1921 in film

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This is an overview of 1921 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top nine films released in 1921 by U.S. gross are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1921
Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse	Metro	$4,500,000^[1]
2	The Kid	First National	$2,500,000^[1]
3 (tie)	The Three Musketeers The Sheik	United Artists Paramount	$1,500,000^[1]
5	The Affairs of Anatol	Paramount	$1,191,789^[2]
6	Fool's Paradise		$906,937^[2]
7	Forbidden Fruit		$848,121^[2]
8	School Days	Warner Bros.	$546,000^[3]
9	Why Girls Leave Home	Warner Bros.	$410,000^[3]

Events

January 21 – The silent comedy drama The Kid, written by, produced by, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin (in his Tramp character) – his first full-length film as a director – and featuring Jackie Coogan, is released in the United States. It is the year's second-highest-grossing film.
March 6 – The silent epic war film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, adapted for the screen by June Mathis, is released in the United States. It is the year's highest-grossing film (and the sixth-best-grossing silent film of all time), propels Rudolph Valentino to stardom and inspires a tango craze and a fashion for gaucho pants.
July 1 – The silent crime docudrama Yan Ruisheng is the first full-length feature film made in China to be released; although commercially successful it is banned within 2 years and believed lost.^[4]
August 29 – Broadway's first $1 million theatre, Loew's State opens.
September 5 – Popular comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle attends a party at the St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, during which actress Virginia Rappe is fatally injured; although he is eventually acquitted of rape and manslaughter, the scandal derails his career.
October 21 – George Melford's silent film The Sheik, which enhances leading actor Rudolph Valentino's international reputation as a Latin lover, is premiered in Los Angeles. Within the first year of its release, it exceeds $1 million in ticket sales.
October 26 – The Chicago Theatre, which will be the oldest surviving French-style Baroque Revival grand movie palace, opens.
The experimental short documentary film Manhatta is shot by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand in New York City.

Notable films released in 1921

United States unless stated.

G

The Goat, directed by Mal St. Clair and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
The Ghost in the Garret (lost), directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Dorothy Gish
Godfather Death (Der Gevatter Tod), directed by Heinz Hanus, based on the 1884 short story Der Pate des Todes by Rudolf Baumbach^[7] – (Austria)
Das grinsende Gesicht (transl. The Grinning Face), directed by Julius Herska, based on the 1869 novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo – (Austria)
The Gunsaulus Mystery (lost), written and directed by Oscar Micheaux

H

Hail the Woman, directed by John Griffith Wray, starring Florence Vidor
The Haunted Castle (Schloß Vogelöd), directed by F. W. Murnau, based on the novel by Rudolf Stratz – (Germany)
The Haunted House, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
The High Sign, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
His Brother's Keeper (lost), directed by Wilfrid North^[9]
L'Homme qui vendit son âme au diable (The Man Who Sold His Soul to the Devil), directed by Pierre Caron – (France)
The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Eille Norwood^[10]^[9] – (GB)
Humor Risk (unreleased), directed by Dick Smith, starring the Marx Brothers

I

The Idle Class, a Charles Chaplin short
The Indian Tomb (Das Indische Grabmal), directed by Joe May, starring Conrad Veidt – (Germany)
The Island of the Lost (Die Insel der Verschollenen), directed by Urban Gad, based on the 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells without authorization^[11] – (Germany)

J

Jane Eyre, directed by Hugo Ballin, starring Norman Trevor and Mabel Ballin, based on the 1847 novel by Charlotte Brontë
Jánošík, directed by Jaroslav Jerry Siakeľ – (Czechoslovakia)
Jim the Penman, directed by Kenneth Webb, starring Lionel Barrymore
Journey into the Night (Der Gang in die Nacht), directed by F. W. Murnau – (Germany)

K

The Kid, a Charlie Chaplin film, with Jackie Coogan
Kipps, directed by Harold M. Shaw, starring George K. Arthur, based on the 1905 novel by H. G. Wells

L

Land of My Fathers directed by Fred Rains, starring John Stuart – (GB)
Leaves from Satan's Book (Blade af Satans Bog), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer – (Denmark)
Little Lord Fauntleroy, directed by Alfred E. Green and Jack Pickford, starring Mary Pickford
The Lost Shadow (Der Verlorene Schatten) (lost), directed by Rochus Gliese, starring Paul Wegener^[12] – (Germany)
The Lotus Eater (lost), directed by Marshall Neilan, starring John Barrymore and Colleen Moore
The Love Light, directed by Frances Marion, starring Mary Pickford
Lucky Carson (lost), directed by Wilfrid North, starring Earle Williams
The Lucky Dog, directed by Jess Robbins, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

M

Mathias Sandorf, directed by Henri Fescourt, starring Romuald Joubé – (France)
The Mechanical Man (L'uomo meccanico) (lost), starring and directed by André Deed – (Italy)
A Message From Mars, directed by Maxwell Karger, starring Bert Lytell
A Midnight Bell (lost), starring and directed by Charles Ray, based on the 1889 stage play by Charles H. Hoyt^[12]^[6]
Miss Lulu Bett, directed by William C. deMille, starring Lois Wilson and Milton Sills
Il mostro di Frankenstein (The Monster of Frankenstein) (lost), directed by Eugenio Testa^[13] – (Italy)

N

Never Weaken, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd
The Nut, directed by Theodore Reed, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Marguerite De La Motte

O

The Offenders (lost), directed by Fenwicke Holmes
Orphans of the Storm, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish
The Other Person (Onder spiritistischen dwang), directed by Maurits Binger and B. E. Doxat-Pratt, based on the 1920 novel by Fergus Hume^[14] – (Netherlands/GB)

P

The Painting of Osvaldo Mars (Il quadro di Osvaldo Mars), directed by Guido Brignone, starring Mercedes Brignone – (Italy)
Pan Twardowski, directed by Wiktor Biegański^[14] – (Poland)
The Passion Flower, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Norma Talmadge
Peck's Bad Boy, directed by Sam Wood, starring Jackie Coogan
The Phantom Carriage (aka Korkarlen/ The Wagoner), directed by Victor Sjostrom, starring Sjostrom, Hilda Borgstrom and Tore Svennberg, based on the 1912 novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! by Selma Lagerlof; this film influenced the later works of Ingmar Bergman^[15] – (Sweden)
The Playhouse, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton

Q

The Queen of Sheba (lost), directed by J. Gordon Edwards, starring Betty Blythe

S

A Sailor-Made Man, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, starring Harold Lloyd
School Days, directed by William Nigh, starring Wesley Barry
Sentimental Tommy (lost), directed by John S. Robertson, starring Gareth Hughes
Seven Years Bad Luck, a Max Linder film
The Sheik, directed by George Melford, starring Agnes Ayres and Rudolph Valentino
The Silver Lining, directed by Roland West, starring Jewel Carmen
The Sky Pilot, directed by King Vidor, starring Colleen Moore
Soul of the Cypress, directed by Dudley Murphy^[16]
Squibs, directed by George Pearson, starring Betty Balfour – (GB)
Sybil (lost), directed by Jack Denton, starring Evelyn Brent – (GB)

T

The Three Musketeers, directed by Fred Niblo, starring Douglas Fairbanks
Through the Back Door, directed by Alfred E. Green and Jack Pickford, starring Mary Pickford
Tol'able David, directed by Henry King, starring Richard Barthelmess
Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers), directed by Henri Diamant-Berger – (France)

W

Whispering Shadows, directed by Émile Chautard
White and Unmarried (lost), directed by Tom Forman, starring Thomas Meighan
Why Girls Leave Home (lost), directed by William Nigh, starring Anna Q. Nilsson
The Witching Hour, directed by William Desmond Taylor, starring Elliott Dexter, adapted from the 1907 stage play by Augustus Thomas^[17]^[18]
Woman's Place, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Constance Talmadge
The Wonderful Thing, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Norma Talmadge and Harrison Ford

Comedy film series

Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
Laurel and Hardy (1921–1945)

Animated short film series

Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1934)
Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
Koko the Clown (1919–1963)

Births

January 3 – John Russell, actor (died 1991)
January 10 - George Robotham, American stuntman and actor (died 2007)
January 11 - Kathleen Byron, English actress (died 2009)
January 17 - Herb Ellis, American character actor (died 2018)
January 26 – Elisabeth Kirkby, British-born Australian actress, producer and director
January 27 – Donna Reed, actress (died 1986)
January 31
- Carol Channing, musical actress (died 2019)
- Mario Lanza, singer and actor (died 1959)
February 1 – Peter Sallis, actor (died 2017)
February 8 – Lana Turner, actress (died 1995)
February 16 – Vera-Ellen, actress, dancer (died 1981)
February 19 – Ann Savage, actress (died 2008)
February 22 – Giulietta Masina, actress (died 1994)
February 23 - Jack Rader, American actor
February 24 – Abe Vigoda, actor (died 2016)
February 26 – Betty Hutton, actress (died 2007)
March 3 – Diana Barrymore, actress (died 1960)
March 4 – Joan Greenwood, actress (died 1987)
March 5 - Jo de Winter, American actress (died 2016)
March 8 – Alan Hale Jr., actor, restaurateur (died 1990)
March 10 – Charlotte Zucker, actress, mother of Jerry Zucker and David Zucker (died 2007)
March 12 – Gordon MacRae, actor, singer (died 1986)
March 21 - Logan Ramsey, American character actor (died 2000)
March 23 – Geoffrey Chater, English actor (died 2021)
March 25
- Nancy Kelly, American actress (died 1995)
- Simone Signoret, French actress (died 1985)
March 26 – Julie Harris, English costume designer (died 2015)
March 28 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor (died 1999)
April 1 – Arieh Elias, Israeli actor (died 2015)
April 3 – Jan Sterling, American actress (died 2004)
April 4 - Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (died 2015)
April 7 – Bill Butler, American cinematographer (died 2023)
April 10 – Chuck Connors, American actor (died 1992)
April 16 – Peter Ustinov, British actor (died 2004)
April 23
- Janet Blair, American actress (died 2007)
- Gerald Campion, English actor (died 2002)
April 29 – Tommy Noonan, American actor, screenwriter, producer (died 1968)
May 2 – Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (died 1992)
May 16 - Harry Carey Jr., American actor (died 2012)
May 23
- Grigori Chukhrai, Ukrainian film director (died 2001)
- Ray Lawler, Australian actor (died 2024)
May 30 - Jamie Uys, South African film director (died 1996)
May 31 – Alida Valli, actress (died 2006)
June 8
- Sheila Ryan, actress (died 1975)
- Alexis Smith, actress (died 1993)
June 18 – Wesley Lau, actor (died 1984)
June 19 – Louis Jourdan, actor (died 2015)
June 21
- Judy Holliday, born Judith Tuvim, actress (died 1965)
- Jane Russell, actress (died 2011)
July 2 - Maria Britneva, Russian-British actress (died 1994)
July 3 – Susan Peters, actress (died 1952)
July 5 – Patricia Wright, American former actress
July 6
- Nancy Reagan, born Anne Robbins, actress and First Lady of the United States (died 2016)
- Bill Shirley, American actor and singer (died 1989)
July 10 – Jeff Donnell, American actress (died 1988)
July 17 – František Zvarík, Slovakian actor (died 2008)
July 21 - Al Checco, American actor (died 2015)
July 23 – Robert Brown, actor (died 2003)
August 3 – Marilyn Maxwell, actress (died 1972)
August 8 – Esther Williams, actress, swimmer (died 2013)
August 11 - Tad Horino, American actor (died 2002)
August 19
- Pasquale Cajano, Italian-American actor (died 2000)
- Gene Roddenberry, screenwriter and producer (died 1991)
August 28 – Nancy Kulp, actress, comedienne (died 1991)
September 8 – Harry Secombe, actor, singer (died 2001)
September 27 – Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director (died 2014)
September 30 – Deborah Kerr, actress (died 2007)
October 1 - James Whitmore, American actor (died 2009)
October 5 - Nikolay Dupak, Soviet-Russian actor (died 2023)
October 12 - Kenneth Griffith, Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker (died 2006)
October 13 – Yves Montand, singer, actor (died 1991)
November 3 – Charles Bronson, actor (died 2003)
November 5 – Moritz Yomtov, screenwriter (died 1992)
November 8 – Walter Mirisch, American film producer (died 2023)
November 14 - Brian Keith, American actor (died 1997)
November 21 – Vivian Blaine, actor, singer (died 1995)
November 22 – Rodney Dangerfield, actor, comedian (died 2004)
November 23 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian actor and singer (died 1960)
December 1 - Sylvia Kauders, American actress (died 2016)
December 4 – Deanna Durbin, actress (died 2013)
December 11 - Liz Smith, English character actress (died 2016)
December 15 - Nikolai Lebedev, Soviet-Russian actor (died 2022)
December 24 - Mickey Knox, American actor (died 2013)
December 26 – Steve Allen, actor, composer, comedian, author (died 2000)

Deaths

February 8 – George Formby Sr, 45, British music hall entertainer who appeared in one film (pulmonary tuberculosis)^[19]
May 17 – Karl Mantzius, 61, Danish actor, theatre director, writer
June 5 – Georges Feydeau, 58, French playwright, many of whose plays were adapted for the screen (syphilis)^[20]
June 11 - Frank R. Mills, 50, American stage and screen actor
June 20 – George Loane Tucker, 49, American actor, screenwriter and director
July 9 – Robert Broderick, 56, American stage and film actor
September 9 – Virginia Rappe, 30,^[21] American actress
September 17 – Van Dyke Brooke, 62, American actor, screenwriter and film director

Film debuts

Richard Arlen – Ladies Must Live
George Arliss – The Devil
Mary Astor – Bullets or Ballots
George Bancroft – The Journey's End
Leslie Banks – Experience
Anna-Lisa Baude – The Phantom Carriage
Helga Brofeldt – The Phantom Carriage
Julia Cæsar – The Phantom Carriage
Louis Calhern – What's Worth While?
Harry Carey Jr. – Desperate Trails
Billie Dove – Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
Camilla Horn – Kean
Selmer Jackson – The Supreme Passion
Roger Livesey – The Four Feathers
Carole Lombard – A Perfect Crime
Fredric March – The Great Adventure
Patsy Ruth Miller – One a Minute
Mary Philbin – The Blazing Trail
Basil Rathbone – Innocent
Dorothy Revier – Life's Greatest Question
Frances Robinson – Orphans of the Storm
Athene Seyler – The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick
Lilyan Tashman – Experience
Fred Thomson – The Love Light
Coy Watson Jr. – While the Devil Laughs

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "The All Time Best Sellers". International Motion Picture Almanac 1937–38. Quigley Publishing Company. p. 942. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. p. 120. ISBN 0-813-12324-0.
^ ^a ^b Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p. 1 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^ Sugawara, Yoshino (2018). "Toward the Opposite Side of 'Vulgarity'". Early Film Culture in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Republican China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 180. doi:10.2307/j.ctt22727c7.11. ISBN 978-0-472-07372-6. JSTOR j.ctt22727c7.11.
^ ^a ^b Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ ^a ^b Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ ^a ^b Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 124.
^ ^a ^b Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 125.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ ^a ^b Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 126.
^ Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 118.
^ ^a ^b Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 128.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ "Mrs George Formby's Own Story". The Sunday Post. Dundee. February 13, 1921. p. 16.
^ Manuel A. Esteban (1983). Georges Feydeau. Twayne Publishers. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-8057-6551-9.
^ Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915, Mabel Rapp in entry for Rapp, 07 Jul 1891; citing p.254 no.12677, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,287,737.

External links

[quig-1] "The All Time Best Sellers". International Motion Picture Almanac 1937–38. Quigley Publishing Company. p. 942. Retrieved April 8, 2018.

[birchard-2] Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. p. 120. ISBN 0-813-12324-0.

[warners-3] Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p. 1 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551

[4] Sugawara, Yoshino (2018). "Toward the Opposite Side of 'Vulgarity'". Early Film Culture in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Republican China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 180. doi:10.2307/j.ctt22727c7.11. ISBN 978-0-472-07372-6. JSTOR j.ctt22727c7.11.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._232-5] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._241-6] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._233-7] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Kinnard124-8] Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 124.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._237-9] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[10] Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 125.

[11] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Kinnard126-12] Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 126.

[13] Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 118.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._242-14] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Workman,_Christopher_2016_p._229-15] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[16] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[Kinnard128-17] Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 128.

[18] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[19] "Mrs George Formby's Own Story". The Sunday Post. Dundee. February 13, 1921. p. 16.

[20] Manuel A. Esteban (1983). Georges Feydeau. Twayne Publishers. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-8057-6551-9.

[21] Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915, Mabel Rapp in entry for Rapp, 07 Jul 1891; citing p.254 no.12677, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,287,737.

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