The City (1939). American Institute of Planners, for the New York World's Fair. Held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The City
A planners' argument in four movements: the New England village, the mill town, the choked metropolis, and the green town that was supposed to replace both.
- Year
- 1939
- Made by
- American Institute of Planners, for the New York World's Fair
- Directed by
- Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke
- Free to use because
- In the public domain — no licence terms attached
The note
Shown continuously at the 1939 World's Fair, with commentary by Lewis Mumford and a score by Copland that he later mined for his concert work. The traffic sequence — Copland's music cut against the rhythm of a city at lunchtime — is a set piece that works entirely without picture. Public domain.
The City, 1939. American Institute of Planners, for the New York World's Fair. Directed by Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke. This is the film’s soundtrack: narration, score and location sound, streamed from the Internet Archive’s master. No picture — the audio is the work. In the public domain; no Creative Commons or non-commercial terms apply.
The soundtrack