The public is never wrong (1953)

25 Porter selected a cast, including a stunt man who could fall from a horse, and a vaudeville performer named G. M. Aronson. A story is told that Aronson— who later became G. M. Anderson— had falsely stated he could ride a horse, a fact which is interesting because he was to become Broncho Billy, the first of the cowboy heroes. Porter borrowed a train from the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western railroad, hired a few horses from a West Orange livery stable, and was ready to go. It is plain that the Edison company had written the production into the budget as an "epic." But it was the skill with which Porter told his story, using flashbacks and careful organization of scenes, which made it a revolutionary film. The picture begins in a railroad telegraph office, with two masked robbers entering and compelling the operator to signal an approaching train to a halt. They then force him to write a message ordering the engineer to take on water at this station rather than one farther along. The train is seen through the window grinding to a halt. The conductor comes up and takes the message. The bandits, crouched out of sight until the conductor departs, emerge and bind and gag the operator. The scene shifts to the water tower, behind which two other robbers are hiding. Their comrades from the station join them and all four board the train between the express car and the tender as it pulls out. Now the camera leaves the robbers and goes inside the express car. The messenger, hearing an unusual sound, peeps through a keyhole and discovers two men trying to break in. Startled, he locks the strong box and throws the