Western Wednedays: The Great Train Robbery

I recently watched this film (for the second or third time) for my film studies class. Since I'm busy with school right now I figured I review it for Western Wednesdays as its fairly short and therefore easy to review briefly...

     The Great Train Robbery was released in 1903. It is directed by Edwin S. Porter, a director working for Thomas Edison's film production company, Edison Studios. It tells the story of three bandits who rob a train and abscond with the money, only to be caught and gunned down by a posse.

     The Great Train Robbery is one of the most innovative and influential films ever made. It was one of the first films to use cross cutting, showing two scenes which happen at the same time but in different places. Early in the film the bank robbers attack and tie up a telegraph operator. After they leave his daughter arrives, unties him and then proceeds to recruit a posse to track down the robbers. However, this scene is not shown until after the events of the robbery, even though it takes place at the same time. This technique would become quite common in other films. It was also one of the first motion pictures to use panning shots and location shooting. Besides this, its financial success helped to make film a viable commercial medium.

     Beyond its impact on film in general this film has had a marked influence on the western genre. The plot, involving the robbery of a train, is one that is seen quite often in western movies, most notably Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), a film about the exploits of two famous bank robbers whose robbery of a train in Wyoming in 1900 also inspired this film. In the scene where the telegraph officer's daughter goes to the dance-hall to gather together the posse one man is scene shooting at another feet to make him dance, this is also commonly seen in western films and novels.

This shot, of one of the robbers firing at the audience, was shown at the beginning or the end of the film depending on the projectionists whim.

     Does it hold up? Kind of, if you like older silent films. The stunts are not that well done (at least by modern standards) and the cross cutting is somewhat confusing (a more experienced editor might have cut back and forth between the robbers and their pursuers more often) but the location shooting gives the movie a more realistic feel than many other films of the this era and robbery and the shootouts are still fairly exciting. If nothing else, The Great Train Robbery is worth seeing for its important place in film history. It is only 12 minutes long after all.

Score: 8/10