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.
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.
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.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, directed by Stuart Paton for Universal Pictures, starring Curtis Benton and Alan Holubar (as Capt. Nemo), based on the novel by Jules Verne
Arima no neko sodo (Japanese) starring Matsunosuke Onoe, another film adaptation of the Japanese legend of the "Ghost Cat of Arima"[3]
Bake ginnan (Japanese) directed by Shozo Makino for Nikkatsu, starring Matsunosuke Onoe; a film adaptation of the Japanese legend of the "Monster Gingko Tree"[4]
The Black Crook, directed by Robert Vignola, starring Edward P. Sullivan; based on a play by Charles M. Barras, this "Faust"-like film was one of the earliest film musicals with choreographed dance numbers[5]
The Bogus Ghost, an 11-minute comedydirected by Harry F. Millarde for Kalem Films
Crime and the Penalty (British) directed by R. Harley West, this film's plot was a cross between Murders in the Rue Morgue and Trilby, featuring a gorilla trained to strange people[6]
The Crimson Stain Mystery (British) 16-chapter science-fiction serial directed by T. Hayes Hunter; a near-complete print exists in the Library of Congress[7]
A Daughter of the Gods, a 3-hour long movie directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Annette Kellerman; this was the United States' first million-dollar film production[8]
The Dead Alive, directed by Henry J. Vernot, starring Marguerite Courtot
A Dead With the Devil (British) short Faustian film directed by Frank Wilson, produced by Cecil M. Hepworth[9]
The Devil's Bondwoman, directed by Lloyd B. Carleton for Universal Pictures, starring Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson
The Devil's Toy, directed by Harley Knoles, based on an Edward Madden poem "The Mill of the Gods", starring Adele Blood and Montagu Love[10]
Feathertop, directed by Henry J. Vernot, starring Mathilde Baring, John Reinhard and Marguerite Courtot; loosely based on the story by Nathaniel Hawthorne[12]
Her Father's Gold (aka The Water Devil) directed by Eugene Moore for Thanhouser Films, based on a story by Crittenden Marriott[13]
Homunculus (German) 6-chapter serial about a scientist who creates an artificial human, directed by Otto Rippert, starring Olaf Foenss as the Monster; plot similar to Frankenstein, Alraune and The Golem[14]
Mingling Spirits, short film directed by Al Christie for Universal Pictures, starring Betty Compson
Mr. Tvardovski (Russian) a Faustian-type film directed by Ladislas Starevitch, starring Nicolai Saltykov, based on a novel by J. I. Kraszevski; part of the film featured animation
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 [18]
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
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[19]
The Real Thing at Last (British) directed by James m. Barrie and L.C. MacBean, starring Ernest Thesiger
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[20]
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[21]
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[22]
The Silent Stranger (aka The Silent Man) 11-minute short starring, and directed by, King Baggot
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)
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[23]
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
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[24]
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