Panorama of Esplanade by Night

Panorama of Esplanade by Night (1901)

The Pan-American Exposition was filmed for hundreds of different movies from the various movie studios out there. This one here offered a look at the exposition at night, which might sound simple today but if you go through these early movies you'll come to realize that very few were actually filmed at night. The effect obviously works here because you've got these amazing looking lights that the camera could easily pick up. I can only imagine that these night films made a lot more money than the regular ones because people in 1901 just weren't used to seeing stuff at night. The cinematography was extremely good for the period and there's no question that the film perfectly captures the lights and images.

This is a simple film in terms of its idea and its content, but for its time it is a rather impressive accomplishment, and gives us an interesting look at the past. It takes a panoramic view of the Pan-American Exposition by night, and was one of the very earliest films to succeed in making a moving picture at night. The sights are interesting both as a cinematic achievement and as a record of a long-past event.

Despite some wear due to age, the print still looks good, and the patterns of lights must have looked impressive to audiences when it was first shown. Setting aside the technical achievement, it might be even more interesting just to see a night-time view of the Exposition. The variety of structures and styles is quite clear just from the light patterns. Today, of course, we see all kinds of interesting footage taken at the Olympics and on other international occasions. But that's just not the same as having a chance like this to go back in time, to see what an event like this looked like over a century ago.