This is a silent movie made in Montgomery in 1914 by the Chamber of Commerce. It features many local citizens of the day with shots of Union Station, Court Square, the Capitol with concrete steps, S, Perry Street, The Confederate White House at its original site on Bibb and Morningview.
The original deteriorated film was discovered in the Treasury vault during the Capitol restoration circa 1985. The Archives sent the film off for restoration since it was very poor quality. I don't know how long the original movie was, but this is all that could be salvaged. The restoration was pretty badly done with some clips being reversed and part of another story being inserted in the middle of the first one. The restored movie is in two parts. The first part is the story of wedding couple celebrating at Morningview. The second part is a recreation of Jefferson Davis inauguration.
The movie starts with a wedding party arriving at Union Station. They then proceed down Commerce, down S. Perry Street then to Morningview. In the middle of the story about the wedding party, the story of Jefferson Davis inauguration is inserted, and then the movie goes back and finishes the story about the wedding party. It is a remarkable film and I am so glad I can present it to you. Thanks so much to Sue Bell for sharing her video with me.
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