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Film History

Brooklyn Museum Announces Nearly 500 Recent Acquisitions and Gifts

December 21, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Commons by Paul Ramírez JonasThe Brooklyn Museum has announced nearly five hundred new acquisitions that span from the sixth century to today and include Korean objects, Italian Renaissance portraiture, and contemporary works by John Edmonds, Jeffrey Gibson, KAWS, Rick Lowe, Amy Sillman, and Kara Walker, as well as forty significant, rare objects and masterworks that expand the Arts of Korea collection. [Read more…] about Brooklyn Museum Announces Nearly 500 Recent Acquisitions and Gifts

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Black History, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, Film History, Indigenous History

Andalusian Allure: From Washington Irving to Thomas Edison

December 2, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Theodoor de By’s engraving of a Spaniard feeding slain women and children to his dogs, 1598.Washington Irving was the son of immigrants. His father was a Presbyterian Scot, his mother Cornish. He was born on April 3rd, 1783, the same week that New Yorkers celebrated the ceasefire that ended the American Revolution. His parents named their son after George Washington. They had settled at 131 William Street, Manhattan, and were part of the city’s merchant class.

Washington began writing letters to the New York Morning Chronicle in 1802. He gained recognition as a satirical author in 1809 with A History of New York using the pseudonym Dietrich Knickerbocker. He riveted readers with his irreverent combination of fact and fancy. [Read more…] about Andalusian Allure: From Washington Irving to Thomas Edison

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Cultural History, Dance, Film History, Hispanic History, Literature, New York City, Opera, Performing Arts, spanish history, Thomas Edison, Washington Irving

D.W. Griffith’s Orange County ‘Magic Hour’ Discovery

August 11, 2021 by John Conway Leave a Comment

D.W. Griffith and cameraman Billy Bitzer in 1919A few people sitting on the front porch of a Barryville home on the Delaware River last weekend learned firsthand what movie makers in the region discovered more than 100 years ago. There is a light that sweeps down the river valley shortly before dusk that is pure magic.

G.W. “Billy” Bitzer, the master cameraman who accompanied influential director D.W. Griffith to Cuddebackville, in western Orange County, NY, in the early part of the last century, dubbed it magic hour, and “the light Mr. Griffith waited for.” It brought Griffith and his crew back to the area year after year before he discovered the advantages of filming in California and became known as “the man who invented Hollywood.” [Read more…] about D.W. Griffith’s Orange County ‘Magic Hour’ Discovery

Filed Under: Arts, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Catskills, Cultural History, film, Film History, Neversink River, Orange County, Photography, Sullivan County

Helen Hayes Subject of Rockland History Podcast

May 20, 2021 by Clare Sheridan Leave a Comment

crossroads of rockland historyThe May 2021 episode of “Crossroads of Rockland History,” remembers Helen Hayes. Joyce Bulifant, daughter-in-law of Hayes, shared fond memories of her mother-in-law; of her father-in-law, the playwright Charles MacArthur; and of their famous house in Nyack, Pretty Penny. Then we learned about an effort to establish Pretty Penny as a literary landmark from actor/writer/director Joel Vig. [Read more…] about Helen Hayes Subject of Rockland History Podcast

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Cultural History, Film History, Historical Society of Rockland County, Performing Arts, Podcasts, Radio History, Rockland County, Theatre, womens history

Columbia County Road Tour Explores Local Movie History

April 8, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

1737 Luykas Van Alen HouseThe Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) has announced the return of “Drive Through History,” a series of free, self-guided road trips. [Read more…] about Columbia County Road Tour Explores Local Movie History

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, Events, History Tagged With: Columbia County, Columbia County Historical Society, Film History

Troy’s Media Sanctuary Marks WikiLeaks Film Anniversary

September 7, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Reuters AttackThe Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, NY, is marking the tenth anniversary of WikiLeaks’ Collateral Murder: U.S. Soldier Ethan McCord’s Eyewitness Story, the community media arts production facility’s most watched film.

In it, McCord narrates military footage depicting the indiscriminate slaying of more than a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff. [Read more…] about Troy’s Media Sanctuary Marks WikiLeaks Film Anniversary

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga Tagged With: Crime and Justice, film, Film History, Journalism, Military History, Sanctuary for Independent Media, Troy

Virtual Silent Film ‘The Marriage Circle’ With Live Musical Score

September 4, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Marriage-CircleThe Park Theater in Glens Falls, in partnership with the Chapman Museum, is set to presents “The Marriage Circle” featuring live musical score by Ben Model, via YouTube livestream on September 10th. [Read more…] about Virtual Silent Film ‘The Marriage Circle’ With Live Musical Score

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Chapman Museum, Cultural History, film, Film History, Glens Falls, Music, Performing Arts, Sembrich

Early Stunt Men, Daredevils ‘The Human Fly’ & ‘Hurricane Hutch’ in NY

August 5, 2020 by Maury Thompson 3 Comments

Daredevil stunt man and movie actor Rodman “The Human Fly” Law had been shot out of a “monster sky rocket” and had jumped in a specialized “aeroplane parachute” from the Brooklyn Bridge and the 792-foot Woolworth Building, the tallest building in the world at the time.

For his next feat, Law came to the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Early Stunt Men, Daredevils ‘The Human Fly’ & ‘Hurricane Hutch’ in NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Essex County, film, Film History, paddling, Performing Arts, Saranac Lake, Schroon Lake

Preserving Motion Picture History (Podcast)

June 12, 2020 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, movie historian and SUNY Albany lecturer emeritus Audrey Kupferberg discusses film preservation. [Read more…] about Preserving Motion Picture History (Podcast)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Archives, film, Film History, Podcasts, SUNY Albany

Ithaca’s Wharton Brothers and Early Cinema

March 5, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

silent serial sensationsBarbara Tepe Lupack’s new book Silent Serial Sensations: The Wharton Brothers and the Magic of Early Cinema  (Cornell University Press, 2020) is a book-length account of the dynamic early film industry, focusing on the pioneering and prolific filmmakers Ted and Leo Wharton. [Read more…] about Ithaca’s Wharton Brothers and Early Cinema

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Books, Cultural History, film, Film History, Ithaca

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