Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City
Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City
| 30 July 1949 (USA)
Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City Trailers

This film visits many of the neighborhoods and landmarks on Manhattan Island and occasionally includes a history lesson. The neighborhoods include the Bowery, Chinatown, Herald Square, and Times Square. Some of the architectural highlights are the Empire State Building, the New York Public Library, Temple Emanuel, the Central Park Zoo, and the Rockefeller Center complex. The film ends with a visit to a dining room in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where the Xavier Cugat Orchestra entertains.

Reviews
SnoReptilePlenty

Memorable, crazy movie

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Odelecol

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

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ThedevilChoose

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

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InformationRap

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

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ksf-2

Certainly a competent job, another chapter in James Fitz's travelogues, in living color, this one from 1949. Fun look at the time when the Empire State Building was still "the tallest building in the world". Good, quick looks at the landmarks, ie Grand Central Station, Women and Children's Hospital, and of course, Central Park. My only complaint is that they spent SO much time describing in detail how trashy "the Bowery" was at the time; that time would have been so much better spent on giving us details on Central Park - there are SO many fun things to do in Central Park! Oh, and for those too young to know "the Bowery", some interesting info: watch the films called "The Bowery Boys". some fun stuff. And recently, the lower east side, which WAS the Bowery, is now going upscale, with luxury condos, and of course, a Whole Foods Market. Overall, this shortie that Turner Classic shows between films, is a good watch. Fun to look back and compare them to what's there now. Check out how Time's Square has changed since what they show in this film. Also some footage of Ann Miller and musician Xavier Cugat.

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Michael_Elliott

Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) MGM's (not official) TravelTalk short takes a look at various landmarks in Manhattan including Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and the streets of Chinatown. Once again the Technicolor is certainly the highlight of this film, which has the city jumping off the screen. Once again there have been many better documents of the city but I'm sure this thing served its purpose back when it was originally released when there wasn't an internet or even color television to see such things. The most interesting thing is that the United Nations building hadn't yet been completed and we get to see it in its early stages of construction.

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George Wright

This entertaining travelogue from the late 1940's is a glimpse of Manhattan - the largest of the five boroughs of NYC. As a travelogue, it is a postcard-perfect view of Manhattan with the narrator gushing over the bright lights and skyscrapers. Nevertheless, like an old issue of Time or Life, it has to be looked at as a piece of social history. The film introduces New York's Mayor William O'Dwyer and takes us on a tour that includes an interesting sample of life in the Big Apple. We stop at the construction site of the United Nations which was taking place at the time. We visit Xavier Cugat, one of Manhattan's entertainment icons and see the great ocean liners along the piers of the Hudson River. We also get to see the Waldorff Astoria, considered one of the great hotels of the time. What is remarkable though is how many points of interest are still on the itinerary of a visitor to New York - Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, the Woolworth Building, the Statue of Liberty, the bridges spanning the East and Hudson Rivers, and of course Times Square. As a fan of New York, this 20-minute film was like a wonderful dessert after I viewed The Naked City on TCM. Highly recommended.

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Ron Oliver

An MGM Short Subject.Beginning at the Statue of Liberty, this delightful little film conducts us on a rapid tour of MIGHTY MANHATTAN, NEW YORK'S WONDER CITY. After gazing at the famous bridges spanning the Hudson & East Rivers, we travel along Broadway, Fifth & Park Avenues, visit the Empire State Building & Rockefeller Center, linger a moment in Chinatown & Times Square, and take a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park - where we get to enjoy feeding time at the Zoo. We finish our filmed excursion with an evening at the Starlight Roof, enjoying the music of Xavier Cugat.This is one of a large series of succinct travelogues turned out by MGM, beginning in the 1930's. They featured Technicolor views of beautiful & unusual sights around the globe, as well as vivid, concise commentary. These films were produced & narrated by James A. FitzPatrick.

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