The Great Train Robbery was a worldwide sensation

"The Great Train Robbery," in which Mr. Porter built upon his technique in "The Life of an American Fireman," is generally regarded as the screen's first effort to tell a story in pictures. It was made by the Edison studios in 1903. Edison was fathering the evolution of the art from the seed of his peep show pictures.

"The Great Train Robbery" was a worldwide sensation. It gave rise to a great development in making pictures with stories. Showmen took to the road with it in black tents and made converts to the motion picture entertainment all over the world. It was followed by "The Great Bank Robbery," by "Raffles--The Amateur Cracksman," and by "Trapped by Bloodhounds, or a Lynching at Cripple Creek."

"The Great Train Robbery" also, by chance, gave the screen world its first star-- Max Aronson, known presently as G. M. Anderson and later as Broncho Billy. From his day on, the star has been in the ascendant. The motion picture public demands its favorites and whatever can be said for or against the system, the public, as final arbiter, decides the issue.