Daybreak Express

Perhaps D.A. Pennebaker’s oeuvre can best be compared to one long road movie. With a remarkable talent for being in the right place at the right time, he captured almost all milestones in rock ‘n’ roll history. His swaying camera became a typical stylistic device, setting the pace for all subsequent rockumentaries.

Compared to these films, his firstling is very clean. In Daybreak Express the morning subway races in the direction of New York, set to Duke Ellington’s music. Owing to the combination of jazz rhythms and shots of sun-drenched skyscrapers the film could be considered a precursor of the video clip.

Courtesy of Pennebaker Hegedus Films.