Twenty-Four-Dollar Island

A short silent documentary on the 300th year anniversary of New York City, "Twenty-Four Dollar Island" is a visual celebration and tribute to the city's vast industrial expanse of modern urbanity and power. Purchased by the Dutch from the American Indians for a mere 24 dollars (hence the title) the city would eventually grow to the metropolitan behemoth it is known for. Filmed by pioneering documentarian Robert J. Flaherty the movie is a roving eye glimpse into the scale and magnitude of first-world wealth and influence. Towering skyscrapers, ships and factories spewing smoke, gigantic cranes loading and unloading huge scraps of machinery, workers toiling amidst rubble and surroundings of cement and rock, people and vehicles streaming on streets; this is the muscle of the Western world from the Jazz Age. This is a show of commerce and industry: don't expect any charming old time cruises in Broadway or Coney Island. While tedious in parts this is a neat time travel to a distant time when life was good and the next superpower was just around the corner.