The Great Train Robbery. This item is unavailable.The Great Train Robbery

One of the most popular plays of the 1890s, “The Great Train Robbery” was billed as a “spectacular melodrama” with “living pictures of western life.” A gang of train robbers plan to rob the Wells-Fargo Express of $50,000 but when the conspiracy is discovered, the hero, an innocent man implicated in the scheme, escapes to the wild west. The play opened in Chicago in 1896 and after its New York engagement toured successfully for the next 10 years. Its claim to fame today is that sections of the play were filmed in the 1903 silent film of the same name.

Scott Marble, actor turned playwright, was regarded as “a dramatist noted for his ability in writing popular price attractions.” While largely forgotten today, Marble was an exceptionally well-liked playwright in his day and his plays toured the country for over 20 years. His other plays include an adaptation of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the well-received “State’s Attorney” and “Furnished Rooms” along with dramatizations of Allen Pinkerton’s criminal stories.