This view of the Canebiere district of Marseilles looks, oddly enough, a lot like the scenes of Union Square in New York City at the time. Largely, I suspect, it is because of the street car gliding on its tracks into the center of the frame. Did the Lumiere cameraman do this deliberately? If so, what was his point? By this time there was a series of horse-drawn fire trucks from many cities and they all had the same composition and lines of movement. I certainly can't tell them apart, because there are no landmarks on the street and all fire engines look about the same to me. Happily, there are plenty of details offered in this one: the mode of dress, which is much more French in style, the chocolates advertised on the street car and, behind, a theater marquee adverting something with the word "Americain" in it.
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