The Little Train Robbery

Little Train Robbery, The (1905)

*** (out of 4)

Porter remakes his own The Great Train Robbery but this time kids are playing the leads in a childish tale of acting out a robbery. While this certainly isn't as good as the film its based on it remains cute throughout with some nice stunts and scenery.

Seven Ages, The (1905)

*** (out of 4)

Cute little love story that shows a couple over seven ages in their lives from babies to old folks. There's not too much story here other than the two's love for one another but this comes off quite nicely.

White Caps, The (1905)

*** (out of 4)

Historically interesting film that deals with the vigilante group known as "The White Caps" who were known throughout Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Like the KKK, this group wore white pillows over their faces but instead of attacking race this group went after those who broke moral issues like beating their wives, harming children and other crimes that make for a bad community. This film shows them going after a man who has just beaten his wife.

Edwin S. Porter made one of the most important early films "The Great Train Robbery". Some have referred to it as the first full-length film, though Georges Méliès made his "Voyage Dans Le Lune" the same year and a couple other films also claim to be the first. Regardless, it was a huge milestone in film history and was the first great American western. So, it's not at all surprising that Porter would seek to capitalize on this success--though I am surprised it took him two full years to get to "The Little Train Robbery".

"The Little Train Robbery" is a parody of his previous film--and it IS unusual for a person to parody their own work. In this case, you have a similar plot but it's acted by kids. And, as they are kids, they ride ponies and the train is an amusement park type they'd have for the young kids. It's a clever idea BUT it's also an idea that runs thin--even when full-length meant 10-20 minutes as it did in 1905. In many ways, it's a lot like the much later (and dreadfully awful) "The Terror of Tiny Town"--the first all-midget western! So is it worth your time? Not especially. But, if you love early films and have already seen "The Great Train Robbery", it's worth a look.

This film, made in 1905, is a parody of "The Great Train Robbery," from 1903. The main difference is that the robbers this time are children; therefore, everything occurs on a smaller-scale level. If you liked the first one, consider seeing this movie as well--it is entertaining as well as adventurous.

The first parody in the history of cinema. A remake of the very first Western, 'The great train robbery', but here children are the outlaws. A funny idea: a little train robbery. Many small objects (short talvez, ponies....) and obviously that train contribute to an amusing outcome. However, I did miss a remake of the famous shooting scene.

Edwin S. Porter's "The Great Train Robbery" met with great success, being the first western and one of the first 'full length' (by the standards of the time) movies. So, two years later he thought to parody it, by changing the bandits to children who commit crimes. Thus, "The Little Train Robbery" was made. While the idea is clever at least, there is no medium closeup of the bandit firing at the camera at the end and because of the lack of this, it has not become nearly as well known.

If you've seen the original movie before then you're probably already familiar with the plot: a train is robbed, bandits are caught. The thing isn't even much of a western at all like the original because of the lack of violence (no gun shots are fired and the closest they get is one kid hitting the engineer over the head) and a great deal of it is devoted to the chase scenes, which go on a little too long. It isn't a bad film by any means but lacks the action and attention-holding pacing of its predecessor. Worthwhile for fans of "The Great Train Robbery", but if you haven't seen that yet then you'll have to watch it before giving this one a go.