Edwin S. Porter
Directing
Born April 21, 1870 in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, USA
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.
Filmography
Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Prince and the Pauper
Bella Donna
Zaza
The White Pearl
The Eternal City
When We Were Twenty-One
Niobe
The Morals of Marcus
The Crucible
Such a Little Queen
Tess of the Storm Country
A Good Little Devil
Hearts Adrift
The Count of Monte Cristo
His Neighbor's Wife
In the Bishop's Carriage
The Prisoner of Zenda
The Price
The Lighthouse by the Sea
On the Brink
A Heroine of '76
His Mother's Thanksgiving
Sunshine Sue
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Attack on the Mill
A Child of the Ghetto
The House of Cards
Hansel and Gretel
The Cord of Life
Tale the Autumn Leaves Told
Cupid’s Pranks
Fireside Reminiscences
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest
A Suburbanite's Ingenious Alarm
The Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus
Laughing Gas
College Chums
The Trainer’s Daughter, or A Race for Love
Jack the Kisser
Rivals
Cohen’s Fire Sale
The 'Teddy' Bears
Getting Evidence
Kathleen Mavourneen
How the Office Boy Saw the Ball Game
Waiting at the Church
Life of a Cowboy
The Terrible Kids
Three American Beauties
A Winter Straw Ride
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend
The Night Before Christmas
The Life of an American Policeman
The Train Wreckers
The Miller’s Daughter
The Watermelon Patch
The White Caps
The Little Train Robbery
The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog
The Burglar's Slide for Life
I.B. Dam and the Whole Dam Family
On a Good Old 5¢ Trolley Ride
Coney Island at Night
The Seven Ages
The Kleptomaniac
The Strenuous Life; or, Anti-Race Suicide
Scarecrow Pump
The Ex-Convict
City Hall to Harlem in 15 Seconds, Via the Subway Route
Railroad Smashup
"Weary Willlie" Kisses the Bride
European Rest Cure
How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the 'New York Herald' Personal Columns
The Great Train Robbery
Dog Factory
Skirmish Between Russian and Japanese Advance Guards
Battle of Chemulpo Bay
Japanese Acrobats
Buster's Dog to the Rescue
Crossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls
Buster's Joke on Papa (II)
The Great Train Robbery
Buster's Joke on Papa (I)
What Happened in the Tunnel
Chicago-Michigan Football Game
The Animated Poster
The Messenger Boy's Mistake
A Romance of the Rail
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Gay Shoe Clerk
Subub Surprises the Burglar
The Unappreciated Joke
Street Car Chivalry
White Wings on Review
Sorting Refuse at Incinerating Plant, New York City
New York City 'Ghetto' Fish Market
Life of an American Fireman
Policeman
Electrocuting an Elephant
How They Do Things on the Bowery
Jack and the Beanstalk
Appointment by Telephone
Charleston Chain-Gang
Fun in a Bakery Shop
Burning of Durland's Riding Academy
The Twentieth Century Tramp; or, Happy Hooligan and His Airship
Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison
Panorama of Esplanade by Night
Catching an Early Train
Pan-American Exposition by Night
Day at the Circus
Circular Panorama of Electric Tower
What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City
Photographing a Country Couple
A Trip Around the Pan-American Exposition
The Tramp's Unexpected Skate
Another Job for the Undertaker
Love by the Light of the Moon
President McKinley Taking the Oath
President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol
The Finish of Bridget McKeen
The Old Maid in the Horsecar
Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King
A Dull Razor
An Artist's Dream
Uncle Josh's Nightmare
Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel
Dewar's Scotch Whisky
Strange Adventure of New York Drummer