The Great Train Robbery is a 1903 American silent short Western film written, produced, and directed 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 was inspired by Scott Marble's 1896 stage play, and may also have been inspired by a 1900 train robbery perpetrated by Butch Cassidy.[2][3]
At twelve minutes long, The Great Train Robbery film is considered a milestone in film making, expanding on Porter's previous work Life of an American Fireman. The film used a number of then-unconventional techniques, including composite editing, on-location shooting, and frequent camera movement. The film is one of the earliest to use the technique of cross cutting, in which two scenes are shown to be occurring simultaneously but in different locations. Some prints were also hand colored in certain scenes. Techniques used in The Great Train Robbery were inspired by those used in Frank Mottershaw's British film A Daring Daylight Burglary, released earlier in the year.[4] Film historians now largely consider The Great Train Robbery to be the first American action film and the first Western film with a "recognizable form".[5][6]
In 1990, The Great Train Robbery was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Release and reception
The Great Train Robbery had its official debut at Huber's Museum in New York City before being exhibited at eleven theaters elsewhere in the city.[12] In advertising for the film, Edison agents touted the film as "...absolutely the superior of any moving picture ever made"[13] as well as a "...faithful imitation of the genuine 'Hold Ups' made famous by various outlaw bands in the far West..."[13][8]
The film's budget was an estimated $150, equal to $4183 today.[1] Upon its release, The Great Train Robbery became a massive success and is considered one of the first Western films.[14] It is also considered one of the first blockbusters and was one of the most popular films of the silent era until the release of The Birth of a Nation in 1915.
In popular culture:
The final scene of Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Goodfellas, in which the character Tommy Devito shoots at the camera, recreates this film's final scene as a homage. Scorsese has been quoted as saying the shot is "...a reference right to the end of The Great Train Robbery... and basically the plot of this picture is very similar to The Great Train Robbery."
From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Train_Robbery_(1903_film)
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