The Great Train Robbery Silent Movie

One of the milestones in film history was the first narrative film, "The great Train Robbery."  Created in 1903 by director Edwin S. Porter, a former Thomas Edison cameraman, it was the first time an actual story or movie as we know them today, was created for a mass audience.  Silent films of this era would have been shown in large metropolitan cities with an entire orchestra as its soundtrack, but by the time it was shown in small Midwestern towns, a  single local pianist or organist would have played the only music or sound for the film.  The film  was based modern events, with its plot based on an August 29th, 1900 train robbery by four  members of the Butch Cassidy outlaw gang who halted the No. 3 train on the Union Pacific Rail Road and escaped with almost $5,000 in cash! Trains were modern innovations that were changing the United States and its future.   So it only makes sense that a Train would be the biggest actor in the first action movie ever made. "The Great Train Robbery" will be shown on the Museum's newest technology, our 70 inch  Smart TV, but its soundtrack will be historically accurate, with musician Bev Wangerin recreating  the sound and experience of the old time silent movies! Tickets are just $5 each, with free popcorn and punch served.  We hope to see you at the Movies!