1926 in film

The following is an overview of 1926 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.

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Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1926 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1926

Rank	Title	Studio	Box office gross rental
1	Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$4,300,000[1]
2	What Price Glory?	Fox Film Corporation	$2,000,000[2]
3	Beau Geste	Paramount Pictures	$1,500,000[2]
4	Don Juan	Warner Bros.	$1,258,000[3]
5	Old Ironsides	Paramount Pictures	$1,100,000[4]
6	The Black Pirate The Cohens and Kellys	United Artists Universal Pictures	$1,000,000[4]
7	Sparrows	United Artists	$966,878[5]
8	The Better 'Ole	Warner Bros.	$955,000[6]
9	The Son of the Sheik	United Artists	$820,000[7]
10	The Sea Beast	Warner Bros.	$814,000[6]

Events

• February – The oldest surviving animated feature film is released in the Weimar Republic, directed by Lotte Reiniger. It is called The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed).
• August 2 – MGM's Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ opens in Los Angeles.[8]
• August 5 – Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system uses multiple 33⅓ rpm gramophone records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back music and sound effects synchronized with film.
• August 23 – Rudolph Valentino, whose film The Son of the Sheik was currently playing, dies at the age of 31 in New York. Riots occur at the funeral parlor as thousands of people try to see his body.
• October 7 – Warner Brothers release the second Vitaphone film, The Better 'Ole, starring Sydney Chaplin.
• December 5 – The 1925 Soviet film Battleship Potemkin premieres in the United States, at the Biltmore Theatre in Manhattan.[9]
• Theodore W. Case and E. I. Sponable demonstrate their sound-on-film experiments to William Fox of the Fox Film Corporation. The Fox-Case Corp. is formed in an effort to exploit the system, which is given the name Movietone. Fox begin to create Movietone News newsreels at this time. One of the first newsreels is of Charles Lindbergh's takeoff for Paris.
• Al Jolson films A Plantation Act, one of the first unreleased talkies and a test film for The Jazz Singer
• Ang Tatlong Hambog (The Three Humbugs), the first Filipino film to feature a kissing (make out) scene, is released in the Philippines.

Notable films released in 1926

For the complete list of US film releases for the year, see United States films of 1926

0-9

• 3 Bad Men, directed by John Ford

A

• The Adventures of Prince Achmed, directed by Lotte Reiniger – (Germany)
• Aloma of the South Seas, directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Gilda Gray & William Powell
• Ang Tatlong Hambog (The Three Humbugs), directed by Jose Nepomuceno, starring Luis Tuason, Dimples Cooper - Philippines

B

• Bardelys the Magnificent, directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert and Eleanor Boardman
• The Bat, directed by Roland West
• Battling Butler, directed by and starring Buster Keaton
• Beau Geste, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Ronald Colman and Alice Joyce
• The Bells, directed by James Young, starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff
• Beverly of Graustark, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Marion Davies and Antonio Moreno
• The Black Pirate, directed by Albert Parker, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Billie Dove
• La Bohème, directed by King Vidor, starring Lillian Gish, John Gilbert and Renée Adorée
• Bride of Glomdal (Glomdalsbruden), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer – (Denmark)
• Brown of Harvard directed by Jack Conway, starring William Haines, Jack Pickford and Mary Brian
• Brudeferden i Hardanger (The bridal procession in Hardanger) – (Norway)

C

• Cab No. 13, (Einspanner Nr 13), directed by Michael Curtiz – (Germany)
• Cruise of the Jasper B, starring Rod La Rocque, Mildred Harris and Snitz Edwards

D

• Dangerous Traffic, directed by Bennett Cohen, starring Ralph Bushman, Mildred Harris and Jack Perrin
• The Devil's Circus, starring Norma Shearer
• The Devil's Wheel, (Chyortovo koleso) – (U.S.S.R.)
• Don Juan, directed by Alan Crosland, starring John Barrymore

F

• Falešná kočička aneb Když si žena umíní (Fake Woman or When He is a She) – (Czechoslovakia)
• Fate and Consequence, directed by Vicente Salumbides, starring Raymunda Guidote-Abila
• Faust, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Gösta Ekman and Emil Jannings – (Germany)
• Fool's Luck, directed by Fatty Arbukle, starring Lupino Lane and George Davis
• For Heaven's Sake, directed by Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston

G

• The General, starring Buster Keaton
• The Golden Butterfly (Der goldene Schmetterling), directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Lili Damita and Nils Asther – (Germany)
• The Great Gatsby, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Warner Baxter and Lois Wilson
• The Great K & A Train Robbery, starring Tom Mix

H

• Hands Up!
• The Holy Mountain (Der heilige Berg), starring Leni Riefenstahl – (Germany)

I

• In the Way of Zorro
• Irene, starring Colleen Moore. In color sequence by Technicolor.
• It Must Be Love, starring Colleen Moore.

J

• The Johnstown Flood, starring George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor

K

• Kid Boots, starring Eddie Cantor and Clara Bow

L

• The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) – (Italy)
• Loetoeng Kasaroeng, directed by L. Heuveldorp, starring Martoana – (Dutch East Indies)
• Love's Berries (Yagodka lyubvi) – (U.S.S.R.)

M

• Madame Mystery, directed by Richard Wallace and Stan Laurel, starring Theda Bara
• The Magician, directed by Rex Ingram, starring Alice Terry
• Manon Lescaut, UFA production; directed by Arthur Robison, starring Lya De Putti – (Germany)
• Mare Nostrum, directed by Rex Ingram, starring Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry
• Ménilmontant, directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff, starring Nadia Sibirskaïa – (France)
• Michel Strogoff, directed by Viktor Tourjansky, starring Ivan Mozzhukhin and Nathalie Kovanko - (France)
• Miss Mend, directed by Fyodor Otsep, starring Boris Barnet – (U.S.S.R.)
• Mother, directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin – (U.S.S.R.)
• My Stars, directed by Fatty Arbuckle

N

• Nana directed by Jean Renoir – (France)
• Nell Gwyn, directed by Herbert Wilcox; starring Dorothy Gish, Randle Ayrton – (GB)
• Nelson, starring Cedric Hardwicke – (GB)
• The Non-Stop Flight, directed by Emory Johnson, starring Knute Erickson

O

• Old Ironsides, directed by James Cruze; starring Esther Ralston
• The Overcoat (Shinel) – (U.S.S.R.)

P

• A Page of Madness (Kurutta Ippēji) – (Japan)

Q

• The Quarterback, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer; starring Richard Dix

R

• Rien que les heures (Nothing but Time), directed by Alberto Cavalcanti – (France)

S

• The Scarlet Letter, starring Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson
• The Sea Beast, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara
• Secrets of a Soul, directed by G. W. Pabst – (Germany)
• The Show-Off, directed by Mal St. Clair; starring Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks
• The Son of the Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky
• So's Your Old Man, starring W. C. Fields
• The Sorrows of Satan, starring Adolphe Menjou
• Sparrows, directed by William Beaudine, starring Mary Pickford
• The Strong Man, starring Harry Langdon
• The Student of Prague, starring Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, Agnes Esterhazy and Fritz Alberti – (Germany)

T

• Tartuffe, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Emil Jannings – (Germany)
• Tell It to the Marines (film), directed by George W. Hill, starring William Haines and Lon Chaney
• The Temptress, starring Greta Garbo and Antonio Moreno
• The Three Million Trial – (U.S.S.R.)
• Torrent, starring Ricardo Cortez and Greta Garbo
• Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, starring Harry Langdon and Joan Crawford
• A Trip to Chinatown, starring Margaret Livingston and Earle Foxe
• The Triumph of the Rat, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Ivor Novello and Isabel Jeans – (GB)

V

• The Volga Boatman, directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring William Boyd

W

• What Price Glory?, starring Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen and Dolores del Río
• The Winning of Barbara Worth, starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky and Gary Cooper
• A Woman of the Sea, directed by Josef von Sternberg; starring Edna Purviance (unreleased)

Y

• Young April, directed by Donald Crisp; starring Joseph Schildkraut

Comedy film series

• Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
• Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Harry Langdon (1924–1936)

Animated short film series

• Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
• Koko the Clown (1919–1934)
• Alice Comedies
  • Alice on the Farm
  • Alice's Balloon Race
  • Alice's Orphan
  • Alice's Little Parade
  • Alice's Mysterious Mystery
  • Alice Charms the Fish
  • Alice's Monkey Business
  • Alice in the Wooly West
  • Alice the Fire Fighter
  • Alice Cuts the Ice
  • Alice Helps the Romance
  • Alice's Spanish Guitar
  • Alice's Brown Derby
  • Alice the Lumber Jack
• Koko's Song Car Tunes (1924–1927)
• Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
• Un-Natural History (1925–1927)
• Pete the Pup (1926–1927)

Births

• January 6 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and 1955 Mr. Universe (died 2006)
• January 14 – Tom Tryon, actor and novelist (died 1991)
• January 15 – Maria Schell, actress (died 2005)
• January 17 – Moira Shearer, actress and dancer (died 2006)
• January 19 – Fritz Weaver, actor (died 2016)
• January 20 – Patricia Neal, actress (died 2010)
• February 2 – Lia Laats, actress (died 2004)
• February 11 – Leslie Nielsen, actor and comedian (died 2010)
• February 16 – John Schlesinger, director (died 2003)
• February 20 – Gillian Lynne, dancer, actress and choreographer (died 2018)
• March 6 – Andrzej Wajda, director (died 2016)
• March 16 – Jerry Lewis, American actor (died 2017)
• April 5 – Roger Corman, American director
• April 7 – Prem Nazir, Indian actor (died 1989)
• April 8 – Shirley Mills, American actress (died 2010)
• April 12 – Jane Withers, American actress
• April 14 – Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (died 2018)
• April 22 – Charlotte Rae, American actress (died 2018)
• April 30 – Cloris Leachman, American actress
• May 8 – Don Rickles, American comedian and actor (died 2017)
• May 10 – Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, American film personality, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter (died 2004)
• May 11 – Frank Thring, Australian actor (died 1994)
• June 1
  • Andy Griffith, American actor (died 2012)
  • Marilyn Monroe, American actress (died 1962)[10]
• June 13 – Paul Lynde, American comedian and actor (died 1982)
• June 28 – Mel Brooks, American entertainer
• July 5 – Diana Lynn, American actress (died 1971)
• July 10 – Carleton Carpenter, American actor, magician, author and songwriter
• July 14 – Harry Dean Stanton, American character actor (died 2017)
• July 21 – Norman Jewison, Canadian director
• July 22 – Bryan Forbes, English director (died 2013)
• August 7 – Stan Freberg, American voice actor, author, radio personality and comedian (died 2015)
• August 29 – Betty Lynn, American actress
• September 19 – James Lipton, American actor, screenwriter and presenter
• October 15 – Jean Peters, American actress (died 2000)
• October 17
  • Julie Adams, American actress (died 2019)
  • Beverly Garland, American actress (died 2008)
• October 18 – Klaus Kinski, German actor (died 1991)
• November 1 – Betsy Palmer, American actress (died 2015)
• November 30 – Richard Crenna, American actor (died 2003)
• December 1 – Allyn Ann McLerie, American actress
• December 18 – Walter Lassally, German-born British-Greek cinematographer (died 2017)

Deaths

• January 30 – Barbara La Marr, actress (born 1896)
• February 6 – Carrie Clark Ward, actress (born 1862)
• April 20 – Billy Quirk, actor (born 1873)
• March 2 – Victory Bateman, actress (born 1865)
• May 7 - Lillian Lawrence, actress (born 1868)
• July 22 – Willard Louis, actor (born 1882)
• July 23 - Charles Avery[11]
• August 22 – Joe Moore, actor, brother of Mary Moore, Matt Moore, Owen Moore & Tom Moore
• August 23 – Rudolph Valentino, actor (born 1895)
• August 30 – Eddie Lyons, American actor (born 1886)
• September 8 – Kisaburo Kurihara, Japanese actor (born 1885)
• September 11 – Matsunosuke Onoe, actor (born 1875)
• October 31 – Harry Houdini, magician & actor (born 1874)
• November 7 – Tom Forman, silent film actor & director (born 1893)
• November 8 – James K Hackett, stage & silent film actor (born 1869)
• November 17 – Harold Vosburgh, silent film actor (born 1870)

Film debuts

• Sterling Holloway – The Battling Kangaroo
• Nancy Kelly – The Untamed Lady
• Joel McCrea – Torrent
• Franklin Pangborn – Exit Smiling
• Buddy Rogers – Fascinating Youth
• Mickey Rooney – Not to Be Trusted (as Mickey McBain)
• John Wayne – Brown of Harvard

References

1. Hall, Sheldon (2010). Epics, Spectacles, and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History. Wayne State University Press. p. 56.
2. "The All Time Best Sellers". International Motion Picture Almanac 1937–38. Quigley Publishing Company. p. 942. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
3. Glancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television. 15.
4. "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M150.
5. Box Office Information for Sparrows
6. 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 4 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
7. Movie Box Office Grosses: 1925 through 1931
8. Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro, André Soares p 99
9. Jay Leyda (1960). Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film. George Allen & Unwin. p. 205.
10. "Marilyn Monroe | Biography, Movies, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
11. Charles Avery;IMDb.com