This black & white educational silent film features rare footage of the early days of the New York Subway system. The material shown was filmed 1904-1910 during the transition from peepshow to nickelodeon type moving pictures and were shot by Edison and Biograph cameramen. “Wonderland” edited the footage together as part of a series of “Movie Museum” shorts which were sold for home use in the 1940s and 50s.
Opening titles: Wonderland presents Movie Museum (:06-:11). Going down the rails of a New York City elevated subway line. New York City’s first subway was the Interborough Rapid Transit. Subway excavation (:35). Smoke and debris from excavation construction. On October 27, 1904, the new subway was opened, at City Hall, dignitaries such as Mayor George McClellan, the financier of the line, August Belmont and the contractor, John B. McDonald. People mill about City Hall. Police stand and let certain people pass (:12-2:09). Lots of males are prevalent, no females due to domestic slavery. Policemen and men. Few females walk. A film crew made a film called “From 14th Street to 42nd Street via the Subway.” Subway train goes down the rails. The crew used Cooper Hewitt tubular lamps mounted on a car that ran on parallel tracks, for lighting the movie scene. The subway train goes down the tracks (2:10-4:06). Steel subway car goes down the tracks. Through a semi-dark tunnel the subway moves (4:07-6:14). Grand Central Station, said to have been filmed at night although it doesn’t look like it. The subway car has stopped and men walk around the platform. Some women and children walk by. (6:15-7:38). No end credits.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
