Wilno Great Synagogue area (Shulhoyf)

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. Men, women, and children walk through a market square in Vilnius (Wilno, Vilna) outside Vilnius Old Town. Many hold flowers. One woman holds a large basket. People move through a large outdoor market. A woman buys goods. A young man walks through a residential street, glancing back towards the camera. 0:44 CU, facade of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, the camera moves around the Shulhoyf (courtyard of the Great Synagogue) alleys and streets. Sign in Polish: “CHEMICZNA PRALINE i FARBIARNIA” [Chemical dry cleaning and coloring of Cloth) with Yiddish words beneath. A horse-drawn carriage moves up a cobblestone street, most likely Jatkowa [Butcher] street. Camera tilts down on a building, showing people on the street below. 01:03:26 Shulhoyf (courtyard and adjacent alleys and lanes) of the Great Synagogue. A boy and a young man look at the camera. Young children play outside of a house, one boy follows the camera, attempting to remain within the shot.Woman sells fruit from baskets, CU of a young boy smiling at the camera. Three older woman sit on a stoop while a fourth offers them a plate of food. A younger woman approaches and briefly turns to look at the camera. People in a narrow street, tilts up to an apartment with a partially boarded up window. More street shots, people walking. Main street, most likely Zydowska [Jewish] street), archway. Women standing and sitting by large sacks of goods. Street shots of Vilna with locals. A man holds up a pair of pants, looking to see the size. An older woman sits at a table covered with fabric. More people, views of Shulhoyf architecture. An older woman sits in front of a building that reads in Polish “LAZNIE i WANNY” [Bath House and Steam Bath], with the same in Yiddish beneath פּאַרע וואַנע. and “KASA” with an arrow and the Yiddish. Open door with a wall next to it that reads “LAZNI i KOBIET” [Bath House for Women] and the Yiddish words with a pointing hand to the entrance beneath. CU of a Jewish man with a long beard.