New York, Brooklyn Bridge

1899 Documentary 150 feet Directed by Alexandre Promio

Open in new tab

About New York, Brooklyn Bridge

A camera fixed to the front of a rail car starts across the Brooklyn Bridge. Towers and the roadway fill the frame. The car runs the length of the crossing and turns on the far side. Passengers and traffic appear only as whatever sits directly ahead of the lens. The Edison catalogue sold this take as the whole trip from Brooklyn to New York.

Cast & crew

More about New York, Brooklyn Bridge

James H. White produced the pair of phantom rides for Edison in September 1899. This title matches New Brooklyn to New York via Brooklyn Bridge, No. 2, the return crossing. No. 2 is 150 feet. Thomas A. Edison copyrighted it on September 22, 1899, number 61218. The Edison catalogue said the new negative showed the entire trip, with the towers clear against the sky. Trolley tracks had been added to the bridge in 1898.

Themes

Background

The shot is a phantom ride, a genre Edison and the European companies were selling in the late 1890s: a camera on a moving vehicle and no plot.

Making

White's crew mounted the camera on the front of the train so the audience would seem to ride the new trolley line. There is no staged action.

Look

One camera, fixed to the front of the rail car, records the crossing. The towers pass as the car moves. James H. White produced the film for Edison.

Preservation

A paper print is in the Library of Congress Paper Print Collection. Kemp Niver's Early Motion Pictures describes it.

Notes

  • No. 1, filmed the same month, is about 50 feet shorter and runs the other direction. Charles Musser notes the two are easy to confuse.
  • The Library of Congress paper-print summary says nothing is visible except what is immediately in front of the car.
  • A New York Clipper notice ran on September 30, 1899.
  • Other 1899 bridge films include American Mutoscope's Across Brooklyn Bridge and Lubin's Full View of Brooklyn Bridge.
  • The bridge itself had opened in 1883. Brooklyn had been a borough of New York since 1898.

Scenes

  • The towers rise ahead of the car as it enters the span.
  • The view swings as the car turns on the New York side.

More from Alexandre Promio

View all →