[78-L] It was staged - 1906 film of a cable car ride

[Cary Ginell]

I agree with Craig. The logistics of staging such a scenario would be ridiculous to do even today. There were too many people looking too natural for it to be phony. That would have taken all of the charm out of the scene anyway, so if it's true, I refuse to believe it. Is there evidence that this was staged?

Cary Ginell

> Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:47:28 -0500
> From: craigventresco at gmail.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] It was staged - 1906 film of a cable car ride
> 
> I don't think it was staged. I like near that street and people still
> stumble around there like they're in a  haze!
> 
> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 10:43 AM, Andrew Homzy <homzy at vax2.concordia.ca>wrote:
> 
> > Danger didn't register because it was a staged scene -
> >
> > At least, that's what I think. Notice how all the u-turns look exactly the
> > same arc - they even seem to occur at regular intervals.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Andrew
> >
> >
> > On 2011-03-22, at 10:44 PM, victrola78s at aol.com wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > This film isn't "new" to me. In the late 1980s through the 1990s the San
> > Gabriel Mission Playhouse used to run a "railroad show" every year.  Theatre
> > organist Gaylord Carter would accompany various silent films that included
> > trains, trolleys, & anything else that rolled on the tracks. The shows
> > always started with "A Trip Down Market Street"-the one being shown on
> > YouTube, & Gaylord always made a big point out of the film being made in
> > 1905. "That was a GREAT year, because that's the year I was born!", he would
> > tell the audience. Now the film is said to be from 1906-ah, well. Gaylord
> > would do his usual musical improvisations on the action onscreen, including
> > the songs "Horses, Horses, Horses", "Daisy Bell", & "In My Merry
> > Oldsmobile". There were always loud gasps of amazement from the audience at
> > all that moving chaos all over the screen. Nobody could get over how
> > reckless or stupid or oblivious people were on that street, both drivers &
> > pedestrians. It is mind boggling tha
> >  t
> > > the cameraman didn't capture an actual wreck or collision while the film
> > was rolling. When you look at this scene today(and there must have been
> > similar ones in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, etc.), you wonder why
> > "danger!" didn't register on the faces of the pedestrians at least. Street
> > kids running around & back & forth in front of the cable car, grown men who
> > can't seem to decide which side of the street they should walk to, & the one
> > driver who pulls his wagon out into traffic without one single look around
> > him! Say what you will about modern drivers(and most are still pretty
> > ignorant or impatient), but most of 'em have a strong enough sense of self
> > preservation to avoid getting killed-most of the time. Decades of traffic
> > laws have conditioned the average slug on four wheels enough to at least
> > look around before gunning the engine to beat that yellow light. I still
> > lift out of my seat a little every time I see this footage. Incredible!
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