The Bold Bank Robbery (1904)

Original title

Bold Bank Robbery

Directed by

Jack Frawley

Genre

silent film, crime film

Country

United States

Runtime

6 min

Rating

5.7 of 10 from 7 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A group of burglars plans and carries out a bank robbery. This silent short film was inspired by the success of The Great Train Robbery and follows a simple heist narrative.

earlysilentshortsimplestraightforwardhistoricalcrime-focused

What happens

The Bold Bank Robbery is a 1904 short crime film produced and distributed by the Lubin Manufacturing Company. The silent film depicts a group of burglars who plan and execute a successful bank heist. Company employee Jack Frawley was the film's director, also coming up with the story and serving as cinematographer; the cast's identities are unknown. The silent film was the first Lubin Manufacturing Company release to feature an original narrative. The film was created after the commercial success of the Edwin S. Porter film The Great Train Robbery, and was intended to be similar to it. Released on July 30, 1904, reception was mixed. It is credited with having motivated Porter to direct the film Capture of the "Yegg" Bank Burglars. A print of the seven-minute film, which is now in the public domain, is preserved in the Library of Congress. In 2002, the film was released on DVD as part of a compilation of silent films. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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