1917 in film

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".

Events

January – Panthea is released, the first film from the company that Joseph Schenck formed with his wife, Norma Talmadge, after leaving Loew's Consolidated Enterprises.
February – Buster Keaton first meets Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in New York and is hired as a co-star and gag man.
April 9 – Supreme Court of the United States rule in Motion Picture Patents Co. v. Universal Film Manufacturing Co. which ends the Motion Picture Patents Company appeal and results in the end of the company.
April 23 – Release in the United States of the short The Butcher Boy, the first of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's series of films with the Comique Film Corporation, and Buster Keaton's film debut.
April 25 – Thomas Lincoln Tally, in a meeting in New York, co-founds the First National Exhibitors Circuit.^[1]^[2]
June – Thomas H. Ince and Mack Sennett leave Triangle Film Corporation following Stephen Andrew Lynch taking control.
September 13 – Release in the United States of The Gulf Between, the first film made in Technicolor System 1, a two-color process.
November 9 – World's first feature-length animated film is made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani (El Apóstol)
December 18 – Foundation of Universum Film AG (UƒA), as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.
Movette, another revision of the 17.5 mm film format, is made available.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top five 1917 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1917
Rank	Title	Studio	Domestic rentals
1	Cleopatra	Fox Film	$1,000,000^[3]
2	The Little American	Paramount	$446,236^[4]
3	A Romance of the Redwoods		$424,718^[4]
4	The Woman God Forgot		$340,504^[4]
5	The Devil Stone		$296,031^[4]

Notable films

Films produced in the United States unless stated otherwise

#

'49–'17, directed by Ruth Ann Baldwin

A

The Adventurer, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Edna Purviance
All Aboard, directed by Alfred J. Goulding, starring Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels
El Apóstol (The Apostle) (lost), animated film directed by Quirino Cristiani – (Argentina)

B

Bestia (US: The Polish Dancer), directed by Aleksander Hertz, starring Pola Negri – (Poland)
Betsy Ross, directed by Travers Vale and George Cowl, starring Alice Brady
Bucking Broadway, directed by John Ford, starring Harry Carey

The Butcher Boy, directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle, with Buster Keaton

C

Cleopatra (incomplete), directed by J. Gordon Edwards, starring Theda Bara
Coney Island, directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle, with Buster Keaton
The Cure, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Edna Purviance

D

Down to Earth, directed by John Emerson, starring Douglas Fairbanks

E

Easy Street, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Edna Purviance

F

Fear (Furcht), directed by Robert Wiene, starring Conrad Veidt^[5] – (Germany)

Selected films with 1914 release dates

United States unless stated

January 8 – Great Expectations, starring Jack Pickford
January 22 – Easy Street, starring Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance
January 22 – Her Right to Live, directed by Paul Scardon, starring Peggy Hyland, Antonio Moreno, Mae Costello, John S. Robertson
January 29 – A Man There Was (Terje Vigen), directed by Victor Sjöström – (Sweden)
February 2 – The Marriage of Luise Rohrbach, directed by Rudolf Biebrach, starring Henny Porten, Emil Jannings – (Germany)
February 18 – The Bad Boy, starring Robert Harron, Mildred Harris, Colleen Moore
March 3 – The Tornado, directed by John Ford (his debut)
March 5 – The Poor Little Rich Girl, starring Mary Pickford
March 7 – The Torture of Silence (Mater Dolorosa), directed by Abel Gance – (France)
April 15 – Teddy at the Throttle, a Keystone comedy starring Gloria Swanson
April 16 – The Cure, a Charlie Chaplin short.
April 23 – The Butcher Boy, starring "Fatty" Arbuckle with Buster Keaton
May 7 – Kidnapped, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Raymond McKee, Joseph Burke, and Ray Hallor
May 14 – A Romance of the Redwoods, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Mary Pickford
May 19 – One Law for Both directed by Ivan Abramson
May 20 – Souls Triumphant, starring Lillian Gish
May 21 – A Reckless Romeo, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle short.
May – Frank Hansen's Fortune directed by Viggo Larsen – (Germany)
June 17 – The Immigrant, starring Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance
June 24 – Wild and Woolly, starring Douglas Fairbanks
June 25 – A Kentucky Cinderella, starring Ruth Clifford
June 25 – The Rough House, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
June – The Labour Leader, directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Owen Nares, Fay Compton – (GB)
July 5 – Big Timber
July – The Picture of Dorian Gray (Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray) – (Germany)
August 12 – Golden Rule Kate, a drama western starring Louise Glaum
August 20 – His Wedding Night, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
August 27 – The Little American, starring Mary Pickford; directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
August 27 – Straight Shooting, directed by John Ford
August 28 – Brcko in Zagreb – (Croatia)
August – The Gay Lord Quex directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ben Webster and Irene Vanbrugh – (GB)
September 13 – The Gulf Between, All color movie.
September 22 – Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, starring Mary Pickford
September 30 – Camille, starring Theda Bara
September 30 – Oh Doctor!, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
September 30 – The Sultan's Wife, starring Gloria Swanson
September – Fear directed by Robert Wiene and starring Conrad Veidt – (Germany)
October 14 – Cleopatra, starring Theda Bara
October 21 – Satan Triumphant (Satana likuyushchiy) – (U.S.S.R.)
October 22 – The Adventurer, a Charlie Chaplin short.
October 29 – Coney Island, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
November 9 – El Apóstol (The Apostle), animated by Quirino Cristiani – (Argentina)
November 11 – A Little Princess, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Mary Pickford, Norman Kerry, ZaSu Pitts
November 12 – Harrison and Barrison, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Márton Rátkai – (Hungary)
November 25 – All Aboard, a Harold Lloyd short
November 26 – The Silent Man, starring William S. Hart
December 10 – Tom Sawyer, starring Jack Pickford
December 24 – Bucking Broadway, directed by John Ford, starring Harry Carey
December – Raffles the Amateur Cracksman, starring John Barrymore

Comedy film series

Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
Buster Keaton (1917–1944)

Births

January 2 – Vera Zorina, German-Norwegian ballerina, theatre film actress, and choreographer (died 2003)
January 3 – Jesse White, American actor (died 1997)
January 5 – Jane Wyman, American actress (died 2007)
January 10 – Hilde Krahl, Austrian actress (died 1999)
January 21 – Lally Bowers, English actress and singer (died 1984)
January 24 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (died 2012)
February 6 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American socialite and actress (died 2016)
February 15 – Sam Kydd, British actor (died 1982)
February 16 – George N. Neise, American actor (died 1996)
February 21 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (died 1996)
February 25 – Brenda Joyce, American actress (died 2009)
March 2 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader (died 1986)
March 12 – Googie Withers, English actress and dancer (died 2011)
March 22
- Virginia Grey, American actress (died 2004)
- Paul Rogers, English actor (died 2013)
March 23 – Kenneth Tobey, American actor (died 2002)
March 30 – Herbert Anderson, American character actor (died 1994)
April 2 - Dabbs Greer, American character actor (died 2007)
April 9 – Brad Dexter, American actor and film producer (died 2002)
April 14 – Valerie Hobson, British actress (died 1998)
April 15 – Hans Conried, American actor and comedian (died 1982)
April 16 – William Benedict, American actor (died 1999)
April 17 – R. G. Armstrong, American character actor and playwright (died 2012)
April 28 – Robert Cornthwaite, American actor (died 2006)
April 29
- Celeste Holm, American actress (died 2012)
- Maya Deren, American experimental filmmaker (died 1961)
May 1 – Danielle Darrieux, French actress, singer and dancer (died 2017)
May 3 – Leopoldo Trieste, Italian actor, film director and script writer (died 2003)
May 5 - June Lang, American actress (died 2005)
May 7 - David Tomlinson, English actor and comedian (died 2000)
May 10 – Margo, Mexican actress and dancer (died 1985)
May 16 – George Gaynes, Dutch-American singer, actor, and voice artist (died 2016)
May 18 – James Donald, Scottish actor (died 1993)
May 21 – Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (died 1993)
May 22 -
- Nathan Davis (actor), American actor (died 2008)
- Sid Melton, American actor (died 2011)
May 25 – Steve Cochran, American actor (died 1965)
June 2 - Max Showalter, American actor and musician (died 2000)
June 3 – Leo Gorcey, actor, comedian (died 1969)
June 7 – Dean Martin, American singer, actor, and comedian (died 1995)
June 8 – George D. Wallace, American actor (died 2005)
June 18
- Richard Boone, American actor (died 1981)
- Ross Elliott, American character actor (died 1999)
June 22 – Russell Wade, American actor (died 2006)
June 30
- Lena Horne, American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist (died 2010)
- Susan Hayward, American actress (died 1975)
July 1 – Virginia Dale, American actress (died 1994)
July 8 – Faye Emerson, American actress (died 1983)
July 17 – Phyllis Diller, American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician and visual artist (died 2012)
July 26 – Lorna Gray, American actress (died 2017)
July 27 – Bourvil, French actor and singer (died 1970)
August 6 – Robert Mitchum, American actor (died 1997)
August 8 – Earl Cameron, Bermudian actor (died 2020)
August 12 – Marjorie Reynolds, American actress (died 1997)
August 13 – Gloria Dickson, American actress (died 1945)
August 17 – Gianni Agus, Italian actor (died 1994)
August 25 – Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (died 2008)
September 9 – Rolf Wenkhaus, German child actor (died 1942)
September 11 – Herbert Lom, Czech-British actor (died 2012)
September 18 - June Foray, American voice actress (died 2017)
October 2 – Charles Drake, American actor (died 1994)
October 7
- Helmut Dantine, Austrian-American actor (died 1982)
- June Allyson, American actress (died 2006)
October 11 - J. Edward McKinley, American character actor (died 2004)
October 16 – Alice Pearce, American actress (died 1966)
October 17 – Marsha Hunt, American actress (died 2022)
October 22 – Joan Fontaine, British-American actress (died 2013)
October 24 – John Alvin, American actor (died 2009)
October 26 – Virgílio Teixeira, Portuguese actor (died 2010)
November 2 – Ann Rutherford, Canadian-American actress (died 2012)
November 4 –
- Leonardo Cimino, American actor (died 2012)
- Virginia Field, British actress (died 1992)
November 13 – Robert Sterling, American actor (died 2006)
November 30 - Ilse Steppat, German actress (died 1969)
December 7 – Hurd Hatfield, American actor (died 1998)
December 12 – Margaret Marquis, Canadian-American actress (died 1993)
December 13 - John Hart, American actor (died 2009)
December 18 - Ossie Davis, American actor, director, writer, and activist (died 2005)
December 22 – Frankie Darro, American actor (died 1976)
December 28 - Kim Chan, Chinese-American actor and producer (died 2008)

Deaths

February 21 – Fred Mace, 38, American actor & comedian, What Happened to Jones, His Last Scent, A Lover's Might, The Love Comet
March 6 – Valdemar Psilander, 32, Danish actor, Rytterstatuen, Lykken, Lydia, Klovnen, Favoriten, In Defense of a Nation, John Redmond, the Evangelist
July 2 – Herbert Beerbohm Tree, 64, English stage & screen actor, Beerbohm Tree, The Great English Actor; Henry VIII; Macbeth; Trilby; The Old Folks at Home
October 13 – Florence La Badie, 29, American actress, The Man Without a Country, War and the Woman, The Woman in White, When Love Was Blind
October 25 – Jack Standing, 31, English actor, With Hoops of Steel, The Curse of Eve, The Innocent Sinner, The Price of Her Soul, One Touch of Sin
November 5 – Howell Hansel, 46, American actor and director
November 18 – Nino Oxilia, 28, Italian director, Rapsodia satanica, Blue Blood
December 20 – Eric Campbell, 38, Scottish actor, The Immigrant, Behind the Screen, The Count, Easy Street, The Adventurer(short), The Cure(short)

Film debuts

Maude Allen – The Moth
Eduardo Ciannelli – The Food Gamblers
Jackie Coogan – Skinner's Baby
Marion Davies – Runaway Romany
Vittorio De Sica – The Clemenceau Affair
Richard Dix – One of Many
Fritz Feld – The Golem and the Dancing Girl
John Ford (director) – Straight Shooting
Ferdinand Gottschalk – Please Help Emily
Taylor Holmes – Fools for Luck
Leslie Howard – The Happy Warrior
Isabel Jeans – The Profligate
Buck Jones – A Rough Shod Fighter
Madge Kennedy – Baby Mine
Bela Lugosi – Leoni Leo
Bert Lytell – The Lone Wolf
May McAvoy – Hate
Chester Morris – An Amateur Orphan
ZaSu Pitts – Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Marjorie Rambeau – The Greater Woman
Gustav von Seyffertitz – Down to Earth
Amy Veness – Please Help Emily
Clifton Webb – National Red Cross Pageant
Marjorie Wood – National Red Cross Pageant
Loretta Young – The Primrose Ring

References

^ Films of the Golden Age. Archived 2004-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
^ First National filmography.
^ Daugherty, Gregory N. (2022). The Reception of Cleopatra in the Age of Mass Media. ISBN 978-1-3503-4073-2. No data survives, but Bara herself claimed that the epic grossed a million dollars, quite an achievement since it reportedly cost $500,000 to make.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813123240.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

External links

[1] Films of the Golden Age. Archived 2004-12-16 at the Wayback Machine

[2] First National filmography.

[CleopatraBook-3] Daugherty, Gregory N. (2022). The Reception of Cleopatra in the Age of Mass Media. ISBN 978-1-3503-4073-2. No data survives, but Bara herself claimed that the epic grossed a million dollars, quite an achievement since it reportedly cost $500,000 to make.

[birchard-4] Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813123240.

[5] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._189-6] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._193-7] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[8] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

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