The Great Train Robbery (1 digital object(s)) Archives / Film, Video and Sound

Record information

1

The Great Train Robbery

Item number (ISN):

18599

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1903-11

Item number (ISN):

18599

Type of material:

Moving images

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

Fonds/collection:

THUNDERBIRD FILMS

Accession:

1973-0168

Media:

Film

Original title:

The Great Train Robbery

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

1903-11

Release date:

1903-12

Production responsibility:

Edison Manufacturing Company

Production credit:

director/scenario, Edwin S. Porter; photography, J. Blair Smith

Cast credit:

Gilbert (George) M. (Maxwell) Anderson, Justus D. Barnes, Walter Cameron

Country of production:

us

Distributor name:

Kinetograph Company

Description:

Bandits tie up a telegraph operator and rob a train, celebrate their success, but are arrested by a posse.~The script, sophisticated for 1903, was loosely based on a popular play and on true stories and derived to some extent from several successful "chase" films made in Britain. Porter used both studio sets and exteriors, tricks similar to modern process shots, and a pan for dramatic effect (the horses waiting for the bandits). This "feature" film was an enormous success in the Nickelodeons and increased their popularity.~One of the bandits (Barnes) is shown in a close-up, firing at the audience. This shot was intended to be shown at the beginning or end of the film. <12mn 35s>

Language:

Silent

Notes:

1. U.S. copyright 1 December 1903, H38748.~2. Anderson claimed joint direction with Porter in a 1961 interview. He played several roles in the film.~3. In "A Million and One Nights" (1926) Terry Ramsaye adds Frank Hanaway (as a bandit) and Mae Murray (as a dancer in the dance hall sequence) to the list of players. He also attributed an incorrect first name to Barnes.~4. Shot at Edison's New York studio and in New Jersey at Essex County Park and along the Lackawanna Railroad.~5. The running time is based on the measured length of the print calculated at 16 fps.~6. Silent without intertitles.

Genre:

WESTERN

Detailed holdings information:

Vault ISN:

16392

Format:

FILM

Location number:

7301-0079

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

SIL

Stock:

REL PRT

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

REF

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Copyright status:

Copyright expired.

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