The Jewish quarter and cemetery in Prague
Creator(s)
- Mr. Peter Gessner
- Robert J. Gessner (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
Robert Gessner was born on October 21, 1907 in Escanaba, MI. He obtained a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1929 and a M.A. from Columbia University in 1930. He started teaching at New York University in 1930. He married Doris Lindeman on May 27, 1938 and had two children, Peter and Stephen. Mr. Gessner was a screen playwright and the author of several books, including "Massacre" (1931); "Broken Arrow" (1933); "Some of My Best Friends are Jews" (1936); "Treason" (1944); "Youth is the Time" (1945). He was a pioneer educator in motion pictures as an art form. Gessner founded the Motion Picture Department (now Cinema Studies) at NYU in 1941, the first four-year film curriculum leading to a B.A. degree in motion picture studies in the United States. He finished his book "The Moving Image, A Guide to Cinematic Literacy" before he died in June 1968.
Scope and Content
Prague, the facade of a large clock tower. The facade of the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn. A street in Prague's Jewish quarter. The exterior of Prague's Maisel synagogue, and the surrounding street activity. A street sign reads "Jidelna Hirsch Bilkova 19," or "Hirsch Cafeteria". The old Jewish cemetery, CU of a gravestone shows engraving in Hebrew script.
Note(s)
The original Kodak film contains a 1934/54 date code [plus/circle] Robert Gessner published a book in 1936 about his overseas travels called "Some of my Best Friends Are Jews"
Subjects
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- JEWS
- GRAVES
- CZECHOSLOVAKIA
- CHURCHES
- BUSINESSES
- CEMETERIES
- SYNAGOGUES
- HEBREW
Places
- Prague, Czechoslovakia
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.