama
of Flatiron Building , Biograph, 1903.
Panorama of Riker's Island, N.Y. , Edison, 1903.
Panorama
water front and Brooklyn Bridge from East River , Edison, 1903.
Parade
of "exempt" firemen, Biograph 1903.
Parade of horses on Speedway, Biograph 1903.
Pennsylvania
Tunnel excavation,
Biograph 1905.
A
perilous proceeding, Biograph, 1902
Personal,
Biograph, 1904, d Wallace McCutcheon, c G. W. Bitzer
Pilot
boats in New York harbor, Edison, 1899
Skating
on lake, Central Park, New York, NY, American Stereoscopic Company,
1902
The
skyscrapers of New York, , Biograph, 1906, c Fred Dobson
Sky
Scrapers of New York City, From the North River, Edison, 1903,
c James Blair Smith
Sleighing
scene, Edison, 1898
Sorting
refuse at incinerating plant, New York City, Edison, 1903, c
Edwin S. Porter
Star
Theatre, Biograph 1902
Statue
of Liberty Edison, 1898
A
street Arab,
Edison, 1898
The Tunnel
Workers, Biograph, 1906, c F. A. Dobson
What
happened on Twenty-third Street, New York City , Edison, 1901
White Wings on review , Edison, 1903
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