1917 in film

The year 1917 in film involved some significant events.

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Events

*Foundation of Universum Film AG (UƒA), as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.
*Technicolor System 1, a two-color process, is introduced. The first film to use it was "The Gulf Between".
*World's first feature-length animated film is made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani ("El Apóstol")
*Movette, another revision of the 17.5 mm film format, is made available.
*Buster Keaton makes his film debut.
*April 25 - Thomas Lincoln Tally, in a meeting in New York, co-founds the First National Exhibitors Circuit. [ [http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1998/winter98/firstnational.shtml Films of the Golden Age] ] [ [http://www.imdb.com/company/co0051651/ First National filmography] ]

Top grossing films

#"Cleopatra"
#"Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm"
#"The Poor Little Rich Girl"

Films released in 1917

*"The Man Without a Country", starring Florence La Badie
*"The Adventurer", a Charlie Chaplin short.
*"Big Timber"
*"Bucking Broadway", directed by John Ford.
*"The Butcher Boy", a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short (Keaton's film debut).
*"Camille", starring Theda Bara
*"Cleopatra", starring Theda Bara
*"Coney Island", a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
*"The Cure", a Charlie Chaplin short.
*"The Dying Swan", a Russian film aka "Umirayushchii Lebed"
*"Easy Street", starring Charlie Chaplin
*"El Apóstol", animated by Quirino Cristiani
*"Great Expectations", starring Jack Pickford
*"The Gulf Between"
*"His Wedding Night", a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
*"Her Right to Live", starring Peggy Hyland, Antonio Moreno, Mae Costello and John S. Robertson, directed by Paul Scardon
*"The Immigrant", starring Charlie Chaplin
*"Joan the Woman", starring Geraldine Farrar; directed by Cecil B. DeMille
*"The Little American", starring Mary Pickford; directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
*"A Little Princess", starring Mary Pickford, Norman Kerry and ZaSu Pitts, directed by Marshall Neilan.
*"Oh Doctor!", a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
*"The Poor Little Rich Girl", starring Mary Pickford.
*"Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm"
*"A Reckless Romeo", a 'Fatty' Arbuckle short.
*"The Rough House", a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short.
*"Straight Shooting", directed by John Ford.
*"Teddy at the Throttle", a Keystone comedy with Gloria Swanson.
*"Terje Vigen"
*"Tom Sawyer", starring Jack Pickford
*"The Tornado", directed by John Ford (his debut)
*"The Wild Girl", starring Eva Tanguay and Thomas J. Moore

hort film series

*"Harold Lloyd" (1913-1921)
*"Charlie Chaplin" (1914-1923
*"Buster Keaton" (1917-1941)

Births

*January 5 - Jane Wyman, actress (d. 2007)
*January 2 - Vera Zorina, dancer, actress (d. 2003)
*January 10 - Hilde Krahl, actress (d. 1999)
*January 24 - Ernest Borgnine, actor
*February 6 - Zsa Zsa Gabor, actress
*February 21 - Lucille Bremer, actress (d. 1996)
*March 12 - Googie Withers, actress
*March 22 - Virginia Grey, actress (d. 2004)
*April 14 - Valerie Hobson, actress (d. 1998)
*May 1 - Danielle Darrieux, actress
*May 10 - Margo, actress (d. 1985)
*May 21 - Raymond Burr, actor (d. 1993)
*May 25 - Steve Cochran, actor (d. 1965)
*June 7 - Dean Martin, singer, actor (d. 1995)
*April 29 - Celeste Holm, actress
*June 30 - Lena Horne, singer, actress
*July 17 - Phyllis Diller, comedian, actress
*August 6 - Robert Mitchum, actor (d. 1997)
*August 25 - Mel Ferrer, actor (d. 2008)
*September 9 - Rolf Wenkhaus, actor (d. 1942)
*September 11 - Herbert Lom, actor
*October 7 - June Allyson, actress (d. 2006)
*October 7 - Helmut Dantine, actor (d. 1982)
*October 17 - Alice Pearce, actress (d. 1966)
*October 17 - Marsha Hunt, U.S. actress
*October 22 - Joan Fontaine, actress
*November 4 - Virginia Field, actress (d. 1992)
*December 7 - Hurd Hatfield, actor (d. 1998)
*December 22 - Frankie Darro, actor (d. 1976)

Film Debuts

* Buster Keaton

Deaths

* February 21 - Fred Mace, actor & comedian
* July 2 - Herbert Beerbohm Tree, stage & screen star
* October 13 - Florence La Badie, pioneer actress
* October 25 - Jack Standing, silent film actor, age 30, son of Herbert Standing and brother of Guy Standing & Wyndham Standing.

References