Maker: Robert Florey
Original format: 35mm silent film 1.33:1
New music: Donald Sosin
Courtesy Gosfilmofond of Russia

"The most fantastic effects were secured in shooting sheer heights" It was partly the architectural wonder of New York that made the film so stirring, but, really, it was the artist's touch that moved one, the catching of mood, line, color, and feeling in the strange, walled city." -Marguerite Tazelaar, 1929

"The hard-edged graphics of Skyscraper Symphony stand in contrast to other New York "scenics" produced during the 1920s. Composed of skewed perspectives, Robert Florey's camera looks straight up the domineering concrete behemoths. And it is hard to determine if the film mimics symphonic form as the title suggests or whether it advances a new methodology in musical-visual shot progression that reflects the alien structures depicted." -Bruce Posner

Robert Florey (1900-1979), French cinéaste, journalist, author and film and television director, came to Hollywood in 1921 and worked as an assistant director before collaborating on The Life and Death of 9413 - A Hollywood Extra. He made at least three other short experimental films and directed over 50 Hollywood features during the 1930-40s. In 1953, he moved to television. -Bruce Posner