The first films ever recorded were filmed in New York City. Focusing on people and places, they were only a few minutes long, without plot, characters, or sound. They were simply glimpses into the city in real time. Beginning in 1896 and popular for the following decade, these "actualities" allow us a privileged, unscripted peek into life in New York City at the beginning of the 20th century.
Filmmakers soon began exploring ideas of plot and characters. In an early actuality from 1901, called What Happened on 23rd Street, New York City, a street with normal people, not actors is filmed. It reveals itself to be a scripted piece at the end when a couple walks down the street, and the woman lingers above a sidewalk vent, which lifts her skirt, to the delight of her male companion and shock of passersby who weren't aware that this was a performance...an early Marilyn Monroe, perhaps?
These are two great actualities I found on youtube. The first one is called Lower Broadway, 1903 and shows a bustling street scene filled with trolleys, horses and buggies, and throngs of people. The second is the aforementioned 23rd Street.
I adore New York City history, and so I'm enthralled by these glimpses at an older New York. Many of the images are things I've seen in recreated movie sets, but to see real people on real city streets seems like a little gift from the past.
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