The Great Train Robbery

"The Great Train Robbery" (1903) is often erroneously considered to be the first narrative film. It is not even the first narrative film from its director and writer, Edwin S. Porter. It is better described as the first blockbuster of the pre-nickelodeon era and possibly the first movie to parodied.

The movie is based on a real-life train robbery by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and "A Daring Daylight Burglary", a British movie from earlier that year that was extensively pirated within the US. It was also influenced by Porter's earlier film, "Life of an American Fireman". Many of the innovative techniques that many people think were first used in "The Great Train Robbery", such as cross-cutting, were actually used in earlier films. Perhaps "The Great Train Robbery" was the first film were they actually worked.

Edwin S. Porter  explored the dramatic potential of trains not just through there movement, but by contrasting movement with the unmoving train interior through matte layering. And it is still a decent story with more exciting action than some recent movies. Here it is on youtube if you have not already seen it: