Edwin S. Porter
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).
Jack and the Beanstalk
(Director of Photography)
The Great Train Robbery
(Director)
The Great Train Robbery
(Director of Photography)
His Neighbor's Wife
(Director)
A Heroine of '76
(Director)
The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog
(Director)
Life of an American Fireman
(Director)
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest
(Cinematography)
The Eternal City
(Director)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend
(Director)
The Little Train Robbery
(Director)
Russia, the Land of Oppression
(Director)
Jack and the Beanstalk
(Director)
The 'Teddy' Bears
(Director)
Uncle Tom's Cabin
(Director)
Uncle Josh's Nightmare
(Director)
Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King
(Director)
Circular Panorama of Electric Tower
(Director)
A Good Little Devil
(Director)
Pan-American Exposition by Night
(Director)
Panorama of Esplanade by Night
(Director)
The Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken
(Director)
Another Job for the Undertaker
(Director)
Laura Comstock's Bag-Punching Dog
(Director)
The Martyred Presidents
(Director)
Burning of Durland's Riding Academy
(Director)
New York City 'Ghetto' Fish Market
(Director)
Rube and Mandy at Coney Island
(Director)
The Ex-Convict
(Director)
How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the 'New York Herald' Personal Columns
(Director)
European Rest Cure
(Director)
Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel
(Director)
Coney Island at Night
(Director)
The Night Before Christmas
(Director)
A Dull Razor
(Director)
An Animated Luncheon
(Director)
Ching Ling Foo Outdone
(Director)
The Magician
(Director)
Faust and Marguerite
(Director)
An Artist's Dream
(Director)
The Tramp's Unexpected Skate
(Director)
Why Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce
(Director)
Sampson-Schley Controversy
(Director)
Kansas Saloon Smashers
(Director)
The Mystic Swing
(Director)
The Messenger Boy's Mistake
(Director)
Rector's to Claremont
(Director)
The Unappreciated Joke
(Director)
White Wings on Review
(Director)
New York City Dumping Wharf
(Director)
Sorting Refuse at Incinerating Plant, New York City
(Director)
Fireboat 'New Yorker' in Action
(Director)
New York Harbor Police Boat Patrol Capturing Pirates
(Director)
Panorama of Riker's Island, N.Y.
(Director)
"Weary Willlie" Kisses the Bride
(Director)
A Rube Couple at a County Fair
(Director)
The Strenuous Life; or, Anti-Race Suicide
(Director)
Scarecrow Pump
(Director)
Scenes and Incidents, Russo-Japanese Peace Conference, Portsmouth, N. H.
(Director)
How Jones Lost His Roll
(Director)
The Life of an American Policeman
(Director)
The Seven Ages
(Director)
The Kleptomaniac
(Director)
The Train Wreckers
(Director)
The Miller’s Daughter
(Director)
The Watermelon Patch
(Director)
The White Caps
(Director)
Three American Beauties
(Director)
Babies Rolling Eggs
(Director)
A Winter Straw Ride
(Director)
Kathleen Mavourneen
(Director)
Getting Evidence
(Director)
The Rivals
(Director)
College Chums
(Director)
The Trainer’s Daughter, or A Race for Love
(Director)
Cohen’s Fire Sale
(Director)
A Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus
(Director)
Laughing Gas
(Director)
Tale the Autumn Leaves Told
(Director)
A Suburbanite's Ingenious Alarm
(Director)
Fireside Reminiscences
(Director)
Tess of the Storm Country
(Director)
Charleston Chain-Gang
(Director)
How They Do Things on the Bowery
(Director)
Scenes in an Infant Orphan Asylum
(Director)
The Old Maid in the Horsecar
(Director)
Love by the Light of the Moon
(Director)
The Lighthouse by the Sea
(Director)
The Prisoner of Zenda
(Director)
The Colored Stenographer
(Director)
The Count of Monte Cristo
(Director)
His Mother's Thanksgiving
(Director)
Hearts Adrift
(Director)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
(Director)
How the Office Boy Saw the Ball Game
(Director)
The Gay Shoe Clerk
(Director of Photography)
How the Office Boy Saw the Ball Game
(Director of Photography)
Getting Evidence
(Director of Photography)
Faust
(Director)
Hansel and Gretel
(Producer)
Miss Sherlock Holmes
(Director)
Sherlock Holmes, Jr.
(Director)
The Life of an American Cowboy
(Director)
Zaza
(Director)
Sold
(Director)
The Life of a Cowboy
(Director)
Parsifal
(Director of Photography)
The Gentleman Burglar
(Director)
The Gentleman Burglar
(Scenario Writer)
A Good Little Devil
(Director of Photography)
Such a Little Queen
(Director)
A Winter Straw Ride
(Director of Photography)
Jack the Kisser
(Director)
Appointment by Telephone
(Director)
The Cord of Life
(Producer)
Lost Illusions
(Director)
Lost Illusions
(Writer)
R. F. Outcault Making a Sketch of Buster and Tige
(Director)
The Count of Monte Cristo
(Director of Photography)
The Count of Monte Cristo
(Editor)
Esquimaux Game of Snap-the-Whip
(Director of Photography)
Circular Panorama of Electric Tower
(Director of Photography)
Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King
(Director of Photography)
What Happened in the Tunnel
(Director of Photography)
Fire and Flames at Luna Park, Coney Island (An Attraction at Coney Island)
(Director of Photography)
How Jones Lost His Roll
(Director of Photography)
The Night Before Christmas
(Director of Photography)
Three American Beauties
(Director of Photography)
Cupid’s Pranks
(Director of Photography)
Hearts Adrift
(Director of Photography)
Tess of the Storm Country
(Director of Photography)
The Reversible Divers
(Director)
Poor John
(Director)
Waiting at the Church
(Director)
The Morals of Marcus
(Director)
The White Pearl
(Director)
In the Bishop's Carriage
(Director)
Aunt Sallie's Wonderful Bustle
(Cinematography)
Life Rescue at Long Branch
(Director)
Sunshine Sue
(Producer)
Dewar's Scotch Whisky
(Director)
On the Western Frontier
(Director)
Strange Adventure of New York Drummer
(Director)
Capture of Yegg Bank Burglars
(Director)
Skirmish Between Russian and Japanese Advance Guards
(Camera Operator)
Empire State Express, the Second, Taking Water on the Fly
(Camera Operator)
On a Good Old 5¢ Trolley Ride
(Camera Operator)
Crossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls
(Camera Operator)
The Attack on the Mill
(Director)
On the Brink
(Director)
The Price
(Director)
Day at the Circus
(Director)
Panoramic View of Electric Tower from a Balloon
(Director of Photography)
Capture of the Biddle Brothers
(Director)
The Great Train Robbery
(Writer)
The Great Train Robbery
(Producer)
Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass.
(Director of Photography)
Electrocuting an Elephant
(Director of Photography)
Bella Donna
(Director)
Electrocuting an Elephant
(Director)
The Kiss
(Director)
A Country Girl's Seminary Life and Experiences
(Director)
Niobe
(Director)
The Prince and the Pauper
(Director)
When We Were Twenty-One
(Director)
Japanese Acrobats
(Director)
The Crucible
(Director)
The Crucible
(Writer)
Fighting the Flames, Dreamland
(Director)
Crossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls
(Director)
Panorama of Blackwell's Island
(Director)
Panorama Water Front and Brooklyn Bridge from East River
(Director)
Treloar and Miss Marshall, Prize Winners at the Physical Culture Show in Madison Square Garden
(Director)
The Boarding School Girls
(Director)
She
(Director)
She
(Writer)
The Esquimaux Village
(Director)
The House of Cards
(Director)
The House of Cards
(Writer)
A Trip Around the Pan-American Exposition
(Director)
Nero and the Burning of Rome
(Cinematography)
A Child of the Ghetto
(Producer)
Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships
(Director)
President McKinley Taking the Oath
(Cinematography)
Chicago-Michigan Football Game
(Cinematography)
Battle of Chemulpo Bay
(Cinematography)
The Star of Bethlehem
(Director)
Photographing a Country Couple
(Camera Operator)
What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City
(Camera Operator)
Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison
(Camera Operator)
Catching an Early Train
(Camera Operator)
Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
(Camera Operator)
The Twentieth Century Tramp; or, Happy Hooligan and His Airship
(Camera Operator)
Fun in a Bakery Shop
(Camera Operator)
The Burlesque Suicide
(Camera Operator)
The Burlesque Suicide, No. 2
(Camera Operator)
Burning of St. Pierre (Martinique)
(Camera Operator)
Street Car Chivalry
(Camera Operator)
Subub Surprises the Burglar
(Camera Operator)
Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
(Director)
A Romance of the Rail
(Camera Operator)
The Physical Culture Girl
(Camera Operator)
The Extra Turn
(Camera Operator)
The Animated Poster
(Camera Operator)
Buster's Joke on Papa (I)
(Camera Operator)
Buster's Joke on Papa (II)
(Camera Operator)
Animated Painting
(Camera Operator)
Pranks of Buster Brown and His Dog Tige
(Camera Operator)
Buster and Tige Put a Balloon Vendor Out of Business
(Camera Operator)
Buster Brown and the Dude
(Camera Operator)
Buster's Dog to the Rescue
(Camera Operator)
Buster Makes Room for His Mama at the Bargain Counter
(Camera Operator)
Dog Factory
(Camera Operator)
The Finish of Bridget McKeen
(Director)
Maniac Chase
(Camera Operator)
City Hall to Harlem in 15 Seconds, Via the Subway Route
(Camera Operator)
Railroad Smashup
(Camera Operator)
The Burglar's Slide for Life
(Camera Operator)
The Gay Shoe Clerk
(Director)
Desperate Encounter Between Burglar and Police
(Camera Operator)
A Romance of the Rail
(Director)
A Romance of the Rail
(Cinematography)
The Terrible Kids
(Camera Operator)