Monday, January 5, 2015

Let's pay a visit to the 'Mighty Manhattan' of 1949


[On the Bowery in 1949]

Here's a short film titled "Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City" from 1949 that is making the rounds again.

According to IMDB:

The film visits many of the neighborhoods and landmarks on Manhattan Island and occasionally includes a history lesson. The neighborhoods include the Bowery, Chinatown, Herald Square, and Times Square. Some of the architectural highlights are the Empire State Building, the New York Public Library, Temple Emanuel, the Central Park Zoo, and the Rockefeller Center complex.

It's a 20-minute film, though this version cuts off before the 16-minute mark. There's a visit to the Bowery at the 3:38 point ... which the narrator calls "a sad reflection on the best-laid plans of the city founders."



H/T @TBconfid

7 comments:

Morgan Tsvangirai said...

Some cool shots of East River Park at 7:15.

Anonymous said...

it is actually a 45 minute film - full versions have Xavier Cugat and his band Cugat's Nougats!
i have this somewhere on videotape - will upload and inform you all if i can find it

Anonymous said...

Luv the Cug.

IzF said...

Please do share with us if you can 10:20pm!
I love how the narrator pronounces Chelsea, "Chelsee-ah".

julius Klein said...

Thanks, that felt good.....

Anonymous said...

there is also 'on the bowery' by lionel rogosin, which was filmed on the streets.

I-)

Anonymous said...

It's much better now, without the train running overhead.