Edwin S. Porter

Tess of the Storm Country is a 1914 silent drama directed by pioneer filmmaker Edwin S. Porter and starring Mary Pickford as Tessibel Skinner, a spirited young woman from a community of squatters living at the bottom of a hill. When a wealthy man builds a house atop the hill and seeks to evict the squatters, Tess fights to protect her family and neighbors. Based on the 1909 novel by Grace Miller White, the film was a major hit and helped establish Pickford as "America's Sweetheart." She would reprise the role in a 1922 remake. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2006. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

The film usually credited with proving movies could tell a real story. Four bandits hold up a railroad telegraph office, board the train, rob the mail car, and escape across the New Jersey countryside with a posse in pursuit — all in about twelve minutes. Edwin S. Porter made it for Edison's studio in 1903, cutting between the telegraph office, the train, and the chase in a way audiences had never seen. Its most famous image is a close-up of a bandit (Justus D. Barnes) firing his revolver point-blank at the camera, a shot exhibitors could place at the start or the end of the reel. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1990. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Western · Crime · Silent