The Great Train Robbery (1903)
A group of bandits attempt to rob a telegraph office and are eventually killed at the end. This film ends with the infamous last shot of one of the bandits shooting directly at the camera.
- from The Great Train Robbery (1903)
- Creator: Edwin S. Porter
- Posted by Kate Fortmueller
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Commentaries on this Media!
Expansion of the Nickelodeon and The Great Train Robbery
by Kate FortmuellerThe Great Train Robbery is well-known in a variety of contexts for film students. It is often cited as one of the first westerns and is well-known for its infamous last shot (where one of the bandits points a gun at the camera). This film was also very popular when it was released. As Richard Abel points out in "'Pathé Goes to Town': French Films Create a Market for the Nickelodeon," the popularity of this film predates the popularity boom of the Nickelodeon; although it cannot account for the immense growth of the Nickelodeon that would follow.
For more on nickelodeons and The Great Train Robbery, see: Richard Abel, "'Pathé Goes to Town': French Films Create a Market for the Nickelodeon," in Cinema Journal 35.1 (Fall 1995); 3-26.
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