Edwin S. Porter

Directing

Edwin S. Porter

Born April 21, 1870 · Connellsville, Pennsylvania, USA

Died April 30, 1941 · aged 71

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 …

Known For

The Great Train RobberyThe Great Train Robbery · 1903
The Great Train Robbery
★ 7.01903
MovieWesternCrime
After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.
College ChumsCollege Chums · 1907
College Chums
★ 6.01907
MovieComedy
While in a park, a young woman sees her fiancé being quite affectionate with another woman. When she calls him on the telephone to demand an explanation, he tells her that it was his sister. She is not satisfied, and insists on coming over to meet his 'sister'. As the young man broods over how to get out of trouble, an old college friend comes over, and he offers to pretend to be the sister. At first this works, but soon it has created even more complications.
Fireside ReminiscencesFireside Reminiscences · 1908
Fireside Reminiscences
★ 4.61908
MovieDramaFantasy
A broken-hearted husband thinks about the past as he sits by the fireplace.
Hearts AdriftHearts Adrift · 1914
Hearts Adrift
1914
MovieRomance
A lost film. A man and a woman are shipwrecked on a desert island. It doesn't take long before they fall in love and, figuring that they would never see civilization again, declare themselves married and eventually have a child. One day, however...
Life of an American FiremanLife of an American Fireman · 1903
Life of an American Fireman
★ 6.01903
MovieAction
Porter's sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of firemen responding to a house fire. They leave the station with their horse drawn pumper, arrive on the scene, and effect the safe rescue of a woman from the burning house. But wait, she tells them of her child yet asleep in the burning bedroom...
Laughing GasLaughing Gas · 1907
Laughing Gas
★ 5.41907
MovieComedy
A woman goes to the dentist for a toothache and is given gas. On her way home on the subway she can't stop laughing, and every other passenger catches the laughter from her.
The Prince and the PauperThe Prince and the Pauper · 1915
The Prince and the Pauper
★ 5.01915
MovieAdventure
A poor boy named Tom Canty and Edward, the Prince of Wales exchange identities but events force the pair to experience each other's lives as well.
Bella DonnaBella Donna · 1915
Bella Donna
1915
MovieDrama
Bella Donna ( Pauline Frederick ) a seductive woman snares Nigel Armine ( Thomas Holding ) into marriage and he takes her to Egypt to live. Tired of her simple husband, Bella becomes involved with brutish Baroudi. To get rid of Nigel, she begins slowly poisoning him. However, Nigel's friend Dr. Isaacson arrives in time to save him. Now Baroudi wants nothing to do with Bella, and neither does her husband. Totally alone now, the distraught Bella wanders off into the desert.

Filmography

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