There was clever matching of the location footage with studio shots , many using matte paintings for background , for example in shots of the western ghost town , " Soda City " . The famed Statue of Liberty sequence takes place on the torch platform , which had actually been closed to public access since the Black Tom sabotage in 1916 . A mock-up built for filming accurately depicted this part of the statue . The scene also used innovative visual effects . In particular , Lloyd lay on his side on a black saddle on a black floor while the camera was moved from close-up to 40 feet above him , making him appear to drop downward , away from the camera . Film taken from the top of the Statue was then superimposed onto the black background
Black Tom sabotage
Black Tom explosion
Saboteur (film)