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The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896)

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The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896)

Name: The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1896-06-30
Rating: 6

/ 10

1 User Ratings

Running Time

Plot.

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Where to Watch.

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Cast & Crew.

Madeleine Koehler

Self

Marcel Koehler

Self

Mrs. Auguste Lumière

Self

Jeanne-Joséphine Lumière

Self

Rose Lumière

Self

Suzanne Lumière

Self

Louis Lumière

Director of Photography / Director / Producer

Auguste Lumière

Director / Producer

Media.

Details.

Release Date
June 30, 1896

Original Name
L'arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat

Status
Released

Running Time
1m

Filming Locations
La Ciotat railway station, France

Genres
Documentary

Last updated: 2025-05-13

This Movie Is About.

france

beginning

film and cinema

train

early cinema

short

railway station

Wiki.

L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (translated from French into English as The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat [US] and The Arrival of the Mail Train, and in the United Kingdom as Train Pulling into a Station) is an 1896 French short silent documentary film directed and produced by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Contrary to myth, it was not shown at the Lumières' first public film screening on 28 December 1895 in Paris, France: the programme of ten films shown that day makes no mention of it. Its first public showing took place in January 1896 in Lyon. It is indexed as Lumière No. 653.