The Great Train Robbery
Short description
The Great Train Robbery is a short Western about a gang of outlaws who carry out a carefully planned robbery at a remote railroad station. They overpower the telegraph operator and leave him tied up, then board a departing train, force their way into a mail car and take what it holds. They stop the train, make the passengers line up and relieve them of their money and valuables, then flee. A young girl finds the bound man and raises the alarm, and a posse sets off after the gang.
The film was made by Edwin S. Porter, who directed it and wrote and produced it for the Edison company. The cast, most of them uncredited, includes Gilbert M. Anderson, later known as Broncho Billy, along with John Manus Dougherty Sr., Frank Hanaway, Adam Charles Hayman, Robert Milasch and Marie Murray. Running only about twelve minutes, it was released in December 1903 and is among the earliest American Westerns to tell a sustained story on screen, using the robbery and chase as its spine. Much of its reputation rests on the bandit leader's direct address to the camera.
On IMDb, The Great Train Robbery holds a 7.4 rating from roughly 22,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7 out of 10 from 724 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from a small handful of reviews places it slightly above the audience scores, suggesting that those who assess the film historically rate it a little more favourably than general viewers do.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on a story by Scott Marble, written in 1896. However, the screenplay also draws on real events that occurred later than Marble's book. On August 29, 1900, four criminals from the 'Hole in the Wall' gang, led by the legendary figure of many subsequent Westerns, Butch Cassidy, attacked Union Pacific train No. 3 passing through Table Rock, Wyoming. The bandits forced the conductor to detach the passenger cars, then blew up the safe in the mail car and escaped with $5,000 in cash.
- Edwin S. Porter, inspired by Méliès' famous 'A Trip to the Moon,' became eager to make a similar film using technical techniques unusual for the time. The film employs innovations such as cross-cutting (changing episodes creating the impression of simultaneous on-screen action) and double exposure. Finally, location shooting instead of purely studio work created a complete sense of realism.
- The film consists of 14 scenes, which were shot in November 1903 in New Jersey, where Thomas A. Edison's New Studio was located. Specifically, the railroad episodes were filmed on the Lackawanna Railroad, near Paterson, New Jersey. All other scenes of 'The Great Train Robbery' were filmed in Essex County Park near West Orange, New Jersey.
- The use of the most modern special effects, and especially the final scene, shocked audiences at the premiere.
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