Skyscraper Symphony

1929 film by Robert Florey

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Skyscraper Symphony

Directed by| Robert Florey

Release date

* 1929 (1929)

Running time

| 9 minutes
Country| United States
Language| Silent

Skyscraper Symphony (1929) is an avant-garde silent short film by French-American filmmaker Robert Florey.[1] The film was shot in the early morning hours in New York City. It captured skyscrapers which, by the late 1920s had become a global trademark of the city and became a representation of the ever-developing technologies in America, as well as the rapid growth of capitalism. Florey's focus on the booming metropolitan in the post-World War I era has solidified this film as a "city symphony," and he draws upon his own experience as a tourist in America to capture the excitement and uncertainty of being in New York City.

## Synopsis

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Skyscraper Symphony (1929)

The film consists of a sequence of low-angle shots of skyscrapers in Manhattan. The beginning and end of the film's shots are primarily static, with one shot fading slowly into the next. The middle portion of the film has abrupt and rapid cuts between shots, with the camera capturing the buildings in shaky, canted movements.[2]

## Reception

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Musicologist Hannah Lewis has compared the "striking angles, zooms, panning, and unsteady camera angles" which "disorient" viewers of Skyscraper Symphony to techniques used by montage theorists.[3]

## References

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1. ^ "National Film Preservation Foundation: Skyscraper Symphony (1929)". www.filmpreservation.org. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
2. ^ Murphy, Amy (December 1, 2016). "Review: Masterworks of American Avant-Garde Experimental Film 1920–1970, produced by David Shepard and curated by Bruce Posner". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 75 (4): 515–518\. doi:10.1525/jsah.2016.75.4.515. ISSN 0037-9808.
3. ^ Lewis, Hannah (Spring 2017). "'Love Me Tonight' (1932) and the Development of the Integrated Film Musical". The Musical Quarterly. 100 (1): 3–32\. JSTOR 26779482.

## Bibliography

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* Jacobs, Steven; Kinik, Anthony; Hielscher, Eva (2019). The city symphony phenomenon: cinema, art, and urban modernity between the wars. AFI film readers. New York [New York]: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-138-66527-9.

## External links

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* Skyscraper Symphony is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
* Skyscraper Symphony at IMDb

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Films directed by Robert Florey

* One Hour of Love (1927)
* The Romantic Age (1927)
* Face Value (1927)
* The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra (1928)
* The Hole in the Wall (1929)
* The Cocoanuts (1929)
* The Battle of Paris (1929)
* Skyscraper Symphony (1929)
* The Road Is Fine (1930)
* My Wife's Teacher (1930)
* Love Songs (1930)
* Black and White (1931)
* Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
* The Man Called Back (1932)
* Those We Love (1932)
* Girl Missing (1933)
* Ex-Lady (1933)
* The House on 56th Street (1933)
* Bedside (1934)
* Registered Nurse (1934)
* Smarty (1934)
* I Sell Anything (1934)
* I Am a Thief (1934)
* The Woman in Red (1935)
* The Florentine Dagger (1935)
* Going Highbrow (1935)
* Don't Bet on Blondes (1935)
* Ship Cafe (1935)
* The Payoff (1935)
* The Preview Murder Mystery (1936)
* Till We Meet Again (1936)
* Hollywood Boulevard (1936)
* Outcast (1937)
* King of Gamblers (1937)
* Mountain Music (1937)
* This Way Please (1937)
* Daughter of Shanghai (1937)
* Dangerous to Know (1938)
* King of Alcatraz (1938)
* Disbarred (1939)
* Hotel Imperial (1939)
* The Magnificent Fraud (1939)
* Death of a Champion (1939)
* Parole Fixer (1940)
* Women Without Names (1940)
* The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
* Meet Boston Blackie (1941)
* Two in a Taxi (1941)
* Dangerously They Live (1941)
* Lady Gangster (1942)
* The Desert Song (1943)
* Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944)
* Man from Frisco (1944)
* God Is My Co-Pilot (1945)
* Danger Signal (1945)
* The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
* Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948)
* Rogues' Regiment (1948)
* Outpost in Morocco (1949)
* The Crooked Way (1949)
* The Vicious Years (1950)
* Johnny One-Eye (1950)
* Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951)

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