#THEOREM 1906 NEW YORK SKYSCRAPER PROFESSIONAL#

The camera moves on to two breathtaking subjects: a group of workers climbing on big iron bars-the bone structure of the skyscraper and remaining suspended there and four other workers in groups of two hanging from the iron rope of a huge crane and moving through the emptiness a camera movement that shows buildings and factories.' The camera then turns toward the groups of workers (.) There is always someone who stares at the camera and gives spontaneity to the scene, reminding us that these are not actors.

#THEOREM 1906 NEW YORK SKYSCRAPER PROFESSIONAL#

The Russian Jew, the German, the Austrian, or the Italian who has not been in this country a week and cannot understand English (.) goes to the motion picture theaters because what he sees on the screen is very real to him, and he understands as well as the American.' He also stresses that the film presents 'extraordinary scenes shot (.) atop the city's massive skyscrapers.' Gwendolyn Audrey Foster gives this film as one example of films dealing 'with actual street life and the consequences of poverty and labor.' Ĭharles Musser remarks that both Skyscrapers and another film produced by Biograph in 1906, The Tunnel Workers 'involve melodramatic confrontations between men from different levels of management, and both were shot on locations that received significant news coverage.' He notes the contrast between the actuality material included at the beginning of the film (five first shots) and the scenes shot on location with professional actors which display 'a wide range of presentational elements (conventionalized acting gestures, melodramatically contrived plots) with the result that an informal, spontaneous, catch-as-catch-can style of filming suddenly shifts to old-style theatrical conventions as quotidian space is turned into a stage.' Ilaria Serra stresses the interest of the first five shots: the introductory panoramic from a camera placed on a skyscraper 'gives a unique view of an infant New York, its rooftops, a cupola, buildings, and some surviving trees. Ross mentions this film as characteristic of the working-class films, using workers and immigrants as their protagonists, which were very popular in early American cinema because 'workers and immigrants formed the core of the industry's early market.' He observes that 'Immigrants were especially drawn to an entertainment that required little knowledge of English. The lawyer invites the contractor to extend his hand to the foreman who, after a moment's hesitation, shakes it warmly. He puts the wallet and the clock on the judge's desk and ask a question to the little girl who answers by pointing at Dago. Suddenly a man enters accompanied by the little girl. The foreman, the contractor, Dago and a lawyer are arguing in front of a judge. The contractor is grabbing a beam and two men come to his rescue.ġ2. One floor below on the construction site. The foreman hits the contractor and make him fall from the beam.ġ1. The foreman and the contractor are standing on a metal beam on the top of the construction site. Thrilling hand-to-hand encounter on one of the highest building erected in New York.ġ0.

Rather than formally introducing scenes, the intertitles give information with respect to the characters or their actions. The film is composed of 12 shots and 7 intertitles. At the foreman's trial, Dago Pete is exposed by the foreman's young daughter and the contractor and foreman are reconciled.

but the latter luckily grabs hold of a girder and is rescued. In a fight on top of the skyscraper, the foreman throws the contractor off a platform. As a vengeance, he robs the contractor's watch and pins the blame on the foreman. In New York City, a worker on a skyscraper construction site, Dago Pete, is fired by the foreman for having started a fight with another worker. Skyscrapers, also known as The Skyscrapers of New York, is an American silent film produced by the Biograph Company which was almost entirely filmed on location on the construction site of one of New-York's tallest skyscrapers.

Theorem 1906 new york skyscraper