First narrative fictional film

The Lumiere films were simply recorded scenes taken from everyday life, but sooner or later, actors and theatrical storylines had to come into the picture, as it were, and that milestone occurred in the USA when The Great Train Robbery was made in November 1903 – making it the first narrative fictional film, and not so incidentally, the first American western as well as the first action movie. Directed by Edwin S. Porter, who had been a cameraman for Thomas A. Edison, the "one-reeler" ran for the then epic lengthy of 10 minutes complete with 14 scenes filmed not in the Wild West but in the heart of Essex County, New Jersey, USA, in what was even then, suburban New York City just a few miles from Times Square. Even more importantly, the movie did "Boffo Box Office" as people paid good money for the privilege of seeing it, which augered well for the new art form also becoming a big, big business. And long before John Wayne graced the silver screen, The Great Train Robbery introduced the first American cowboy star, Gilbert M. Anderson, better known to audiences as "Broncho Billy" Anderson. He was far more versatile than the cowboy stars of subsequent generations as he played not only a bandit, but also a passenger who was most unceremoniously shot in the back, and he showed his full range of talent by also playing a dancer in a scene that qualifies as the cinema's first musical number. The Great Train Robbery was most definitely a shot heard around the world.