The Great Train Robbery
1903 · 12m · USA
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
Genres: action, crime, western
A gang of outlaws hold up a telegraph operator, rob a moving train, and flee into the wilderness — only to be tracked down by a posse in one of cinema's earliest narrative films.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Cross-cutting was born here and the direct-to-camera gunshot still has more punch than a Marvel third act. Twelve minutes, no apologies.
Porter's cross-cutting and direct-to-camera muzzle flash are foundational, and the Smithsonian's print is a generous public service. The film inaugurates American narrative cinema with one decisive gesture.
Porter's cross-cutting between the robbery and the posse is the moment narrative editing was invented, and that direct-to-camera gunshot was actually projected onto theater walls to terrify 1903 audiences. 11:50 runtime per YouTube — every minute is foundational.
Reviews
The most influential of all the early US films and it was the first to tell a definite story.
A landmark in the development of the American film industry and the narrative form.