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February – Babelsberg Studio outside Berlin begins operation with shooting of The Dance of the Dead (Der Totentanz) by Danish director Urban Gad starring Asta Nielsen (released September 7).
April 15 - The Titanic, a British passenger liner, sinks in the Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,500 passengers. It is depicted in many works of popular culture, including films.
April 30 – Universal Film Manufacturing Company is founded in New York, the oldest surviving film studio in the United States.
May 8 – Famous Players Film Company, the forerunner of Paramount Pictures, is founded by Adolph Zukor.
June 8 – New York Motion Picture Company is merged with Universal, giving Universal a studio in Edendale, Los Angeles.
July 4 – Mack Sennett, who has previously worked as an actor and comedy director with D. W. Griffith, forms a new company with New York City entrepreneur Adam Kessel, Keystone Studios. It will play an important role in developing slapstick comedy as the home to the Keystone Cops, English actor Charlie Chaplin, and others.
July 12 – Queen Elizabeth is the first film released by Famous Players.
Bebe and Spiritualism (French/ Gaumont) directed by Louis Feuillade, starring child star Rene Dary and Paul Manson; this was one of a series of 64 films that featured the popular Bebe ("Baby") film character[3][4]
Conscience (Vitagraph), aka The Chamber of Horrors, produced by Albert E. Smith, directed by Maurice Costello, starring Rose Tapely and Robert Gaillard.[9]
Convicted by Hypnotism (French/ Eclair) aka A Double Life, directed by Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, starring Cecile Guyon and Charles Krauss [10]
The Copper Beeches, starring Georges Treville as Sherlock Holmes
Faust (British) produced by Charles Urban, filmed in Kinemacolor; (a lost film today).[23]
Feathertop (French/ U.S. co-production) produced by Eclair/ American Standard; starring Muriel Ostriche and Julia Stuart; based on the 1852 short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.[24]
Friends, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Mary Pickford and Lionel Barrymore
From the Manger to the Cross, directed by Sidney Olcott (One of the earliest American feature film.)
Gavroche and the Ghosts, aka Gavroche and the Spirits (French/ Eclair) directed by Romeo Bosetti, starring Paul Bertho; one of a series of 40 short French silent films all featuring the comic character "Gavroche" [25]
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (French/ Eclair & American Standard Films) directed by , starring Alec B. Francis and Muriel Ostriche, based on the story by Washington Irving[44]
Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth (released in the US as Queen Elizabeth), first film released by Famous Players Film Company, starring Sarah Bernhardt
The Lesser Evil, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet
Lucrezia Borgia (Italian/ Film d'Arte Films) directed by Gerolamo Lo Savio, written by Ugo Falena, starring Vittorio Lepanto as Lucrezia and Achille Vitti as Cesare.[47]
Mabel's Lovers, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand
A Magnetic Influence (British/ Urbanora Films) produced by Charles Urban; yet another adaptation of the novel Trilby[49][50]
Making An American Citizen
Man's Genesis (Biograph) written and directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Robert Harron, Mae Marsh and Wilfred Lucas; this film was expanded in 1913 and re-released as The Primitive Man.[51]
The Mask of Horror (French/ Film Francais) written and directed by Abel Gance, starring Edouard de Max, Charles de Rochefort and Mathilde Thizeau (Gance's wife)[52]
The Massacre, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet and Lionel Barrymore
The Mystery of Souls (Italian/ Itala Films) directed by Vincenzo Denizot, starring Alessandro Bernard and Lydia Quaranta; seems to have been inspired by the novel "Trilby".[55]
Mystery of the Glass Coffin (Eclair/ Tyler Films)[56]
The Mystical Maid of Jamasha Pass, directed by Allan Dwan (his first film), starring J. Warren Kerrigan and Jack Richardson.[57]
The Plague-Stricken City (French/ Gaumont) the filmmakers tried to emulate the 1912 Italian silent film Masque of the Red Death herein, which in turn was based on the famous story by Edgar Allan Poe[64]
Polidor at the Death Club (Italian/ Pasquali Films) one of dozens of silent films featuring the "Polidor" character all starring Ferdinando Guillaume; this film was a spoof on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel The Suicide Club[65][66]
The Queen of Spades (French/ Eclipse) This film was actually an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1878 novel The Suicide Club, but the film also draws from the 1833 Alexander Pushkin novel Pikovaya dama as well.[67]
The Raven (Eclair/ American Standard) a French-American co-production purporting to be the "true story" of Edgar Allan Poe's life, starring Guy Oliver and Muriel Ostriche; inspired by the poem by Edgar Allan Poe and incorporating images from eight of Poe's short stories (filmed in Fort Lee, Texas)[68]
The Reincarnation of Karma (Vitagraph Films) directed by Van Dyke Brooke, starring Courtenay Foote and Rosemary Theby[69]
St. George and the Dragon (Italian/ Milano Films) this film was hand-colored.[70]
Satan, aka Satana, aka Satan, the Destroyer of Humanity (Italian/ Ambrosio Films) directed by Luigi Maggi, written by , starring Rina Alby, Antonio Grisanti and Mario Bonnard (as Satan); photography by Giovanni Vitrotti; inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost[71]
Saved From the Titanic
The Sea's Shadow/ Der Schatten des Meeres, aka In the Shadow of the Sea (German) directed by (also star), also starring Lizzy Krueger, Henry Porten and Fran Retzlag; produced by .[72]
The Secrets of House Number Five (Russian-French co-production/ Pathe Films) said to be one of the first films to feature vampires[73][74]
The Serpents (Vitagraph) starring Ralph Ince and Edith Storey [75]
The Silent Castle (French/ Gaumont) based on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty[76]
Simple Simon and the Devil, aka Onesime and the Devil (French/ Gaumont) directed by Jean Durand, starring Ernest Bourbon and Gaston Modot; one of a series of 60 "Onesime" films made in France (the character's name was changed to "Simple Simon" in the U.S.) [77][78]
A Spanish Dilemma, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand
The Speckled Band (a French-British co-production filmed in England) directed by Georges Treville (who also played Sherlock Holmes in the film); based on the famous mystery story by Arthur Conan Doyle[82][83]
The Spectre of Jago (Italian/ Aquila Films) starring Alberto Carlo Lolli [84]
The Speed Demon, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Fred Mace
The Spell of the Hypnotist (Italian/ Helios Film)[85]
Supernatural Power (French/ Pathe) features a seance with spirits[89]
The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether, aka The Lunatics (French/ Eclair) directed by Maurice Tourneur, written by Andre de Lord, starring Henri Gouget and Henri Roussell; based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story[90]
Les terreurs de Rigadin (French/Pathe) directed by George Monca, starring Charles Prince as "Rigadin"; this film was one in a series of over 100 "Rigadin" comedies made in France.[91]
The Thief and the Porter's Head (Italian/ Milano Films)[92]
Tomboy Bessie, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand
Trilby (Austrian-Hungarian co-production) directed by Luise and Anton Kolm (with Jakob Fleck), starring Elsa Galafrés Hubermann and Paul Askonas, based on the 1894 novel by George du Maurier[93]
Trilby (British/ Standard Films) based on the 1894 novel by George du Maurier [94]
Undine (Thanhouser) directed by Lucius Henderson, starring Florence La Badie and Marguerite Snow; written by Lloyd Lonergan, based on the fairy tale “Undine” by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué; released 9/24/12; prints exist in museums.[95][96]
An Unseen Enemy, directed by D. W. Griffith, debuts of Lillian and Dorothy Gish
The Vengeance of Edgar Poe (French/ Lux Film) directed by Gerard Bourgeois, written by Abel Gance and Bourgeois, starring Edouard de Max and Jean Worms; biopic that deals with Poe's real-life drug addiction.[97][98]
The Woman in White (Universal Pictures) starring Janet Salzberg, Charles Perley and Alexander F. Frank; based on the famous 1859 Wilkie Collins novel of the same name.[103][104]
The Woman in White (Thanhouser Films) written by Lloyd Lonergan, starring Marguerite Snow and James Cruze; based on the famous 1859 Wilkie Collins novel of the same name.[105]
Yotsuya Kaidan (translation: The Ghost of Yotsuya) (Japanese/ Nikkatsu Films) directed by Shozo Makino, starring Matsunosuke Onoe; based on the famous 1825 kabuki play of the same name.[106]
