The Great Train Robbery (movie) - Definition

Justus D. Barnes in a famous still from The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery is a 1903 western film. The film is only twelve minutes long, but it is a milestone in film making. The film used a number of innovative techniques including parallel editing, camera movement and location shooting. Jump-cuts or cross-cuts were a new, sophisticated editing technique. The film also employed the first pan shots.

The scenes with the gun pointing at the audience and the train rushing towards the audience had audiences at the time screaming in fear, then laughing in relief.

The movie was directed and photographed by Edwin S. Porter, a former Thomas Edison cameraman. The movie starred A.C. Abadie, Bronco Billy Anderson and Justus D. Barnes, although there were no credits.

The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

• "The Great Train Robbery" was also the name of an unrelated movie made in 1979.
• The Great Train Robbery of 1963 was a real-life event unrelated to either film.