User Reviews

This hour-long documentary on the early career of Edwin S. Porter, one of early cinema's most innovative and prolific pioneers and the director of "The Great Train Robbery" (1903), uses much of the research and history also found in Charles Musser's book "Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company." Musser is an authority on the early films of the Edison Company and, consequently, the films of Porter, who became the Edison Company's foremost filmmaker for a time. His book is over 500 pages and a valuable source on the subject, but this one-hour teaching tool, also made by Musser, doesn't do it justice.

Perhaps, this documentary could be useful in perking an interest in early cinema; otherwise, it's quick and somewhat dull. Those already interested can learn more elsewhere, such as in Musser's books. The film only covers Porter's films from 1898 to 1902, too, which means that many of his more interesting pictures, such as "The Great Train Robbery" or "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (1906), are barely mentioned or not mentioned at all. It would have been better, I think, if they'd made it longer than an hour and covered Porter's entire film-making career--something similar to the highly recommended documentary on Georges Méliès, "La Magie Méliès" (The Magic of Méliès) (1997).

On the other hand, the late silent film star Blanche Sweet, who appeared in many of the films of America's next great filmmaker after Porter, D.W. Griffith, is the documentary's narrator. And, several short films are shown in their entirety, including Porter's "Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison" (1901), "Appointment by Telephone," "Jack and the Beanstalk" (both 1902), "Life of an American Fireman" (1903) and others. There's also some instructive discussion on early film editing developments and styles.

As far as documentaries go, this is a keeper. The movie gives a good history of Edwin Porter and includes both his rise to fame and his demise into obscurity (as he refused to change with the times he helped create). For a good film history watch this.

In his heyday Edwin Porter (1869-1941) was widely considered to be one of the leading film directors in the USA.

"Before The Nickelodeon" is a 1-hour bio-documentary that takes a close-up look at the directing career of Edwin Porter.

Through archival footage, stills, and informative narration - This enjoyable presentation offers the viewer a vivid history of early film-making in America.

For anyone with a strong interest in film history, this is very worthwhile; there is much footage here you probably haven't seen and won't see anywhere else. It's interesting to see Porter's contributions to early cinema. It's also a curious puzzle why the inventor of many early film techniques would be content to let his craft to stagnate, allowing the film industry to pass him by.

The presentation is pretty dry, however - like something designed for the classroom.

Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter (1982)

*** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith's actress Blanche Sweet narrates this 60-minute documentary taking a look at the career of Edwin S. Porter the man best remembered today for his 1903 masterpiece THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY. The documentary goes over his rise at Edison Studios and how he eventually started directing pictures only to make his last one thirty-years before his death. Before his death the Hollywood system had all but forgotten about him and he was yet another figure who wouldn't get his credit until years after his passing. Those wanting a real look at Porter's life and work will probably be disappointed because the majority of the running time just discusses his major films like TRAIN ROBBERY, LIFE OF AN American FIREFIGHTER and JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. There's not too much discussion on the making of these films or countless others that Porter made. Instead, we get long clips from countless films with many of his popular ones getting shown nearly in their full versions. This will certainly not sit well with some people but you have to remember that when this documentary was made these films weren't as wildly available as they are today so I'm sure people in 1982 were having a good time seeing these clips probably for the first time in their lives. I found the most interesting things being some photographs taken at one of the earliest theaters and it was pretty interesting seeing the look on the faces of the people who might have been seeing a movie for the first time. The stuff taking a look at the movies from 1895-1899 was the highlight of the picture. Various famous people including Robert Altman, Milos Forman, D.A. Pennebaker, Tony Potter and Jim Walton add some narration as well.

Very informative documentary sheds light on film pioneer Edwin S. Porter's work, but also brings some insight into the origins of American cinema and its industry including the dubious aspects thereof...

My review was written in October 1982 after a New York Film Festival screening.

Charles Musse's "Before the Nickelodeon" is a well-researched, informative documentary on Edwin S. Porter's contribution to cinema during the formative years 1896-1909. Including a compilation of Porter's own early films, picture amplifies and illustrates beyond any written essay on the subject and will have a useful impact in educational and non-theatrical media.

Porter is known by students as a film pioneer responsible for the widely seen "The Great Train Robbery" picture of 1903. Musser carefully traces his career and many significant contributions, as a director and executive working for Thomas Edison.

Incorporating a brief history of early U. S. film exhibition, at such venues as New York's Eden Musee, film shows how Porter functioned at times as either a filmmaker, shooting stories around the turn of the century drawn from newspaper headlines and political cartoons, or as an editor, preparing 30-minute programs from short films and slides for exhibition. (By 1907, with the proliferation of nickel theatres, attendance of 1,000,000 people per day for half-hour programs was achieved).

Porter's expanding his pictures from one-shot to multiple shot films exemplifies the gradual assumption of editorial control by the producer, rather than the exhibitor who initially put together film programs in a variety show format. Porter's two-shot film satirizing Teddy Roosevelt hunting mountain lions and 3-shot "The Appointment" are include by Muse as well as the fascinating 10-shot "Jack and the Beanstalk". Excerpts from Georges Melies's "Bluebeard" and "A Trip to the Moon" indicate the French fattasist's influence upon Porter's technique.

Porter's contribution at developing "overlapping continuity", a device where the same action is shown twice in succession from two different points-of-view (e.g., inside and outside a building) is beautifully illustrated by Musser with the film "The Life of an American Fireman". First showing the film in a 1930s re-edited version having modern parallel editing (cross-cutting back and forth with matched shots in and out of the burning building), Musser then shows the film the way Porter originally made and distributed it, with an entire rescue sequence viewed first from inside the burning room and then repeated in long shot outside.

Musser notes that early audiences would have been confused by editing techniques accepted today, and that the overlapping continuity dominated the industry until 1908. "Before the Nidkelodeon" concludes with Porter's 1907 picture "Rescued from an Eagle's Nest", starring D. W. Griffith, whose work as a filmmaker was soon to eclipse Porter's.

Musser cuts off his narrative at this poing for obvious dramatic effect, briefly reporting that Porter lost his job as production executive at Edison's Bronx studios but continued making films until 1915. Despite its title and emphasis, Musser's film would have been more thorough had he mentioned and excerpted some of Porter's later efforts, such as versions of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Prisoner of Zenda".

Picture is aided by beautifully tinted, still photographs executed with care by Elizabeth Lennard, as well as authentic music drawn from the period. Blanche Sweet skillfully delivers the narration, though ironically her career as a silent star was developed under Griffith, starting after Porter's heyday. Gimmick of having a host of contemporary film directors ranging from D. A. Pennebaker to Milos Forman, deliver some of the voice-ove historical memoirs is a show of solidarity with their screen forebears but adds little to the film.

Film was funded with aid from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts.