| The Great Train Robbery |
 | | Directed by | Edwin S. Porter | | Written by | Edwin S. Porter,
Scott Marble (1896 story) | | Starring | Justus D. Barnes,
Gilbert M. Anderson | | Distributed by | Edison Manufacturing Company (1903) | | Release date(s) | December 1, 1903 (USA) | | Running time | 12 mins | | Language | Silent | | All Movie Guide profile | | IMDb profile | The Great Train Robbery is a 1903 western film. The film is only twelve minutes long, but is a milestone in film making. The film used a number of innovative techniques including cross cutting, double exposure composite editing, camera movement and on location shooting. Cross-cuts were a new, sophisticated editing technique. Some prints were also hand colored in certain scenes. None of the techniques were original to The Great Train Robbery, but no previous movie had combined them to such a dramatic effect. The film uses simple editing techniques (each scene is a single shot) and the story is mostly linear (with only a few "meanwhile" moments) but it represents a significant step in movie making, being one of the first "narrative" movies of significant length. It was quite successful in theaters and was imitated many times. Image File history File links Grea. ...
Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 - April 30, 1941) was an influential early film pioneer. ...
Broncho Billy Anderson (March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, director, and producer, who is best-known as the first star of the Western film genre. ...
December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...
1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...
Broncho Billy Anderson, from The Great Train Robbery The Western movie is one of the classic American film genres. ...
Special effects (FX): 3-D film for movie history Stereoscopy for 3D technical details 3-D computer graphics Computer-generated imagery Digital compositing Optical effects Bluescreen/chroma key Stop trick Stop motion Editing: Timecode A Roll B Roll Cross cutting Cutaway Cut in Cut out Dissolve Establishing shot Hairy Arm...
Cross-cutting refers to a technique of film editing in which consecutive shots alternate between two or more actions. ...
The movie was directed and photographed by Edwin S. Porter, a former Thomas Edison cameraman. Actors in the movie included A.C. Abadie, Broncho Billy Anderson and Justus D. Barnes, although there were no credits. Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 - April 30, 1941) was an influential early film pioneer. ...
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century. ...
Broncho Billy Anderson (March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, director, and producer, who is best-known as the first star of the Western film genre. ...
The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ...
Edison Film Catalog Description (synopsis) (With thanks to the Library of Congress website)
From Edison Films catalog, no. 200, Jan. 1904: "This sensational and highly tragic subject will certainly make a decided `hit' whenever shown. In every respect we consider it absolutely the superior of any moving picture ever made. It has been posed and acted in faithful duplication of the genuine `Hold Ups' made famous by various outlaw bands in the far West, and only recently the East has been shocked by several crimes of the frontier order, which fact will increase the popular interest in this great Headline Attraction.
Scene 1 — Interior of railroad telegraph office. Two masked robbers enter and compel the operator to set the `signal block' to stop the approaching train, also making him write a fictitious order to the engineer to take water at this station....
Scene 2 — At the railroad water tank. The bandit band are seen hiding behind the tank as a train stops to take water (according to false order). Just before she pulls out they stealthily board the train between the express car and the tender.
Scene 3 — Interior of express car.... the two robbers have succeeded in effecting an entrance. They enter cautiously. The messenger opens fire on them. A desperate pistol duel takes place, in which the messenger is killed. One of the robbers stands watch while the other tries to open the treasure box. Finding it locked, he searches the messenger for the key. Not finding it, he blows the safe up with dynamite.... [end of part 1]
Scene 4 — The fight on the tender. This thrilling scene was taken from the mail car showing the tender and interior of locomotive cab, while the train is running forty miles an hour....
Scene 5 — The train uncoupled....
Scene 6 — Exterior of passenger coaches. The bandits compel the passengers to leave coaches with hands aloft, and line up along the tracks. One of the robbers covers them with large pistols in either hand, while the others ransack travelers' pockets. A passenger makes an attempt to escape, but is instantly shot down....
Scene 7 — The escape. The desperadoes board the locomotive with their booty, command the engineer to start his machine, and disappear in the distance.
Scene 8 — Off to the mountains. The robbers bring the engine to a stop several miles from the scene of the `Hold Up,' and take to the mountains. [end of part 2]
Scene 9 — A beautiful scene in a valley. The bandits come down the side of a hill on a run and cross a narrow stream. Mounting their horses, which were tied to nearby trees, they vanish into the wilderness.
Scene 10 — Interior of telegraph office. The operator lies bound and gagged on the floor. After a desperate struggle, he succeeds in standing up. Leaning on the table, he telegraphs for assistance by manipulating the key with his chin, and then faints from exhaustion. His little daughter enters.... cuts the ropes, and, throwing a glass of water in his face, restores him to consciousness. Arising in a bewildered manner, he suddenly recalls his thrilling experience, and rushes forth to summon assistance.
Scene 11 — Interior of a dance hall.... typical Western dance house scene.... Suddenly the door opens and the half dead telegraph operator staggers in. The crowd gathers around him, while he relates what has happened.... The men secure their guns and hastily leave in pursuit of the outlaws.
Scene 12 — The posse in pursuit. Shows the robbers dashing down a rugged mountain at a terrible pace, followed closely by a large posse, both parties firing as they proceed. One of the desperadoes is shot....
Scene 13 — The remaining three bandits, thinking they had eluded their pursuers, have dismounted from their horses.... [and] begin to examine the contents of the mail bags.... The pursuers, having left their horses, steal noiselessly down upon them until they are completely surrounded. A desperate battle then takes place. After a brave stand, all of the robbers and several of the posse bite the dust.
Scene 14 — Realism. A life size picture of Barnes, leader of the outlaw band, taking aim and firing point blank at each individual in the audience. (This effect is gained by foreshortening in making the picture). "The resulting excitement is great. This section of the scene can be used either to begin the subject or to end it, as the operator may choose." (p. 5-8) am Nov--98
Great Train Robbery still, public domain film Public domain film, from [1] The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States. ...
Great Train Robbery still, public domain film Public domain film, from [1] The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States. ...
Library of Congress information The Library of Congress includes this information with the copyright:
The Great Train Robbery Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 1Dec1903; H38748. Duration: 3:30 (part 1), 3:54 (part 2), and 4:18 (part 3) at 18 fps. Director and camera: Edwin S. Porter. Cast: George M. Anderson, Justus D. Barnes (head bandit), Walter Cameron (sheriff). Filmed in November 1903 at Edison's New York studio, at Essex County Park in New Jersey, and along the Lackawanna railroad.
Trivia - Though a western, the movie was filmed in New Jersey.
- The film was originally distributed with a note saying that the famous shot of the bandit firing his gun at the camera could be placed either at the beginning or at the end of the film, or both. Most modern prints put it at the end. Audiences at the time, for whom moving pictures were still very new and unfathomable, would usually scream in fear, then laugh in relief.
- Edison also made a parody of The Great Train Robbery (The Little Train Robbery (1905)) with an all-child cast in which a larger gang of bandits holds up a mini train and steal their dolls and candy.[1]
- The final shot is homaged in Martin Scorcese's Goodfellas when Joe Pesci's character fires a gun into the camera (and at the audience) at the end of the movie. Scorsese payed homage to it again in The Departed, in which Mark Walberg's character fires a gun directly into the camera and at the audience.
Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area Ranked 47th - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²) - Width 70 miles (110 km) - Length 150 miles (240 km) - % water 14. ...
Martin Scorsese (born November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York, USA) is an American film director. ...
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Joseph Pesci (born February 9, 1943), or Joe Pesci, is an Italian-American Academy Award-winning actor, comedian and singer who is often typecast as a violent mobster or grouchy funnyman. ...
The Departed is a film by director Martin Scorsese, released on October 6, 2006. ...
Mark Lewis Walberg (born August 31, 1962 in Florence, South Carolina) is an American actor and comic perhaps best known as a game show host for Temptation Island, Free 4 All, The Big Date, Russian Roulette, and On The Cover. ...
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