I share the common opinion that LOST lost it after the first year, though I have remained sort of loyal for all these years. But not with the devotion I have to 24. Those writers knew something about character and how we attach to it. Jack Bauer has unfolded bit by bit over the years, one muscle after another, one problem-solving brain twist after another. And when a 24 character goes rogue, there is a certain underlying rationale that makes us go, yup, I get it, the president’s self-righteousness COULD convince her that she has the moral obligation to lie, steal, torture, and kill to make peace.
But I digress.
I loved watching this long-lost footage of San Francisco from the Prelinger Achives. It’s called “A Trip down Market Street,” and it was taken by the Miles Brothers, who were early film innovators. Also worth reading is the remarkable detective work of historian David Kiehn to verify the 1906 date by studying details like the license plates and the weather conditions. The buildings, the clothes, the street activity are all hypnotic, especially when you realize that this was not long before the 1906 earthquake. And the pace! All of these people are moving within a narrow margin of speed, whether they are on the streetcar, bicycle, car, or on foot. No traffic lights, but you will see several near collisions.
Now, if you get REALLY into this, you’ll want Internet archive’s full information about every building and event you’re watching.
For the abbreviated version, with cheesy but pleasant music, here it is on YouTube.
And here’s a real insider view from a blogger called smiley100:
It should be noted that the driver of the car with the license plate of what appears to be #4867 is more than likely Harry Miles of the Miles Bros. who shot this film. He would be one of the first film makers to place himself anonymously in his own movies similar to the way Alfred Hitchcock did. The Miles Bros. had just built the first fully functioning and equipped motion picture studio and were set to start cranking out films and distributing them the way films are done today. Unfortunately, the earthquake and fire devastated and destroyed all the equipment, plans, and photos of the studio. Less than 2 years later Harry, who was the creative mind behind the Miles Bros. is believed to have taken his own life leaping from his New York apt. building. A fantastic trip to the past. This film is incredible at showing all of the nuances of daily life over 100 years ago.
A few years before this, as I happen to know from the book I’m working on, Wyatt Earp dislocated his hip jumping off an SF cable car to get a closer look at a shiny new automobile, the first that he’d ever seen in the city. This footage was taken just 8 years later, and the cars don’t even merit a second glance from the pedestrians.