Apr. 19, 2014 – An archive of nearly 82,000 newsreel films recently uploaded to YouTube includes one film shot in Chicago when Marina City was still being constructed.

Produced in 1963, The Changing Face of Great American Cities is one of 81,968 newsreels uploaded this month by British Pathé, a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970.

“The twin corncob-like structures of [Bertrand Goldberg’s] Marina City have been called Chicago’s most amazing since the great Ferris Wheel of the 1893 fair,” declares narrator Peter Roberts, referring to the World’s Columbian Exposition. “Beneath the scalloped balconies of its apartments spiral the ramps of garages to house the tenant’s automobiles.”

(Above) A shot through the partially raised Dearborn Street Bridge shows Marina City with the seawall still in place. (Click on image to view larger version.)

Shown at movie theaters, newsreels were a popular source of news, current affairs, and entertainment in the first half of the 20th century. RKO Radio Pictures distributed Pathé News, as British Pathé was then known as, from 1931 to 1947, followed by Warner Brothers from 1947 to 1956.

When the archive was digitized in 2002, it included more than 3,500 hours of filmed history.

“Our hope is that everyone, everywhere who has a computer will see these films and enjoy them,” said Alastair White, General Manager of British Pathé. “This archive is a treasure trove unrivalled in historical and cultural significance that should never be forgotten.”

 Video: The Changing Face Of Chicago (1963)