Edwin S. Porter
Directing
Born: April 21, 1870 · Connellsville, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: April 30, 1941 (aged 71)
Highest Rated
Biography
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
The Great Train Robbery
1903
Life of an American Fireman
1903
Electrocuting an Elephant
1903
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend
1906
What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City
1901
The Gay Shoe Clerk
1903
Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
1902
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest
1908
Uncle Tom's Cabin
1903
The 'Teddy' Bears
1907
Jack and the Beanstalk
1902
Pan-American Exposition by Night
1901
Photos (1)
Movies (1)
Self / Appearances (1)
Directing (93)
The Old Maid in the Horsecar
Director
The Great Train Robbery
Director
The Night Before Christmas
Director
Niobe
Director
Hearts Adrift
Director
Bella Donna
Director
A Winter Straw Ride
Director
The Prince and the Pauper
Director
The White Caps
Director
College Chums
Director
Life of a Cowboy
Director
A Good Little Devil
Director
The Twentieth Century Tramp; or, Happy Hooligan and His Airship
Director
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Director
His Neighbor's Wife
Director
Laughing Gas
Director
The Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus
Director
Life of an American Fireman
Director
The White Pearl
Director
The Eternal City
Director
The 'Teddy' Bears
Director
His Mother's Thanksgiving
Director
The Prisoner of Zenda
Director
Jack and the Beanstalk
Director
The Count of Monte Cristo
Director
Rivals
Director
How the Office Boy Saw the Ball Game
Director
The Trainer’s Daughter, or A Race for Love
Director
Tess of the Storm Country
Director
Electrocuting an Elephant
Director
Tale the Autumn Leaves Told
Director
When We Were Twenty-One
Director
Burning of Durland's Riding Academy
Director
Day at the Circus
Director
Uncle Josh's Nightmare
Director
European Rest Cure
Director
Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King
Director
Japanese Acrobats
Director
A Suburbanite's Ingenious Alarm
Director
In the Bishop's Carriage
Director
The Morals of Marcus
Director
Another Job for the Undertaker
Director
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend
Director
Crossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls
Director
The Attack on the Mill
Director
President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol
Director
Such a Little Queen
Director
The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog
Director
The Lighthouse by the Sea
Director
The Kleptomaniac
Director
Cohen’s Fire Sale
Director
Jack the Kisser
Director
Pan-American Exposition by Night
Director
Zaza
Director
Getting Evidence
Director
The Price
Director
Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel
Director
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Director
The Seven Ages
Director
I.B. Dam and the Whole Dam Family
Director
The Train Wreckers
Director
The Crucible
Director
How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the 'New York Herald' Personal Columns
Director
A Dull Razor
Director
A Heroine of '76
Director
Coney Island at Night
Director
The Ex-Convict
Director
Three American Beauties
Director
A Trip Around the Pan-American Exposition
Director
Scarecrow Pump
Director
The Messenger Boy's Mistake
Director
Circular Panorama of Electric Tower
Director
The Little Train Robbery
Director
The Miller’s Daughter
Director
White Wings on Review
Director
The Strenuous Life; or, Anti-Race Suicide
Director
Strange Adventure of New York Drummer
Director
Sorting Refuse at Incinerating Plant, New York City
Director
Dewar's Scotch Whisky
Director
On the Brink
Director
"Weary Willlie" Kisses the Bride
Director
The Life of an American Policeman
Director
Panorama of Esplanade by Night
Director
The Tramp's Unexpected Skate
Director
The Watermelon Patch
Director
Appointment by Telephone
Director
Charleston Chain-Gang
Director
Love by the Light of the Moon
Director
How They Do Things on the Bowery
Director
An Artist's Dream
Director
New York City 'Ghetto' Fish Market
Director
The Unappreciated Joke
Director
Waiting at the Church
Director
Writing (3)
Producing (4)
Other Crew (46)
The Great Train Robbery
Director of Photography
The Night Before Christmas
Director of Photography
Hearts Adrift
Director of Photography
A Winter Straw Ride
Director of Photography
A Good Little Devil
Director of Photography
Cupid’s Pranks
Director of Photography
The Twentieth Century Tramp; or, Happy Hooligan and His Airship
Camera Operator
The Gay Shoe Clerk
Director of Photography
Jack and the Beanstalk
Director of Photography
Fireside Reminiscences
Camera Operator
The Count of Monte Cristo
Director of Photography
The Count of Monte Cristo
Editor
How the Office Boy Saw the Ball Game
Director of Photography
Tess of the Storm Country
Director of Photography
Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison
Camera Operator
What Happened in the Tunnel
Director of Photography
Electrocuting an Elephant
Director of Photography
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest
Cinematography
On a Good Old 5¢ Trolley Ride
Camera Operator
Crossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls
Camera Operator
A Romance of the Rail
Camera Operator
President McKinley Taking the Oath
Cinematography
Street Car Chivalry
Camera Operator
Chicago-Michigan Football Game
Cinematography
Getting Evidence
Director of Photography
Dog Factory
Camera Operator
Fun in a Bakery Shop
Camera Operator
The Finish of Bridget McKeen
Camera Operator
Railroad Smashup
Camera Operator
Skirmish Between Russian and Japanese Advance Guards
Camera Operator
Kathleen Mavourneen
Camera Operator
Buster's Joke on Papa (II)
Camera Operator
The Terrible Kids
Camera Operator
City Hall to Harlem in 15 Seconds, Via the Subway Route
Camera Operator
Three American Beauties
Director of Photography
Battle of Chemulpo Bay
Cinematography
Buster's Dog to the Rescue
Camera Operator
Circular Panorama of Electric Tower
Director of Photography
Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
Camera Operator
Catching an Early Train
Camera Operator
What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City
Camera Operator
Subub Surprises the Burglar
Camera Operator
The Burglar's Slide for Life
Camera Operator
Buster's Joke on Papa (I)
Camera Operator
Photographing a Country Couple
Camera Operator
The Animated Poster
Camera Operator