Skyscraper Symphony | 1929 | Documentary, Experimental

Title: Skyscraper Symphony | 1929 | Documentary, Experimental Director: Robert Florey. Release Date: 1929. Runtime: 9 minutes. Format: Silent, black-and-white; 35mm. Country: United States. Language: Silent. Genres: Documentary; Avant-garde/Experimental; City symphony; Short. --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Opening skyline and static facades 00:01:45 Vertical perspectives emerge 00:03:30 Rhythmic montage of towers 00:06:00 Canted views and motion studies 00:08:00 Closing silhouettes and fade --- Summary: An experimental city symphony of Manhattan, the film assembles low-angle and upward-looking views of skyscrapers, first in measured, static framings and then in increasingly rapid, dynamic cuts. The architecture itself supplies the subject, rhythm, and visual drama. Beyond mere sightseeing, the short reflects late-1920s New York as a symbol of modern technology and capitalist growth, channeling the energy and disorientation of an urban skyline in flux. --- Background: Shot over three early mornings with a handheld 35mm DeVry camera, the film circulated primarily in “Little Cinema” art theaters. Its original negative was discarded by an art-cinema distributor; a single Austrian-release print surfaced in the 1990s in Russia’s Gosfilmofond and was repatriated by George Eastman House, which preserved it in 2001; the National Film Preservation Foundation issued a new score by Peter Child for modern presentations. --- Trivia: Florey filmed with a 35mm DeVry camera, capitalizing on its portability for steep vertical angles. The short circulated in Little Cinema programs that paired American avant‑garde work with European features in the late 1920s. After being considered lost for decades, the film’s surviving print was found in the 1990s in Moscow and preserved in 2001 by George Eastman House. For NFPF’s release, composer Peter Child wrote a new score performed by the Lydian String Quartet. The film is commonly grouped within the interwar “city symphony” movement of experimental documentaries. Included in the Unseen Cinema project . --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: 1929. Copyright Status: Public Domain . Renewal: Unknown --- Hashtags: SkyscraperSymphony RobertFlorey PublicDomain 1929 SilentFilm ExperimentalFilm CitySymphony AvantGarde NewYork FilmHistory Source page: https: //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skyscraper_Symphony_(1929).webm Direct media URL: https: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Skyscraper_Symphony_%281929%29.webm