1908 in film

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Years in film
1870s
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1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
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1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
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1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
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2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
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The year 1908 in film involved some significant events.

Events[]

• July 3 - Malhabour Theater, the first film house in Iloilo City was opened to the public.^[1]
• July 14 – D. W. Griffith becomes a director at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in New York City. Between 1908 and 1913, Griffith will direct nearly 500 films starting with the release of The Adventures of Dollie.
• October 28 – The Russian Film Industry begins with the release of Russia's first fictional narrative film Stenka Razin.
• November 18 – Release in France of The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (La Mort du duc de Guise), the first film with a screenplay by an eminent man of letters, the playwright Henri Lavedan;^[2] it is also directed by two men of the theatre, Charles Le Bargy and André Calmettes, features actors of the Comédie-Française, and is accompanied by a score from Saint-Saëns.
• December - Thomas Edison forms the Motion Picture Patents Company, with goals of controlling production and distribution, raising theater admission prices, cooperating with censorship bodies, and preventing film stock from getting into the hands of nonmember producers.
• Pathé invents the newsreel that was shown in cinemas prior to a feature film.^[3]

Films released in 1908[]

• The Adventures of Dollie, directed by D. W. Griffith
• After Many Years
• Airy Fairy Lillian Tries On Her New Corsets
• Antony and Cleopatra, directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Charles Kent
• L'Arlésienne, directed by Albert Capellani
• The Assassination of the Duke of Guise
• Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bette) (French/ Pathe)^[4]
• Beauty of the Sleeping Woods, directed by Segundo de Chomon (French/ Pathe), based on the story of Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault^[5]
• Betrayed by a Handprint, directed by D. W. Griffith
• The Bloodstone, produced by Siegmund Lubin
• The Castle Ghosts (Italian film)
• The Cat's Revenge (French)
• Cave of the Spooks, directed by Segundo de Chomon (French)
• A Christmas Carol (Essanay Film Co.)^[6]
• Cupid's Prank, directed by Edwin S. Porter
• The Devil, directed by D. W. Griffith for Thomas Edison Co.^[7]
• The Devil and the Gambler (Vitagraph)^[8]
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, produced by William N. Selig, reissued as The Modern Dr. Jekyll^[9]
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, produced by Kalem
• The Doctor's Experiment (French)^[10]
• The Dog And His Various Merits, produced by Pathé
• Don Juan Tenorio, directed by Ricardo de Banos and Alberto Marro (made in Spain)
• Dream of an Opium Fiend, directed by George Melies
• Dreams of Toyland, directed by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper
• A L'Ecu d'Or ou la bonne auberge, a French film regarded as one of the first pornographic films
• Excursion To The Moon, directed by Segundo de Chomón
• The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
• The Fairy's Sword, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon (British)
• A Faithless Friend, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon (British)^[11]
• Fantasmagorie, directed by Émile Cohl (first fully animated film)
• Fantoche's Nightmare (aka The Puppet's Nightmare), directed by Emile Cohl (French/ Gaumont)^[12]
• Fire In A Burlesque Theatre
• The Flower of Youth (French/ Pathe)
• From Show Girl To Burlesque Queen
• Fun with the Bridal Party, directed by George Melies ^[13]
• The Gambler and the Devil, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
• The Hanging Lamp (French/ Pathe)
• The Haunted Castle (French/ Pathe) ^[14]
• The Haunted House, directed by Segundo de Chomón (French), aka The House of Ghosts
• Incident from Don Quixote, directed by George Melies (French)^[15]
• In the Bogie Man's Cave, directed by George Melies (French)^[16]
• In the Sultan's Power
• Legend of a Ghost, directed by Segundo de Chomon (French)
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, produced by Kalem Co.
• Long Distance Wireless Photography, directed by Georges Melies
• Lord Feathertop, directed by Edwin S. Porter
• Macbeth, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
• Magic Bricks, directed by Segundo de Chomón
• The Magic Mirror, directed by Ferdinand Zecca (French/ Pathe)^[17]
• The Man and His Bottle, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon (British)
• The Monkey Man^[18]
• Moscow Clad In Snow, produced by Pathé
• The New Lord of the Village, directed by George Melies
• The Nursemaid's Dream, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon, starring Gertie Potter (British)^[19]
• Oriental Black Art, directed by George Melies (French)^[20]
• Over The Hill To The Poorhouse
• Pharmaceutical Hallucinations, directed by George Melies
• The Physician Of The Castle
• A Poor Knight and the Duke's Daughter (French)
• Prehistoric Man, produced by Urban-Eclipse Prods.^[21]
• La presa di Roma, directed by Filoteo Alberini; possibly the first Italian short film
• The Princess in the Vase, directed by Wallace McCutcheon, starring D.W. Griffith^[22]
• The Professor's Secret (French/ Gaumont)^[23]
• The Red Barn Crime, or Maria Marten, directed by William Haggar (British)
• The Reprieve: An Episode in the Life of Abraham Lincoln
• Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, directed by J. Searle Dawley, starring D. W. Griffith
• , directed by Ferdinand Zecca
• Romeo and Juliet, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
• The Saloon Keeper's Nightmare (French/ Gaumont)
• Satan Finds Mischief (French/ Pathe)
• She, directed by Edwin S. Porter for Thomas Edison Co., based on the H. Rider Haggard novel^[24]
• Sherlock Holmes in the Great Murder Mystery, produced by Crescent Films (made in Denmark); incorporates scenes from Murders in the Rue Morgue by Poe^[25]
• The Snowman, directed by Wallace McCutcheon
• The Spectre (aka The Specter)(French/ Pathe)
• The Spirit (French/ Gaumont)
• Spiritualistic Seance (French/ Pathe)
• Spooks Do The Moving (French/ Pathe)
• Stenka Razin
• The Taming of the Shrew, directed by D. W. Griffith
• The Tempest, directed by Percy Stow
• The Thieving Hand, directed by J. Stuart Blackton for Vitagraph
• Tilly Bébé, die berühmte Löwenbändigerin (Tilly Bébé, the Famous Lion Tamer)
• Too Much Champagne (U.S./ Vitagraph); features scenes from Dante's Inferno^[26]
• Toula's Dream (French/ Pathe)^[27]
• Trilby, directed by Viggo Larsen and A.R. Nielsen, made in Denmark^[28]
• Trouble Of A Grass Widower, starring Max Linder
• Troubles Of A Manager Of A Burlesque Show
• The Tyrant Feudal Lord (French/ Gaumont)
• Un dame vraiment bien (Feuillade)
• A Visit To The Seaside, directed by George Albert Smith. First natural color movie in cinema.
• The Wages of Sin: an Italian Tragedy (Vitagraph)
• Wave of Spooks (French/ Pathe)^[29]
• Wedding Feast and Ghosts (made in Italy)
• Whaling Afloat And Ashore, directed by Robert W. Paul
• The Witch of Seville (made in Italy)
• The Witch's Donkey (French/ Pathe)
• The Wonderful Charm, directed by George Melies (French)^[30]

Births[]

• January 10
  • Bernard Lee, English actor (died 1981)
  • Paul Henreid – Austrian-American actor, director (died 1992)
• January 11 – Lionel Stander, American actor (died 1994)
• January 12 – Jean Delannoy, French director (died 2008)
• January 16 – Ethel Merman, American actress, singer (died 1984)
• February 4 – Gwili Andre, Danish actress (died 1959)
• February 5 – Peg Entwistle, Welsh actress (died 1932)
• February 7 – Buster Crabbe, American actor (d. 1983)
• February 11 – Philip Dunne, American screenwriter, director, and producer (d. 1992)
• February 22 – John Mills, English actor (died 2005)
• March 5 – Rex Harrison, English actor (died 1990)
• March 7 – Anna Magnani, Italian actress (died 1973)
• March 20 – Michael Redgrave, English actor (died 1985)
• April 2 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor, (died 2003)
• April 5 – Bette Davis, American actress (died 1989)
• April 15 – Lita Grey, American actress (died 1995)
• April 19 – Irena Eichlerówna, Polish actress (died 1990)
• April 24 – Marceline Day, American actress (died 2000)
• April 30 – Eve Arden, American actress (died 1990)
• May 2 – William Bakewell, American actor (died 1993)
• May 6 – Lucien Ballard – American cinematographer (died 1988)
• May 20 – James Stewart, American actor (died 1997)^[31]
• May 25 – Barbara Luddy, American voice actress (died 1979)
• May 26 – Robert Morley, English actor (died 1992)
• May 30 – Mel Blanc, American voice actor (died 1989)
• May 31 – Don Ameche, American actor (died 1993)
• July 1 – Raúl de Anda, Mexican actor, screenwriter, film producer and director (died 1997)
• July 12 – Milton Berle, American actor (died 2002)
• July 17 – Enzo Fiermonte, Italian actor and boxer (died 1993)
• July 18 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (died 1944)
• August 6 – Will Lee, American actor and comedian (died 1982)
• August 30 – Fred MacMurray, American actor (died 1991)
• September 13 – Mae Questel, American voice actress (died 1998)
• September 15 – Penny Singleton, American actress, (died 2003)
• October 5 – Joshua Logan, American director (died 1988)
• October 6 – Carole Lombard, American actress (died 1942)
• October 25 – Tauno Palo, Finnish actor (died 1982)
• November 16 – Burgess Meredith, American actor (died 1997)
• December 11
  • Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese director (died 2015)
  • Sally Eilers, American actress (died 1978)
• December 13 – Van Heflin, actor (died 1971)^[32]
• December 18 – Celia Johnson, English actress (died 1982)
• December 20 – Dennis Morgan, American actor, singer (died 1994)
• December 25 – Helen Twelvetrees, American actress (died 1958)
• December 28 – Lew Ayres, American actor (died 1996)

Deaths[]

• May 23 – Peter F. Dailey, actor, singer (born 1868)

Film debuts[]

• Hobart Bosworth – The Count of Monte Cristo (short)
• Sidney Drew – Cupid's Realm or A Game of Hearts (short)
• Julia Swayne Gordon – Othello (short)
• D.W. Griffith – actor/writer When Knighthood was in Flower (short); producer Deceived Slumming Party (short); director The Adventures of Dollie (short)
• Marion Leonard – At the Crossroads of Life (short)
• Owen Moore – The Guerilla (short)
• Miriam Nesbitt – Saved by Love
• Mack Sennett – Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker (short)
• Earle Williams – Barbara Fritchie: The Story of a Patriotic Woman (short)
• Kathlyn Williams – On Thanksgiving Day (short)

References[]