The 1960s Technicolor film by Owen Murphy, “All About New York” takes it viewer through the Big Apple and the Empire State. It opens with a view of the Empire State Building (mark 00:45) in New York City before sharing glimpses of a fisherman at Montauk Point, the Catskills, Coney Island, Lake Placid, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the United Nations, and Times Square. “New York can be many things,” the narrator assures the viewer, before touching on the state’s history and the roles of such explorers as Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain. Next is an aerial view of New York Harbor (mark 02:52) and a look at Manhattan, followed with a visit to Fort Ticonderoga (mark 04:22), as the narrator explains its importance to the region. Villages, towns, and cities began to grow in the area, the narrators tells us, as he explains how the Erie Canal, completed in 1825, helped transport goods between Buffalo and Albany (mark 06:21) and opened new avenues of prosperity. That was followed by the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad (mark 07:15), the first railroad built in the state and one of the first in the country. From there the film takes on a series of factory and manufacturing scenes promoting industry in the state that eventually grew into vast industrial centers (mark 09:00) and brought skilled laborers to New York. The screens flashes upon various trades including rug makers, silversmiths, glass makers, and fashion designers while the narrators praises each career. There is a visit to a “modern” food processing plant (mark 12:49) in Canajoharie, New York, and scenes of men and women working with everything from copper to leather to telephones. The film shows rows of telephone operators and military officers huddled around radar screens as the narrators explains such communication devices are made throughout the state, and how “IBM electronic wonders” are changing the face of industry (mark 15:52). “It’s understandable why New York became the industrial leader of the nation,” says the narrator, partly due to the high wages available in the state. Gigantic cargo ships fill the screen starting at mark 17:08 and we learn of New York as an import and export hub and NYC as a financial center following scenes from the New York Stock Exchange (mark 18:10). The camera pans the city skyline starting at mark 19:00 — a sight most people think of when New York is mentioned — then moves to apple orchards and dairy forms as well as many of the state’s scenic wonders like Seneca Lake (mark 22:12), Genesee River Gorge (mark 22:21), and Niagara Falls (mark 22:37). From grade schools to universities, the film touches on the many learning opportunities in the state, including Fordham University, Hamilton College, and the United States Military Academy West Point. The film nears its end with a look at New Yorkers visiting their respective places of worship, “where they find strength with the faith of their choice.”
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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
