The year 1908 in film involved some significant events.
Events
- 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; 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- In the Sultan's Power is the first film ever completely made in Los Angeles, California. It was filmed by director Francis Boggs.
- The Russian Film Industry begins with Russia's first fictional narrative film Stenka Razin.
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
- The Assassination of the Duke of Guise
- Cupid's Prank, directed by Edwin S. Porter
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- The Dog And His Various Merits, produced by Pathé
- Dreams of Toyland, directed by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper
- A L'Ecu d'Or ou la bonne auberge (French film regarded as the first pornographic film)
- Excursion To The Moon, directed by Segundo de Chomón
- The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
- Fantasmagorie, directed by Émile Cohl (first fully animated film)
- Fire In A Burlesque Theatre
- From Show Girl To Burlesque Queen
- The Haunted House, directed by Segundo de Chomón
- In the Sultan's Power
- Long Distance Wireless Photography, directed by Georges Melies
- Macbeth, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
- Magic Bricks, directed by Segundo de Chomón
- Moscow Clad In Snow, produced by Pathé
- Over The Hill To The Poorhouse
- The Physician Of The Castle
- The Reprieve: An Episode in the Life of Abraham Lincoln
- The Tempest, directed by Percy Stow
- Troubles Of A Manager Of A Burlesque Show
- Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, directed by J. Searle Dawley, starring D. W. Griffith
- Romeo and Juliet, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
- Stenka Razin
- The Taming of the Shrew, directed by D. W. Griffith
- The Thieving Hand, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
- Trouble Of A Grass Widower
- Un dame vraiment bien (Feuillade)
Births
- January 10
- Bernard Lee, actor (died 1981)
- Paul Henreid - actor, director (died 1992)
- January 11 - Lionel Stander, actor (died 1994)
- January 12 - Jean Delannoy, director (died 2008)
- January 16 - Ethel Merman, actress, singer (died 1984)
- February 4 - Gwili Andre, actress (died 1959)
- February 5 - Peg Entwistle, actress (died 1932)
- February 7 - Buster Crabbe, actor (d. 1983)
- February 11 - Philip Dunne, American screenwriter, director, and producer (d. 1992)
- February 22 - John Mills, actor (died 2005)
- March 5 - Rex Harrison, actor (died 1990)
- March 7 - Anna Magnani, actress (died 1973)
- March 20 - Michael Redgrave, actor (died 1985)
- April 2 - Buddy Ebsen, actor, (died 2003)
- April 5 - Bette Davis, actress (died 1989)
- April 15 - Lita Grey, actress (died 1995)
- April 24 - Marceline Day, actress (died 2000)
- April 30 - Eve Arden, actress (died 1990)
- May 2 - William Bakewell, actor (died 1993)
- May 6 - Lucien Ballard - cinematographer (died 1988)
- May 20 - James Stewart, actor (died 1997)
- May 26 - Robert Morley, actor (died 1992)
- May 30 - Mel Blanc - voice actor (died 1989)
- May 31 - Don Ameche, actor (died 1993)
- June 9 - Robert Cummings, actor (died 1990)
- July 12 - Milton Berle, actor (died 2002)
- July 18 - Lupe Vélez, actress (died 1944)
- August 30 - Fred MacMurray, actor (died 1991)
- September 13 - Mae Questel, voice actress (died 1998)
- September 15 - Penny Singleton, actress, (died 2003)
- October 5 - Joshua Logan, director (died 1988)
- October 6 - Carole Lombard, actress (died 1942)
- November 16 - Burgess Meredith, actor (died 1997)
- December 11 - Sally Eilers, actress (died 1978)
- December 18 - Celia Johnson, actress (died 1982)
- December 20 - Dennis Morgan, actor, singer (died 1994)
- December 25 - Helen Twelvetrees, actress (died 1958)
- December 28 - Lew Ayres, actor (died 1996)
Deaths
- May 23 - Peter F. Dailey, actor, singer
Film debuts
- Lionel Barrymore - The Paris Hat (short)(unconfirmed)
- 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)
- 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
