9 Famous Movie Facts (That Were Never Actually True)

8. An Early Lumière Brothers Film Caused Audiences To Run In Fear

L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat, known in the UK as Train Pulling Into A Station, is an early 50-second silent film by cinematic pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière. Showing a steam locomotive as it pulls into a French train station, the film is one of the more well-known examples of the Lumière brothers' work.

A common legend associated with Train Pulling Into A Station, is that audiences at the first screening were completely overwhelmed by the illusion of a life-sized train approaching towards them. The story goes that audience members screamed and ran away from the projected image, in fear that an actual train was about to crash into the room. This claim has long been cast under doubt, due to the muddying of a number of facts.

For starters, Train Pulling Into A Station wasn't actually part of the brothers' first screening in 1895, and was instead shown in public in early 1896. A common theory is that the accounts were mixed up with a screening in 1935, wherein the Lumière Brothers showed a reshot version of the film in stereoscopic 3D, making it literally appear as if it was coming towards audiences.