The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.
Alice Brady was an American actress of stage and film. She began her career in the theatre in 1911, and her first important success came on Broadway in 1912 when she created the role of Meg March in the original production of Marian de Forest's Little Women. As a screen actress she first appeared in silent films and was one of the few actresses to survive the transition into talkies. She worked until six months before her death from cancer in 1939. Her films include My Man Godfrey (1936), in which she plays the flighty mother of Carole Lombard's character, and In Old Chicago (1937) for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Marie Doro was an American stage and film actress of the early silent film era.
Elliott Dexter was an American film and stage actor. Dexter started his career in vaudeville and did not move to films until he was 45. He retired from acting in 1925.
Louise Lester was an American silent film actress. She was the first female star of Western films.
Enid Markey was an American theatre, film, radio, and television actress, whose career spanned over 50 years, extending from the early 1900s to the late 1960s. In movies, she was the first performer to portray the fictional character Jane, Tarzan's "jungle" companion and later his wife. Markey performed as Jane twice in 1918, costarring with Elmo Lincoln in the films Tarzan of The Apes and The Romance of Tarzan.
The Golden Chance is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Art direction for the film was done by Wilfred Buckland. DeMille remade the film in 1921 as Forbidden Fruit.
Beatrice Fairfax is an American silent film serial directed and produced by Leopold Wharton and Theodore Wharton. First released on August 7, 1916, the series consists of 15 weekly episodes and features the character of "Beatrice Fairfax". The character was inspired by the popular newspaper advice column Ask Beatrice Fairfax, which had been the world's first column of its kind when launched in 1898.
A Society Exile (1919) is an American silent film drama directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Elsie Ferguson, Julia Dean, and William Carleton. The assistant director to Fitzmaurice was William Scully. The film was based upon the 1910 play We Can't Be as Bad as All That by Henry Arthur Jones, adapted for the screen by Ouida Bergère. The film marks the second screen appearance of the actor Henry Stephenson.
Sally Bishop is a 1924 British silent romance film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Marie Doro, Henry Ainley and Florence Turner. It is an adaptation of the novel Sally Bishop, a Romance by E. Temple Thurston.
Oliver Twist is a lost 1916 silent film drama produced by Jesse Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by James Young. It is based on the famous 1838 novel, Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens and the 1912 Broadway stage version of the novel.
Diplomacy is a 1916 silent film drama produced by the Famous Players Film Company and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1878 stage play Diplomacy, adapted from the French play Dora (1877) by Victorien Sardou, which had enjoyed revivals and road shows for decades. This film stars Doro reprising her 1914 Broadway revival role. The film is now lost with just a fragment, 1 reel, remaining at the Library of Congress.
Common Ground is a 1916 silent film drama produced by Jesse Lasky, directed by William C. deMille and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is an original story for the screen and stars Thomas Meighan and Marie Doro. A print is held by British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive.
The Wood Nymph is a lost 1916 silent film whose story was written by D. W. Griffith as Granville Warwick, produced by his Fine Arts Film company, directed by Paul Powell and distributed by the Triangle Film Corporation. This film stars Marie Doro, a stage actress recently arrived in films, in a Gishian type of role and was expressly written for her by Griffith.
The Making of Maddalena is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and written by L. V. Jefferson based upon a play by Samuel Service and Mary Service. The film stars Edna Goodrich, Forrest Stanley, Howard Davies, John Burton, Mary Mersch, and Colin Chase. The film was released on June 8, 1916, by Paramount Pictures. It is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.
The Lash is a 1916 American drama silent film directed by James Young and written by George DuBois Proctor and James Young. The film stars Marie Doro, Elliott Dexter, James Neill, Thomas Delmar, Jane Wolfe and Veda McEvers. The film was released October 1, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
Heart's Desire is a 1917 American drama silent film directed by Francis J. Grandon and written by Shannon Fife and Eve Unsell. The film stars Marie Doro, Alan Roscoe, Mario Majeroni, Jean Del Val, Helen Dahl and Harry Lee. The film was released on April 30, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
Lola May was an American silent film and stage actress.
New York is a 1916 American silent comedy drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Florence Reed. It was adapted by Ouida Bergère from a 1910 William J. Hurlbut play of the same title. The film was distributed by the Pathé Exchange company.
Friendly Enemies is a 1925 American silent comedy thriller film directed by George Melford and starring Joe Weber, Lew Fields and Virginia Brown Faire. It is based on a 1918 play of the same title, and was part of a cluster of World War I-themed films released during the mid-1920s. It was remade as a sound film Friendly Enemies in 1942.
