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The Great Train Robbery

Rating

Director

Edwin S. Porter

Screenplay

Edwin S. Porter, Scott Marble

Length

11m

Starring

A.C. Abadie, Gilbert M. ‘Broncho Billy’ Anderson, George Barnes, Justus D. Barnes, Walter Cameron, John Manus Dougherty Sr., Donald Gallaher, Shadrack E. Graham, Frank Hanaway, Adam Charles Hayman, Morgan Jones, Robert Milasch, Marie Murray, Frederick T. Scott, Mary Snow

MPAA Rating

Pre-Ratings Board

Life of an American Fireman

Rating

Director

Edwin S. Porter, George S. Fleming

Screenplay

Edwin S. Porter

Length

6m

Starring

Edwin S. Porter, Vivian Vaughan, Arthur White, James H. White

MPAA Rating

Pre-Ratings Board

Review

Before we heard “The Sound of Music,” before film fans were “Gone With the Wind” and before “It Happened One Night,” Hollywood was a colorless, sound-less medium that begged for innovation and originality.

Not until 1927 did sound in the motion picture industry really get big. Yes, “Sunrise” experimented with sound effects, but it was “The Jazz Singer” that brought sound into its infancy.

Before then, the silent picture was growing artistically bold with late 20s works like “Metropolis” and “Sunrise,” both from European directors. However, projected motion pictures had their start over 30 years earlier. The Lumière brothers’ short film “Workers Leaving the Factory” launched film into the forefront of world attention in 1895.

Since the dawn of film, productions were limited to entertainment ventures with little to no camera movement, poor acting and standardized plots. Early experiments with editing began just after the turn of the century. Edwin S. Porter made a short film called “Life of an American Firemen.” It wasn’t much to look at and the plot was pretty standard. It was the story of a fire and the firemen who came to put it out. No big deal, but it was the first film to use the technique of cross-cutting. It went from the interior of the burning house to the exterior using very few cuts and introducing the two locations as linked, even though the interior was filmed on a studio set while the exterior was indeed exterior. It also gave us the first glimpse of a moving shot. The camera pans slowly left as the multitudes of fire trucks pass by.

There is some dispute of the accuracy of the films editing techniques. Some say that it wasn’t edited as such, but was later re-cut to appear as if it does now. Not to belittle the film, but it was ahead of its time whether the accuracy of the statement is true or not. However, there is definite no question that Porter’s next film did exactly what it was intended to do.

Porter his concepts from “Fireman” and put them to work in a lengthier, more original narrative “The Great Train Robbery.” It is quite simply the tale of a train robbery. What makes it unique is its use of editing. We don’t have to sit idly by and watch the action. We actually get to take part in the action, getting into close ups and medium shots. Other films of the time period were stagnating their shots, giving them a very clinical feel.

The acting isn’t much to behold, but the editing and moving camera are indeed reasons to pay attention. Other films of the period, because they were locked-down, didn’t have much in the way of emotional impact. They were novelties. Porter’s “Train Robbery” was different and begs to be held with high esteem in the pantheon of creative, innovative and artistically relevant silent features.

Review Written

December 25, 1999