Amateur film: San Francisco (1940)

★★★ · Predating the MTV Generation.. · Spuzz · 2005-12-04

This home movie focuses on San Fransisco and the Pan-Pacific Fair on Treasure Island. This is in Kodachrome, so of course, its just freakin gorgeous, although its all mostly scenic footage with nary a scratch of personal touches. What was so jarring about this film, and ultimately gets points deducted because of it, is that the filmmaker appears to not stand still for 10 seconds. Its quite funny actually, looking at the title cards and reading, for example, Mission Dolores, Cliff House, Golden gate Aquarium, and watch him plow through the locations in the first minute of the film. Having said…

★★★ · Amazing historical document · RoboReview · 2010-07-29

Through the years, these 16mm Kodachrome home movies have surfaced from the 30s and 40s and they are breathtaking, especially this one. The sense of scale, the locations, the willingness to stand still and let the camera tell the story make this a real treat. I was in Chinatown in 1970 and it sure didn't look like this. Good on the Archive for preserving/presenting things like this.