movies_creation
American Movie Archives (美國電影檔案)
- Title
- Rochester: A City of Quality (Part II)
- Year
- 1963
- Abstract
- Tour of the area, concentrating on redevelopment and economic activity.
- Notes
-
Produced: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: Rochester Gas & Electric
Run Time: 14:54
Audio/Visual: Sd, C - Keyword
- Urban renewal;Rochester, N.Y.;Rochester, N.Y.
- Theme
- Rochester Then and Now
- Review
-
I am not a native or Rochester, but some of my best friends came from there, and so it was with great interest that I visited this city a year ago, and this same personal connection motivated my decision to spend 20 minutes watching both segments of this film.
I am not a native or Rochester, but some of my best friends came from there, and so it was with great interest that I visited this city a year ago, and this same personal connection motivated my decision to spend 20 minutes watching both segments of this film.
Given what we know now about the great changes that Rochester has faced in the last 40 years, changes which are not even hinted in this film, it is easy to bash this film as yet another example of civic boosterism in the tradition of George Babbit. Yes, much of the important history of the city is omitted, especially its role as an important destination point of the Underground Railroad, and its role in hosting both German and Italian immigrant groups on their path to assimilation in the U.S. But it is probably unfair to expect this film (sponsored by the city's gas and electric utility) to have fairly covered these issues nearly 40 years ago.
As I noted, I am not from Rochester, but cannot imagine that denizens of this city will not view this film without a considerable dollup of bittersweet nostalgia. Given what we know about the urban problems that now afflict it, and its economic dependence on one or two major companies for the bulk of its economic activity, this feeling is natural. The future, when it came to Rochester, was nowhere near as bright and light as this film predicted it would be, but it was hardly catastrophic either.
This city survives, a profoundly different place than imagined by the boosters of 1964 who made this film, but one that, in my opinion, still exemplifies many of the virtues espoused in this film. These include a strong sense of community, a willingness by private enterprise to subsidize the arts and education, and, at least in my experience, a uniquely civil attitude towards outsiders that makes strangers feel welcome.
(Reviewer: s_baldwin) - Location
- A/V room, 2/F