1921 in film

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This article is about films in the year 1921. For the Indian film about the Mappila Uprising, see 1921 (1988 film). For the Indian horror film, see 1921 (2018 film). For the Chinese film about the Chinese Communist Party, see 1921 (2021 film).

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The following 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 eight films released in 1921 by U.S. gross are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1921
Rank Title Studio Box office gross rental
1 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Metro Pictures $4,500,000[1]
2 The Kid First National Pictures $2,500,000[1]
3 The Three Musketeers United Artists $2,000,000[2]
4 The Sheik Paramount Pictures $1,500,000[1]
5 The Affairs of Anatol $1,200,000[3]
6 Orphans of the Storm United Artists $1,000,000[2]
7 Little Lord Fauntleroy $900,000[4]
8 School Days Warner Bros. $546,000[5]
9 Why Girls Leave Home $410,000[5]

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.
  • 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.

A[]

B[]

  • Die Bergkatze (The Wild Cat), directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Victor Janson (Germany)
  • The Bigamist, starring Guy Newall, Ivy Duke (GB)
  • The Blot, directed by Lois Weber; starring Claire Windsor
  • The Boat, a Buster Keaton short
  • The Bonnie Brier Bush, directed by and starring Donald Crisp (GB)
  • Brewster's Millions, directed by Joseph Henabery, starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
  • Brownie's Little Venus, starring Baby Peggy
  • Bullets or Ballots, the film debut of Mary Astor
  • Buried Treasure, directed by George D. Baker; starring Marion Davies and Norman Kerry

C[]

  • The Call of Youth, starring Mary Glynne
  • Camille, starring Alla Nazimova, Rudolph Valentino, Rex Cherryman and Patsy Ruth Miller
  • The Conquering Power, directed by Rex Ingram; starring Rudolph Valentino and Alice Terry

D[]

  • Desire (Sehnsucht), directed by F.W. Murnau, starring Conrad Veidt (Germany)
  • Destiny (Der müde Tod/ The Weary Death), directed by Fritz Lang, starring Lil Dagover, Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Walter Janssen (Germany)
  • The Devil, directed by James Young, based on Ferenc Molnár's Az Ordog
  • Disraeli directed by Henry Kolker, starring George Arliss
  • The Dollar-a-Year Man, directed by James Cruze, starring Roscoe Arbuckle[6]
  • Dracula's Death (Drakula halála), directed by Károly Lajthay (Hungary)

E[]

F[]

  • Faust, directed by Frederick A. Todd[6]
  • The Fire Eater, directed by B. Reeves Eason, starring Hoot Gibson
  • Fool's Paradise, directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring Conrad Nagel, Mildred Harris, Theodore Kosloff and Baby Peggy
  • Forever, directed by George Fitzmaurice, starring Wallace Reid and Elsie Ferguson
  • The Four Feathers, directed by René Plaissetty (GB)
  • The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, directed by Rex Ingram; starring Rudolph Valentino

G[]

  • Get-Rich-Quick Peggy, starring Baby Peggy
  • Gevatter Tod (aka Death) directed by Heinz Hanus (Austria)[6]
  • The Goat, a Buster Keaton short
  • The Ghost in the Garret, directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Dorothy Gish[6]
  • The Golem's Last Adventure (Der Golem's Letzte Abenteur), directed by Julius Szomogyl (Austria)[6]
  • Golfing, starring Baby Peggy
  • The Gunsaulus Mystery, directed by Oscar Micheaux, starring Evelyn Preer

H[]

  • Hail the Woman, directed by John Griffith Wray, starring Florence Vidor
  • The Haunted Castle (Schloss Vogeloed), directed by F. W. Murnau, based on the Rudolf Stratz novel (Germany)
  • The Haunted House, a Buster Keaton short
  • The High Sign, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Ellie Norwood (British)[7]
  • Humor Risk, the Marx Brothers debut, never released

I[]

  • The Idle Class, a Charles Chaplin short
  • The Indian Tomb (Das Indische Grabmal), directed by Joe May, starring Conrad Veidt (Germany)

J[]

K[]

  • The Kid, directed by & starring Charlie Chaplin with Edna Purviance and Jackie Coogan

L[]

  • Land of My Fathers directed by Fred Rains and starring John Stuart and Yvonne Thomas (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, directed by Rochus Gliese, starring Paul Wegener and (Germany)[8]
  • The Lotus Eater, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring John Barrymore and Colleen Moore
  • The Love Light, directed by Frances Marion, starring Mary Pickford
  • Lucky Carson, directed by Wilfrid North, starring Earle Williams and Betty Ross Clarke
  • The Lucky Dog, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

M[]

  • The Man From Beyond, directed by Burton King, starring Harry Houdini and Nita Naldi[8]
  • The Man Who Laughs, directed by Julius Herzka, starring Franz Hobling (Austria)[8]
  • Mathias Sandorf, directed by Henri Fescourt, starring Romuald Joubé, Yvette Andréyor (France)
  • The Mechanical Man (L'uomo meccanico), directed by Andre Deed (Italy)
  • A Message From Mars, directed by Maxwell Karger,starring Burt Lytell [8]
  • A Midnight Bell, directed by Albert Ray, starring Charles Ray [8]
  • Miss Lulu Bett, directed by William C. deMille, starring Lois Wilson and Milton Sills
  • A Muddy Bride, starring Baby Peggy

N[]

  • Never Weaken, a Harold Lloyd short
  • The Nut, directed by Theodore Reed, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Marguerite De La Motte

O[]

  • The Offenders, directed by Fenwick L. Holmes, starring Margery Wilson
  • On with the Show, starring Baby Peggy
  • Orphans of the Storm, directed by D.W. Griffith; starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish
  • The Other Person, directed by B. E. Doxat-Pratt, starring Zoe Palmer (British)

P[]

Q[]

  • The Queen of Sheba, directed by J. Gordon Edwards, starring Betty Blythe
  • Queen of Spades, directed by Paul Fejos (Hungary)

R[]

  • The Resident Patient, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring , based on an Arthur Conan Doyle story (British)[9]

S[]

  • A Sailor-Made Man, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, starring Harold Lloyd
  • Sentimental Tommy, directed by George Fitzmaurice; starring Gareth Hughes
  • Seven Years Bad Luck, directed by and starring Max Linder
  • The Sheik, directed by George Melford, starring Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres
  • The Silver Lining, directed by Roland West, starring Coit Albertson and Jewel Carmen
  • The Sky Pilot, directed by King Vidor
  • A Spectre Haunts Europe, directed by Vladimir R. Gardin, based on an Edgar Allan Poe story (Russia)[9]
  • Squibs directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour (GB)
  • Sybil directed by Jack Denton, starring Evelyn Brent (GB)

T[]

  • Third Class Male, starring Baby Peggy
  • 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[]

  • White and Unmarried
  • The Witching Hour, directed by William Desmond Taylor, starring Elliott Dexter[10]
  • Woman's Place, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Constance Talmadge
  • The Wonderful Thing, starring Norma Talmadge
  • The Yellow Face (an entry in the British Adventures of Sherlock Holmes film series), directed by William J. Elliott, starring Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes (British)[10]

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[]

Births[]

  • January 3 – John Russell, actor (died 1991)
  • 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 22 – Giulietta Masina, actress (died 1994)
  • 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 10 – Charlotte Zucker, actress, mother of Jerry Zucker and David Zucker (died 2007)
  • March 12 – Gordon MacRae, actor, singer (died 1986)
  • March 23 – Geoffrey Chater, English actor (died 2021)
  • March 25
    • Nancy Kelly, actress (died 1995)
    • Simone Signoret, actress (died 1985)
  • March 26 – Julie Harris, costume designer (died 2015)
  • March 28 – Dirk Bogarde, actor (died 1999)
  • April 3 – Jan Sterling, actress (died 2004)
  • April 10 – Chuck Connors, actor (died 1992)
  • April 16 – Peter Ustinov, actor (died 2004)
  • April 23 – Janet Blair, actress (died 2007)
  • May 2 – Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (died 1992)
  • May 23 – Grigori Chukhrai, Ukrainian film director (died 2001)
  • May 31 – Alida Valli, actress (died 2006)
  • June 8 – 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 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)
  • July 17 – František Zvarík, Slovakian actor (died 2008)
  • July 23 – Robert Brown, actor (died 2003)
  • August 3 – Marilyn Maxwell, actress (died 1972)
  • August 8 – Esther Williams, actress, swimmer (died 2013)
  • August 19 – Gene Roddenberry, screenwriter and producer (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 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
  • November 22 – Rodney Dangerfield, actor, comedian (died 2004)
  • November 23 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian actor and singer (died 1960)
  • December 4 – Deanna Durbin, actress (died 2013)
  • December 24 – Liz Smith, English character actress (died 2016)
  • 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)[11]
  • 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)[12]
  • 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, 26, American actress
  • September 17 – Van Dyke Brooke, 62, American actor, screenwriter and film director

Film debuts[]

  • Richard Arlen
  • George Arliss
  • Billie Dove
  • Basil Rathbone
  • Carole Lombard in A Perfect Crime (1921)
  • Fredric March

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "The All Time Best Sellers". International Motion Picture Almanac 1937–38. Quigley Publishing Company. p. 942. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M190.
  3. ^ Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. p. 162. ISBN 978-08-13123-24-0.
  4. ^ Fragias, Leonidas (2017). Annual US Top Film Rentals 1912 – 1979 (Kindle Edition). Leonidas Fragias.
  5. ^ a b Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p. 1 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  6. ^ a b c d e Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 124.
  7. ^ Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 125.
  8. ^ a b c d e Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 126.
  9. ^ a b Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 127.
  10. ^ a b Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 128.
  11. ^ "Mrs George Formby's Own Story". The Sunday Post. Dundee. February 13, 1921. p. 16.
  12. ^ Manuel A. Esteban (1983). Georges Feydeau. Twayne Publishers. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-8057-6551-9.
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