New York World's Fair, 1939--Cyrus Pinkham--home movies. Reel 13

Date1939

AbstractA clever, artfully-shot, and carefully-edited amateur film of the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Viewing NotesReel opens on an array of print material, including news clippings, magazines, and brochures, regarding the New York World’s Fair. Cut to a view of the fair in the distance, possibly shot from the Empire State Building, with the Queensborough Bridge in the foreground. Cut to various views of the Theme Center and surroundings taken from within the fairground , including the Marine Transportation building and the Railroads exhibit. The General Motors building is seen over a sequence of shots depicting the entrance to the exhibits, the long line of people waiting to enter the Futurama exhibit, and the “America of 1960” intersection. Also seen here briefly are the Ford building, an outdoor dining area, and a performance by four pianists at an outdoor venue. Children are seen feeding geese at the Firestone farm. Other shots in this sequence include the AT&T building, an older couple watching an aerial show, the Chrysler building, the Consolidated Edison building, the Electrical Utilities building, and the Heinz 57 building. A sign for the Amusement Area opens a sequence of attractions in that zone of the fairgrounds. This is followed by a shot of a large woman eating on a bench, then shots of a boy and girl on a Merry-Go-Round, some taken from the ride. Other featured attractions include Heineken’s on the Zeider Zee, a fortune teller performance, a “King of Magic “ show, the National Cash Register building, a marching band on parade, three performances at George Jessel’s Old New York, the Chinatown Café, and the Parachute Jump. A parade of vintage motor cars is shown on a route through the Court of Peace and the Hall of Nations. A night sequence includes shots of the Schaefer Center, the Westinghouse building, the General Electric building, a fountain show, and fireworks. After a cut back to brief day scenes of people in the park, a shot of the “Court of States” sign opens a sequence of State building views, including the Virginia building, the Maine building, and the Pennsylvania building. After a brief view up Constitution Mall towards the United States building, posted signs for the International Area and the Food Zone are shown, opening a sequence that includes the Lagoon of Nations, the French pavilion, the British pavilion, the Polish pavilion, the Czechoslovakian pavilion, the Italian pavilion, the Soviet pavilion, and the Swedish pavilion. Cyrus Pinkham is seen removing and discarding his shoes before walking off in his stocking feet. A sequence of views of the United States building, the George Washington statue, and the Theme Center leads into evening before fading out and cutting to an end title. Following the end title, Cyrus Pinkham is seen removing a reel from his projector and speaking directly to the camera. End title: “That’s all. Good night.”

Other"World's Fair 1939-1940". Scanned in 2K for an NFPF grant in 2022.

Creator

• Cyrus Pinkham

• Cyrus Pinkham