This 1959 sponsored documentary directed by Shirley Clarke uses experimental montage techniques to dramatize the construction of the 666 Fifth Avenue Skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City (TRT: 21:11). Clarke was a member of the Independent Filmmakers of America and was part of a circle of independent filmmakers in Greenwich Village such as Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, and Lionel Rogosin.
Opening titles: “Brandon Films Presents.” The Bellringers Monument in Herald Square (0:09). Musical montage: Towering skyscrapers of steel and glass reflect passing clouds (0:25). Air conditioning units. Wrought iron fire escapes and ornate filigree (0:55). A horse-drawn carriage. A brick wall is demolished. A sign: “Dig we must – for growing New York.” Scenes of construction and buildings marked for demolition (1:06). Signs on buildings for sale and lease. Title “Skyscraper” and opening credits as wheatpaste boards (1:39). POV a man in silhouette operating a rotating excavator. A foreman and a construction crew. Aluminum workers “in Louisville” (2:13). Women metalworkers building windows. Men smoking (2:54). Men in suits in office environments. An architect reviews a proposal with a client (3:12). A modelmaker sculpts foam blocks. Draftsmen work with guides at drafting tables. Rolls of blueprints on a shelf (3:38). Closeup on office furniture. A hand reaches in and grabs a chair, revealing the scale of the miniature mockup. More hands sample textured tiles. Surveyors photographs (4:00). An excavation site. A sign: “666” and a steam shovel scooping chunks of stone and concrete into a truck: “Manhattan Water Works” (4:20). Dynamiting using wires and a blasting machine. Curious onlookers. A truck: “Palazzolo Bros.” drives past parking lots and into a tunnel for New Jersey (5:31). Workers toil, a foreman shrugs. Pouring concrete. Walls taking shape (6:32). A bird in flight against the Brooklyn Bridge. Steamships at harbor. Steel beams are loaded onto a “Bigley Bros.” trailer truck, which passes the Roxy Theatre (7:04). Steel beams hoisted upright. Men in hardhats shouting, smoking (7:55). A worker bolts a girder into place (8:25). A Santa Claus for Volunteers of America. 5th Ave. below (8:37). Workers stand on a platform, 30 stories in the air. A man sits atop a beam. The Chrysler Building (9:15). Dizzying shots of bolts being applied, tiny human shapes below (10:05). St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Floors stack up. A temporary elevator pours concrete (11:03). Workers in silhouette (12:00). Aluminum panels for exterior walls and windows are added (12:31). A bricklayer at work. Another worker reclines at rest, balancing across a girder while smoking (13:29). St. Patrick’s reappears. A top-down view of passing traffic. Lunch break: Bananas and cherry soda (14:01). Street-level onlookers watch an air-conditioner installation (14:21). Looking up an elevator shaft as the lift shoots boxes of furniture furniture skyward. Floorplans. Welding A/C ducts. Installing ceiling panels (15:16). A mason smooths mortar with a trowel. Montage: Plaster, paint, tile, electrical wiring, steam valves, A/C fans, elevator buttons, switchboards, a hoist, an elevator shaft (16:18). Reporters with film cameras and a marching band. Stouffer’s Restaurant and Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. (17:29). The film jump-cuts to color on the United States flag. The completed skyscraper. Office furnishings appear in stop-motion (18:03). A checker special taxi cab of the “Ramtol Service Corp.” A crowded elevator. A switchboard operator’s hands. Pouring coffee. Telephones. Bustling urban crowds. Sunsets and night skylines (18:54). End titles: “Produced with the technical facilities of the Tishman Realty and Construction Co., Inc.” (20:53). “Termini Film Editorial Service, Inc.” (21:04).
The film was produced by Joseph Burstyn Film Enterprises Inc. and was co-sponsored by Reynolds Metals, Bethlehem Steel, Westinghouse Elevator Co., and York Air Conditioning.
Clarke received limited directorial assistance from Willard Van Dyke (The City) and Irving Jacoby, while Wheaton Galentine and D.A. Pennebaker (Don’t Look Back, Monterey Pop) are also credited. The film was nominated for a 1959 Academy Award in the Best Short Live Action category, and won at the Venice Film Festival. The soundtrack was provided by legendary jazz music producer Teo Macer. The vocals were sung by Gene Mumford of The Larks. The 41-story office building was designed by Carson & Lundin. It is currently leased by Brookfield Properties.
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
