Released in 1903
American
Silent, black and white
11 minute run time
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
Starring: Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, A.C. Abadie, George Barnes
(watched via the Landmarks of Early Film dvd from Netflix)
According to the 1001 Movies book, this is often considered the first Western film. It certainly has cowboys and horses and the cavalry, much like many of the (especially early) Western films I've seen. It also has a group of guys stealing a train, which was pretty cool, and then riding off with their ill gotten gains, which was also cool, and then being chased down by other guys, which was a little confusing, and then going to a dance with some excitable looking ladies, which made no sense to me at all.
The early silent films don't have title cards like the later ones, but A Trip to the Moon had a narrator who told part of the story so I could follow along relatively easily. The Great Train Robbery did not and because of the old black and white coloring and the lack of abundant lighting in some scenes, I got a little lost on what was going on. I'm still not exactly sure who won in the end, the train robbers or the guys who were hunting them down. Still, it was cool to watch overall and the end shot of the guy shooting directly into the audience was neat.
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