Saturday, July 27, 2013

Stanley Kubrick's Shoe Shine Boy


[Avenue C circa 1947]

On the occasion of his birthday yesterday, we posted a photo that filmmaker Stanley Kubrick took on the subway from 1946 for LOOK Magazine...

EVG Facebook friend Sharon shared the above photo...In 1947, Kubrick followed a 12-year-old kid named Mickey around for a LOOK pictorial on shoe shine boys... any guesses on what the cross street is for the above photo at Avenue C? (I don't know, so...)

The Museum of the City of New York has more photos and information about the series here.
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7 comments:

  1. BBJuly 27, 2013 at 11:10 AM

    looks like it's Ave C and 9th to me, the shot was taken facing east and the boys are going west...In my opinion the 40s was pretty much the beginning of the end of the traditional east village, all due to the Con-Ed steam plant and thier need to have the local oil burning 5~6 story buildings replaced with larger steam fed buildings and projects, cha ching.

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  2. Mark WhiteJuly 27, 2013 at 12:48 PM

    I'm guessing but I would say it's E 7th St, just east of C,
    pretty sure that is 107 Ave C blocked by the truck

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mark Hand The CatchmanJuly 27, 2013 at 5:37 PM

    I've always wondered if some computer tech person could make a Google Maps Street view type of map where you can pick a location on a map and then walk backwards in time thru pics...
    Wished I'd learn more about computers when I was younger, today I have trouble just typ---

    ReplyDelete
  4. BBJuly 27, 2013 at 7:05 PM

    actually I'm wrong and Mark White is right, it's seventh not ninth, shot is facing west, the boys are walking towards the east river, that is now wholefoods on the left...

    http://imageshack.us/a/img600/7915/x25r.png

    ReplyDelete
  5. esquared™July 29, 2013 at 9:00 AM

    Although the scenes at Greenwich Village were shot and re-created in London studio and streets, that Greenwich Village has more character and is more real than the Marc Jacobs Greenwich Village (MJGV?) of today.

    http://youtu.be/3DExkPNbo7I

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJuly 29, 2013 at 3:55 PM

    Hey Kubrick. Go get your shine box!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownDecember 11, 2020 at 6:41 PM

      It's seem weird that someone would relate these two together as I have been told my dad shined shoes on the street as a run away and his name was also Tommy. He compares to the other boy with Mickey and he is said to have been notorious. It is just so frustrating that I never knew of shoeshine Mickey and the other boy and I never knew the truth of my dad as things unravel. It is very hard to not be able to prove anything and just hear rumors. My dad passed February 10, 1979 of cancer in a Houston hospital. He kept his shoes spit shine polished as I too am a freak about shoes. I lived my dad regardless and it makes me sad to see these pictures.

      Delete

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