by craneguy12 » Tue Feb 25, 2014 6:04 am
Hello blog folk! I am a fan of the 1929 movie; Broadway. One of the reasons I love it so much is because of what has become to be known as "The Broadway Crane." I found this website and I would not be surprised if the camera riding on top of this huge crane was a Mitchell. To promote the picture, photos of the giant crane in use was published in many major film magazines. The photo below appeared in the May issue of Photoplay.
- The famous Broadway Crane
This is what the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers say about the crane:
"Hal Mohr was an expert at serving the director by creating whatever look or visual effect that director required for his film. He was one of Hollywood's outstanding innovators with regard to photographic technique. In an era when most film people remained employed by one studio, Mohr jumped from backlot to backlot. A majority of the scores of films he shot during his 50-odd years as a director of photography were made during the sound era, beginning symbolically with 'The Jazz Singer'. Even though the movies had learned to talk, Mohr showed how they need not stop moving. Particularly in 'Broadway', there is startling use of the moving camera: Mohr pioneered the extensive usage of boom and dolly shots, resulting in complicated, dazzling visuals that are among the most stunning examples of early Hollywood expressionism. It also was around this time that he designed a camera crane that remained in use for years.
At the Criterion website they say this about an interview with Mohr:
"then concludes the supplements with an interview with cinematographer Hal Mohr, recorded in 1973 and running about 7-minutes. He talks about the crane created for the film and what it was able to accomplish. He also touches on the stage that had to be built to accommodate it. It has a sad ending, though, where Mohr mentions he last saw the crane rotting away in a junk yard on the Universal lot. It’s a great inclusion, made better with photos taken from the shoot shown over the audio."
And finally: over at mondo70.blogspot.com, this was posted by Samuel Wilson about the crane:
"Carl Laemmle Jr. remained enamored with Dr. Fejos, entrusted him with a big-budget all-talking adaptation of a landmark Broadway show, and gave him what he wanted most: a new toy. This was the "Broadway Crane," developed by Fejos and cinematographer Hal Mohr to allow the camera almost literally to take flight, gliding, swooping and diving across seemingly vast heights and distances. D.W. Griffith could have used something like it to film the Babylonian scenes of Intolerance, but Fejos and Mohr applied it to the story of a song-and-dance man desperate to get out of a lousy nightclub gig and break into vaudeville. To make room for the crane, the Paradise Club, named ironically in the play, becomes an Expressionist cathedral, more fit for the Phantom of the Opera than the gangsters and showgirls clamoring for attention here."
If anyone here has more photos of the Broadway Crane in use, I would appreciate you sharing them here. And if I find more information (especially if I can see the Mitchell camera on top of the crane platform) I will be happy to post them here.
Broadway Joe
Hello blog folk! I am a fan of the 1929 movie; Broadway. One of the reasons I love it so much is because of what has become to be known as "The Broadway Crane." I found this website and I would not be surprised if the camera riding on top of this huge crane was a Mitchell. To promote the picture, photos of the giant crane in use was published in many major film magazines. The photo below appeared in the May issue of Photoplay.
[attachment=0]broadway crane.jpg[/attachment]
This is what the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers say about the crane:
"Hal Mohr was an expert at serving the director by creating whatever look or visual effect that director required for his film. He was one of Hollywood's outstanding innovators with regard to photographic technique. In an era when most film people remained employed by one studio, Mohr jumped from backlot to backlot. A majority of the scores of films he shot during his 50-odd years as a director of photography were made during the sound era, beginning symbolically with 'The Jazz Singer'. Even though the movies had learned to talk, Mohr showed how they need not stop moving. Particularly in 'Broadway', there is startling use of the moving camera: Mohr pioneered the extensive usage of boom and dolly shots, resulting in complicated, dazzling visuals that are among the most stunning examples of early Hollywood expressionism. It also was around this time that he designed a camera crane that remained in use for years.
At the Criterion website they say this about an interview with Mohr:
"then concludes the supplements with an interview with cinematographer Hal Mohr, recorded in 1973 and running about 7-minutes. He talks about the crane created for the film and what it was able to accomplish. He also touches on the stage that had to be built to accommodate it. It has a sad ending, though, where Mohr mentions he last saw the crane rotting away in a junk yard on the Universal lot. It’s a great inclusion, made better with photos taken from the shoot shown over the audio."
And finally: over at mondo70.blogspot.com, this was posted by Samuel Wilson about the crane:
"Carl Laemmle Jr. remained enamored with Dr. Fejos, entrusted him with a big-budget all-talking adaptation of a landmark Broadway show, and gave him what he wanted most: a new toy. This was the "Broadway Crane," developed by Fejos and cinematographer Hal Mohr to allow the camera almost literally to take flight, gliding, swooping and diving across seemingly vast heights and distances. D.W. Griffith could have used something like it to film the Babylonian scenes of Intolerance, but Fejos and Mohr applied it to the story of a song-and-dance man desperate to get out of a lousy nightclub gig and break into vaudeville. To make room for the crane, the Paradise Club, named ironically in the play, becomes an Expressionist cathedral, more fit for the Phantom of the Opera than the gangsters and showgirls clamoring for attention here."
If anyone here has more photos of the Broadway Crane in use, I would appreciate you sharing them here. And if I find more information (especially if I can see the Mitchell camera on top of the crane platform) I will be happy to post them here.
Broadway Joe