FILM 2160: THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903)

TRIVIA: The final shot of a gun being fired toward the camera had a profound effect on audiences. As cinema was in its infancy, many people who saw the film thought that they were actually about to be shot.

The original camera negative still exists in excellent condition. The Library of Congress, who holds it, can still make new prints.

The final scene, the man (Justus D Barnes) shooting at the camera, was the inspiration for the final scene in Goodfellas (1990), where Joe Pesci replicates this.

In the last episode of season three of Breaking Bad, the closing scene is of Jesse Pinkman pointing his gun at the camera and firing into it as a homage of the ending to the film.

The earliest American film listed in "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

I’m making my way through the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See my blog post about my copy of the book here…

You can buy an updated version (which I will get after I’ve made my way through this edition) here…

I really hope you can come on this journey with me – if you do I’d love to know which films you’ve enjoyed the most!

Watch this here…