(rshsdepot) Good times and Bad Times at Grand Central Terminal, NYC

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

Now is both a good time and a bad time to visit Grand Central Terminal=2E=
  Due to the continuing structural rehabilitation of the Terminal by MTA =
the entire 42nd street exterior facade is covered in scaffolding with bla=
ck netting=2C quite effectively hiding the beauty of the building=2E  Whi=
le I have not been able to find out how long this will be ongoing=2C cert=
ainly it will be at least several months to over a year=2E

On the other hand=2C The New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex in Grand C=
entral Terminal is hosting a multi-media free exhibition=2C now through O=
ctober 30=2C 2005=2C entitled=3A =93On Location=3A New York Transportatio=
n in Film=94=2E   Among the highlights of the exhibit are film clips show=
n continuously on multiple screens  of movies starring New York transport=
ation=2E  One of the screens plays a documentary about movie making in Ne=
w York=2E  Just 10 minutes of watching the documentary after lunch this a=
fternoon showed the now-gone Pennsylvania Station interior as it looked i=
n 1929 (in the movie =93Applause=94)=2E  I guess I=92ll be spending a lot=
 of lunch hours in the museum=2E

The following is a description of the exhibit from the Transit Museum web=
site=3A

A multi-media exhibition of film clips=2C stills=2C design drawings and a=
rtifacts where the location=2C our unparalleled public transportation net=
work=2C plays a starring role!
May 9 =96 October 30=2C 2005
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex=2C Grand Central Terminal =2C Shutt=
le Passage=2C next to Station Master=92s Office
Monday =96 Friday 8 am to 8 pm
Saturday =96 Sunday 10 am to 6 pm
For more than a century filmmakers have used New York=92s transportation =
network as a subject and a setting =96 to symbolize the city and portray =
its changing face and condition=2E Nothing expresses the city=92s vitalit=
y as immediately as its subways=2C buses=2C streetcars=2C railroads=2C br=
idges=2C and tunnels=2E =93On Location=94 explores the image of New York=92=
s public transportation as a setting in film and highlights memorable exa=
mples where it plays an important role=2E
Pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumiere shocked audiences in Paris with Arriva=
l of a Train (1895)=2C which caused viewers to scream=2C fearing that the=
 train was going to crash through the screen into the theater=2E On May 1=
1=2C 1896=2C cinematographer William Heise created the first motion pictu=
re of New York City=2E Assigned by the Thomas Edison Company to capture t=
he essence of the rapidly expanding city=2C Heise chose Herald Square as =
his vantage point=2E From the corner of 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue=2C h=
e captured a modern=2C dynamic scene=3A streetcars crisscrossing intersec=
tions=2C pedestrians moving to and fro=2C policemen directing traffic=2E =
In 1899=2C The Edison Company made104th Street Curve=2C New York=2C Eleva=
ted Railway and New Brooklyn to New York via Brooklyn Bridge No=2E 2=2C b=
oth films used point-of-view filmmaking to recreate the elevated railway =
passengers=92 riding experience for the theatrical viewer=2E For audience=
s accustomed to seeing films photographed almost entirely from a tripod=2C=
 the constant motion of these films was thrilling=2E
The introduction of sound in 1927 made shooting on location expensive and=
 difficult=2E While some early talkies like Rouben Mamolian=92s Applause =
(1929) incorporated location shots successfully=2C most films during the =
Great Depression and war years were created within the confines of the st=
udio=2E The Clock (1945) was filmed completely in Hollywood=2E The openin=
g shot makes it hard to believe=2C but the scene is filmed on MGM=92s sta=
ge 27=2C and not the real Pennsylvania Station=2E Since films of this era=
 tended to be escapist=2C the mythic New York created on sets and back lo=
ts in Hollywood worked better than the real thing=2E Technological advanc=
es in the 1940=92s made on-location shooting affordable=2C and smaller=2C=
 new equipment enabled filmmakers to hit the streets=2E Naked City (1947)=
 was the first major feature film to be shot completely on location in Ne=
w York City=2E Spectacular urban vistas and everyday life on the streets =
and in the subway provided the glamour and the grit that added to the mov=
ie=92s realism=2E This led to a new era of films that used authentic loca=
tions to better reflect real life=2E
While on-location shooting steadily increased in the postwar years=2C it =
was not until the administration of Mayor John Lindsay=2C which actively =
courted Hollywood in the late1960=92s=2C that New York again became an im=
portant film center=2E The return of filmmakers caught the city at a low =
point=2E Films of the 1970s =97The Warriors=2C Saturday Night Fever=2C Th=
e Taking of Pelham 123 =97 show a subway system ravaged by graffiti and p=
lagued by crime=2C a microcosm of a city out of control=2C though sometim=
es exaggerated to the point of hyperbole=2E
From Men in Black (2002) to The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (20=
04)=2C the city=92s public transportation system continues to play a role=
 in films=2E In Summer 2005=92s digital animation film=2C Madagascar=2C a=
 group of Central Park Zoo animals seek to escape to =93the wilds=94 of C=
onnecticut by catching a Metro-North train but are foiled by the police i=
n Grand Central Terminal=2E
New York City=92s subways=2C trains=2C buses=2C bridges=2C and tunnels co=
ntinue to provide inspiration to the film industry for the same reasons t=
hey inspired the earliest filmmakers=3A they symbolize the modern world=2C=
 always changing=2C always in motion=2E =



=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------