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California Flight (1950)

1950 · Short film · 6 min

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Synopsis

This short silent home movie was shot by an unknown American traveler. It shows a trip to sunny Los Angeles, California in February of 1950. It opens with the flight into the city on an American Airlines plane, probably a Douglas DC-7. The film takes viewers down to the ground for scenes around the blooming city and the iconic Sunset Boulevard aka "Sunset Strip", including a shot of Mickey Cohen's famous storefront. Sunset runs between western and central LA. The story goes, "the Strip" got its name in 1888 as a city employee squinted against the hot sun while heading west. The film opens with an orange yellow sunrise on the horizon (:17) fading to blue. Jagged California land is pictured below (:38) with a wing tip in the high right corner. Snow powders the peaks of mountains (1:34). Checkered open land encircle a congested city (2:02). Highways run across, stretching to another city nearby (2:07). The wing cuts through mashed potato thick clouds (2:45). On the ground in Los Angeles, a passenger walks from the boarding stairs (2:51) marked with the American Airlines logo. Commonwealth Avenue in Los Angeles follows (3:03). The Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument known as The Town House (3:19) is pictured. It was erected in 1929 on Wilshire Boulevard near Lafayette Park. Today it operates as low income housing. Simon’s Sandwiches Fountain; a small drive up eatery, is situated nearby (3:23). The intersection of Commonwealth and Wilshire follows (3:45). Travelers mingle…

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Details

Running time
6 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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