The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Hand coloured. The way Edwin S. Porter wanted it, apparently. Over the last few days I've been having a bit of a D.W. Griffith marathon but after watching the spectacular The Birth of a Nation over the last couple of days I could do with something a bit more light-hearted before I get round to reviewing that controversial title. So I went back to my cinema mapbook, 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die , for another classic early silent. As I covered A Trip To The Moon last time, it seems logical to look at the book's next-oldest film, Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery. The Great Train Robbery has been praised as a film which introduced a number of new techniques which are now used in practically every production. A good example of this is cross-cutting, where the camera cuts to show two different locations, both with action occurring, but shown to be happening at the same time. Though it's notable here for its introduction, it would still be another...