Edwin S. Porter

Directing·Apr 21, 1870·Connellsville, Pennsylvania, USA

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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).

Film	Credit
The Prince and the Pauper1915 · Director	Director
Bella Donna1915 · Director	Director
Zaza1915 · Director	Director
The White Pearl1915 · Director	Director
SSold1915 · Director	Director
The Eternal City1915 · Director	Director
When We Were Twenty-One1915 · Director	Director
Niobe1915 · Director	Director
The Morals of Marcus1915 · Director	Director
The Crucible1914 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Such a Little Queen1914 · Director	Director
Tess of the Storm Country1914 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
A Good Little Devil1914 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
Hearts Adrift1914 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
The Count of Monte Cristo1913 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
His Neighbor's Wife1913 · Director	Director
In the Bishop's Carriage1913 · Director	Director
The Prisoner of Zenda1913 · Director	Director
The Price1911 · Director	Director
LLost Illusions1911 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
The Lighthouse by the Sea1911 · Director	Director
SSherlock Holmes, Jr.1911 · Director	Director
On the Brink1911 · Director	Director
A Heroine of '761911 · Director	Director
His Mother's Thanksgiving1910 · Director	Director
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland1910 · Director	Director
The Attack on the Mill1910 · Director	Director
RRussia, the Land of Oppression1910 · Director	Director
OOn the Western Frontier1909 · Director	Director
TThe Colored Stenographer1909 · Director	Director
MMiss Sherlock Holmes1908 · Director	Director
SShe1908 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Tale the Autumn Leaves Told1908 · Director	Director
A Suburbanite's Ingenious Alarm1908 · Director	Director
The Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus1907 · Director	Director
Laughing Gas1907 · Director	Director
College Chums1907 · Director	Director
The Trainer’s Daughter, or A Race for Love1907 · Director	Director
Jack the Kisser1907 · Director	Director
Rivals1907 · Director	Director
Cohen’s Fire Sale1907 · Director	Director
The 'Teddy' Bears1907 · Director	Director
PPoor John1907 · Director	Director
Getting Evidence1906 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
How the Office Boy Saw the Ball Game1906 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
Waiting at the Church1906 · Director	Director
TThe Life of an American Cowboy1906 · Director	Director
Life of a Cowboy1906 · Director	Director
Three American Beauties1906 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
A Winter Straw Ride1906 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend1906 · Director	Director
The Night Before Christmas1905 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
The Life of an American Policeman1905 · Director	Director
The Train Wreckers1905 · Director	Director
The Miller’s Daughter1905 · Director	Director
The Watermelon Patch1905 · Director	Director
The White Caps1905 · Director	Director
The Little Train Robbery1905 · Director	Director
TThe Boarding School Girls1905 · Director	Director
SScenes and Incidents, Russo-Japanese Peace Conference, Portsmouth, N. H.1905 · Director	Director
The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog1905 · Director	Director
I.B. Dam and the Whole Dam Family1905 · Director	Director
Coney Island at Night1905 · Director	Director
HHow Jones Lost His Roll1905 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
The Seven Ages1905 · Director	Director
The Kleptomaniac1905 · Director	Director
The Strenuous Life; or, Anti-Race Suicide1904 · Director	Director
Scarecrow Pump1904 · Director	Director
The Ex-Convict1904 · Director	Director
AA Rube Couple at a County Fair1904 · Director	Director
"Weary Willlie" Kisses the Bride1904 · Director	Director
CCapture of Yegg Bank Burglars1904 · Director	Director
European Rest Cure1904 · Director	Director
How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the 'New York Herald' Personal Columns1904 · Director	Director
FFighting the Flames, Dreamland1904 · Director	Director
SScenes in an Infant Orphan Asylum1904 · Director	Director
IInter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships1904 · Director	Director
Japanese Acrobats1904 · Director	Director
RR. F. Outcault Making a Sketch of Buster and Tige1904 · Director	Director
AAnimated Painting1904 · Director	Director
TTreloar and Miss Marshall, Prize Winners at the Physical Culture Show in Madison Square Garden1904 · Director	Director
Crossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls1904 · Director	Director
The Great Train Robbery1903 · Director, Director of Photography, Writer, Producer	Director, Director of Photography, Writer, Producer
The Messenger Boy's Mistake1903 · Director	Director
Uncle Tom's Cabin1903 · Director	Director
RRube and Mandy at Coney Island1903 · Director	Director
The Unappreciated Joke1903 · Director	Director
PPanorama of Riker's Island, N.Y.1903 · Director	Director
FFireboat 'New Yorker' in Action1903 · Director	Director
White Wings on Review1903 · Director	Director
Sorting Refuse at Incinerating Plant, New York City1903 · Director	Director
NNew York City Dumping Wharf1903 · Director	Director
New York City 'Ghetto' Fish Market1903 · Director	Director
NNew York Harbor Police Boat Patrol Capturing Pirates1903 · Director	Director
PPanorama of Blackwell's Island1903 · Director	Director
PPanorama Water Front and Brooklyn Bridge from East River1903 · Director	Director
Life of an American Fireman1903 · Policeman, Director	Policeman, Director
Electrocuting an Elephant1903 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
How They Do Things on the Bowery1902 · Director	Director
Jack and the Beanstalk1902 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
Appointment by Telephone1902 · Director	Director
Charleston Chain-Gang1902 · Director	Director
BBabies Rolling Eggs1902 · Director	Director
Fun in a Bakery Shop1902 · Director	Director
Burning of Durland's Riding Academy1902 · Director	Director
CCapture of the Biddle Brothers1902 · Director	Director
The Twentieth Century Tramp; or, Happy Hooligan and His Airship1902 · Director	Director
Panorama of Esplanade by Night1901 · Director	Director
TThe Martyred Presidents1901 · Director	Director
Pan-American Exposition by Night1901 · Director	Director
Day at the Circus1901 · Director	Director
LLife Rescue at Long Branch1901 · Director	Director
Circular Panorama of Electric Tower1901 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
TThe Reversible Divers1901 · Director	Director
SSampson-Schley Controversy1901 · Director	Director
TThe Esquimaux Village1901 · Director	Director
A Trip Around the Pan-American Exposition1901 · Director	Director
The Tramp's Unexpected Skate1901 · Director	Director
Another Job for the Undertaker1901 · Director	Director
LLaura Comstock's Bag-Punching Dog1901 · Director	Director
Love by the Light of the Moon1901 · Director	Director
KKansas Saloon Smashers1901 · Director	Director
President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol1901 · Director	Director
TThe Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken1901 · Director	Director
WWhy Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce1901 · Director	Director
The Old Maid in the Horsecar1901 · Director	Director
Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King1901 · Director	Director
A Dull Razor1900 · Director	Director
FFaust and Marguerite1900 · Director	Director
An Artist's Dream1900 · Director	Director
TThe Kiss1900 · Director	Director
Uncle Josh's Nightmare1900 · Director	Director
TThe Magician1900 · Director	Director
CChing Ling Foo Outdone1900 · Director	Director
AAn Animated Luncheon1900 · Director	Director
Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel1900 · Director	Director
TThe Mystic Swing1900 · Director	Director
Dewar's Scotch Whisky1900 · Director	Director
Strange Adventure of New York Drummer1899 · Director	Director