1916 in film

The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• Charlie Chaplin signs for Mutual Film for a salary of $10,000 a week and a signing on fee of $150,000, making him one of the highest-paid people in the United States.
• June 24 – Mary Pickford signs a contract for $10,000 a week plus profit participation, guaranteeing her over $1 million per year.
• July 19 – Famous Players–Lasky is formed through a merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company and Jesse L. Lasky's Feature Play Company. Later in the year, they acquire distributor Paramount Pictures.
• August 10 – The official British documentary propaganda film The Battle of the Somme is premièred in London. In the first six weeks of general release (from 20 August) 20 million people view it.
• September 5 – Release of D. W. Griffith's epic film Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages , starring Lillian Gish (as "The Eternal Motherhood") and Constance Talmadge (in two roles), in the United States. It is estimated to have cost around $2.5 million to make but is initially a commercial failure.
• October 17 – Release of A Daughter of the Gods , the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star (Annette Kellerman).
• November 19 – Samuel Goldfish (later renamed Samuel Goldwyn) and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures, later to become one of the most successful independent filmmakers.
• The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is founded in the United States as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers.
• 11 mm, an amateur film gauge, appears on the market.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top six 1916 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1916

Rank	Title	Studio	Gross
1	Intolerance	Triangle	$1,750,000 [1]
2	Joan the Woman	Paramount	$605,731 [2]
3	Maria Rosa		$102,767 [2]
4	The Heart of Nora Flynn		$87,738 [2]
5	The Trail of the Lonesome Pine		$77,944 [2]
6	The Dream Girl		$66,725 [2]

Notable films released in 1916

United States unless stated

#

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , directed by Stuart Paton, based on the 1870 novel by Jules Verne

A

• The Americano , directed by John Emerson, starring Douglas Fairbanks
• The Aryan , directed by and starring William S. Hart, with Bessie Love

B

• The Battle of the Somme , propaganda film directed by Geoffrey Malins and J. B. McDowell – (GB)
• Behind the Screen , directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Edna Purviance

C

• Cenere , directed by Febo Mari, starring Eleonora Duse – (Italy)
• Civilization , directed by Reginald Barker, Thomas H. Ince and Raymond B. West, starring Howard C. Hickman and Enid Markey
• The Count , directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Edna Purviance

D

• A Daughter of the Gods (lost), directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Annette Kellerman ^[3]

E

• East Is East , directed by Henry Edwards, starring Florence Turner – (GB)
• East Lynne , directed by Bertram Bracken, starring Theda Bara, based on the 1861 novel by Mrs. Henry Wood

F

• Fatty and Mabel Adrift , directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle, with Mabel Normand
• The Fireman , directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Edna Purviance
• The Floorwalker , directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin

G

• The Good Bad-Man , directed by Allan Dwan, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Bessie Love

H

• The Habit of Happiness , directed by Allan Dwan, starring Douglas Fairbanks
• Hell's Hinges , directed by Charles Swickard, starring William S. Hart and Clara Williams
• His Picture in the Papers , directed by John Emerson, starring Douglas Fairbanks
• Homunculus , film serial directed by Otto Rippert, starring Olaf Fønss ^[4] – (Germany)
• Hoodoo Ann , directed by Lloyd Ingraham, starring Mae Marsh and Robert Harron
• Hulda from Holland , directed by John B. O'Brien, starring Mary Pickford

I

Poster of Intolerancce

Belshazzar's feast scene from Intolerance

• Intolerance , directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh and Constance Talmadge

J

• Joan the Woman , directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Geraldine Farrar
• Judex , film serial directed by Louis Feuillade, starring René Cresté and Musidora – (France)

K

• King Lear , directed by Ernest C. Warde, starring Frederick Warde, based on the 17th-century play by William Shakespeare

M

• The Mutiny of the Bounty (lost), directed by Raymond Longford – (New Zealand)
• The Mystery of the Leaping Fish , directed by John Emerson, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Bessie Love

N

• Night of Horror/ Nachte des Grauens (German) a lost film directed by Richard Oswald and Arthur Robison, starring Emil Jannings and Werner Krauss, cited in some references as being the first vampire film ^[5]

O

• Oliver Twist , starring Marie Doro
• One A.M. , directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin

P

• The Pawnshop , a Charles Chaplin short
• The Phantom of the Opera (German) first film version of the Gaston Leroux novel, directed by Ernst Matray, starring Nils Olaf Chrisander and Aud Egede Nissen
• The Phantom Witness, directed by Frederick Sullivan for Thanhouser Films, starring Kathryn Adams and Edwin Stanley
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (British) directed by Fred W. Durant, starring Henry Victor and Pat O'Malley
• Police , a Charles Chaplin short with Edna Purviance and Wesley Ruggles

Q

• The Queen of Spades/ Pikovaya dama (Russian) directed by Yakov Protazanov, based on the short story by Alexander Pushkin, starring Tamara Duvan and Nikolai Panov ^[6]

R

• The Real Thing at Last (British) directed by James m. Barrie and L.C. MacBean, starring Ernest Thesiger
• The Return of Draw Egan , directed by and starring William S. Hart
• The Rink , a Charles Chaplin short
• The Romantic Journey, directed by George Fitzmaurice, written by Ouida Bergere, starring William Courtenay

S

• Saint, Devil and Woman, directed by Frederick Sullivan for Thanhouser Films, starring Florence La Badie
• Sally Bishop directed by George Pearson – (GB)
• Sally in Our Alley directed by Larry Trimble, starring Hilda Trevelyan, Mary Dibley, Reginald Owen – (GB)
• Seven Keys to Baldpate (Australian) directed by Monte Luke, starring Dorothy Brunton and J. Plumpton Wilson; based on the 1913 novel by Earl Derr Biggers which was turned into a play by George M. Cohan ^[7]
• She (British) directed by Horace Lisle Lucoque and William G.B. Barker, starring Alice Delysia and Henry Victor; the first British film adaptation of the H. Rider Haggard novel ^[8]
• Sherlock Holmes (U.S.), directed by Arthur Berthelet, starring William Gillette as Holmes, based on the 1899 stage play which also starred William Gillette (Ernest Maupain played Moriarty)
• The Shielding Shadow (aka Ravengar) 15-chapter serial directed by Louis Gasnier (who later directed Reefer Madness in 1936) and Donald MacKenzie, starring Grace Darmond and Ralph Kellard ^[9]
• The Silent Stranger (aka The Silent Man) 11-minute short starring, and directed by, King Baggot
• Snow White , starring Marguerite Clark
• Sold to Satan, starring and directed by Edward Sloman
• The Soul's Cycle, directed by Ulysses Davis, starring Margaret Gibson and John Oaker, deals with reincarnation similar in plot to The Mummy (1932)

T

• Trilby Frilled, 10-minute short directed by Edwin McKim, starring Davy Don as Svengali and Patsy De Forest; spoof of George Du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby ^[10]

U

• Under Two Flags , starring Theda Bara
• Ultus, the Man From the Dead (British) directed by George Pearson for Gaumont Films, starring Aurele Sydney as Ultus, a superhero apparently influenced by France's popular film character Fantomas; there were four Ultus films in the series, which were later re-edited into seven shorter films for overseas distribution
• Ultus and the Grey Lady (British) 2nd film in the "Ultus" series, directed by George Pearson, starring Aurele Sydney as Ultus
• Ultus and the Secret of the Night (British) 3rd film in the "Ultus" series, directed by George Pearson, again starring Aurele Sydney as Ultus
• Ultus and the Three-Button Mystery (British) 4th and final film in the "Ultus" series, directed by George Pearson, starring Aurele Sydney as Ultus; this 4th film wasn't theatrically released until 1917

V

• The Vagabond , directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin
• The Valley of Fear (British) directed by Alexander Butler, based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, starring H.A. Saintsbury as Sherlock Holmes and Arthur M. Cullin as Dr. Watson (Booth Conway played Moriarty)
• The Vij (Russian) written and directed by Wadyslaw Starewicz, starring Ivan Mosjoukine and Olga Obolenskaya; the 2nd ever film adaptation of Nicolai Gogol's short story; featured stop motion animation ^[11]

W

• A Welsh Singer directed by Henry Edwards, starring Edwards, Florence Turner and Campbell Gullan – (GB)
• The Wheel of Death (British) directed by A.E. Coleby, starring Arthur Rooke and Joan Legge
• Where Are My Children? , directed by Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber, starring Tyrone Power, Sr. and Juan de la Cruz
• Willard-Johnson Boxing Match
• The Wings (Swedish : Vingarne) Swedish silent film directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Nils Asther, Egil Eide, Lars Hanson, Lili Bech, and Julius Hälsig  [ sv ]
• Witchcraft, directed by Frank Reicher, produced by Jesse L. Lasky, starring Fannie Ward and Jack Dean, based on a short story by Robert Ralston Reed
• The Witch of the Mountains, starring Mareguerite Nichols, Gordon Sackville and Richard Johnson; produced by Knickerbocker Star Features
• The Witching Hour, directed by George Irving, starring C. Aubrey Smith and Marie Shotwell; this was adapted from the 1907 stage play by Augustus Thomas

Short film series

• Broncho Billy Anderson (1910–1916)
• Harold Lloyd (1913–1921)
• Charlie Chaplin (1914–1923)

Births

• January 4 – Robert Parrish, American director editor and former child actor (died 1995)
• January 5 – Alfred Ryder, American actor and director (died 1995)
• February 8 – Betty Field, American film and stage actress (died 1973)
• February 11 – Walter Newman, American radio, writer and screenwriter (died 1993)
• February 13 – James Griffith, American character actor, musician and screenwriter (died 1993)
• February 14
  • Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese film director and screenwriter (died 1996)
  • Edward Platt, American actor (died 1974)
• February 16 – Alberto Sorrentino, Italian film actor (died 1994)
• February 17 – Raf Vallone, Italian actor and footballer (died 2002)
• February 21 – Jan Wiley, American film actress (died 1993)
• February 26 – Jackie Gleason, American comedian, actor, writer, and composer (died 1987)
• February 29 – Dinah Shore, American singer, actress, television personality (died 1994)
• March 6 – Virginia Gregg, American actress (died 1986)
• March 11 – Ferdy Mayne, German-British actor (died 1998)
• March 19 – Eric Christmas, English actor (died 2000)
• March 26 – Sterling Hayden, American actor, author, sailor, and Marine (died 1986)
• April 4 – David White, American actor (died 1990)
• April 5 – Gregory Peck, American actor (died 2003)
• April 6 – Phil Leeds, American character actor (died 1998)
• April 7 – Anthony Caruso, American character actor (died 2003)
• April 10
  • John Alderson, English actor (died 2006)
  • Alfie Bass, English actor (died 1987)
• April 26 – Vic Perrin, American radio, film and television actor (died 1989)
• April 30 – Phil Brown, American actor (died 2006)
• May 1 – Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor (died 2006)
• May 6 – Adriana Caselotti, American actress and singer (died 1997)
• May 24 – Peter Whitney, American actor (died 1972)
• May 27 – Willie Best, American television and film actor (died 1962)
• May 29 – Sidney Glazier, American film producer (died 2002)
• June 6 – Dorothea Kent, American film actress (died 1990)
• June 12 – Irwin Allen, American film and television producer and director (died 1991)
• June 14 – Dorothy McGuire, American actress (died 2001)
• June 19 – Karin Booth, American film and television actress (died 2003)
• June 23 – Irene Worth, American stage and screen actress (died 2002)
• June 29 – Ruth Warrick, American singer, actress and political activist (died 2005)
• July 1 – Olivia de Havilland, British-American actress (died 2020)
• July 2 – Ken Curtis, American actor and singer (died 1991)
• July 23 – Sandra Gould, American actress (died 1999)
• July 27 – Keenan Wynn, American character actor (died 1986)
• July 31 – Sydney Tafler, English actor (died 1979)
• August 18 – Don Keefer, American actor (died 2014)
• August 21 – Geoffrey Keen, English actor (died 2005)
• August 24 – Hal Smith, American actor (died 1994)
• August 25 – Van Johnson, American actor and dancer (died 2008)
• August 27
  • George Montgomery, American actor (died 2000)
  • Martha Raye, American comic actress and singer (died 1994)
• September 12 – Edward Binns, American actor (died 1990)
• September 15 – Margaret Lockwood, British actress (died 1990)
• September 18 – Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (died 1994)
• September 28 – Peter Finch, English-Australian actor (died 1977)
• October 4 – George Sidney, American film director and producer (died 2002)
• October 10 – Benson Fong, American character actor (died 1987)
• October 20 – Anton Diffring, German actor (died 1989)
• November 5 – Willoughby Gray, English actor (died 1993)
• November 12 – Liam Dunn, American character actor (died 1976)
• November 16 – Daws Butler, American voice actor (died 1988)
• November 17 – Frank Maxwell, American actor (died 2004)
• November 20 – Evelyn Keyes, American film actress (died 2008)
• November 23 – Michael Gough, British actor (died 2011)
• November 29 – Fran Ryan, American character actress (died 2000)
• December 5 – Margaret Hayes, American film, stage, and television actress (died 1977)
• December 8 – Richard Fleischer, American film director (died 2006)
• December 9 – Kirk Douglas, American actor and filmmaker (died 2020)
• December 13 – Mark Stevens, American actor (died 1994)
• December 18 – Betty Grable, American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer (died 1973)

Deaths

• January 17, Arthur V. Johnson, 39, American screen actor and director, The Sealed Room , The Unchanging Sea , The Adventures of Dollie , The Voice of the Violin , tuberculosis
• June 22
  • Page Peters, 26, American screen actor, The Warrens of Virginia , The Purple Scar, An International Marriage , Davy Crockett , Pasquale , drowned swimming
  • Maurice Vinot, 27, French screen actor, airplane crash
• September 9 – Sydney Ayres, 37, American stage & screen actor and director, The Sting of Conscience, The Avenger , As in a Dream, multiple sclerosis
• September 17 – Arthur Hoops, 45, American stage & screen actor, The Secret of Eve , Bridges Burned , Extravagance , The Eternal Question , The Scarlet Woman , heart attack
• September 27 – Camille D'Arcy, 37, American actress, The Prince Chap , Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines , A Daughter of the City , The White Sister , The Pacifist , infection from bathing
• October 6 – Henry Woodruff, 47, American stage & screen actor, A Beckoning Flame, A Man and His Mate, Bright's disease
• November 30 – Dorrit Weixler, 23, German comic actress, Maria, Kammermusik, Heimgekehrt, Todesrauchen, suicide by hanging
• unknown – Jean, the Vitagraph Dog (born 1902), American Border Collie, Jean and the Calico Doll , Fraid Cat

Debuts

• Warner Anderson – The Sunbeam
• Edward Arnold – The Misleading Lady
• Richard Barthelmess – Gloria's Romance
• Lina Basquette – The Dumb Girl of Portici
• Constance Bennett – The Valley of Decision
• Joan Bennett – The Valley of Decision
• Betty Blythe – Slander
• Billie Burke – Peggy ^[12]
• Helene Chadwick – The Challenge
• Mady Christians – Audrey
• Ruth Clifford – Behind the Lines
• William Collier Jr. – The Bugle Call
• Ann Dvorak – Ramona ^[13]
• Barbara Everest – The Hypocrites
• Elinor Fair – The End of the Trail
• Douglas Fairbanks Jr. – American Aristocracy
• John Halliday – The Devil's Toy
• Virginia Hammond – Vultures of Society
• Grayce Hampton – The Pursuing Vengeance
• Dary Holm – Des Nächsten Weib
• Hedda Hopper – The Battle of Hearts
• Wanda Jarszewska – Tyrannical Overlords – From Poland's Dark Time
• Mary Jerrold – Disraeli
• Clarence Kolb – A Million for Mary
• Kate Lester – Molly Make-Believe
• Cläre Lotto – Leichtsinn und Pflicht
• Mary MacLaren – Where Are My Children?
• Dorcas Matthews – The Captive God
• Grant Mitchell – The Misleading Lady
• Colleen Moore – The Prince of Graustark
• Frank Morgan – The Suspect
• Mae Murray – To Have and to Hold
• Ramon Novarro – Joan the Woman
• Reginald Owen – A Place in the Sun
• Tina Pica – Carmela, la sartina di Montesanto
• Marie Prevost – Unto Those Who Sin
• Cyril Raymond – The Hypocrites
• Edward G. Robinson – Arms and the Woman
• Eve Southern – Intolerance
• Lewis Stone – Honor's Altar
• Eddie Sturgis – The Lost Bridegroom
• Hermann Thimig – The Countess Heyers
• Edward Van Sloan – Slander
• Elsa Wagner – The Wandering Light
• Lucile Watson – The Girl with the Green Eyes

References

1. "Griffith's 20 Year Record". Variety. 5 September 1928. p. 12. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
2. Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN   9780813123240.
3. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
4. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
5. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
6. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
7. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
8. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
9. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
10. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
11. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
12. Slide, Anthony (2010). Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. University Press of Kentucky. p. 96. ISBN   978-0-8131-2708-8.
13. "Ann Dvorak". latimes.com. Retrieved 6 February 2020.

External links

• List of 1916 films at IMDb
• List of 1916 deaths at IMDb
• List of 1916 births at IMDb