Before the Nickelodeon: The Early Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
198258m · Not Rated · Documentary · 1980s
1 barcode on file for Before the Nickelodeon: The Early Cinema of Edwin S. Porter, none of which Fandango at Home currently accepts for Disc to Digital conversion. Eligibility changes over time — the public history below records when it does.
Noted film historian Charles Musser co-wrote and directed this definitive tribute to Edwin S. Porter, Thomas Edison's mechanic and cameraman, who is now recognized as America's first important filmmaker and a major contributor to the evolution of film structure. Porter was the first U.S. filmmaker to successfully explore the possibilities of making films with continuous action from shot to shot, instead of single scene films that the showman arranged at the point of exhibition. From the time of his hugely successful THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903) until Griffith started at Biograph (1908), Porter held center stage in early American cinema. Sadly, however, Edison quickly discarded Porter once his approach to filmmaking seemed to have become old-fashioned. Narrated by silent-movie actress Blanche Sweet, BEFORE THE NICKELODEON is a treasure trove of rarely seen material, including hand-colored photographs and sixteen complete Porter films, among them THE MAY IRWIN KISS (1896), THE SUNKEN BATTLESHOP 'MAINE' (1898), JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1902) and LIFE OF AN AMERICAN FIREMAN (1902-3).
Directed by Charles Musser · Blanche Sweet · Robert Altman · Milos Forman · Louis Malle
Not currently available for Disc to Digital
We hold 1 barcode for Before the Nickelodeon: The Early Cinema of Edwin S. Porter, but Fandango at Home is not accepting it for conversion right now. They are listed below so you can check them against the disc you own. Availability changes as Fandango updates its catalog — this page is rechecked nightly, and the public history below records every change.
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Before the Nickelodeon: The Early Cinema of Edwin S. Porter DVD · SD | Oct 7, 2025 |
