Edwin S. Porter
Directing
Edwin Stanton Porter was an American film pioneer, most famous as a producer, director, studio manager and cinematographer with the Edison Manufacturing Company and the Famous Players Film Company. Influenced by both the "Brighton school" and the story films of Georges Méliès, Porter went on to make important shorts such as Life of an American Fireman (1903) and The Great Train Robbery (1903). In them, he helped to develop the modern concept of continuity editing, paving the way for D.W. Griffith who would expand on Porter's discovery that the unit of film structure was the shot rather than the scene. Porter, in an attempt to resist the new industrial system born out of the popularity of nickelodeons, left Edison in 1909 to form his own production company which he eventually sold in 1912. Porter remains an enigmatic figure in motion picture history. Though his significance as director of The Great Train Robbery and other innovative early films is undeniable, he rarely repeated an innovation after he had used it successfully, never developed a consistent directorial style, and in later years never protested when others rediscovered his techniques and claimed them as their own. He was a modest, quiet, cautious man who felt uncomfortable working with the famous stars he directed starting in 1912. He has directed four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Life of an American Fireman (1903), The Great Train Robbery (1903), Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) and Tess of the Storm Country (1914).
Known for
Directing139
movieBella Donna
1915
Director
movieZaza
1915
Director
movieThe White Pearl
1915
Director
Sold
1915
Director
movieThe Eternal City
1915
Director
movieWhen We Were Twenty-One
1915
Director
movieNiobe
1915
Director
movieThe Morals of Marcus
1915
Director
movieThe Crucible
1914
Director
movieSuch a Little Queen
1914
Director
movieA Good Little Devil
1914
Director
movieHearts Adrift
1914
Director
movieHis Neighbor's Wife
1913
Director
movieThe Prisoner of Zenda
1913
Director
movieThe Price
1911
Director
movieOn the Brink
1911
Director
movieA Heroine of '76
1911
Director
movieThe Attack on the Mill
1910
Director
Faust
1909
Director
movieThe House of Cards
1909
Director
She
1908
Director
movieLaughing Gas
1907
Director
movieCollege Chums
1907
Director
movieJack the Kisser
1907
Director
movieRivals
1907
Director
movieCohen’s Fire Sale
1907
Director
movieThe 'Teddy' Bears
1907
Director
Poor John
1907
Director
movieGetting Evidence
1906
Director
movieWaiting at the Church
1906
Director
movieLife of a Cowboy
1906
Director
movieThree American Beauties
1906
Director
movieA Winter Straw Ride
1906
Director
movieThe Train Wreckers
1905
Director
movieThe Miller’s Daughter
1905
Director
movieThe Watermelon Patch
1905
Director
movieThe White Caps
1905
Director
movieConey Island at Night
1905
Director
movieThe Seven Ages
1905
Director
movieThe Kleptomaniac
1905
Director
movieScarecrow Pump
1904
Director
movieThe Ex-Convict
1904
Director
movieEuropean Rest Cure
1904
Director
movieJapanese Acrobats
1904
Director
movieThe Great Train Robbery
1903
Director
movieUncle Tom's Cabin
1903
Director
movieThe Unappreciated Joke
1903
Director
movieWhite Wings on Review
1903
Director
movieJack and the Beanstalk
1902
Director
movieCharleston Chain-Gang
1902
Director
movieDay at the Circus
1901
Director
movieA Dull Razor
1900
Director
movieAn Artist's Dream
1900
Director
The Kiss
1900
Director
movieUncle Josh's Nightmare
1900
Director
movieDewar's Scotch Whisky
1900
Director
Camera62
movieTess of the Storm Country
1914
Director of Photography
movieA Good Little Devil
1914
Director of Photography
movieHearts Adrift
1914
Director of Photography
movieThe Count of Monte Cristo
1913
Director of Photography
The Gentleman Burglar
1908
Camera Operator
A Country Girl's Seminary Life and Experiences
1908
Camera Operator
movieCupid’s Pranks
1908
Director of Photography
movieFireside Reminiscences
1908
Camera Operator
movieGetting Evidence
1906
Director of Photography
movieKathleen Mavourneen
1906
Camera Operator
movieHow the Office Boy Saw the Ball Game
1906
Director of Photography
movieThe Terrible Kids
1906
Camera Operator
movieThree American Beauties
1906
Director of Photography
movieA Winter Straw Ride
1906
Director of Photography
movieThe Night Before Christmas
1905
Director of Photography
Desperate Encounter Between Burglar and Police
1905
Camera Operator
Empire State Express, the Second, Taking Water on the Fly
1905
Camera Operator
movieThe Burglar's Slide for Life
1905
Camera Operator
movieOn a Good Old 5¢ Trolley Ride
1905
Camera Operator
How Jones Lost His Roll
1905
Director of Photography
Parsifal
1904
Director of Photography
movieRailroad Smashup
1904
Camera Operator
Maniac Chase
1904
Camera Operator
Fire and Flames at Luna Park, Coney Island (An Attraction at Coney Island)
1904
Director of Photography
Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass.
1904
Director of Photography
movieDog Factory
1904
Camera Operator
Pranks of Buster Brown and His Dog Tige
1904
Camera Operator
Buster and Tige Put a Balloon Vendor Out of Business
1904
Camera Operator
Buster Brown and the Dude
1904
Camera Operator
movieBuster's Dog to the Rescue
1904
Camera Operator
Buster Makes Room for His Mama at the Bargain Counter
1904
Camera Operator
Animated Painting
1904
Camera Operator
movieCrossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls
1904
Camera Operator
movieBuster's Joke on Papa (II)
1903
Camera Operator
movieThe Great Train Robbery
1903
Director of Photography
movieBuster's Joke on Papa (I)
1903
Camera Operator
movieWhat Happened in the Tunnel
1903
Director of Photography
movieThe Animated Poster
1903
Camera Operator
The Extra Turn
1903
Camera Operator
movieA Romance of the Rail
1903
Camera Operator
The Physical Culture Girl
1903
Camera Operator
movieThe Gay Shoe Clerk
1903
Director of Photography
movieSubub Surprises the Burglar
1903
Camera Operator
movieStreet Car Chivalry
1903
Camera Operator
movieElectrocuting an Elephant
1903
Director of Photography
movieJack and the Beanstalk
1902
Director of Photography
The Burlesque Suicide
1902
Camera Operator
movieFun in a Bakery Shop
1902
Camera Operator
movieUncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
1902
Camera Operator
movieCatching an Early Train
1901
Camera Operator
movieCircular Panorama of Electric Tower
1901
Director of Photography
Panoramic View of Electric Tower from a Balloon
1901
Director of Photography
movieWhat Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City
1901
Camera Operator
moviePhotographing a Country Couple
1901
Camera Operator
Esquimaux Game of Snap-the-Whip
1901
Director of Photography
movieThe Finish of Bridget McKeen
1901
Camera Operator
Crew6
movieRescued from an Eagle's Nest
1908
Cinematography
movieBattle of Chemulpo Bay
1904
Cinematography
movieChicago-Michigan Football Game
1903
Cinematography
moviePresident McKinley Taking the Oath
1901
Cinematography
Writing6
movieThe Crucible
1914
Writer
She
1908
Writer
movieThe Great Train Robbery
1904
Original Film Writer
Production5
movieSunshine Sue
1910
Producer
movieA Child of the Ghetto
1910
Producer
movieHansel and Gretel
1909
Producer
movieThe Cord of Life
1909
Producer
movieThe Great Train Robbery
1903
Producer
Acting2
movieBefore the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
1982
Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieLife of an American Fireman
1903
Policeman