The Great Train Robbery: The Impact On American Cinema

In chapter two of The Cultures of American Film, the main focus is the establishment of studios. As demand for films rose in the early 1900’s, production companies needed to expand; this lead to the creation of large scale studios.

The first place to look when you are looking into the history of film is the 1900s. The 1900s to 1910 is when the very first film machine was invented and used for the first time. The early technology of film was invented by and demonstrated by Raoul Gromain-sanson. Raoul presented his Cineorama system in the early 1900s. “Cineorama featured an enormous panoramic screen, onto which were projected ten simultaneous images side

It was Thomas Edison who was also responsible for the invention of Motion pictures . Thomas created equipment that would record and playback images so that they could be watched later on.

This essay will analyse and discuss The Great Train Robbery (1903) in relation to the narrative structure of silent cinema. The Edison Manufacturing Co, with the estimated budget of $150, produced The Great Train Robbery. Directed by Edwin S. Porter the film has a runtime of 11 minutes, with an aspect ratio of 1:33:1. The film was printed on 35mm hand coloured film and ran at 18 (FPS). The film was later released on December 1st 1903; the majority of the film was shot in New Jersey, USA.

The 1920's also saw the growth of the motion picture industry. It was highly influential and helped shape popular culture by promoting the diffusion of common values and attitudes nationwide. Soon movie studios began building elaborate movie palaces in cities, and by 1930, the movie attendance grew to about 115 million. Movies performed many purposes. It created national trends in clothing and hairstyles and even served as a form of sex education.

This new period created the films to become more realistic. The Movie Brats have created biggest blockbusters in American history, from Star Wars, The Godfather and Jaws.

This further demonstrates how the affluence of that period enabled people to support this industry and help its enormous growth. It was during the roaring 20s that the first real celebrities began to appear, with the ever-increasing role of cinema having a huge role to play. Similarly their fame contributed to the growing status of Hollywood and the American film industry. (Source J). Charlie Chaplin is one example of an actor that gained worldwide recognition in the twenties; he was particularly famous for his ‘highly visual style of acting’ (Soucre J). The 1920s was often referred to as “The Golden Age of Hollywood” (Source G) emphasizing how this period represents the era of greatest output in the United States movie market [an average of 800 films were produced annually]. ‘The cinema came of age in the 1920s and Hollywood confirmed its position as the “dream factory” of the English- speaking world. It was there that fame and fortune could be found.’ (Source J) This also highlights the growing image of Hollywood ‘throughout the roaring 20s, which started to represent wealth and achievement. ‘The establishment of the Academy Awards showed the maturing cinema as an industry confident of its own technical and artistic standards.’ (Source J) This further shows how there were many other expansions and transformations from this industry that occurred during this period. Artists, directors and other personalities of the film making industry received acknowledgement and recognition of their work in this industry. ‘The awards soon acquired international status’ (Source J) showing how Hollywood’s film industry developed into a global sensation that was supported by people all over

One thing that movie entertainment fulfilled was attracting people to the big screen. For example, I can introduce this quote: “In just eight years, from 1922 to 1930, weekly U.S. movie attendance soared from about forty percent to over ninety percent of the population” (americainclass). This shows how in just eight years movie popularity spiked, where as about 40 million Americans went to motion picture theatres on a weekly basis. As the brink of silent films came to society and the evolution of the industry had risen, going to the movie theatre became a weekly event. This transition in entertainment, from stand-up comedy/plays to movies, was remarkable. The huge trend and liking for going to the movies impacted America in the way it had reshaped entertainment. Movie companies like Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros made a lot of money and success. The industry became very rich. Going to the movie theatre in the 20s was classy, fashionable, and it became a

After World War I, many Americans had money to spare and the time to enjoy it. In 1929, Americans spent $4.5 billion on entertainment, which was mostly on changing fads. By 1925, filmmaking had become the fourth largest industry in America. More than 20,000 movie houses did business nationwide. Before World War I, silent films were shown in small nickelodeons, which only cost a nickel. After the war, entrepreneurs began to build luxurious movie houses, known as picture palaces since they were plentifully decorated with velvet

People had very little money, but many people still went to the movies. 90,000,000 Americans went to a movie weekly, which is about three times the amount that went in the 1920s (“Good” 1). From 1930 to 1948, Hollywood was in its Golden Age. More than that, however, the color and sound industry of movies was becoming more advanced than ever before (Dirks part 1). Some very popular movies today are actually from the 1930s, such as The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and

Modern film was brought to the Americas when the Kinetoscope, the basic film viewer, was first invented by Thomas Edison in 1889. This, along with his Kinetograph allowed short films to be displayed in Kinetoscope parlors; these would later evolve into the movie theaters of today. Many people loved the concept of movies because they allowed one to see different events from the comfort of a theater. Films however do more than just entertain they can also impact society in a beneficial or harmful way. This essay will explore the history of film, its changes throughout time, and its impact on American culture.

The birth of film began in 1872, when Leland Stanford bet a friend that a horse lifts all four of its legs off the ground when running. To settle the disagreement, Stanford employed photographer Eadweard Muybridge to take pictures. After settling the debate, Muybridge developed the first primitive cinema that he called “zoöpraxiscope”. The first films lasted only about a minute long, were black and white, and had no entertainment

Ever since its first introduction in 1893, motion pictures have become a remarkably successful medium that portray drama and arouse the audiences’ emotions. It allowed for the audience to escape from the hassles of everyday life and immerse themselves into the world of the story’s narrative. From the 1920s to the 1960s, motion pictures began to dramatically develop, building on the practices established from the previous years of film. Prior to this period, motion pictures were only silent films. In 1927 and the early 1950s, the addition of sound and color began to revolutionize film aesthetics and the industry as a whole.

In the 1880s, the Wild West was the theme of many shows such as the famous Wild West Show by Buffalo Bill. By 1900, the theme is already so popular that it naturally became a source of inspiration for the pioneers of the film industry. In 1903, hollywood released the first Western movie “The Great Train Robbery”. It is a twenty minutes silent movie written, produced, and directed by Edwin S. Porter. This production was directly inspired by the true story of the Wild Bunch gang also know as the Doolin-Dalton gang during the 1890s (Clapham). The Western became officially a film genre in the 1920s.

Film production in the 1920’s was when the movie business expanded immensly. With new technologies creating movie theaters, film makers were able to let the public see the movies they made. Movie theatres were large and a very common place to go to during the 1920’s also known as the “Roaring 20’s”. With this new increase of movies, actors and actresses are needed, therefore making them incredibly weathly. The 1920’s started the birth of sound in films called “talkies”. Entertainment in the 1920’s expanded quickly and was dominating.