1923 in film

The year 1923 in film involved many significant films.

§Events

• April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.

§Top grossing films (U.S.)

§Notable films released in 1923

U.S.A. unless stated

• Adam's Rib, directed by Cecil B. DeMille
• The Ancient Law (Das alte Gesetz), directed by E. A. Dupont and starring Henny Porten - (Germany)
• Ashes of Vengeance, starring Norma Talmadge
• The Audacious Mr. Squire directed by Edwin Greenwood; starring Jack Buchanan, Valia - (GB)
• The Balloonatic, a Buster Keaton short
• Black Oxen, directed by Frank Lloyd
• The Blizzard (aka Gunnar Hedes saga), directed by Mauritz Stiller - (Sweden)
• Bonnie Prince Charlie directed by Charles Calvert, starring Ivor Novello and Gladys Cooper - (GB)
• Cameo Kirby, directed by John Ford; starring John Gilbert
• Circus Days, starring Jackie Coogan
• CÅ"ur fidèle (The Faithful Heart), directed by Jean Epstein - (France)
• The Covered Wagon, starring J. Warren Kerrigan
• The Daring Years, starring Mildred Harris, Charles Emmett Mack and Clara Bow
• The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning (Der Puppenmacher von Kiang-Ning), directed by Robert Wiene; starring Werner Krauss - (Germany)
• Drakula halala (Dracula's Death) - (Hungary)
• The Extra Girl, starring Mabel Normand
• Frozen Hearts, starring Stan Laurel and Mae Laurel
• The Gold Diggers
• The Grub-Stake, directed by & starring Nell Shipman
• The Harbour Lights directed by Tom Terriss; starring Tom Moore and Isobel Elsom - (Britain)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney
• I Will Repay directed by Henry Kolker; starring Holmes Herbert, Flora Le Breton - (GB)
• I.N.R.I., directed by Robert Wiene - (Germany)
• The Lady Owner - directed by Walter West; starring Violet Hopson and James Knight - (Britain)
• The Love Nest, a Buster Keaton short
• The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots, directed by Denison Clift; starring Fay Compton, Gerald Ames and John Stuart - (GB)
• Der Mann mit der eisernen Maske (The Man in the Iron Mask), directed by Max Glass - (Germany)
• The Merchant of Venice (Der Kaufmann von Venedig), starring Henny Porten and Werner Krauss - (Germany)
• Merry-Go-Round, directed by Erich von Stroheim
• Miss Suwanna of Siam - The first international feature film set in Thailand it features an all Thai cast
• Mysteries of a Barbershop (Mysterien eines Friseursalons) - (Germany)
• Our Hospitality, directed by & starring Buster Keaton
• Out to Win, directed by Denison Clift; starring Catherine Calvert, Clive Brook - (GB)
• Paddy the Next Best Thing, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Mae Marsh (Britain)
• The Pilgrim, directed by & starring Charlie Chaplin with Edna Purviance and Syd Chaplin
• The Purple Highway, starring Madge Kennedy, Monte Blue, Vincent Coleman and Pedro de Cordoba
• Raskolnikow, directed by Robert Wiene - (Germany)
• Rosita, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Mary Pickford
• Le Retour à la Raison (Return to Reason) - (France)
• La Roue (The Wheel), directed by Abel Gance - (France)
• Safety Last!, starring Harold Lloyd - This film has the famous scene where Lloyd is seen hanging from a clock.
• Salomé, directed by Charles Bryant; starring Alla Nazimova
• Scaramouche Starring Ramón Novarro, Alice Terry, Lewis Stone, Lloyd Ingraham
• Schatten â€" Eine nächtliche Halluzination (aka Warning Shadows), directed by Arthur Robison - (Germany)
• The Shock, starring Lon Chaney
• The Shriek of Araby, starring Ben Turpin
• Souls for Sale, starring Richard Dix and Eleanor Boardman
• Die Straße (The Street), directed by Karl Grune - (Germany)
• Squibs M.P. directed by George Pearson; starring Betty Balfour - (GB)
• Suzanna, starring Mabel Normand
• The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring Theodore Roberts
• This Freedom directed by Denison Clift; starring Fay Compton and Clive Brook - (GB)
• Three Ages, a Buster Keaton film
• Three Wise Fools, directed by King Vidor
• Through Fire and Water directed by Thomas Bentley; starring Clive Brook, Flora Le Breton - (GB)
• The Treasure (Der Schatz), directed by G.W. Pabst - (Germany)
• Under the Red Robe, directed by Alan Crosland; starring Robert B. Mantell
• The Unknown Tomorrow (Das unbekannte Morgen), directed by Alexander Korda - (Germany)
• The White Shadow, starring Betty Compson and Clive Brook - (GB)
• The White Sister, starring Lillian Gish and Ronald Colman
• Why Worry?, starring Harold Lloyd
• Within the Law, directed by Frank Lloyd; starring Norma Talmadge
• A Woman of Paris, directed by Charles Chaplin; starring Edna Purviance
• Woman to Woman, starring Betty Compson and Clive Brook - (GB)

§Short film series

• Charlie Chaplin (1914â€"1923)
• Buster Keaton (1917â€"1941)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921â€"1943)
• Our Gang (1922-1944)

§Animated short film series

• Felix the Cat (1919â€"1936)
• Koko the Clown (1919â€"1934)
• Aesop's Film Fables (1921â€"1934)
• Alice Comedies
  • Alice's Wonderland
• The Red Head Comedies (1923).

§Births

• January 7 - Pinkas Braun, actor, director (died 2008)
• January 8 - Larry Storch, actor
• January 19 - Jean Stapleton, actress (died 2013)
• January 26 - Anne Jeffreys, actress
• January 29 - Paddy Chayefsky writer (died 1981)
• February 2 - Bonita Granville, actress (died 1988)
• February 12 - Franco Zeffirelli, director
• February 21 â€" Lola Flores, actress (died 1995)
• February 28 - Charles Durning, actor (died 2012)
• April 2 - Gloria Henry, actress
• April 4 - Gene Reynolds, actor, producer
• April 12 - Ann Miller, dancer, actress (died 2004)
• May 7 - Anne Baxter, actress (died 1985)
• July 22 - Mukesh, singer (died 1976)
• August 3 - Jean Hagen, actress (died 1977)
• August 10 - Rhonda Fleming, actress
• August 15 - Rose Marie, actress
• August 29 - Richard Attenborough, English actor and director (died 2014)
• September 7 - Peter Lawford, actor (died 1984)
• October 4 - Charlton Heston, actor (died 2008)
• October 5 - Glynis Johns, actress
• October 16 - Linda Darnell, actress (died 1965)
• November 28
  • Gloria Grahame, actress (died 1981)
  • James Karen, actor
• December 10 - Harold Gould, actor (died 2010)

§Deaths

• January 18 â€" Wallace Reid American actor (born 1892)
• March 26 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (born 1844)
• May 21 - Charles Kent, veteran actor & director born (1852)
• June 11 - Porter Strong, American silent film actor
• June 17 - Macey Harlan, screen actor (born 1876)
• July 12 - Harry Lonsdale, stage & screen actor (born 1865)
• July 30 - Sir Charles Hawtrey, veteran British actor (born 1858)
• August 29 - Bernard J. Durning, American actor and director, (born 1893)
• September 26 - Jerome Patrick, Broadway stage & silent film leading man (born 1883)
• October 18 - Joe Roberts, American actor (born 1871)
• November 20 - Allen Holubar, silent film actor and director
• November 30 - Martha Mansfield, American actress (born 1899)
• December 28 - Frank Hayes, American actor & comedian (born 1871)

§Film debuts

• Jean Arthur
• Johnny Arthur
• Gary Cooper
• Marlene Dietrich
• William Haines
• Jack Oakie
• Fay Wray

§References