The Great Train Robbery (1903 film)
Encyclopedia
The Great Train Robbery is a 1903 American action
Western
film by Edwin S. Porter
. Twelve minutes long, it is considered a milestone in film making, expanding on Porter's previous work Life of an American Fireman
. 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, and it is now considered that it was heavily influenced by Frank Mottershaw
's earlier British film A Daring Daylight Burglary.
The movie was directed and photographed by Edwin S. Porter
, a former Edison Studios
cameraman. Actors in the movie included Alfred C. Abadie
, Broncho Billy Anderson
and Justus D. Barnes
, although there were no credits. Though a Western, it was filmed in Milltown, New Jersey
. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
.
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 an 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. Full frame of Barnes, leader of the outlaw band, taking aim and firing point blank at the audience. (This effect was 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)
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 frame/s.
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.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film by Edwin S. Porter
Edwin S. Porter
Edwin Stanton Porter was an American early film pioneer, most famous as a director with Thomas Edison's company...
. Twelve minutes long, it is considered a milestone in film making, expanding on Porter's previous work Life of an American Fireman
Life of an American Fireman
Life of an American Fireman is a short, silent film Edwin S. Porter made for the Edison Manufacturing Company. It was shot late in 1902 and distributed early in 1903...
. The film used a number of innovative techniques including cross cutting, double exposure
Multiple exposure
In photography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more individual exposures to create a single photograph. The exposure values may or may not be identical to each other.-Overview:...
composite editing, camera movement and on location
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
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, and it is now considered that it was heavily influenced by Frank Mottershaw
Frank Mottershaw
Frank Mottershaw was an early English cinema director based in Sheffield, Yorkshire. His films, A Daring Daylight Burglary and The Robbery of the Mail Coach , made in April and September 1903, are regarded as highly influential on the development of Edwin Porter’s paradigmatic...
's earlier British film A Daring Daylight Burglary.
The movie was directed and photographed by Edwin S. Porter
Edwin S. Porter
Edwin Stanton Porter was an American early film pioneer, most famous as a director with Thomas Edison's company...
, a former Edison Studios
Edison Studios
Edison Studios was an American motion picture production company owned by the Edison Company of inventor Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films as the Edison Manufacturing Company and Thomas A. Edison, Inc. until the studio's closing in 1918...
cameraman. Actors in the movie included Alfred C. Abadie
Alfred C. Abadie
Alfred Camille Abadie was an American photographer and pioneer filmmaker who worked for Thomas Edison, specializing in actuality films, a predecessor to the standard form of documentary.- Biography :...
, Broncho Billy Anderson
Broncho Billy Anderson
Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who is best known as the first star of the Western film genre.-Early life:...
and Justus D. Barnes
Justus D. Barnes
Justus D. Barnes was an American film actor, most famous for his role as an outlaw in The Great Train Robbery, a Western and the first movie with a complete narrative made. He is seen pointing his gun directly at the camera, a famous scene...
, although there were no credits. Though a Western, it was filmed in Milltown, New Jersey
Milltown, New Jersey
Milltown is a Borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 6,893.Milltown was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 29, 1889, from portions of North Brunswick Township, based on the...
. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
Cast
- Alfred C. AbadieAlfred C. AbadieAlfred Camille Abadie was an American photographer and pioneer filmmaker who worked for Thomas Edison, specializing in actuality films, a predecessor to the standard form of documentary.- Biography :...
– Sheriff - Broncho Billy AndersonBroncho Billy AndersonGilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who is best known as the first star of the Western film genre.-Early life:...
– Bandit / Shot Passenger / Tenderfoot Dancer - Justus D. BarnesJustus D. BarnesJustus D. Barnes was an American film actor, most famous for his role as an outlaw in The Great Train Robbery, a Western and the first movie with a complete narrative made. He is seen pointing his gun directly at the camera, a famous scene...
– Bandit Who Fires At Camera - Walter Cameron – Sheriff
- Donald GallaherDonald GallaherDonald Gallaher was an American actor.Gallaher was born in Quincy, Illinois. After moving to New York City as a child with his mother, he began acting in productions such as A Royal Family....
– Little Boy - Frank Hanaway – Bandit
- Adam Charles Hayman – Bandit
- John Manus Dougherty Sr. – Fourth Bandit
- Marie Murray – Dance-Hall Dancer
- Mary Snow – Little Girl
Others
- George Barnes – (uncredited)
- Morgan Jones – (uncredited)
Edison Film Catalogue description
From Edison Films Catalogue, 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 an 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
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
.
Scene 14 — Realism. Full frame of Barnes, leader of the outlaw band, taking aim and firing point blank at the audience. (This effect was 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)
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 frame/s.
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.
Miscellaneous notes
- The film was originally distributed with a note saying 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.
- Edison also made a parody of The Great Train Robbery (The Little Train RobberyThe Little Train RobberyThe Little Train Robbery is a parodic sequel to the 1903 film The Great Train Robbery, released on September 1, 1905. Both were directed by Edwin S...
) (1905) with an all-child cast in which a larger gang of bandits holds up a mini train and steal their dolls and candy.http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmpfr.html#DR - The final shot is paid homage in Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's GoodfellasGoodfellasGoodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
when Joe PesciJoe PesciJoseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
's character fires a gun at the camera at the end of the movie. - Ridley ScottRidley ScottSir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
also paid homage after the final credits of American Gangster when Denzel WashingtonDenzel WashingtonDenzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
's character in a darkened bar fires a gun into the camera. - The .45 Long Colt shot clip appears in the historical introduction to the film TombstoneTombstone (film)Tombstone is a 1993 American action film set in the Old West directed by George P. Cosmatos, along with uncredited directorial efforts by actor Kurt Russell and writer Kevin Jarre. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Jarre....
, as do numerous other clips from the film, notably the man shot while attempting to escape the robbers. - It is believed that the sequence with Justus D. Barnes was the inspiration for the gun barrel sequence in James Bond movies.
External links
- Download from the Library of Congress (in MPEG-1MPEG-1MPEG-1 is a standard for lossy compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality raw digital video and CD audio down to 1.5 Mbit/s without excessive quality loss, making video CDs, digital cable/satellite TV and digital audio broadcasting possible.Today, MPEG-1 has become...
, RealVideoRealVideoRealVideo is a suite of proprietary video compression formats developed by RealNetworks – the specific format changes with the version. It was first released in 1997 and is at version 10. RealVideo is supported on many platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and several mobile...
or QuickTimeQuickTimeQuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
format) - Great Films: The Great Train Robbery