1928 in film
The following is an overview of 1928 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Although some films released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.
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Top-grossing films[]
The top ten 1928 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
| Rank | Title | Studio | Box office gross rental |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Singing Fool | Warner Bros. | $3,821,000[1] |
| 2 | Wings | Paramount Pictures | $2,150,000[2] |
| 3 | Street Angel | Fox Film Corporation | $1,700,000[3] |
| 4 | Lilac Time | Warner Bros./First National Pictures | $1,675,000[4] |
| 5 | Four Sons | Fox Film Corporation | $1,500,000[3] |
| 6 | Noah's Ark | Warner Bros. | $1,367,000[1] |
| 7 | The Red Dance In Old Arizona |
Fox Film Corporation | $1,300,000[3] |
| 8 | The Terror | Warner Bros. | $1,221,000[1] |
| 9 | The Circus | United Artists | $1,200,000[4] |
| 10 | Lights of New York | Warner Bros. | $1,160,000[1] |
Events[]
- January 6 – The long-awaited Charlie Chaplin comedy The Circus premieres at the Strand Theatre in New York City.[5]
- January 15 – Five months after its premiere at the Criterion Theater in New York City, Paramount's Wings opens in Los Angeles. The film goes on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture.
- April 21 – The Passion of Joan of Arc is released.
- July 6 – Lights of New York (starring Helene Costello) is released by Warner Bros. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film. Previous releases Don Juan and The Jazz Singer had used a synchronized soundtrack with sound effects and music, with The Jazz Singer having a few incidental lines spoken by Al Jolson.[6]
- September 19 – The Singing Fool, Warner Bros' follow-up to The Jazz Singer, is released. While still only a partial-talkie (sequences still featured intertitles), 66 minutes of the film's 105 minute running time feature dialogue or songs, making it the longest talking motion picture yet. (Lights of New York runs a total of 57 minutes.) It is the highest-grossing film of the year, becomes Warner Bros' highest-grossing film for the next 13 years, is the most financially successful film of Al Jolson's career[7][8] and also remains the highest-grossing sound film until the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937.
- October 23 – RKO Productions Inc. created
- November 10 – At the beginning of White Shadows in the South Seas, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's mascot Leo the Lion roars for the very first time, giving voice to one of the most popular American film logos.[9][10][11]
- November 18 – Disney's Steamboat Willie premieres, marking the official introduction of Mickey Mouse. This animated short is the first film to include a soundtrack, completely created in post production, including sound effects, music, and dialogue.
- December 25 – In Old Arizona, released by Fox Films, is the first sound-on-film feature-length talkie, utilizing the Movietone process. Previously, feature-length talkies used the less-reliable Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. It is also the first Western talkie, and the first sound film primarily shot outdoors.
Academy Awards[]
- Best Picture: Wings – Paramount Pictures
- Best Unique and Artistic Picture: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans – Fox Film Corporation
- Best Director, Dramatic Picture: Frank Borzage – 7th Heaven
- Best Director, Comedy Picture: Lewis Milestone – Two Arabian Knights
- Best Actor: Emil Jannings – The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh
- Best Actress: Janet Gaynor – 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Note: Prior to 1933, awards were not based on calendar years, which is why there is no 'Best Picture' for a 1928 film.
Notable films released in 1928[]
United States unless stated
A[]
- Accident (Polizeibericht Überfall) – (Germany)
- Across to Singapore, starring Ramón Novarro and Joan Crawford
- The Actress directed by Sidney Franklin; starring Norma Shearer
- Adam's Apple, starring Monty Banks – (GB)
- Alraune, starring Brigitte Helm and Paul Wegener – (Germany)
- Ang Lumang Simbahan, directed by Jose Nepomuceno starring Juanita Angeles, Gregorio Fernandez and Mary Walter – (Philippines)
- L'Argent (Money), starring Pierre Alcover and Brigitte Helm – (France)
- The Awakening, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Vilma Bánky and Louis Wolheim
B[]
- Balaclava, starring Cyril McLaglen, Benita Hume – (GB)
- Beau Sabreur, directed by John Waters, starring Gary Cooper and Evelyn Brent
- Beggars of Life, directed by William Wellman, starring Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks
- The Big City, starring Lon Chaney, Sr.
- The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (Huo shao hong lian si) – (China) – Released in 18 parts as the film runs for a total of 27 hours
C[]
- The Cameraman, a Buster Keaton film
- The Cardboard Lover, directed by Robert Z. Leonard; starring Marion Davies, Nils Asther, and Jetta Goudal
- Champagne, directed by Alfred Hitchcock – (GB)
- The Circus, starring, directed and written by Charles Chaplin
- The Constant Nymph, starring Ivor Novello – (GB)
- The Cossacks starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée and Ernest Torrence
- The Crowd, directed by King Vidor
D[]
- Dawn, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Sybil Thorndike – (Britain)
- The Devious Path (Abwege), directed by G.W. Pabst – (Germany)
- The Divine Woman, starring Greta Garbo
- The Docks of New York, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring George Bancroft, Betty Compson and Olga Baclanova
E[]
- Easy Virtue, directed by Alfred Hitchcock – (GB)
F[]
- The Fall of the House of Usher, directed by James Sibley Watson
- The Fall of the House of Usher (La Chute de la maison Usher) – (France)
- The Farmer's Wife, directed by Alfred Hitchcock – (GB)
- Feel My Pulse, starring Bebe Daniels, Richard Arlen and William Powell
- The First Born, starring Miles Mander, Madeleine Carroll – (GB)
- Four Sons, directed by John Ford
G[]
- The Gallant Hussar, directed by Géza von Bolváry, starring Ivor Novello, Evelyn Holt (Britain/Germany)
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, starring Ruth Taylor and Alice White, subtitles written by Anita Loos
- A Girl in Every Port, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Victor McLaglen, Robert Armstrong, Louise Brooks
- The Godless Girl, directed by Cecil B. DeMille
- The Guns of Loos, directed by Sinclair Hill, starring Madeleine Carroll (Britain)
H[]
- Hangman's House, directed by John Ford, starring Victor McLaglen and June Collyer
- His House in Order, starring Tallulah Bankhead (Britain)
- Homecoming (Heimkehr) – (Germany)
- The House on Trubnaya (Дом на Трубной), directed by Boris Barnet – (U.S.S.R.)
- Hungarian Rhapsody, directed by Hanns Schwarz, starring Lil Dagover, Willy Fritsch, Dita Parlo (Germany)
I[]
- Interference, Paramount's first ever all talking movie
- The Italian Straw Hat (Un chapeau de paille d'Italie), directed by René Clair – (France)
J[]
- Jujiro – (Japan)
K[]
- Kurama Tengu – (Japan)
L[]
- Ladies of the Mob, starring Clara Bow, Richard Arlen and Helen Lynch
- The Last Command, directed by Joseph von Sternberg, starring Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent and William Powell
- Laugh, Clown, Laugh, starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young
- Lights of New York
- A Little Bit of Fluff, starring Sydney Chaplin and Betty Balfour – (GB)
- Lonesome, directed by Paul Fejos – (a silent and a sound version)
M[]
- The Man Who Laughs, directed by Paul Leni, starring Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin
- Maria Marten, starring Trilby Clark and Warwick Ward (Britain)
- The Matinee Idol, directed by Frank Capra, starring Bessie Love and Johnnie Walker.
- The Midnight Taxi
- Mother Machree, directed by John Ford
- Moulin Rouge directed by Ewald André Dupont – (GB)
- The Mysterious Lady, starring Greta Garbo and Conrad Nagel
N[]
- Noah's Ark, starring George O'Brien
- The Noose, starring Richard Barthelmess
- Number 17, directed by Géza von Bolváry, starring Guy Newall and Lien Deyers – (GB/Germany)
O[]
- October: Ten Days That Shook the World (Oktyabr': Desyat' dney kotorye potryasli mir), directed by Sergei Eisenstein – (U.S.S.R.)
- On Trial, sound film, starring Pauline Frederick and Bert Lytell
- Our Dancing Daughters, starring Joan Crawford and Johnny Mack Brown
P[]
- The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, starring Maria Falconetti – (France)
- The Patsy, directed by King Vidor, starring Marion Davies and Marie Dressler
- Piccadilly, starring Anna May Wong, Gilda Gray and Cyril Ritchard (Britain)
- The Power of the Press, directed by Frank Capra, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr
R[]
- The Racket, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Thomas Meighan, Marie Prevost, and Louis Wolheim.
- Ramona, starring Dolores del Río and Warner Baxter
- The Red Dance, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Dolores del Río and Charles Farrell
- Red Hair, starring Clara Bow
- The Ringer directed by Arthur Maude – (Britain)
- The Road to Ruin
- Rose-Marie, starring James Murray and Joan Crawford
S[]
- Sadie Thompson, starring Gloria Swanson and Lionel Barrymore
- The Seashell and the Clergyman (La Coquille et le clergyman) – (France)
- Sex in Chains (Geschlecht in Fesseln), starring and directed by William Dieterle – (Germany)
- Show People, directed by King Vidor, starring Marion Davies and William Haines
- The Singing Fool, starring Al Jolson and Betty Bronson
- Sins of the Fathers starring Emil Jannings and Ruth Chatterton
- Skyscraper, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring William Boyd, Alan Hale, Sue Carol and Alberta Vaughn
- The Smart Set, starring William Haines, Jack Holt, and Alice Day
- A South Sea Bubble, starring Ivor Novello, Benita Hume (Britain)
- Speedy, starring Harold Lloyd
- Spione (Spies), directed by Fritz Lang – (Germany)
- Steamboat Bill, Jr., a Buster Keaton film
- Steamboat Willie, a Walt Disney Mickey Mouse short
- Storm Over Asia (Potomok Chingis-Khana), starring Valéry Inkijinoff – (U.S.S.R.)
- Street Angel, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell
- Sweeney Todd, starring Moore Marriott – (GB)
T[]
- Take Me Home, a lost film directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Bebe Daniels
- Tempest, starring John Barrymore, Camilla Horn and George Fawcett
- The Terror, starring May McAvoy, Edward Everett Horton, and Louise Fazenda
- Tesha, directed by Victor Saville, starring María Corda, Jameson Thomas – (GB)
- Thérèse Raquin, directed by Jacques Feyder – (France)
- Three Sinners starring Pola Negri, Warner Baxter and Olga Baclanova
- Tillie's Punctured Romance, starring W. C. Fields, Louise Fazenda and Chester Conklin
- Tommy Atkins, starring Lillian Hall-Davis (Britain)
- Toni starring Jack Buchanan – (GB)
- The Trail of '98, starring Dolores del Río
- The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Matheson Lang (Britain)
- Two Tars, starring Laurel and Hardy
U[]
- Underground, directed by Anthony Asquith – (GB)
V[]
- The Viking – the first feature-length Technicolor film
- Vormittagsspuk (Ghosts Before Breakfast), a dadaist animated short – (Germany)
- The Vortex, starring Ivor Novello – (GB)
W[]
- We Faw Down, starring Laurel and Hardy
- The Wedding March, directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim with Fay Wray and ZaSu Pitts
- West of Zanzibar, starring Lon Chaney and Lionel Barrymore
- West Point, starring William Haines and Joan Crawford
- What a Night!, directed by A. Edward Sutherland; starring Bebe Daniels
- While the City Sleeps, directed by Jack Conway; starring Lon Chaney
- White Shadows in the South Seas, starring Monte Blue and Raquel Torres
- The Wind, directed by Victor Sjostrom, starring Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson
- A Woman of Affairs, starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert
Z[]
- Zvenigora, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko – (U.S.S.R.)
Short film series[]
Animated short film series[]
- Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
- Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1933)
- Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
- Inkwell Imps (1927–1929)
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
- Harem Scarem
- Neck 'n' Neck
- The Ol' Swimmin' Hole
- Africa Before Dark
- Rival Romeos
- Bright Lights
- Oh, What a Knight
- Sagebrush Sadie
- Ride'em Plow Boy
- Sky Scrappers
- Ozzie of the Mounted
- Hungry Hoboes
- Poor Papa
- The Fox Chase
- Tall Timber
- Sleigh Bells
- Hot Dog
- Newslaffs (1927–1928)
- Mickey Mouse
- Plane Crazy
- Gallopin' Gaucho
- Steamboat Willie
- The Barn Dance
Births[]
- January 2 – Ellen Kaarma, Estonian actress (died 1973)
- January 5 - Denise Bryer, British actress (died 2021)
- January 7 – William Peter Blatty, American screenwriter (died 2017)
- January 15 - Joanne Linville, American actress (died 2021)
- January 20 - Peter Donat, Canadian-American actor (died 2018)
- January 23 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress, singer, screenwriter and director (died 2017)
- January 26 – Roger Vadim, French director, screenwriter, actor (died 2000)
- February 1 – Stuart Whitman, American film and television actor (died 2020)
- February 8 – Jack Larson, American actor (died 2015)
- February 11 – Conrad Janis, American actor
- February 18 - Little Caesar (singer), American singer and actor (died 1994)
- February 22 - Paul Dooley, American actor, writer and comedian
- February 24 - Al Lettieri, American actor (died 1975)
- February 29
- Joss Ackland, English actor
- Tempest Storm, American burlesque performer and actress (died 2021)
- March 1 – Jacques Rivette, French director (died 2016)
- March 11 - Albert Salmi, American actor (died 1990)
- March 13 - Douglas Rain, Canadian actor (died 2018)
- March 17 - Eunice Gayson, English actress (died 2018)
- March 19
- Marceline Loridan-Ivens, French actor (died 2018)
- Patrick McGoohan, Irish actor (died 2009)
- Jan Shepard, American actress
- March 24 – Vanessa Brown American actress (died 1999)
- March 30 – Lilia Prado, Mexican actress, dancer (died 2006)
- April 1 - George Grizzard, American actor (died 2007)
- April 2 – Piet Römer, Dutch actor (died 2012)
- April 3 - Kevin Hagen, American actor (died 2005)
- April 4 – Estelle Harris, American actress and comedienne
- April 7
- James Garner, American actor (died 2014)
- Valeria Sabel, Italian actress (died 2009)
- April 12 - Hardy Krüger, German actor
- April 23 – Shirley Temple, American actress (died 2014)
- May 3 - Jeanne Bal, American actress died (1996)
- May 7 – Georgi Rusev, Bulgarian actor (died 2011)
- May 11 - Yvonne Furneaux, French actress
- May 12 - Burt Bacharach, American composer and songwriter
- May 18 - Sara Shane, American actress
- May 30 – Agnès Varda, Belgian-born French director, producer and screenwriter (died 2019)
- June 4 - Ruth Westheimer, German-American sexual therapist, talk show host, and actress
- June 5 - Robert Lansing, American actor (died 1994)
- June 7 - James Ivory, American director, producer and screenwriter
- June 9 - Jackie Mason, American stand-up comedian and actor (died 2021)
- June 12 – Vic Damone, American singer, entertainer and actor (died 2018)
- June 13 – Nikola Todev, Bulgarian actor (died 1991)
- June 19 – Nancy Marchand, American actress (died 2000)
- June 20 – Martin Landau, American actor (died 2017)
- June 21 – Margit Bara, Hungarian actress (died 2016)
- June 22 – Ralph Waite, American actor (died 2014)
- July 6 – Néstor de Villa, Filipino actor (died 2004)
- July 7 - Pat Hitchcock, English actress and producer (died 2021)
- July 13 - Bob Crane, American actor (died 1978)
- July 14 – Nancy Olson, American actress
- July 21 - Chuck Low, American actor (died 2017)
- July 22 - Orson Bean, American actor (died 2020)
- July 26 – Stanley Kubrick, American director (died 1999)
- August 6 – Andy Warhol, American artist and director (died 1987)
- August 14
- Joëlle Bernard, French actress (died 1977)
- Jacques Rouffio, French director and screenwriter (died 2016)
- Lina Wertmüller, Italian screenwriter and director (died 2021)
- August 15
- Nicolas Roeg, English director (died 2018)
- Simone Silva, Egyptian-born French actress (died 1957)
- August 16 – Ann Blyth, American actress
- August 28 – Charles Gray, English actor (died 2000)
- August 31 – James Coburn, American actor (died 2002)
- September 1
- George Maharis, American actor
- Allene Roberts, American actor (died 2019)
- September 3 – Pilar Pallete, Peruvian actress
- September 4 – Dick York, American actor (died 1992)
- September 11 – Earl Holliman, American actor
- September 15 - Henry Silva, American actor
- September 17 – Roddy McDowall, Anglo-American actor (died 1998)
- September 19 – Adam West, American actor (died 2017)
- September 22 - Eugene Roche, American actor (died 2004)
- October 1
- George Peppard, American actor (died 1994)
- Laurence Harvey, Lithuanian British actor (died 1973)
- October 2 – George McFarland, American actor (died 1993)
- October 6 - Barbara Werle, American actress (died 2013)
- October 17 - Don Collier, American actor (died 2021)
- October 25
- Jeanne Cooper, American actress (died 2013)
- Marion Ross, American actress
- November 1 – Emmaline Henry, American actress (died 1979)
- November 3
- Wanda Hendrix, American actress (died 1981)
- Lew Palter, American actor
- November 10
- Ennio Morricone, Italian composer (died 2020)
- Norma Crane, American actress (died 1973)
- November 13
- Helena Carroll, Scottish-American actress (died 2013)
- Ralph Foody, American actor (died 1999)
- November 14 - Kathleen Hughes, American actress
- November 16 - Clu Gulager, American actor
- November 23 - Elmarie Wendel, American actress singer (died 2018)
- November 25 - Rance Howard, American actor (died 2017)
- December 1 - Malachi Throne, American actor (died 2013)
- December 3 - Carlo Giuffrè, Italian actor (died 2018)
- December 9 – Dick Van Patten, American actor (died 2015)
- December 12 - Lionel Blair, English actor and television presenter (died 2021)
- December 13 - Nati Mistral, Spanish actress (died 2017)
- December 16 - Terry Carter, American actor and filmmaker
- December 17 - Leonid Bronevoy, Russian actor (died 2017)
- December 21 - Ed Nelson, American actor (died 2014)
- December 25 – Dick Miller, American actor (died 2019)
Deaths[]
- January 2 – Emily Stevens, American stage & film actress (born 1882)
- January 3 – Claude France, German film actress (born 1893)
- January 25 – Charles Gorman, American stage and screen actor (born 1865)
- February 22 – Rudolph J. Bergquist American cinematographer
- March 5 – Lidia Quaranta, Italian actress (born 1891)
- March 13 – Poppy Wyndham, British actress and heiress; lost at sea (born 1893)
- April 22 – Frank Currier, American director, stage & silent film actor (born 1857)
- June 22 – George Siegmann, American silent film actor (born 1882)
- June 24 – Holbrook Blinn, American stage & silent film actor (born 1872)
- July 20 – Scott Sidney, American film director (born 1872)
- July 21
- Ellen Terry, British stage actress of the Victorian and Edwardian times and later a silent film actress (born 1847)
- Ward Crane, American film actor (born 1890)
- August 10 – Rex Cherryman, American actor (born 1896)
- August 17 – Frank Urson, American film director (born 1887)
- August 26 – Colin Campbell, British-born film director (born 1859)
- October 8 – Larry Semon, American film comedian (born 1889)
- November 10 – Anita Berber, German film actress (born 1899)
- November 19 – Jeanne Bérangère, French stage and film actress (born 1864)
- December 14 – Theodore Roberts, American film actor (born 1861)
- December 25 – Fred Thomson, American film actor (born 1890)
Film debuts[]
- Jack Benny – Bright Moments
- Humphrey Bogart – The Dancing Town
- Madeleine Carroll – The Guns of Loos
- Andy Devine – That's My Daddy
- Jean Gabin – Ohé! Les valises
- Jean Harlow – Moran of the Marines
- Miriam Hopkins – The Home Girl
- Charles Laughton – The Tonic
- Anna Magnani – Scampolo
- Ray Milland – Moulin Rouge
- Randolph Scott – Sharp Shooters
- Mickey Mouse – Steamboat Willie
References[]
- ^ a b c d Glancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television. 15: 55–73. doi:10.1080/01439689500260031.
- ^ Fragias, Leonidas (2017). Annual US Top Film Rentals 1912 - 1979 (Kindle Edition). Leonidas Fragias.
- ^ a b c Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 356–357. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
- ^ a b "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M150.
- ^ "The Circus (1928)". British Film Institute. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
- ^ Neibaur, James L. (2015). James Cagney Films of the 1930s. London: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442242203.
- ^ Kiner, Larry F.; Evans, Philip R. (1992). Al Jolson: A Bio-Discography. Scarecrow Press. p. 107. ISBN 9780810826335.
- ^ Furia, Philip; Patterson, Laurie (2010). The Songs of Hollywood. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9780199792665.
- ^ Munden, Kenneth White (1971). The American Film Institute Catalog – Feature Films 1921–1930. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. WH1. ISBN 9780520209695.
- ^ Brown, Allen (November 29, 2014). "The Story Behind MGM's Lion Logo". Movie Review World. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
- ^ Stafford, Jeff. "White Shadows in the South Seas". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
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