# What was the first "Action Movie"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829 "2011-06-17T13:44:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/41 "2011-06-18T13:33:34Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > This is the one that I immediately thought of when I saw the thread title. And for those who say that action films need car chases, how many fucking cars were around in 1903? And for those that say that it is a western, it may be set in the west, but it is about a train robbery. It isn’t about driving cattle, it isn’t about settling the great wide expanses, it isn’t about trekking across the country to settle the west or find gold in California. It’s a train robbery. Robbing trains is all sorts of action. > > I challenge anyone to find one other single theme of a classic western in that film. Not a theme, but it’s kinda identifiable as a Western by the hats. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/42 "2011-06-18T14:27:02Z")
Going on my personal interpretation of an action film as one made up primarily of set pieces involving fights, chases, crashing of various vehicles and of course explosions, and leaving aside the _The Great Train Robbery_ and some of the silent-era films of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, I was going to nominate Burt Lancaster’s mid-60s classic _The Train_. Yeah, I know it could be classified more as a war film, but there’s an additional problem: at least three James Bond film pre-date it, so to be fair I’d probably have to go with _Goldfinger_ as the first (modern) pure action film. I can see an argument for both the aforementioned _Thunder Road_ and _North by Northwest_, but for me they are more dramas with action elements, although I’m not sure I could go to the mat in support of that interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/43 "2011-06-18T15:09:41Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Going on my personal interpretation of an action film as one made up primarily of set pieces involving fights, chases, crashing of various vehicles and of course explosions, and leaving aside the _The Great Train Robbery_ and some of the silent-era films of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, I was going to nominate Burt Lancaster’s mid-60s classic _The Train_. Yeah, I know it could be classified more as a war film, but there’s an additional problem: at least three James Bond film pre-date it, so to be fair I’d probably have to go with _Goldfinger_ as the first (modern) pure action film. > > I can see an argument for both the aforementioned _Thunder Road_ and _North by Northwest_, but for me they are more dramas with action elements, although I’m not sure I could go to the mat in support of that interpretation. I like your thinking. The “drama with action elements” aspect of the pre-Bond movies makes it hard to locate something as “balls to the wall” as the Bond franchise. I haven’t had the patience to go through the IMDb by-year Action genre lists, looking for one I remember as having as much mindless action as the Bond movies, but your mention of [The Train (1964)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059825/) – which I only vaguely remember and which I confuse with other train things like [Von Ryan’s Express (1965)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059885/) and [Runaway! (TV 1973)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070615/) – and which IMDb categorizes as > [@](#): > > 133 min - Thriller | War | Action – makes me pretty sure I could locate some pre-Bond movie that would satisfy maybe 60% of Action Movie fans as having a large number of action sequences, thus making the movie border on an Action Movie. Thanks for the nudge! I may go on that search through IMDb after all. 🙂 Aside from train sequences to rival car chases, what other substitutions do your think apply before an Action Movie loses its appeal or drifts off into another category or sub-genre? That border between Thriller and Action/Adventure can be very fuzzy at times, depending on who’s doing the labeling. Sometimes the label is just plain ridiculous! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/44 "2011-06-18T15:30:53Z")
Thinking about this a bit more, what about _King Kong_ (1933) and _Gojira_ (1954), which were both pretty clearly made as pure spectacle and feature plenty of satisfying destruction? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/45 "2011-06-18T15:52:04Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Thinking about this a bit more, what about _King Kong_ (1933) and _Gojira_ (1954), which were both pretty clearly made as pure spectacle and feature plenty of satisfying destruction? No doubt about the Action, for sure, but don’t they creep into the Creature Feature or Monster genre enough that that would be the label for them? If it isn’t clear yet on my major concern with this thread, it’s trying to locate the earliest movie that could reasonably be labeled Action (in preference to other equally appropriate genre labels like War, Spy, Western, Thriller, Gangster, you decide) and with that label would appeal to a majority of present-day Action Movie fans as being accurately labeled. To review, this thread was a spinoff from another ongoing thread that’s looking for a list of Action Movies to put into a poll for Best Action Movie since 1990. I was just wanting to satisfy myself, with the help of you kind people, that such a thing exists. I am convinced we have a good case for the early 60’s. Now the chore (as I see it) is to move that date further back into the past. I didn’t respond upthread to > [@pravnik](#): > > Shichinin no Samurai, a/k/a Seven Samurai, was groundbreaking in so many ways that an argument could be made that’s it’s the first modern action movie. but [Seven Samurai (1954) Shichinin no samurai (original title)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/) which IMDb labels > [@](#): > > 207 min - Adventure | Drama satisfies most of my own personal criteria for Action. Worth thinking about. And one of the All-Time best movies, regardless of accurate label. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/46 "2011-06-18T16:51:14Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I didn’t respond upthread to but [Seven Samurai (1954) Shichinin no samurai (original title)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/) which IMDb labels satisfies most of my own personal criteria for Action. Worth thinking about. And one of the All-Time best movies, regardless of accurate label. Yeah, definitely. The opening sequence where Kambei shaves his head and saves the child has become an action movie staple - introducing the hero by showing him doing something unrelated to main plot to establish his integrity and/or awesomeness. ETA: Forgot to mention the whole concept of “assembling a crack team of badassess to do something badass.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/47 "2011-06-18T17:47:22Z")
Ah, can’t believe I forgot La salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear) (1953), listed by IMDB under ‘thriller’ but arguably fitting the bill as an Action Movie, certainly for its second half at least. Yep, that’s my final answer. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/48 "2011-06-18T18:07:35Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Ah, can’t believe I forgot La salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear) (1953), listed by IMDB under ‘thriller’ but arguably fitting the bill as an Action Movie, certainly for its second half at least. > > Yep, that’s my final answer. Well, I have yet to see [The Wages of Fear (1953) Le salaire de la peur (original title)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046268/) but Netflix says: > [@](#): > > The Wages of Fear > Le Salaire De La Peur > (1953) NR > > An oil company enlists four destitute drifters – Mario (Yves Montand), Luigi (Folco Lulli), Bimba (Peter Van Eyck) and Jo (Charles Vanel) – for a dangerous mission transporting volatile explosives across Central America’s treacherous terrain. Packed with nerve-racking tension that never lets up, director Henri-Georges Clouzot’s gritty masterpiece took home the Grand Prize at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. > > Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Foreign Dramas, French Movies > This movie is: Cerebral, Gritty, Suspenseful > Availability: Streaming, DVD and Blu-ray . So I will try to get that watched online soon. Thanks, **El\_Kabong**! This may move the timeline back another decade. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/49 "2011-06-18T18:54:55Z")
Although Pink Panther (1963) and What’s New Pussycat (1965) are comedies I’ve often thought action movies stole a lot of their tropes from them. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/50 "2011-06-18T22:19:17Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Although Pink Panther (1963) and What’s New Pussycat (1965) are comedies I’ve often thought action movies stole a lot of their tropes from them. You have a good point, and it might even extend back to cartoons! That might make for another excursion into trivia: what was the first Action Cartoon? 😉 10-to-1 it’s on YouTube! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/51 "2011-06-18T22:35:11Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > You have a good point, and it might even extend back to cartoons! That might make for another excursion into trivia: what was the first Action Cartoon? 😉 > > 10-to-1 it’s on YouTube! [I’ll take those odds!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UjM9UI40jk) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/52 "2011-06-19T04:34:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > [I’ll take those odds!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UjM9UI40jk) Nice work! Who can top that? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/53 "2011-06-19T05:35:53Z")
I’m gonna throw in a thought on maybe the first made-for-TV action movie – 1971’s _Duel_, Steven Spielberg’s directorial debut. Very good film. The next one I can think of was a couple of years later, _Birds of Prey_, starring David Jansen as a traffic helicopter pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/54 "2011-06-19T16:33:39Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Thinking about this a bit more, what about _King Kong_ (1933) and _Gojira_ (1954), which were both pretty clearly made as pure spectacle and feature plenty of satisfying destruction? Taking these one at a time: I would classify King Kong as a Fantasy. But putting aside the Dinosaurs and Giant Ape, I still wouldn’t call it an Action movie, it would be an Adventure movie. The difference being in an Action movie the hero’s conflict is with another person or people while in an Adventure movie, the conflict is with Nature and/or the elements. Godzilla would be a Monster Movie which probably deserves to be a genre of its own (KK too I suppose) but you can argue that. Beyond a Monster movie, it is Science Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/55 "2011-06-19T17:19:25Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The difference being in an Action movie the hero’s conflict is with another person or people while in an Adventure movie, the conflict is with Nature and/or the elements. Thanks for that. That was one of those differentiations that I could subconsciously make but couldn’t quite put into words. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/56 "2011-06-20T03:17:11Z")
Do Serials count? They often had a lot of vehicle explosions, fistfights, and gunfire… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829/57 "2011-06-20T03:22:12Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Do Serials count? They often had a lot of vehicle explosions, fistfights, and gunfire.. No doubt there was Action, but I would personally refrain from calling a serial an Action Movie. Action Serial, perhaps? The sad thing is that if you were to try to splice a serial’s episodes together to make a longish movie, you’d have to cope with the fact that you’d have to choose which version of the “ending” of one episode was redone as the “beginning” of the next. Nine times out of ten they’d be noticeably different! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-action-movie/585829.md?page=2)