Prior to THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, all early silent movies did were show things like horses running, people dancing and kissing, even sneezing. THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY was the first movie to tell an actual story, thus explaining and justifying its place in American film history. A railroad clerk is accosted by a gang of bandits who tie him up to prevent him from sending a telegraph. The thieves then board the train, kill the stoker and throws the body from the train (there is an edit cut that shows a dummy being substituted for the actor that is pretty fluid for its time). Admittedly, when some of the people are shot, their histrionics are over the top as they die. But you'd have take into consideration that acting on camera was something new in 1903. Also, a lot of things that have become western clichés were introduced here: the kerchiefs over the bandits' faces; the tenderfoot being made to "dance" by having guns fired at his feet; the gathering of the posse and "head 'em off at the pass" chases. This is the movie that also contains one of my all-time favorite movie images: the cowboy pointing his pistol at the camera and firing it. There were stories that when this movie "premiered", audiences ducked in terror at that moment. Who knows? Without this movie, there may never have been a John Wayne, Clint Eastwood or "Gunsmoke".
Review of The Great Train Robbery
