Starting a Skyscraper

About This Movie

Starting a Skyscraper is one of those early 1900s documentaries that really gives you a feeling of the urban transformation happening in New York. The film captures the monumental excavation for the Macy building’s foundation, and there’s something fascinating about watching the raw power of labor and machinery in action. The atmosphere is gritty, grounding the viewer in the reality of early 20th-century construction. It’s not polished, but that’s part of its charm, showing just how ambitious projects like these were. The pacing is slow, but it allows you to appreciate the scale of the work. You really get a sense of the labor that went into changing the skyline. It’s a slice of history that film enthusiasts treasure.

Starting a Skyscraper has a unique place in the collector's world, as it's one of the earliest examples of documentary filmmaking. Originally released in very limited formats, its scarcity means that surviving copies can be quite sought after. The film has become a curiosity for those interested in early cinema and urban development, with collectors often fascinated by the raw presentation of industrial labor and its historical context.