The Innocent Years (Part One)
The Innocent Years (Part One)
Encapsulating the issues & lifestyles of the (white) American public, 1900-1916. Immigration, life in overcrowded New York City, factory work, mass production of the combustible engine, recreation among the economic classes and the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt. Excellent, rare footage here, though one should be aware that a few shots are recreations shot some twenty years after the fact (it should be easy to discern these with a cautious eye).
The Innocent Years (Part One)
TLS Statue of Liberty, POV from sailing boat; great MS immigrants huddled on boat sailing in NY Harbor, Statue of Liberty in BG; MCU immigrants smiling; MS two immigrant women wearing babushkas posing for cam, Statue of Liberty in BG; MCU immigrant father with infant son in lap. MSs newly arrived immigrants walking on Ellis Island with belongings; CUs faces of immigrants (bearded old man, young boy eating bread, another boy wearing visor cap, two boys wearing suits & Gatsby caps. MS immigrants walking w/ baggage by cam. Europeans. Immigration. New World.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
New York City: TLS el train on elevated tracks taking turn over street, Blue Point Oysters carriage passing cam in FG; great subjective POV shot aboard trolley through bustling street, well-dressed folks crossing erratically before cam; TLSs street scenes, a chaotic cluster of pedestrians, el trains, horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, traffic cops, trolleys, street cars vying for space & sanity; MSs well-dressed residents walking along sidewalks; traveling MS man on carriage delivering Doelger's Beer; MS man wearing placard advertising "Steve Sells Big Ones"; MS boys playing stickball in street; MS two voluptuous women pushing baby carriage along sidewalk; TLS/MSs kids dancing in street while man cranks music box; TLS men playing form of basketball on playground while cops keep crowd at bay; TLS kids swimming naked in ornamental water fountain until cops shoo 'em off (summer, heat); CU bell ringing; excellent TLSs horse-drawn hook and ladder and steam pump carriages pulling from fire stations (fire department), zipping through streets, responding to emergency fire call, crowds watching eagerly; nice TLS steam pump at call site, fireman attaching fire hose to fireplug; MS two men shaking hands on street, one bringing up newspaper; TLS street scene, trolley & several horse-drawn carriages passing by el tracks; TLSs tenements, white linen (laundry) hanging from clotheslines.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
Post-assassination newsreel of President WILLIAM MCKINLEY in Buffalo, NY: panning TLS street scene, horse-drawn carriages, people walking bicycles, soldiers all about; MSs casket being carried from building, loaded onto carriage, THEODORE ROOSEVELT saluting with top hat to heart; TLSs funeral procession, cortege, sailors with rifles, police officers; MS TR with hat over heart.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
Est shots of Sagamore Hill, Long Island home of Teddy Roosevelt; int shot den, heads of big game adorning walls, zoom in to oil painting portrait of TR. MS President THEODORE ROOSEVELT walking from porch toward cam, stopping; MSs TR playing w/ dogs on grounds of home, walking into field, taking off jacket & hat, chopping down tree w/ ax; TLS Teddy rowing on lake. TLSs Theodore Roosevelt riding horse, giving horse treats. MS Teddy & son ARCHIE ROOSEVELT looking over documents outside.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
Panning LS industrial factory town (company town), small steamstacks spewing waste. TLS/MSs women pumping water from well outside row of homes. TLS/MSs men leaving homes, walking to factory with lunchpails; MS men, women & children entering factory, punching time cards, working in textile mill. MSs women packaging glass lamp globes. MSs girls (children) working on industrial looms, including an amazing shot of curl-haired girl barely 8 yrs old threading loom like an old pro-- ah yes, child labor. MS teenage boys in factory.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
MSs man oiling early internal combustible engine automobile in laboratory (recreation); CU internal combustion engine. Early automobiles montage: MS wealthy young man wearing goggles & duster coat helping woman in driving veil into Baker electric car, then taking off brake & cranking engine; MS man cranking Packard automobile; panning MS several people in Packard; CUs shimmying gears, parts, steering wheel; TLS/MSs early electric & gas powered automobiles in rural scenics, spooking horses & cows; panning TLS couple in 3 wheel (Mercedes?) car; panning TLS Ford Model T passing cam; TLS Model T pulling up to country house, girl & woman w/ umbrella getting in; MS/CUs man wearing duster & goggles furiously cranking engine of Model T, woman in white lace-up boots & driving veil watching; good MCU feet on pedals; MS man & woman in driving gear (including open umbrella) in Model T; TLS/MSs prim couple in Model T driving toward cam; panning MS horse pulling several men sitting in early car; MSs man stopping car on suburban street, getting out to pump air into tire; MSs man working under chassis of Baker electric in field, woman watching; MSs man working under chassis & hood of Stanley Steamer in field, woman watching; MCUs men wearing derby hats furiously cranking engines; TLS Model T driving through very muddy field; CU spoked tire stuck in mud; MSs horses pulling plow attached to Model T stuck in muddy field. Inventions.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
Ford assembly line montage: MS/CUs men assembling gears, engines; MSs Model T cars in production; TLSs cars rolling off line. MSs Dad rolling Model T soft-top convertible to farm house, lil' girls in white dresses helping; MSs 2 girls getting into backseat, bouncing hilariously while rolly mother gets in; Dad cranks engine while son shifts gears & away they go. More shots white folks driving early cars (mostly Model Ts) through countryside. TLS/LSs numerous Ford Model T automobiles congesting urban streets. TLS traffic cop turning corner sign from Stop to Go while man reading newspaper walks into traffic, gets bumped by Model T, the cop sending the idiot to the curb. TLS/LSs early automobiles congesting streets, some horse-drawn carriages still being used. Great TLS crowded sidewalk, well-dressed pedestrians walking along, auto traffic in BG. Very chaotic.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
Excellent segment on New York Stock Market: TLS pedestrians on sidewalk in canyons of NYC, old bald African-American man in FG looking at cam; TLSs crowds of men on Broad Street, NYC (Wall Street area), curb exchange; panning MS stock brokers, some using wireless headsets, taking orders & making hand signals to crowd from window ledges of building (the real reason why capitalism is so dangerous); great MS crowd of men in ties & suits & newsboy caps signaling back (seems so strange, so funny, all the odd hand gesturing); sideview MSs young stock brokers taking orders from window sill. Stills of John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan. Economy, economics.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
MSs President THEODORE ROOSEVELT speechifying from gazebo to crowd of well-dressed whites; MSs Teddy shaking hands w/ line of white people. TLS/MSs Teddy Roosevelt posing with Boy Scouts troop, St. Patrick's Church affiliation on bass drum. MS/CUs First Lady EDITH KERMIT ROOSEVELT at Sagamore Hill. 1905 newsreel of Teddy leaving to mediate the Russo-Japanese War: TR boards the Presidential yacht, Mayflower, then shakes hands & doffs hat to naval officers dressed in peculiar hats & epaulets; TLS/LSs USS Columbia & other American naval steam ships of the Great White Fleet sailing, American flags flying proudly from bows & sterns. MS/CUs TR library at Sagamore Hill.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
MS author MARK TWAIN (SAMUEL CLEMENS) dressed in white suit, standing in doorway, walking toward cam, looking ornery; MS Mark Twain having tea with two of his daughters on sunny patio. LS/TLSs steamboat (paddlewheel) sailing on Mississippi River; MS steam whistle & steamstacks; MS pilot in wheelhouse turning wheel; MS boiler room; MS paddle wheel churning, wake water. More shots steamboat sailing.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
TLSs circus parade traveling through countryside, kicking up dust, then arriving in New York City to much anticipation & pageantry, crowds lining streets; TLS train of elephants with riders; MSs marching band; TLS pack of camels pulling carriage; MS two Native American chiefs wearing war bonnets while on horses; MSs elephant pushing carriage with head; CU elephant eye. TLS circus tent being raised; TLSs fairway, crowds milling about tents & bands; MS woman playing snare drum next to sign for "High Class, Moral & Refined Mighty Hippodrome Show"; TLS barkers & crowd outside freak show tent; MSs kids trying to sneak into show by going under tent but get caught; TLS crowd outside freakshow tent watching woman w/ rifle-- quite possibly Annie Oakley-- doing gun trick; MS man playing ring toss, winning; panning MS kids in pie-eating contest; MS kids on scaled-down steam locomotive ride, train stopping for next riders-- but the last batch o' kids won t get off; MS two cute kids, apparently on a date, getting lemonade at refreshment stand; TLS Bee's All Star Minstrels performing, some in blackface, though most are African-Americans.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
TLS/MSs canal crowded by wealthy white folks having lunch or tea in rowboats. MSs two children trying to feed pigeons in park, but they're more content in scaring them away. MS/LSs wealthy folks sitting in city gardens on sunny afternoon, listening to military bands perform in gazebos. TLSs adults & teenagers playing separately on Mayfair pole. Silly MSs hyperactive woman dancing in park for several children who eventually join in. MSs folks dancing to white jazz band playing ragtime in park.
The Innocent Years (Part One)
Panning LS very crowded beach on a sunny afternoon (Coney Island? Atlantic City?). MSs men, women, children & dogs frolicking in shallow waters, playing leapfrog on shore, having a gau old time in an odd array of swimming attire (swimsuits). MS fat old man wearing striped skivvies stepping into water. MS blond boy wading in water, walking away from toy sailboat in tide, a real sailboat in BG. TLSs people walking, dining on Boardwalk. Excellent TLS/MSs folks on amusement rides: merry go round, Viking sling, swings, Golden Stairs, roller coaster, camel ride, pulleys, slides, water boats, pulleys, slides, etc. Good subjective POV & objective shots of roller coaster ride. TLS entrance to Luna amusement park. Recreation, amusement, entertainment, leisure.