Film has always been one of the greatest inventions ever created. It really does captures a moment of time, whether it is from yesterday or over a century ago; like this short black & white documentary film directed & film by the Miles Brothers, (Harry, Herbert, Earle and Joe J. Miles) about a trolley cart's POV, heading east toward the ferry terminal building in San Francisco, California. Originally thought to have been dated and made in September or October 1905, based on the angles of shadows showing the sun's position. Film historian, David Kiehn study the film, and noticed a few inaccurate in that claim, such as puddles of water being seen in the street & more recent registration record for the car licenses, feature in the film. After examining, contemporary newspapers, city records and weather reports, he report that the film was probably, made around March to April 1906, making this film, one of the rarest early films to capture, life before a major disaster, like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which started on the morning of Thursday, April 18, 1906. Call it, morbid curiosity, but seeing, what the city look like, before the disaster, is haunting to see; as most of the buildings surrounding Market Street were destroyed by the fire that engulf, San Francisco, later that week. I can't help, wondering, what the people in the film, went through, only a few days later, after this was filmed. It must had been hell on earth. Another thing that I love, about this film is there is no apparent intentional camera movement, edits, or anything like that with the Bell & Howell. The film is consist as one continuous real-time shot, making everything looks it really happening. While, it's true, that the traffic by cars was apparently staged by the producer to give Market Street the appearance of a prosperous modern boulevard. Most of everything, besides the hired drivers, was real to events. It help gave birth to the documentary genre. While it's not a great entertainment film; it's does give great insight of how life was like in the beginning of the turn of the 20th century. It was hardly mind-numbing and dull. Call me, nostalgia, but I was always curious, about the 1900s; ranging from the rapid technology innovations such as the automobile & film, to seeing Edwardian era architect like the Grant Building &California Academy of Sciences Building to looking at the latest fashion trends of that day such as 'Gibson Girl' to bowler hats. There was somewhat, a unique & splendor grandeur with that era. Even if the car driving and foot traffic was really horrible to see. It's mostly was beautiful to watch. I really enjoyed the video. It's a virtual time capsule! You really have to give the brothers respect. They really did take advantage of their cameras' extra film capacity, after filming the "Battling" Nelson-Jimmy Britt prize fight in Colma, California on September 9, 1905 & 1906 "A Trip Down Mount Tamalpias", because it's a remarkable piece of history. Also, thank goodness, they send the film footage to New York to get developed, the day before the disaster hit. If not, it would certainly be among, the early films, consider as lost. It's very surprising, that this documentary short film from 1906 has been "preserved" so well. Somehow, the Brothers knew, this film would be valuable, as they packaged a two-hour program with a lecturer to show in theaters across the country after the disaster with several 35mm prints with slight changes in footage. However, the sands of time, wouldn't be, kind to them, as they quickly lost their business in 1910, with bad business practices & pretty much out of the film industry by 1930, when silent films became less profitable. Nevertheless, this film continue to live on, besides a few grainy scratches from improperly stored, because of the fact, the brothers took good care of the negatives. They even sent copies to be held at the Library of Congress and the Prelinger Archives to make sure, they survive, for a long time. Because of that, a digital public domain version is viewable online at Internet Archive and YouTube. For the most part, the versions, I saw, online are alright, with some of them, being all cleaned up in HD with sound to go along with it. Although, I still, a bit disappointed, on how little, color-versions of the film, existed. I would love to see more of those, around. Overall: This film is really amazing. It is a must watch for anybody curious about US History or film, in general. Highly recommended.
11 Reviews
This documentary film from 1906 is worth the trip! Even if it's a bit haunting to watch.
ironhorse_iv23 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Enthusiasm
p_radulescu2 April 2011
The movie is twelve minutes long and it's made by the Miles Brothers, a pioneer film company that made some thirty movies between 1903 - 1907.
This movie is their best known, and for good: it's a little gem. They installed their camera on a cable car that operated on Market Street, the Fifth Avenue of San Francisco (or their Champs Élysées, if you prefer). And so, set on the car, the camera filmed the view of the street, as they were slowly going down to the Ferry Building.
Watching this movie is like traveling on a time capsule that brings us in a jiffy over hundred years ago. The impression is incredible, we fall under a charm. It is the Market Street in San Francisco, everything is there in place, something doesn't fit. There is much less traffic, but it's so chaotic! Cable cars coming from the other side, buggies, carts with their horses, some kind of trolley buses crossing the street every now and then, cars, bicycles, and above all pedestrians, circulating in all directions, crossing the street just in front of the vehicles, running in front of the street car having the camera and shaking their hands with a big smile, just to be caught in the movie, to remain on the screen for eternity. It's a formidable impression of chaos, of joy, of nice irresponsibility, it's La Belle Époque American style. Or rather it's the beginning of big urban life, that particular moment when people just enjoy the novelties: the big city, the industrialization, the cars, the filming. This moment can actually take a couple of years, then the reality becomes the king. But that moment is wonderful. It's a moment of enthusiasm, it is superbly caught by this movie. Watching it calls in mind the mastership of Dziga Vertov, The Man with a Camera. The movie of the Miles Brothers is a lesson of sociology.
The movie was long considered to have been made in September 1905. Actually it was made in the spring of 2006, just days before the big earthquake and fire that hit San Francisco, and many of the enthusiast people appearing in the movie would die very soon after the filming.
It happened that the movie was sent by train to New York in the night before the earthquake. The following day the studio of Miles Brothers was destroyed by the cataclysm.
And the name this movie remained known as A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire.
This movie is their best known, and for good: it's a little gem. They installed their camera on a cable car that operated on Market Street, the Fifth Avenue of San Francisco (or their Champs Élysées, if you prefer). And so, set on the car, the camera filmed the view of the street, as they were slowly going down to the Ferry Building.
Watching this movie is like traveling on a time capsule that brings us in a jiffy over hundred years ago. The impression is incredible, we fall under a charm. It is the Market Street in San Francisco, everything is there in place, something doesn't fit. There is much less traffic, but it's so chaotic! Cable cars coming from the other side, buggies, carts with their horses, some kind of trolley buses crossing the street every now and then, cars, bicycles, and above all pedestrians, circulating in all directions, crossing the street just in front of the vehicles, running in front of the street car having the camera and shaking their hands with a big smile, just to be caught in the movie, to remain on the screen for eternity. It's a formidable impression of chaos, of joy, of nice irresponsibility, it's La Belle Époque American style. Or rather it's the beginning of big urban life, that particular moment when people just enjoy the novelties: the big city, the industrialization, the cars, the filming. This moment can actually take a couple of years, then the reality becomes the king. But that moment is wonderful. It's a moment of enthusiasm, it is superbly caught by this movie. Watching it calls in mind the mastership of Dziga Vertov, The Man with a Camera. The movie of the Miles Brothers is a lesson of sociology.
The movie was long considered to have been made in September 1905. Actually it was made in the spring of 2006, just days before the big earthquake and fire that hit San Francisco, and many of the enthusiast people appearing in the movie would die very soon after the filming.
It happened that the movie was sent by train to New York in the night before the earthquake. The following day the studio of Miles Brothers was destroyed by the cataclysm.
And the name this movie remained known as A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire.
San Francisco, 1906 BC (Before the Calamity)
romanorum113 April 2012
Just a few days before a ruinous earthquake struck a great city, the Miles Brothers Film Company mounted a movie camera on a cable car that proceeded to travel along the center of a commercial and busy Market Street towards the Ferry Terminal Building (14 April 1906). The result is a twelve-minute documentary of visual delight.
While many Western towns were slowly transforming from the days of cowboys (like gravel streets with wooden sidewalks), San Francisco had already made the change to a modern city. Some streets were paved, and there were the underground gas mains. Horses and wagons now share the road with the new automobiles, which weave in and out of slower moving traffic any way they can. Crossing the street was at one's own peril. Pedestrians cut in front of all kinds of moving traffic, and horses and wagons pull out in front of trolleys. It is amazing that there were no accidents on this film. This scene is before the days of traffic signals and police directing traffic at the main corners.
Note that auto steering wheels are mounted on the right. Some trolley cars are electrified (they cross Market Street) while others are still being pulled by horses (along Market Street), as was the case in the previous century. Bicycles can be seen. Everyone wears hats (except young people towards the end of the film), and formal wear predominates.
Some other observations:
Around 6:00 and again at the 7:45 mark, see individual pedestrians on the right side nearly struck by automobiles. Just before the 7:00 mark, two automobiles nearly collide. At 9:43, as a trolley approaches from the opposite side towards the viewer, auto on left (driving wrong way) veers to the right to avoid a crash with that trolley. At 10:08, a woman enters the rear of a trolley from the middle of the street.
All of this activity was followed by the earthquake and fire on 18 April 1906. See the companion piece to this film (San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, 1906). A sobering thought: One wonders just how many of those folks on camera would be dead within a few days, as Market Street and environs were hit hard. Three thousand of the city's population did die, about a quarter of a million were left homeless, and 28,000 buildings were destroyed.
While many Western towns were slowly transforming from the days of cowboys (like gravel streets with wooden sidewalks), San Francisco had already made the change to a modern city. Some streets were paved, and there were the underground gas mains. Horses and wagons now share the road with the new automobiles, which weave in and out of slower moving traffic any way they can. Crossing the street was at one's own peril. Pedestrians cut in front of all kinds of moving traffic, and horses and wagons pull out in front of trolleys. It is amazing that there were no accidents on this film. This scene is before the days of traffic signals and police directing traffic at the main corners.
Note that auto steering wheels are mounted on the right. Some trolley cars are electrified (they cross Market Street) while others are still being pulled by horses (along Market Street), as was the case in the previous century. Bicycles can be seen. Everyone wears hats (except young people towards the end of the film), and formal wear predominates.
Some other observations:
Around 6:00 and again at the 7:45 mark, see individual pedestrians on the right side nearly struck by automobiles. Just before the 7:00 mark, two automobiles nearly collide. At 9:43, as a trolley approaches from the opposite side towards the viewer, auto on left (driving wrong way) veers to the right to avoid a crash with that trolley. At 10:08, a woman enters the rear of a trolley from the middle of the street.
All of this activity was followed by the earthquake and fire on 18 April 1906. See the companion piece to this film (San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, 1906). A sobering thought: One wonders just how many of those folks on camera would be dead within a few days, as Market Street and environs were hit hard. Three thousand of the city's population did die, about a quarter of a million were left homeless, and 28,000 buildings were destroyed.
Like window shopping for top hats and moustaches
tieman647 November 2010
Warning: Spoilers
"A Trip Down Market Street" is an eleven-minute short film shot from a cable car as it journeys down Market Street, San Francisco. Shot days before the great earthquake of 1906, the film consists of a simple POV shot taken from the car as it journeys in a straight line, slowly prowling a city that bustles with activity.
The street itself is expansive, packed with pedestrians, a few old fashioned automobiles, trucks, horses and buggies. With no apparent traffic lights, lane demarcations or highway codes, and with everyone dodging and weaving their way through the commotion, it's amazing that no accidents occur.
Needless to say, watching the film today is like hopping into a time machine. The formal fashion, body language, architecture, hairstyles, beards, hats, clothes, storefronts and advertisements on display are all interesting. Eerily, the hundreds of men, women and children whom we observe with curiosity are themselves observing us with interest, for they have clearly never seen a movie camera before, which in their eyes must seem like an odd, alien thing.
As the film was shot just days before the great quake and fire of 1906, an incident which nearly destroyed San Francisco, the film has a somewhat sad, haunting quality. Or rather, we imbue the film with a sense of loss.
8/10 - Film archivists Rick Prelinger and David Kiehn are responsible for uncovering, investigating the origins of and restoring the film.
The street itself is expansive, packed with pedestrians, a few old fashioned automobiles, trucks, horses and buggies. With no apparent traffic lights, lane demarcations or highway codes, and with everyone dodging and weaving their way through the commotion, it's amazing that no accidents occur.
Needless to say, watching the film today is like hopping into a time machine. The formal fashion, body language, architecture, hairstyles, beards, hats, clothes, storefronts and advertisements on display are all interesting. Eerily, the hundreds of men, women and children whom we observe with curiosity are themselves observing us with interest, for they have clearly never seen a movie camera before, which in their eyes must seem like an odd, alien thing.
As the film was shot just days before the great quake and fire of 1906, an incident which nearly destroyed San Francisco, the film has a somewhat sad, haunting quality. Or rather, we imbue the film with a sense of loss.
8/10 - Film archivists Rick Prelinger and David Kiehn are responsible for uncovering, investigating the origins of and restoring the film.
Precognition (web)
leplatypus20 July 2018
This short documentary has been shot weeks before the terrible quake! And after it, others shot the same path: you can find on the web edit movies with the 2 frames side by side to compare before / after the quake! they say they are synchronized but i doubt it: street lamps are after the quake! What is striking is that we barely see the Ferry building on the end of the street: dust, fog or bad quality, i can't say? Also after the quake, there is much more people outside on the street... But this trip movie has a lot of legends: shot 6 days before, Frisco was full of cars while i understand it was much earlier and in fact there is much less cars that it seems because the cars keep circling around the camera. At last, it's pity: i started my coast to cast american trip here but i don't think i did this travel because my cable car was in a downhill road while here it's completely flat...
An Important Historical Movie !
RockGrey29 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I found this to be a very valuable historical document. It does its' job very well. It records San Francisco at a very important time in history. Specifically it is before the earthquake. As such it is well worth a look. After all how many times does one get to see a place from the past as it then was? How many times after all does one get to see an accurate record from the past as it was? That is why this is valuable. Think of Rome or London or Tokyo a hundred to some hundreds of years ago. Seeing what they would have been like explains why this film of 1906 San Francisco if valuable as a record of this city.
What the title says
Horst_In_Translation13 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
There is really no better way to summarize this little movie other than by what the title says: "A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire". Of course you could add that it is San Francisco and that this film was made shortly before the disastrous earthquake hit the Californian city. This movie had its 110th anniversary already a couple weeks ago and as such it is obviously a black-and-white silent film. City documentaries were a thing back then and I find it somewhat funny how people sometimes stop and look at the camera. Other than that, it is pretty much what you would expect life to look like shortly before the outbreak of World War I. An okay movie from the documentary perspective, but really only worth checking out for silent film enthusiasts. The lack of a plot may bore everybody else.
Check Out The Internet Archive Copy-Mind-Blowing
springfieldrental22 November 2020
I have seen the original Market Street 13-minute film and was quite impressed by it documenting the daily life of a busy San Francisco street days before the great earthquake.
But Adrianne Finelli's scanning of the film for Internet Archive is simply mind-blowing. Combined with Denis Shiryaev's upscaling and colorization, which is uploaded on YouTube, and you swear you are actually on the street car watching San Fran's life burst right in front of you.
What's so fascinating about the movie is the street life unfolding and captured by the filmmakers, the four Miles brothers. There are no traffic lights at any intersection, yet the combination of electric streetcars, the newly invented automobile, horse and buggy carriages, bicyclists and pedestrians on foot are all in synch as they cut across each other and amble on their way to conduct their business. Apparently there were a handful of motorized personal cars that continuously circled around the camera to make it appear traffic was a lot more chaotic than it really was. But it's still amazing to see these early internal combustion engine vehicles dodging all the obstacles in front of them.
Sad that in a few days many of the fine buildings seen here were destroyed by the earthquake and the resulting fires of that fateful April 18th, 1906 day. Over 3,000 people perished in the early morning earthquake/fires, and quite possibly there are several captured on the Miles' film that were listed on the deceased rolls. Such a reminder makes the trip down Market Street all the more poignant.
But Adrianne Finelli's scanning of the film for Internet Archive is simply mind-blowing. Combined with Denis Shiryaev's upscaling and colorization, which is uploaded on YouTube, and you swear you are actually on the street car watching San Fran's life burst right in front of you.
What's so fascinating about the movie is the street life unfolding and captured by the filmmakers, the four Miles brothers. There are no traffic lights at any intersection, yet the combination of electric streetcars, the newly invented automobile, horse and buggy carriages, bicyclists and pedestrians on foot are all in synch as they cut across each other and amble on their way to conduct their business. Apparently there were a handful of motorized personal cars that continuously circled around the camera to make it appear traffic was a lot more chaotic than it really was. But it's still amazing to see these early internal combustion engine vehicles dodging all the obstacles in front of them.
Sad that in a few days many of the fine buildings seen here were destroyed by the earthquake and the resulting fires of that fateful April 18th, 1906 day. Over 3,000 people perished in the early morning earthquake/fires, and quite possibly there are several captured on the Miles' film that were listed on the deceased rolls. Such a reminder makes the trip down Market Street all the more poignant.
Chaotic San Francisco!
gavin694223 January 2016
From the front of a cable car, a motion picture camera records a trip down Market Street, San Francisco, California, from a point between 8th & 9th Streets, Eastward to the cable car turnaround at the Ferry Building.
Maybe it was cheating, but I watched this with sound superimposed on top of the picture. It made it more entertaining, to be sure. But regardless, this is an incredible film. We know some of it was staged, but it still shows a busy city street in 1906. The clothes, the horses, the beards... this is a priceless document of history.
Apparently there is some debate on exactly when the film was made, but it does seem to be not long before the earthquake. Maybe a week, maybe more. But the exact date does not change the fact it captured San Francisco in its prime.
Maybe it was cheating, but I watched this with sound superimposed on top of the picture. It made it more entertaining, to be sure. But regardless, this is an incredible film. We know some of it was staged, but it still shows a busy city street in 1906. The clothes, the horses, the beards... this is a priceless document of history.
Apparently there is some debate on exactly when the film was made, but it does seem to be not long before the earthquake. Maybe a week, maybe more. But the exact date does not change the fact it captured San Francisco in its prime.
Travelling Through Time.
meddlecore8 May 2023
San Francisco, A Trip Down Market Street is one of the most magical films you'll ever see.
I'd argue, even more magical than the magnificent Melies.
The whole thing is quite simple really.
It's just a camera, located at the front of a cable car, as it travels down Market Street to the clocktower on the Harbour Building of the Embarcadero.
What makes it such a magical experience, is that it shows us how film can act as a time capsule.
Offering us a glimpse into the past of San Francisco in 1907...4 days before the city would be decimated by, what is arguably, the most infamous earthquake in American history.
The San Francisco of Mark Twain...Adolph Sutro...and Lily Hitchcock Coit.
Not to mention countless hundreds of other not so famous city dwellers of the time.
Before Benny Bufano, Diego Rivera and Herb Cain.
I watched the "upscaled" version re-mastered by Dennis Shiryaev.
He utilized a number of neural network algorithms to sharpen up the image, add a slight bit of colour, and even some sound effects...which really help to bring this bygone era spring to life, as it were only yesterday.
The cobblestone streets, shared by pedestrians, cyclists, horse drawn buggies, early motor cars, and cable cars alike.
Lined with long lost buildings, bustling shops, a legion of newsboys, and people going from here to there.
Men sporting their suits and ties, with grand mustaches and bowler hats; and women in their majestic dresses.
As they wander amongst carriages and buildings adorned with mural sized advertisements for beer, shops, hotels and cigars.
The filmmaker would, again, film this same journey...only 4 days later...to show a rather different scene.
Gone were the buldings, bustling shops, and large scale advertisements.
The people were still there.
But now they were wandering amidst rubble, and half standing structures...as if an atomic bomb had hit and left them in a post apocalyptic wasteland.
Leaving you to wonder, what became all those folks who stopped to stare at the spectacle of this wondrous new mechanism- the film camera- in action?
Did that boy, who spent the entire second half of the film running in front of the camera, up until the car stopped upon the turntable where Market Street meets the Embarcadero, survive to wander these same streets, in their decimated form?
Or grow up to become an actor, or filmmaker himself?
Perhaps the film can't answer all these questions.
But what a privilege it is, for us, to experience this world over 115 years later.
Mindlowing, even.
Props to Shiryaev for his masterful restoration of the film.
As it really helps to bring the film to life, and immerse you in that world.
Would make for an excellent VR experience, I'd think, too...in this newfound form.
Because it already seems to have that effect when I sit and watch it upon my TV in my room.
Lest we forget, that with the magic of cinema...time travel really is possible!
And that, this is, without question, the most important film ever shot on the streets of San Francisco, that we still have today.
10 out of 10.
I'd argue, even more magical than the magnificent Melies.
The whole thing is quite simple really.
It's just a camera, located at the front of a cable car, as it travels down Market Street to the clocktower on the Harbour Building of the Embarcadero.
What makes it such a magical experience, is that it shows us how film can act as a time capsule.
Offering us a glimpse into the past of San Francisco in 1907...4 days before the city would be decimated by, what is arguably, the most infamous earthquake in American history.
The San Francisco of Mark Twain...Adolph Sutro...and Lily Hitchcock Coit.
Not to mention countless hundreds of other not so famous city dwellers of the time.
Before Benny Bufano, Diego Rivera and Herb Cain.
I watched the "upscaled" version re-mastered by Dennis Shiryaev.
He utilized a number of neural network algorithms to sharpen up the image, add a slight bit of colour, and even some sound effects...which really help to bring this bygone era spring to life, as it were only yesterday.
The cobblestone streets, shared by pedestrians, cyclists, horse drawn buggies, early motor cars, and cable cars alike.
Lined with long lost buildings, bustling shops, a legion of newsboys, and people going from here to there.
Men sporting their suits and ties, with grand mustaches and bowler hats; and women in their majestic dresses.
As they wander amongst carriages and buildings adorned with mural sized advertisements for beer, shops, hotels and cigars.
The filmmaker would, again, film this same journey...only 4 days later...to show a rather different scene.
Gone were the buldings, bustling shops, and large scale advertisements.
The people were still there.
But now they were wandering amidst rubble, and half standing structures...as if an atomic bomb had hit and left them in a post apocalyptic wasteland.
Leaving you to wonder, what became all those folks who stopped to stare at the spectacle of this wondrous new mechanism- the film camera- in action?
Did that boy, who spent the entire second half of the film running in front of the camera, up until the car stopped upon the turntable where Market Street meets the Embarcadero, survive to wander these same streets, in their decimated form?
Or grow up to become an actor, or filmmaker himself?
Perhaps the film can't answer all these questions.
But what a privilege it is, for us, to experience this world over 115 years later.
Mindlowing, even.
Props to Shiryaev for his masterful restoration of the film.
As it really helps to bring the film to life, and immerse you in that world.
Would make for an excellent VR experience, I'd think, too...in this newfound form.
Because it already seems to have that effect when I sit and watch it upon my TV in my room.
Lest we forget, that with the magic of cinema...time travel really is possible!
And that, this is, without question, the most important film ever shot on the streets of San Francisco, that we still have today.
10 out of 10.
A Perfect Day...
azathothpwiggins21 June 2022
This is a mesmerizing film. It takes us down a true "memory lane", showcasing a Market Street of yesteryear. The horses and their carriages, the cable cars, the scurrying pedestrians, all in motion as we travel along.
It is also a poignant and haunting film, since we know that it was made mere days before the big San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent fire that destroyed almost everything we see!
This is a treasure that should be viewed by everyone at least once. Personally, I could run it in a continuous loop. There always seems to be something or someone new!
The updated, remastered, colorized version is highly recommended as well. It focuses in with sharper detail...
It is also a poignant and haunting film, since we know that it was made mere days before the big San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent fire that destroyed almost everything we see!
This is a treasure that should be viewed by everyone at least once. Personally, I could run it in a continuous loop. There always seems to be something or someone new!
The updated, remastered, colorized version is highly recommended as well. It focuses in with sharper detail...
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