New York City back in the 1950′s

Decided to continue with the NYC oldies series. The images on this piece are from the late 40′s and mid to late 1950′s.

Archive.org is where I found the majority of the films and photographs. A wonderful site where one can get lost and rummage as if it were your neighbor’s attic. Little gems of history appear shyly before ones eyes at all times. What an amazing trove of unique treasures!

I chose the music – New York, New York – (for obvious reasons) and the singer – Liza Minelli – because of her intensity and passion when she sang it live in Paris, France.

Enjoy the journey back to the past…

Leo

P.S. working on a follow up video that concentrates on NYC people and its food in the 50′s, stay tuned!

New York Kind of Mood

This is another video in the sequence of old New York. I love to read, see and share about how this city evolved, from the early stages amalgamation to its glory days.
In this rendering I tried to insert as much comedy and farce as I could, without degrading the historical content. The video is not in chronological or any other order. It was assembled for artistic purposes to create the right atmosphere and tell a story of building, strife, progress, lunacy and fun.
Hope you enjoy the show,
Leo

Elements Used in this Production
Photographs: were sourced from Library of Congress and NY Public Library collections. I then proceeded to clean, size, scale and correct them for lighting, contrast. Most came from smoked glass positives and therefore are unique and fragile.
Film clips: Edison Inc., American Mutoscope and Biograph Company and Harold C. Lloyd Sr. movies.
Music: Reunion Cumbre by Astor Piazzolla with Gerry Mulligan