[1949 HOME FILM NEWLYWED'S HONEYMOON ROAD TRIP NEW YORK]

Year Published: 1949

Description:

This silent, untitled, color home film depicts the early moments of a married couple’s life together from wedding to honeymoon likely shot in 1949. The film follows the newlywed couple from the day of their wedding to their honeymoon adventures road tripping in a 1949 Kaiser Bermuda sedan across New York City, New Hampshire, and Niagara Falls. The film features shots of 1940s New York City and New Hampshire including now-defunct businesses like Bond Clothing Store and Suncook Bank as well as footage of the New York City skyline from the Empire State Building’s observation deck.

Film opens: Men in suits, other wedding guests stand outside talking and smoking cigars; Children play with each other on patch of grass (0:08). 1940s Sedan (0:20). Camera pans guests outside standing near parked 1940s automobiles (i.e. 1947 Ford V8 Super Deluxe sedan) (0:31). Just-married couple holding hands, share a kiss for camera, woman wears pastel pink 40s-era skirt suit and man wears gray blazer (0:46). Bride and groom pose with their parents on porch of house (1:01). 1949 Kaiser Bermuda sedan outfitted with handwritten “Just Married” sign as well as other writing on windows, close-up of Michigan license plate (1:10). More scenes of couple and family members getting portraits taken in front of two-story home (1:28). Honeymoon: Bond Clothing Store sign on the east side block of Broadway between 44th and 45th streets in New York's Times Square lit up at night (1:59). Kinsey Whiskey, Chevrolet, Philco LED signs in Times Square (2:24). Theatre advertising “The Barkleys of Broadway” featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (2:50). Bustling sidewalks, pedestrian traffic at 34th Street Herald Square, Spear’s Furniture Store, man hails Packard 1948 red & yellow taxi (2:52). Camera pans from street view to sky, facade of Empire State Building (3:04). Panoramic views of New York City from Empire State Building observation desk (3:25). Top of the Chrysler Building (3:39). Wind blows hair, clothes of tourists walking around on observation deck (3:53). More views of New York City skyline (4:20). More shots of bustling pedestrian traffic at street level (4:37). Foliage along perhaps Hudson River, Upstate New York (4:45). 1949 Kaiser Bermuda sedan drives toward camera, car used by newly weds on wedding day; Couple stretch their legs and pick flowers in forest (5:00). Cars driving along winding tree-lined road (5:31). Family members help toddler walk on sidewalk towards camera (5:42). View from hill top of green valley below, cows graze on hillside (6:07). Suncook Bank building on a main street in a New Hampshire town; 1937 Chevrolet Coup, 1939 Nash Lafayette, 1949 Chevrolet Deluxe, 1947 Chrysler “New Yorker” sedan parked outside (6:32). Woman poses next to totem pole at campground; Various close-up shots of details (6:57). 1949 Kaiser Bermuda sedan parked beside quaint family home (7:36). Newlyweds take stroll through forest, sit on rocks and observe network of small waterfalls (8:01). 1949 Kaiser Bermuda sedan drives toward camera on desolate, forest road (9:05). Newlyweds stop for picnic and fishing, close-up small fish laid out on rock (9:28). Perhaps view of Squam Lake and White Mountains (9:50). Another shot of small waterfall flowing through rocks, other scenic nature shots (10:04). View of timber in log jam as it floats on water’s surface (11:13). Exterior Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire (site where International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were established c.1944 during Bretton Woods Conference) (11:19). Camera pans parking lot for Niagara Falls visitors (11:58). Rushing white water of Niagara Falls, small tourist boat seen along Niagara River (12:20). Shots of Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens (est.1936) (13:02). Close-ups of white-water rapids (13:23). Couple poses for photo in front of water fall (13:42). Film ends (13:49).