1917 in film was a particularly fruitful year for the art form, and is often cited as one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1913. Secondarily the year saw a limited global embrace of narrative film-making and featured innovative techniques such as continuity cutting. Primarily, the year is an American landmark, as 1917 is the first year where the narrative and visual style is typified as "Classical Hollywood".
Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Bosworth began his career in theater, eventually transitioning to the emerging film industry. Despite a battle with tuberculosis, he found success in silent films, establishing himself as a lead actor and pioneering the industry in California. Bosworth started his own production company, Hobart Bosworth Productions, in 1913, focusing on Jack London melodramas. After the company closed, Bosworth continued to act in supporting roles, surviving the transition to sound films. He is known as the "Dean of Hollywood" for his role in shaping the California film industry. In 1960, Bosworth was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.
Mabel Van Buren was an American stage and screen actress.
The Smart Set (1928) is a silent film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Jack Conway, and starring William Haines, Jack Holt, and Alice Day.
The Devil-Stone is a 1917 American silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, co-written by his mother Beatrice deMille and Jeanie MacPherson, and starring Geraldine Farrar. The film had sequences filmed in the Handschiegl Color Process. Only two of six reels are known to survive, in the American Film Institute Collection at the Library of Congress. This was the last of Farrar's films for Paramount Pictures.
Vanity Fair (1923) is a lost silent feature film directed by Hugo Ballin and released by Samuel Goldwyn.
The Eternal Three is a 1923 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. It was directed by both Marshall Neilan and Frank Urson. Hobart Bosworth, Claire Windsor, and Bessie Love star.
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.
The Silent Partner is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Marshall Neilan from a screen story by Edmund Goulding and starred Blanche Sweet, who in a few years would marry Marshall Neilan. The film was remade in 1923, and also released by Paramount Pictures.
Each Pearl a Tear is a surviving 1916 American drama silent film directed by George Melford and written by Beatrice DeMille and Leighton Osmun. The film stars Fannie Ward, Charles Clary, Jack Dean, Paul Weigel, Jane Wolfe and Ben Alexander. The film was released on August 31, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
Those Without Sin is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Marshall Neilan, written by Thomas J. Geraghty, George DuBois Proctor and Harvey F. Thew, and starring Blanche Sweet, Tom Forman, Clarence Geldart, Guy Oliver, James Neill, and Charles Ogle. It was released on March 1, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
A School for Husbands is a lost 1917 American comedy silent film directed by George Melford, written by Hugh Stanislaus Stange and Harvey F. Thew, and starring Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Edythe Chapman, Frank Elliott, Mabel Van Buren and James Neill. It was released on April 5, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
Freckles is a lost 1917 American drama silent film directed by Marshall Neilan and written by Gene Stratton-Porter and Marion Fairfax. The film stars Jack Pickford, Louise Huff, Hobart Bosworth, Lillian Leighton, William Elmer and Guy Oliver. The film was released on May 28, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
The Jaguar's Claws is a 1917 American Western silent film directed by Marshall Neilan and written by William M. McCoy, Beatrice DeMille and Leighton Osmun. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Fritzi Brunette, Tom Moore, Marjorie Daw, Tom Forman and Mabel Van Buren. The film was released on June 11, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
Her Strange Wedding is a lost 1917 American drama silent film directed by George Melford and written by Charles Maigne and George Middleton. The film stars Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Tom Forman and William Elmer. The film was released on June 25, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
The Crystal Gazer is a lost 1917 American drama silent film directed by George Melford, and written by Eve Unsell, Edna G. Riley, and Marion Fairfax. The film stars Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Winifred Greenwood, Harrison Ford, Raymond Hatton and Edythe Chapman. The film was released on July 30, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
Hashimura Togo is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by William C. deMille and written by Marion Fairfax and Wallace Irwin. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Florence Vidor, Mabel Van Buren, Walter Long, Tom Forman, and Raymond Hatton. The film was released on August 19, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
On the Level is a lost 1917 American silent Western film directed by George Melford and written by Marion Fairfax and Charles Kenyon. The film stars Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Harrison Ford, Lottie Pickford, James Cruze, and Jim Mason. The film was released on September 10, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
The Countess Charming is a lost 1917 American silent comedy film directed by Donald Crisp and written by Gelett Burgess, Carolyn Wells, and Gardner Hunting. The film stars Julian Eltinge, Florence Vidor, Tully Marshall, George Kuwa, Edythe Chapman, and Mabel Van Buren. The film was released on September 16, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
Should a Wife Forgive? is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Henry King and starring Lillian Lorraine, Mabel Van Buren, and Lew Cody.
