Across the Isthmus (1909) User Reviews

It is not a pretty picture, but it is an instructive one

[deickemeyer · 16 January 2015]

The world is waiting for the completion of one of the greatest engineering feats ever contemplated. That is the cutting of a navigable canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Much time, labor and money are being devoted to this great work, which has assumed the importance of a political proposition in the United States. The result is that the progress of the undertaking is a subject of constant interest and therefore Mr. Selig was wise when he sent his operators around to Panama. He saw that he would have a subject of surprising interest to every American. That he was right in his conjecture is proved to our mind by the fact that when the picture was first shown, one day this week, it held the attention of the audience throughout. The picture starts by showing the condition of affairs before the work of reorganization took place, and the dismantled and ruined houses marking the scene of the former administration. The improved condition under the newer order of things is also shown. Of course it is impossible in the moving picture film to give an adequate idea of the extent of the operations, but sectional incidents are shown with sufficient judgment and clearness to impress the beholder. For instance, we see the great steam scoop at work, an uncanny piece of machinery which seems to operate with almost human intelligence. Then there is a locomotive driving an earth plow on rails. Then we see the earth being transported away in rows of cars. Diggers, engineers and others pervade this great ditch in the making. It is not a pretty picture, but it is an instructive one. It shows man engaged in work of worldwide importance and, moreover, it shows the progress of a scheme for obviating an unpleasant water journey around Cape Horn. There is not much scope for the purely pictorial or picturesque in this picture, but for all that the photographic work is well done and we think the picture deserves a special word of thanks by reason of its industrial value. - The Moving Picture World, November 20, 1909