Released in 1903, Edwin S. Porter’s Life of an American Fireman is one of the earliest American films. The groundbreaking silent short portrays a firehouse crew responding to an alarm. They wake from their beds with a start, sheets flapping, and slide down the firepole. Horses pull their fire brigade carts to the scene, racing down paved streets. The firemen’s actions are intercut with those of a mother and child trapped inside a burning building—the camera stays with them as a fireman breaks through their window to bring them to safety. Smoke and staged effects embellish this recreated yet authentic spectacle. ST