The Great Train Robbery (1903)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Writers:

Release Date:

1 December 1903 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Crime | Western

Plot:

A group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Bandit | Sheriff | Train Station | Posse

Awards:

1 win

Cast

A.C. Abadie	...	Sheriff (uncredited)
Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson	...	Bandit / Shot Passenger / Tenderfoot Dancer (uncredited)
George Barnes	...	(uncredited)
Justus D. Barnes	...	Bandit Who Fires at Camera (uncredited)
Walter Cameron	...	Sheriff (uncredited)
John Manus Dougherty Sr.	...	Fourth Bandit (uncredited)
Donald Gallaher	...	Little Boy (uncredited)
Frank Hanaway	...	Bandit (uncredited)
Adam Charles Hayman	...	Bandit (uncredited)
Morgan Jones	...	(uncredited)
Tom London	...	Extra (uncredited)
Marie Murray	...	Dance-Hall Dancer (uncredited)
Mary Snow	...	Little Girl (uncredited)

Runtime:

11 min (18 fps) (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (hand-colored)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Dover, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Edison Manufacturing Company

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the bandits rob the train and drive away with the engine it is on the right rail-track. When they stop to proceed on horseback the train is on the left.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Flying Nun: The Great Casino Robbery: Part 1 (#2.16)" (1969)

Porter's innovative early film

This film, often lauded as one of the first movies to include a linear narrative within its running time, came out of the Edison company over a hundred years ago, following their experiments in the previous decades with shorter topical pieces such as cockfighting, dancers, and other limited scenarios.

'The Great Train Robbery' is a simple enough story - a train is robbed, there is a shoot-out. The interesting scenes for me were the ones where the passengers are held at gunpoint while their valuables are collected, the shoot-out with its hand-coloured bursts of gunfire, and the famous final shot where a gun is fired directly at the audience. Not too frightening now, but back in those days this was quite an innovation.

Historically important and with a basic plot still in use today, this film holds significant interest for a wide audience (and will take less than a quarter of an hour of your time to view).