The pioneers
List activity
210 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
148 titles
- DirectorP.J.C. JanssenSeries of photographs of the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun in 1874.The oldest film on IMDb and Letterboxd. Before cinema exists, it is a series of photographs taken with astronomer Pierre Janssen's photographic revolver. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/1874_Pierre_Jules_C%C3%A9sar_Janssen_-_Passage_de_Venus.webm
- DirectorEadweard MuybridgeStarsGilbert DommSallie GardnerThe clip shows a jockey, Gilbert Domm, riding a horse, Sallie Gardner. The clip is not filmed; instead, it consists of 24 individual photographs shot in rapid succession, making a moving picture when using a zoopraxiscope.The earliest known motion picture exhibition, in 1880.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceStarsAnnie HartleyAdolphe Le PrinceJoseph WhitleyIn the garden, a man asks his friends to do something silly for him to record on film.The very first film ever.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseOne of W.K.L. Dickson's laboratory workers horses around for the camera.Believed to be the first film shot in the United States.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseIn an experiment that follows up on the results of 'Monkeyshines, No. 1', an Edison company worker again moves around in front of the motion picture camera.First public demonstration of motion pictures in the United States.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudOne night, Arlequin come to see his lover Colombine. But then Pierrot knocks at the door and Colombine and Arlequin hide. Pierrot starts singing but Arlequin scares him and the poor man goes away.The first animated film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=426mqlB-kAY - DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsCharles KayserJohn OttThree men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.Very first staged narrative in film. https://youtu.be/cm5g7CfXYYE
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsWilliam K.L. DicksonThe earliest extant sound film. William K.L. Dickson stands in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder. As he plays a violin, two men dance in the foreground. This film was made to demonstrate a new Thomas Edison machine, the Kinetophone. These machines were Kinetoscope peepshow viewers mated with Thomas Edison wax cylinder phonographs. But the Kinetophone never caught on and this film was never released. The film still exists, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost.The first soundsync film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6b0wpBTR1s
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsFred OttA man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.The first surviving motion picture with a copyright. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Ott%27s_Sneeze#/media/File:Fred_Ott_sneeze_1894.gif
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsJack CushingMike LeonardIn the background, five fans lean on the ropes looking into the ring. The referee is to the left; like the fans, he hardly moves as two fighters swing roundhouse blows at each other. Mike Leonard, in white trunks, is the aggressor; in black, Jack Cushing stands near the edge of the ring, warily pawing the air as Leonard comes at him. A couple of punches land, but the fighters maintain their upright postures.The first boxing fight footage (showing punches).
- DirectorLouis LumièreWorkers leaving the Lumière factory for lunch in Lyon, France in 1895; a place of great photographic innovation and one of the birth places of cinema.The first projected film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO0EkMKfgJI - DirectorLouis LumièreStarsFrançois ClercBenoît DuvalAn impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.Possibly, the first fiction film ever, the first comedy and the first use of film to portray a fictional story, and the first use of a promotional film poster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlbiNuT7EDI - StarsSidney Birt AcresAnnie CashHenry ShortThe first British film made with a British camera and also considered as the first successful movie made in Britain.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsAnnabelle MooreAnnabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dance routines. She uses her dance steps and her long, flowing skirts to create a variety of visual patterns.First hand-tinted film. https://youtu.be/kplgIO9F7Pg
- DirectorBirt AcresAlthough the content of this film is primitive in the extreme - a shot of the traditional Oxford versus Cambridge University Boat Race, filmed on March 30 1895 - this film is of immense historical importance as being the first ever British filmThe first British film to be commercially screened outside London.
- DirectorAlice GuyStarsAlice GuyGermaine SerandYvonne SerandThe first film directed by a female director, "The Cabbage Fairy" presents a brief fantasy tale involving a strange fairy who can produce and deliver babies coming out of cabbages. Gently moving through the cabbages and using of lovely gestures, she takes one baby out of there, then makes more magic and delivers two more.The first female filmmaker, Alice Guy-Blaché.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYbQO6pwuNs - DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsOctavie HuvierGaston MélièsGeorges MélièsIn what is considered to be the first remake in the history of cinema, the grand French director, Georges Méliès, directs his very first short film, influenced by the Lumière Brothers' original story in "Partie d'écarté (1896)".The first remake (and also the first film of Meliès). It is based in a Louis Lumière's film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zfxKXbLlQ - DirectorWilliam HeiseStarsMay IrwinJohn C. RiceIn a medium close-up shot of the first kiss ever recorded on screen, two fervent lovers cuddle and talk passionately at hair's breadth, just before the love-smitten gentleman decides to give his chosen one an innocent peck.The first kiss.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyJules-Eugène LegrisGeorges MélièsWith the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.The first horror film.
- DirectorAlbert KirchnerEugène PirouStarsLouise WillyA woman undresses on her wedding night.Oldest surviving erotic film.
- DirectorEnoch J. RectorStarsJames J. CorbettBob FitzsimmonsBilly MaddenDocumentary film depicting the 1897 boxing match between James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons in Carson City, Nevada on St. Patrick's Day. Originally running for more than 100 minutes, it is the world's first feature film.The earliest known feature-length film and the very first movie shot in widescreen! Among the 90 to 100 recorded minutes of that historical boxing fight, less than halh hour survived: https://youtu.be/vWercNF6dFE
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJeanne BradyJehanne d'AlcyThe first film to ever show a nudity scene on screen is a simple presentation of a servant preparing a bath for another woman.The first nudity footage.
- DirectorGabriel VeyreThe first Cuban film.
- StarsDolorita"Musicians are seated, playing, while the graceful Dolorita dances. It is the Danse-du-Ventre, the famous Oriental muscle dance."Possibly the first film to be banned in the United States. It was banned in Atlantic City-NJ after a crowd of men was noticed lining up to view it in peep hole lenses in a theater.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleyDorothy SmithHarold SmithBrother and sister are sent to bed on Christmas Eve, and while they are asleep, Santa Claus comes down the chimney and fills their waiting stockings with toys.Very first christmas film and the earliest example of parallel action in motion picture.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonAlbert E. SmithA reel of mirth-provoking stunts that will draw the pennies from the children, but which is of much interest to young and old alike. It opens with a crowd of children leaving school and marching through the streets to the "Humpty Dumpty Circus." We see them crowd into the tent and at the end of each act they vociferously applaud the performers These are the little wooden toys that are familiar to all, and which are made to perform all the usual acrobatic stunts of the circus performer in a remarkably realistic manner. Some of the scenes are really comical and it is hard to believe that the elephants and donkeys are not alive.Probably, the very first stop-motion.
- DirectorArthur CheethamThe first recorded football match ever.
- DirectorWalter Pfeffer DandoWilliam K.L. DicksonHerbert Beerbohm TreeStarsHerbert Beerbohm TreeDora TullochCharles SeftonKing John does whatever it takes to keep himself on the throne of England, making enemies of the pope, France, and his nephew along the way.Considered as the first adaptation of Shakespeare for cinema.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleyTom GreenA man dreams he is flirting with an attractive young lady, then he wakes up in bed next to his wife.Possibly the first use of a dissolve transition to signify a movement of a dreaming state to one of reality.
- DirectorEugene PyThis short is about the visit of Brazilian president Manuel Ferraz de Campos Salles to Argentina in 1900.Considered as the first documentary from Argentina.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothStarsDaniel SmithIt's Christmas Eve. The miser Scrooge and his assistant Bob Cratchit finish their work in the office and go home. When Scrooge is going to open his front door, he sees the face of Marley's ghost in the door knocker. Inside he takes on his night dress, eats his supper, and falls asleep at the table. Marly's ghost shows Scrooge a vision of himself at a Christmas in the past. Then the ghost escorts him to the present Christmas, and the homes and families of Bob Cratchit and Fred, where Scrooge sees Bob and Fred drink to him in his absence. At last the ghost shows Scrooge the Christmas that might be. Here Scrooge has to face his own grave and the death of Tiny Tim. Confronted with this Scrooge regrets his callousness and egoism.The earliest known use of intertitles in cinema and also the first Dickens's Scrooge on screen.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaStarsJean LiézerBretteauFerdinand ZeccaA burglar is arrested for a murder. He is condemned to death. Before his execution the murderer dreams of his past, of how he was a bank clerk, then turned to crime. The criminal is then taken out of his cell, and a moment later is executed.The first flashback.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.The first sci-fi movie.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaAn early adaptation of the Ali Baba tale.The first adaptation of "Ali Baba and the forty thieves".
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsGilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' AndersonA.C. AbadieGeorge BarnesA group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.The first Western.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterIn this parody of 1903's _Great Train Robbery, The (1903)_, also made by Edwin S. Porter, young bandits rob the passengers of a kiddie train and are chased by police officers.The first parody. https://youtu.be/oZahoBkRF44
- DirectorJingfeng RenStarsTan XinpeiDingjunshan was the first Chinese film ever made. The content was a sung representation of Battle of Mount Dingjun.First Chinese film.
- DirectorCharles TaitStarsElizabeth TaitJohn TaitNicholas BrierleyOriginally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.The first full-length narrative feature film. youtu.be/1A6niZmzvoc
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsJ. Stuart BlacktonA cartoonist draws faces and figures on a blackboard - and they come to life.Believed to be the first animated film recorded on standard picture film. https://youtu.be/5hz3b__5_Zc
- DirectorMichel CarréStarsGeorges WagueHenri GougetChristiane MandelysIt's a play in three parts. This film is supposed to be the first long feature film released in EuropeFirst feature-length motion picture produced in Europe.
- DirectorAnonymousIn one of the earliest surviving pornographic films to date, a group of nude young women are frolicking in the countryside when a satyr appears and sexually assaults one of the women. The other women then put him to flight.Probably, the oldest South American stag film (pornographic movie) and perhaps the oldest porn in the world.
- DirectorLino FerreiraStarsLucinda do CarmoCarlos LealNascimento FernandesEarliest known fiction film from Portugal.
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.The first fully animated film.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithFirst successful motion picture filmed in Kinemacolor (the creator of that process, George Albert Smith, made a few experiments before).
- DirectorAndré CalmettesCharles Le BargyStarsCharles Le BargyAlbert LambertGabrielle RobinneFrance, at the end of the sixteenth century. Henry III decided to eliminate his rival, the Duke of Guise, and, therefore, calls him in the castle of Blois. The mistress of the duke, warned of the King's intentions, informs him, but the noble, sure of his own authority, went there anyway. In Cabinet-Vieux castle Duke is stabbed by guards of the King, while he attends the murder hidden behind the curtains. Eventually, Henry III does burn the duke body to discard.The earliest documented original score composed specifically for a film.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFrank PowellArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardAn historical dramatization of a Spanish woman during the reign of Spanish and Mexican owned California in the early 19th century.Both the earliest film to be shot where today is known as Hollywood and the very first time the catchphrase "lights, camera, action!" Has been pronounced on the set.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsMary PickfordHenry B. WalthallFrancis J. GrandonRamona is a little orphan of the great Spanish household of Moreno. Alessandro, the Indian, arrives at the Camulos ranch with his sheep-shearers, showing his first meeting with Ramona. There is at once a feeling of interest noticeable between them which ripens into love. This Senora Moreno, her foster mother, endeavors to crush, with poor success, until she forces a separation by exiling Alessandro from the ranch. He goes back to his native village to find the white men devastating the place and scattering his people. The Senora, meanwhile, has told Ramona that she herself has Indian blood, which induces her to renounce her present world and go to Alessandro. They are married and he finds still a little shelter left from the wreckage. Here they live until the whites again appear and drive them off, claiming the land. From place to place they journey, only to be driven further until finally death comes to Alessandro just as aid comes in the person of Felipe, the Senora's son, who takes Ramona back to Camulos.Earliest movie to say in its credits where were filming locations.
- DirectorJ. Searle DawleyStarsMary FullerCharles OgleAugustus PhillipsThe first filmed version of Frankenstein. The young doctor discovers the secret of life, which he uses to create a perfect human. Things do not go according to plan.The earliest Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in cinema.
- DirectorVasili GoncharovAleksandr KhanzhonkovStarsAndrey GromovN. SemyonovOlga Petrova-ZvantsevaFirst film ever that was shot by two cameras. Set in 1854-1855, in Sevastopol and Yalta during the Crimean War. Admirals Kornilov (Mozzhukhin) and Nakhimov (Gromov) organize the defense during the siege of Sevastopol. Both admirals are killed during the battle, and the city of Sevastopol is taken by the alliance of British, French, Sardinian, and Turkish troops. The legendary feat of Sailor Koshka (Semenov) was staged at original location. The 100 minute-long film was premiered in 1911 at the Livadia, Yalta, palace for the Tsar Nicholas II.The first film recorded using two cameras and the first Russian feature-length movie.
- DirectorFrancesco BertoliniAdolfo PadovanGiuseppe de LiguoroStarsSalvatore PapaArturo PirovanoGiuseppe de LiguoroLoosely adapted from Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired by the illustrations of Gustav Doré the original silent film has been restored and has a new score by Tangerine Dream.First Italian feature-length film.
- DirectorR.C.E. NissenStarsEmma KroghAbout the theft of a diamond found on the banks of Vaal by a Hottentot.The earliest dramatic film from South Africa.
- DirectorAristide DemetriadeGrigore BrezeanuStarsAristide DemetriadeConstanta DemetriadeConstantin NottaraThe movie depicts the Romanian War of Independence (1877-1878).Possibly, the first feature propaganda film.
- StarsKing George VQueen MaryThis early color film records the Indian celebrations relating to the coronation of King George V.First feature film to be released in colour, using the Kinemacolour system.
- DirectorPhillips SmalleyLois WeberStarsLois WeberVal PaulDouglas GerrardAbandoned by her maidservant in an isolated country house, a mother must protect herself and her baby from an invading tramp while her husband races home in a stolen car to save them.The first split screen showing different events at the same time.
- DirectorDhundiraj Govind PhalkeStarsD.D. DabkeAnna SalunkeGanpat G. ShindeThe film opens with a Ravi Varma like tableau showing King Harishchandra, his wife Taramati and his young son. The king is teaching his son archery. They go on a hunt. The king enters an area controlled by the Sage Vishwamitra. Three furies appear before the king caught in flames. The king tries to rescue them. These fairies try to seduce the king into renouncing his kingdom for his love of truth. The king endures much hardship including being banished from his kingdom before a god appears to reassure everyone that the whole narrative was merely a test of the king's integrity.The first full-length feature film entirely produced in India (then it was recognized by the Government of India as the first Indian feature film. However, "Shree Pundalik", not in IMDb, is older).
- DirectorHubert MarischkaStarsHubert MarischkaHilde RadneyMarietta WeberThe first Austrian feature film.The first Austrian feature-length film.
- DirectorHanns Heinz EwersStellan RyeStarsPaul WegenerGrete BergerLyda SalmonovaBalduin, a student of Prague, leaves his roystering companions in the beer garden, when he finds he has reached the end of his resources. He is scarcely seated in a quiet corner when a hideous, shriveled-up old man taps him upon the shoulder and whispers vaguely of a big inheritance for Prague's finest swordsman and wildest student if he will enter into a certain agreement. Balduin rebuffs him, satirically asking his weird companion to procure him "the luckiest ticket in a lottery or a doweried wife." The old man goes off chuckling and thence onward persistently shadows Balduin, exerting a sinister influence over him, while Balduin is still disconsolate under the frowns of fortune. The Countess Margit Schwarzenberg, hunting with her cousin, to whom her father has betrothed her, meets with an accident. She is thrown over her horse's head into a river, but Balduin, who has been directed to the spot by his evil genius, plunges in and rescues her. Subsequently Balduin calls to inquire as to her condition at the castle of her father, the count, but be makes a hurried departure when Baron Waldis arrives, the contrast in their appearance discrediting him. His desire to win the countess and to humiliate the baron becomes so pronounced that he readily accedes to the compact suggested by Scapinelli, the old man, who has so pertinaciously dogged his footsteps, particularly when he learns that untold wealth and power will be his when he assigns to the other the right to take from his room whatever he chooses for his own use as he desires. The agreement is signed. Balduin receives a shower of gold and notes as his portion; Scapinelli takes Balduin's soul exposed in concrete form by his shadow. Balduin prosecutes his love affair assiduously and with apparent success, till the baron is informed of it by a jealous gypsy girl. He challenges Balduin to a duel, and the latter, assured of his superiority as a fencer, readily agrees. Count Schwarzenberg learns of the impending duel and appeals to Balduin not to kill "my sister's child, my daughter's future husband, and my heir." Balduin gives his promise, but when he goes to the venue of the duel he meets, his own counterpart stalking away derisively wiping his gory sword on his cloak. Balduin turns and in the far distance sees the dying victim of the deed he swore he would not do. He rushes from the spot horror-stricken. When he regains sufficient composure he makes his way to the castle of the count, but is refused admission. Determined to explain that he had no complicity in the death of the baron, Balduin climbs into a room in which the countess is seated. She receives him coldly, but soon succumbs to his ardent wooing. Just as he seeks to leave her she notices he has no shadow and that the mirror gives no reflection of him; and she drops back affrighted, the ghastly apparition of himself which takes shape in the corner of the room sends Balduin scuttling away from the castle in a paroxysm of terror. He makes a frenzied flight through a woodland estate and the streets of Prague, but wherever he stops to recover his breath he is haunted by the counterpart of himself. He reaches his rooms and draws a murderous looking fire-arm from its case. As the phantasmagorical figure strides towards him with a sinister grin, he fires, and in a few minutes the blood gushes from his own side from a fatal wound.Often considered as the first German "art film".
- DirectorPhillips SmalleyLois WeberStarsPhillips SmalleyLois WeberDouglas GerrardA rich merchant, Antonio is depressed for no good reason, until his good friend Bassanio comes to tell him how he's in love with Portia. Portia's father has died and left a very strange will: only the man that picks the correct casket out of three (silver, gold, and lead) can marry her. Bassanio, unfortunately, is strapped for cash with which to go wooing, and Antonio wants to help, so Antonio borrows the money from Shylock, the money-lender. But Shylock has been nursing a grudge against Antonio's insults, and makes unusual terms to the loan. And when Antonio's business fails, those terms threaten his life, and it's up to Bassanio and Portia to save him.The first feature-length film directed by a woman.
- DirectorGiovanni PastroneStarsItalia Almirante-ManziniLidia QuarantaBartolomeo PaganoCabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.The first epic movie.
- DirectorHenry LehrmanStarsCharles ChaplinEmma CliftonChester ConklinAn out-of-work swindler takes a job as a reporter. After witnessing a car go over cliff, he grabs a rival reporter's camera and races to the newspaper office to enter the photo as his own. His rival is delayed when he gets caught in a woman's bedroom by her jealous husband. The swindler follows the distribution of the paper containing his 'scoop' around town where he is once again chased by the rival reporter. Both end up on the cow-catcher of a streetcar.First film appearance of Charlie Chaplin.
https://archive.org/details/CC_1914_02_02_MakingALiving - DirectorOscar ApfelCecil B. DeMilleStarsDustin FarnumMonroe SalisburyWinifred KingstonA chivalrous British officer takes the blame for his cousin's embezzlement and journeys to the American West to start a new life on a cattle ranch.The very first feature film shot in Hollywood (or in what today is Hollywood).
- DirectorWinsor McCayStarsWinsor McCayGeorge McManusRoy L. McCardellThe cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurs back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.The first key frame animation.
- DirectorEnrique García VellosoStarsSusana Larreta y QuintanaLuis García LawsonJorge QuintanaIt is a mute Argentine film released in 1914, according to novel of Jose Marmol. Its importance has to do with that it was the first feature film produced in Argentina.The first Argentine feature-length fiction movie.
- DirectorQuirino CristianiArgentinian President Yrigoyen burns Buenos Aires using Jupiter's thunderbolts.The very first feature-length animation film.
- DirectorWray Bartlett PhysiocStarsGrace DarmondNiles WelchHerbert FortierA young woman, who is the daughter of a sea captain, falls in love with a man from a rich family who does not approve of her.The very first motion picture made in Technicolor (the 4th feature-length color film in the world) and also the first feature-length color movie produced in the United States.
- DirectorWillis H. O'BrienStarsAlan V. DayChauncey A. DayHerbert M. DawleyIn a dream Uncle Jack looks through a magic telescope owned by the ghost of a hermit and sees what life was like millions of years ago, including a battle between prehistoric monsters.The first movie to show live actors and stop-motion creatures together on the screen.
- DirectorR. Nataraja MudaliarStarsJeevarathnamR. Nataraja MudaliarRaja MuldaliarThis is the first south Indian silent film started with budget of 37000 Rs and which is first stepping stone for Tamil film industryFirst film made in South India.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyStarsAllakariallakAlice NevalingaCunayouIn this silent predecessor to the modern documentary, film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.The first feature-length documentary.
- DirectorNat G. DeverichHarry K. FairallStarsElliott SparlingBarbara BedfordNoah BeeryBecause of his financial trouble, Don Almeda (Noah Beery) promises his daughter, Maria (Barbara Bedford), to Don Alvarez (Albert Prisco). But Maria does not love Don Alvarez, and, in fact, she falls in love with Terry O'Neil (Elliott Sparling), a stranger who has been wounded by robbers associated with Alvarez. O'Neil takes Alvarez's place at a masked ball. Alvarez, in turn, robs the old Padre (John Herdman) of some pearls and stabs him to deal with O'Neil's knife. He then accuses O'Neil of the murder and tries to shoot him, but wounds Maria instead, because she has thrown herself in front of him. Maria recovers, and, after proving that Alvarez is a thief and a killer, weds O'Neil.The first 3D feature film. According wikipedia, "the film utilized the red-and-green anaglyph system for the 3D experience and also gave the audience the option of viewing one of two different endings to the film (in 2D) by looking through only the red or green lens of the spectacles, depending on whether the viewer wanted to see a happy or tragic ending".
- DirectorChester M. FranklinStarsAnna May WongKenneth HarlanBeatrice BentleyWhile visiting China, an American man falls in love with a young Chinese woman, but he then has second thoughts about the relationship.The first Technicolor colour feature film that did not require a special projector to be used for screenings (and the second overall), and the first colour feature movie made in Hollywood.
- DirectorKoshu HayakawaStarsYeongwan ChoeChoon-Gwang KimRyong HanChun-hyang, is secretly engaged to marry Mong-ryong Lee. Lee leaves for Seoul with his father and the new governor, Hak-do Byeon, begins coveting Chun-hyang.The first Korean sound film, color film and widescreen film, and also possibly the earliest Korean feature movie.
- DirectorDziga VertovThe first animated movie in the Soviet Union. A bloated caricature of a Capitalist devouring a massive heap of food and drink.The first Soviet animation.
- DirectorFred NibloCharles BrabinChristy CabanneStarsRamon NovarroFrancis X. BushmanMay McAvoyA Jewish prince seeks to find his family and revenge himself upon his childhood friend who had him wrongly imprisoned.The first film costing more than US$ 3 million.
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsAl JolsonMay McAvoyWarner OlandThe son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.The first feature-length motion picture with a synchronized soundtrack and also with lip-synchronous singing and speech.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanHarry d'Abbadie d'ArrastStarsClara BowCharles 'Buddy' RogersRichard ArlenTwo young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.The first movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture (then, "Outstanding Picture") in Academy Awards.
- DirectorDorothy ArznerStarsNancy CarrollRichard ArlenDanny O'SheaBabs and Bob leave their small-town life after graduating from college and go to New York in an effort to make the Broadway big time. Mrs. Renov, the wife of a theatrical producer, develops a fondness towards Bob and gets him a part in one of her husband's shows; Renov discovers his wife's infidelity and quickly fires Bob. Renov meets Babs and gives her a part in his show. Fred, Babs' college sweetheart, comes to New York to look for her, and Mrs. Renov turns her attentions to him, feigning interest in one of his plays. Renov hires Fred as his assistant and, suspecting him of philandering, frames him on a forgery charge. Babs goes to Renov to plead for Fred's release, and he attacks her. Bob clubs Renov with an iron bar and, attempting to escape, falls to his death. Unnerved by city life, Babs returns to the small college town where Fred is a professor.The first sound picture directed by a woman.
- DirectorBryan FoyStarsHelene CostelloCullen LandisMary CarrA gangster frames two bootleggers for the shooting of a police officer in New York during the prohibition.The first all-talking full-length feature film.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsDonald CrispPauline StarkeLeRoy MasonVikings compete for power and the love of a woman.The first feature-length Technicolor film that featured a soundtrack (sound and music effects).
- DirectorWalt DisneyUb IwerksStarsWalt DisneyInspired by Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris, Mickey builds a plane to take Minnie for a trip involving some necking, though Minnie objects to the necking.The first Mickey Mouse, and also the first cartoon with synchronized sound and the first cartoon to feature a fully post-produced soundtrack.
- DirectorLuiz de BarrosStarsGenésio ArrudaGina BianchiTom BillIt tells the story of two hillbillies who arrive in São Paulo. Naive, they are deceived by rascals and fall into a vicar's tale, believing they bought a tram. They end up without money, having to return to the countryside.First Brazilian sound film.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnny OndraJohn LongdenSara AllgoodAfter killing a man in self-defense, a young woman is blackmailed by a witness to the killing.The first British sound film.
- DirectorLuis SeelJoão StamatoThe only animal in a zoo, a monkey, escapes its cage, causing a lot of trouble.Earliest surviving animated film from Brazil.
- DirectorOvanes OhanianStarsAli ArjmandAbolghasem AshtiAhmad DehghanThe story is about a leggy-man and a short-man producing funny performs.The first Iranian feature film.
- DirectorShichuan ZhangStarsButterfly WuXianzhai WangXia PiezhenThe first Chinese sound film. It tells the story of Hong Pion (Red Peony), a singer-songwriter who, after her marriage to the depraved Faxiang Chen, not only tormented and suffered, but also endured the decline of her artistic career.First Chinese sound film.
- DirectorQuirino CristianiThe story of President Yrigoyen's corrupt government and its overthrow by a military coup.The first animated feature film with sound.
- DirectorBurt GillettStarsClarence NashEsther CampbellPinto ColvigA jealous stump threatens two trees that are in love by starting a forest fire. When the rain comes and puts out the fire the forest revives and celebrates the wedding.The first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldCharles RugglesA Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.First film to use a zoom lens.
- DirectorVictor HalperinStarsBela LugosiMadge BellamyJoseph CawthornA young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiancé, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.The first feature length zombie film.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsZasu PittsJames GleasonBen LyonA group of amateur detectives sets out to expose The Crooked Circle, a secretive group of hooded occultists.The first feature film shown on television.
- DirectorGustav MachatýStarsHedy LamarrZvonimir RogozAribert MogEva has just got married to an older gentleman. She leaves him, and one day, she meets a young man, and they fall in love. Fate brings the husband together with the young lover that has taken Eva from him.First representation of female orgasm in cinema.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsMadeleine CarrollFranchot ToneReginald DennyRichard Girard is part of a New Orleans family working closely with the English Warburtons. When Richard meets Mary Warburton she is engaged to Erik von Gerardt. He does wed Mary but their time in America is financially difficult.The first film to receive the Production Code Administration (PCA) reactionary censorship seal of approval according to "Hays Code" guidelines by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA).
- DirectorMichael MindlinStarsEdwin C. HillSamuel DicksteinAdolf HitlerA documentary meant to show Americans what had been going on in Germany since Hitler's rise, centered on a fact finding trip by Cornelius Vanderbilt, with newsreel footage of book burnings and such.The very first anti-Nazi film from the United States.
- DirectorWilfred JacksonStarsPinto ColvigClarence NashMickey is a frustrated bandleader dealing with obnoxious peanut vendor and flute player Donald, who tries to persuade the band to play "Turkey in the Straw," and a cyclone hits before his concert of "William Tell Overture" is completed.The first Mickey Mouse in color.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBwF_hHrlzs - DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMiriam HopkinsFrances DeeCedric HardwickeAgainst the backdrop of Napoleon's Waterloo campaign, an ambitious woman from a family of entertainers begins a destructive climb up the social ladder.First feature-length novie to use three-strip Technicolor film.
- DirectorCarlos NavarroStarsEmilio FernándezMaría Teresa OrozcoGilberto GonzálezFirst Mexican sound film.
- DirectorWilliam CottrellDavid HandWilfred JacksonStarsAdriana CaselottiHarry StockwellLucille La VerneExiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.The first feature-length cel animated movie and the first Disney animated feature-length film.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsBarbara StanwyckJoel McCreaAkim TamiroffIn 1862, Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads compete westward across the wilderness toward California.Oldest film to be awarded as the best motion picture in Cannes Film Festival (it happened in retrospect at the 2002 festival, as the inaugural festival in 1939 was cancelled due the outbreak of the Second World War).
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongFord Beebe Jr.StarsLeopold StokowskiDeems TaylorThe Philadelphia OrchestraA series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.The first film with surround sound.
- DirectorWan LaimingGuchan WanStarsGuanxiang LiuChen ZhengfaZhou JirangThree travelers needing to pass through a fiery mountain seek the magical fan of a princess, but she does not wish to part with it.First Chinese animated fetature film.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsJennifer JonesCharles BickfordWilliam Eythe14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, living in a small town in the south of 1850s France, claims to have seen a divine vision, prompting extreme skepticism, concern from her family, and religious and political turmoil.The first movie to be elected as the Best Motion Picture in the Golden Globe Awards.