Gessner visits ancient ruins in Egypt
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
Ancient ruins in Egypt, possibly part of the Karnak Temple complex. Huge columns with Egyptian inscriptions and figures. A young girl leans against the ruins. WS camera pans right on the ruins. An obelisk rises from the ruins. Various desert hills and cliffs. 01:01:45 The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. People, piles of rubble, and wagons. People holding baskets walk around on uneven terrain. A man uses a pickax to hack away at the earth. 01:02:29 Colossi of Memnon, the giant stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Two cows rotating a wheel followed by a young unclothed boy holding a whip. People wearing headscarves sitting and standing near a wall made of the earth.
Note(s)
Robert Gessner published a book in 1936 about his overseas travels called "Some of my Best Friends Are Jews"
Subjects
- TOURISM/SIGHTSEEING
Places
- , Egypt
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film