ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the film Seeing the World: Part One, A Visit to New York, NY. directed by Rudy Burckhardt. Burckhardt, the Swiss-born photographer, filmmaker, and bohemian, produced Seeing the World: Part One, A Visit to New York, NY., an offbeat ode to his new hometown, in 1937, just two years after he'd emigrated to New York. The film takes the form of a mock travelogue, featuring informal, highly colloquial narration by Donnie Brooke Alderson, which introduces its viewers to New York via a shot of the Statue of Liberty. While the film is ostensibly a sound film, one that relies heavily on Alderson's narration and a frequently jazzy soundtrack, in some ways the travelogue is merely an excuse to set up two silent skits that highlight New York's stark contrasts.
