Summary

MISC. EARLY NEWSREELS #5

Source Archive Films by Getty Images
Title: MISC. EARLY NEWSREELS #5
File Number: AFP-149AM 16mm; VTM-149AM Beta SP; NET-47 Beta SP (at 01:24:09:00); DigiBeta
Color: B W
Type: Newsreel
Year: 1890s - 1913
Description: 00:00:16:00 B W 1898 - SOUTH SPRING STREET, LOS ANGELES, CAL. - (Thos. A. Edison, 1898): The film was photographed from a single-camera position located at an intersection in Los Angeles. Coming directly toward CAM are four-horse, open carriages with passengers, similar to a local bus system. In the left FG is the marquee of the first moving picture theater in Los Angeles, Tally's however, the image of the theater is indistinct and blurred, and not the focus of the film (therefore, SFU). Several horse-drawn vehicles and one electric streetcar pass CAM position. 00:01:24:00 B W 1907 - CHRISTY MATHEWSON, N.Y. NATIONAL LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM -(Winthrop, 1907): Christy Mathewson, the great baseball pitcher of the early years of this century, is shown pitching. 00:01:41:00 B W 1903 - COLLECTING, MAIL, U.S.P.O. - (AM&B, 1903): The subject is the movement of mail by the US postal service. As the film begins, two types of mailboxes on a pole on the corner of a street can be seen. In the background, away from CAM position, are people going by on foot, as well as horse-drawn and electric streetcar transportation. At the end of the film, a man wearing the uniform of a mailman is seen approaching the mailboxes. He unlocks the boxes removes the mail from both the small and large boxes. 00:02:09:00 B W 1900s - DRILL BY THE PROVIDENCE POLICE - In the center of a town square, a company of uniformed policemen equipped with nightsticks is standing at attention. The policemen perform several close-order drill maneuvers similar to those of any army infantry company. They end as they began, company front. 00:03:12:00 B W 1901 -OPENING, PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION - (Thos. A. Edison, 1901): A group of dignitaries from various countries was photographed from a single-camera position participating in a parade marking the opening of the Pan-American Exposition. 00:04:40:00 B W 1903 -THE PRESIDENT'S CARRIAGE - (AM&B, 1903) The location: downtown San Francisco, pre-earthquake. Subject is a parade, with President Teddy Roosevelt in an open horse-drawn vehicle. CAM was placed at the curb of a street crowded with people. The hunting-decorated business district is seen as the dignitaries approach CAM position. The president can be seen in his open carriage, which passes immediately in front of CAM position. His carriage is followed by several others, some with passengers and some with only a driver. 00:05:45:00 B W 1901 -THE MARCH OF PRAYER AND ENTRANCE OF THE DANCERS - (Edison, 1901) The film, photographed from a single-camera position, shows some American Indians wearing ceremonial tribal dress, preliminary to an ancient dance of appeal to some force of nature. 00:06:53:00 B W 1897 -GATLING GUN CREW IN ACTION - (Edison, 1897). Following the demonstration of the eight-man squad firing intermittently, the same crew shows the inadequacy of squad fire against the six hundred rounds-per-minute of the Gatling gun. (NOTE: In essence, the Gatling gun was the world's first machine gun.) 00:07:25:00 B W 1906 -EMPIRE STATE EXPRESS - (Edison, ?1906) The film opens on a scene of a railroad section gang mending tracks on a curved area. In the distance a locomotive can be seen approaching CAM position. As it goes by CAM, four cars can be counted, in addition to the locomotive. The track workers wave and cheer and the white-coated Pullman porters standing on the steps of each car wave back. 00:08:19:00 B W 1899 -FILIPINOS RETREAT FROM TRENCHES - (Spanish-American War Edison, 1899). The cameraman placed his equipment to convey the impression of a trench in a jungle. Many Filipino infantry troops are firing at the Americans. As the film progresses, there is a volley from rifles off camera causing a great deal of smoke. The men in the trenches adjacent to CAM fall down as if wounded or dead. At the end of the film, the trench is overrun with American troops carrying a flag. 00:09:15:00 B W 1898 -PICKING ORANGES - (Edison, 1898) The film, photographed from a single-camera position, shows oranges being picked by several persons who use ladders. One man fall down the ladder, but there is little else in the way of action. 00:09:50:00 B W 1903 -ASAKUSA TEMPLE, TOKYO, JAPAN - (AM&B, 1903) The view of the Asakusa Temple in Tokyo was photographed from across the main thoroughfare leading to the entrance at a distance of about two hundred yards. The idols protecting the entrance can be seen, as well as the entrance to the main building itself, but the full outline profile is not shown. Several individuals in various types of Japanese clothing pass in front of camera. 00:10:16:00 B W 1898 -WHARF SCENE, HONOLULU - (Edison, 1898) CAM was placed on a moored ship adjacent to a dock where several hundred people are welcoming or saying goodbye to passengers on a ocean liner. Between the people on the pier and CAM position, approximately a dozen native children are waiting in the water for the passengers to throw coins for them to retrieve. 00:10:50:00 B W 1900s -FEEDING PIGEONS IN FRONT OF ST. MARK'S CATHEDRAL, VENICE, ITALY - CAM was placed on the stern of a vessel progressing through the water and followed by a large flock of gulls. 00:11:47:00 B W 1904 THE GREAT TORONTO FIRE, TORONTO, CANADA, APRIL 19, 1904 - The film shows the arrival of fire-fighting equipment and actual fire fighting in a large city in Canada. The several camera positions show street scenes with the fire equipment passing by, streams of water playing on the blaze, and buildings being blown up. One hundred fourteen buildings were destroyed in a eight-hour period. 00:14:02:00 B W 1900 PANORAMIC VIEW OF TREMONT HOTEL, GALVESTON - (Edison, 1900) The damage wreaked by a hurricane and tidal wave is clearly evident. As CAM pans, more damage to buildings is seen. There is a full shot of a hotel, bearing a painted sign to the effect that the price of beds ranged from fifteen to twenty-five cents per night. The FG throughout the film records the devastation. (NOTE: this segment is in NEGATIVE) 00:14:42:00 B W 1902 -STAR theater - (AM&B, 1902) As the film begins, CAM focuses on a large brick building with a marquee lettered "Star Theater." CAM is positioned at approximately the third floors so that it overlooks an intersection on which the building stands. As the film progresses, the building diminshes in size for it is being demolished. Judging by the different exposures of the film, production must have been in excess of thirty days. This type of photography can only be accomplished by the use of special timing devices controlling the camera. The Star Theater was located on the corner of Broadway and Thirteenth Street, New York City. (Note: EARLY EXAMPLE OF STOP-MOTION time-lapse OF BUILDING BEING TORN DOWN DEMOLISHED) 00:15:58:00 B W 1900 -NEW BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS - (Edison, 1900) The length of the film and the poor quality of the photography do not permit description other than to say that a train can be seen nearing CAM position. In the FG of this short film are some workmen but it is impossible to discern what they are doing. 00:16:42:00 B W 1909 -UNVEILING OF THE PENNSYLVANIA MONUMENT ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA, MAY 19, 1909 - The film shows the crowds that congregated to view and hear speakers dedicate a monument to the memory of the Civil War dead who lost their lives on the battlefields of that area. Several camera positions show marching military, both of the Union and Confederate armies, field equipment used by both sides, several pieces of fire fighting equipment carriages containing such celebrities as President Taft and his entourage, and several women making speeches. There are several groups of people in the parade: a large group of men on horseback who appear to be hunt club members, members of fraternal groups, and so on. 00:19:00:00 B W 1897 -STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA - (Edison, 1897) A group of people are shown the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in 1897. 00:19:41:00 B W 1903 -POST MAN DELIVERING MAIL, U.S.P.O. - (AM&B, 1903) This film shows the delivery of the US mail, in a rural area. A two-horse vehicle, with a sign reading "US Mail," appears on the scene. The postal employee gets out of the vehicle and places mail in a standard metal mailbox. A woman comes out of her house and removes the mail from the mailbox, then buys stamps from the mail carrier as the picture ends. 00:20:21:00 B W 1903 -LEHIGH VALLEY BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS - (Edison, 1903) Photographed from a single camera position, the film shows a section of curved railroad track. A sign indicates the road belongs to the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The last half of film shows a locomotive and four cars approaching in camera, and a locomotive and three cars going away from CAM. 00:21:16:00 B W 1903 -CLEVELAND FIRE DEPARTMENT - (AM&B, 1903) The subject is the activities of a fire department that can be seen coming out of the fire engine house located across the street from CAM position. The action must have been a drill or rehearsal as the street is lined with people awaiting the arrival of the three pumpers, the two fire engines, and the four personnel wagons that made up the contingent of fire equipment. 00:22:15:00 B W 1901 -PRESIDENT McKINLEY AND ESCORT GOING TO CAPITOL - (Edison, 1901) The film begins by showing military personnel on horseback. CAM was positioned on a side street and photographed representatives of several different companies of American cavalry. Just as the film ends, foot soldiers and West Point cadets preceding the two horse-drawn carriages, one containing President McKinley's party, come into view.
}