New York City, c1908 |
For me, these
vintage films represent the world of the early western writers, such as Owen
Wister, whose novel The Virginian
was published in 1902. All but one of them were shot in England, and they
illustrate the congested urban landscape that western writers typically
dismissed as “civilization.”
If you have time for
only a couple of these, skip down to “Blackfriars Bridge,” and then follow it
with “London Bridge,” which was shot in modern-day London using a 100-year-old
hand-cranked 35mm camera. The differences and similarities between them are
fascinating.
London Bridge (outtake from documentary, Londoners, 2012,
using 100-year-old hand-cranked 35mm camera)
For more of Tuesday’s Overlooked Movies and TV, click on over to Todd Mason’s blog.
BITS is on hiatus
for two months. Back in August.
Image credit:
Flat Iron Building, New York City, Colin Power Cooper, Wikimedia Commons