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The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.

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Events

  • February: The Motion Picture Story Magazine, the first American film fan magazine, is published. It is followed later in the year by Photoplay.
  • April 8: Winsor McCay releases his first film Little Nemo, one of the earliest animated films.
  • October 23 (October 10 OS): Svetozar Botorić's The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe (Život i dela besmrtnog vožda Karađorđa, Живот и дела бесмртног вожда Карађорђа) premieres in Belgrade and becomes the first feature film made in Serbia and the Balkans.
  • October 26: Defence of Sevastopol («Оборона Севастополя») premieres at the Crimean palace of Tsar Nicholas II and becomes the first feature-length film made in the Russian Empire and one of the first in the world. It is also the first known film to use a multiple-camera setup (2 cameras)
  • October 27: David Horsley's Nestor Motion Picture Company opens the first motion picture studio in Hollywood.
  • November: The Kalem Company of New York pays the estate of author Lew Wallace $25,000 in legal settlement for having adapted Ben Hur (1907 film) from his novel without securing prior rights.

Notable films

Films produced in the United States unless stated otherwise

A

  • The Aerial Anarchists, directed by Walter R. Booth – (GB)

B

  • Baron Munchausen's Dream (Les Hallucinations du baron de Münchausen), directed by Georges Méliès – (France)

C

  • The Coffin Ship, produced by the Thanhouser Company

D

  • David Copperfield, directed by George O. Nichols, based on the 1850 novel by Charles Dickens
  • Defence of Sevastopol, directed by Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and Vasily Goncharov – (Russia)
  • The Diabolical Church Window (Le Vitrail diabolique) (incomplete), directed by Georges Méliès – (France)
  • The Dream, directed by Thomas H. Ince and George Loane Tucker, starring Mary Pickford and Owen Moore

E

  • Enoch Arden, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Wilfred Lucas and Linda Arvidson

F

  • The Fall of Troy (La caduta di Troia), directed by Giovanni Pastrone, based on the Greek epic poem the Iliad by Homer – (Italy)

H

  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre-Dame de Paris), directed by Albert Capellani, based on the 1833 novel by Victor Hugo – (France)

I

  • L'Inferno (Dante's Inferno), directed by Francesco Bertolini and Giuseppe de Liguoro, based on the 14th-century narrative poem by Dante Alighieri – (Italy)
  • The Italian Barber, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Joseph Graybill and Mary Pickford

L

  • The Last Drop of Water, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet
  • The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe (Život i dela besmrtnog vožda Karađorđa), directed by Ilija Stanojević – (Serbia)
  • Little Nemo, animated film directed by Winsor McCay
  • The Lonedale Operator, directed by D. W. Griffith

M

  • The Miser's Heart, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Lionel Barrymore
  • Der Müller und sein Kind (The Miller and His Child), directed by Walter Friedemann – (Austria)
  • The Mummy (lost), produced by the Thanhouser Company

O

  • The Odyssey (L'Odissea), directed by Francesco Bertolini and Giuseppe de Liguoro, based on the Greek epic poem by Homer – (Italy)

P

  • The Pasha's Daughter, produced by the Thanhouser Company, starring William Garwood

S

  • She, directed by George Nichols, based on the 1887 novel by H. Rider Haggard
  • Sweet Memories, directed by Thomas H. Ince, starring Mary Pickford and King Baggot
  • Swords and Hearts, directed by D. W. Griffith

T

  • A Tale of Two Cities, directed by Charles Kent, starring Maurice Costello and Florence Turner, based on the 1859 novel by Charles Dickens

Births

  • January 5 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, actor (died 2001)
  • January 7 – Butterfly McQueen, actress (died 1995)
  • January 22 – Mary Hayley Bell, actress, writer and dramatist, wife of Sir John Mills (d 2005)
  • January 30 – Hugh Marlowe, actor (died 1982)
  • January 31 – Eddie Byrne, actor (died 1981)
  • February 6 – Ronald Reagan, actor, United States President (died 2004)
  • February 9 – Gypsy Rose Lee, actress and burlesque dancer (died 1970)
  • February 14 – Florence Rice, actress (died 1974)
  • February 19 – Merle Oberon, actress (died 1979)
  • February 20 – Margot Grahame, actress (died 1982)
  • March 3 – Jean Harlow, actress (died 1937)
  • March 10 – Edward Norris, actor, (died 2002)
  • March 18 – Smiley Burnette, actor, musician (died 1967)
  • April 23 – Ronald Neame, cinematographer, producer and director (died 2010)
  • May 7 – Ishirō Honda, director (died 1993)
  • May 11
  • Louise Campbell, actress (died 1997)
  • Phil Silvers, actor (died 1985)
  • May 17 – Maureen O'Sullivan, actress (died 1998)
  • May 18 – Sigrid Gurie, actress (died 1969)
  • May 23 - Bert Morrison, American actor, singer and jazz player (died 1995)
  • May 27 – Vincent Price, actor (died 1993)
  • May 30 – Douglas Fowley, actor (died 1998)
  • June 1 – Gertrude Michael, actress (died 1964)
  • June 3 – Ellen Corby, actress (died 1999)
  • June 20 – Gail Patrick (died 1980)
  • June 29 – Bernard Hermann, composer (died 1975)
  • July 6 – Laverne Andrews, American singer, actress, member of Andrews Sisters (died 1967)
  • July 14 – Terry-Thomas, British actor (died 1990)
  • July 16 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, dancer (died 1995)
  • July 18 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian actor (died 2003)
  • July 19 – Loda Halama, Polish dancer and actress (died 1996)
  • July 28 – Ann Doran, American actress (died 2000)
  • August 2 – Ann Dvorak, American actress (died 1979)
  • August 3 – Alex McCrindle, British actor (died 1990)
  • August 5 – Robert Taylor, actor (died 1969)
  • August 6 – Lucille Ball, actress (died 1989)
  • August 7 – Nicholas Ray, director (died 1979)
  • August 12 – Cantinflas, actor (died 1993)
  • August 19 – Constance Worth, actress (died 1963)
  • September 2 – Erwin Hillier, cinematographer (died 2005)
  • September 10 – Renée Simonot, actress and voice artist (died 2021)
  • October 13 – Ashok Kumar, actor, India (died 2001)
  • October 20 – Will Rogers, Jr., actor (died 1993)
  • October 27 – Leif Erickson, actor (died 1986)
  • October 30 – Ruth Hussey, actress (died 2005)
  • October 31 – Sheila Bromley, actress, (died 2003)
  • November 5
  • Roy Rogers, singer, actor (died 1998)
  • Baby Marie Osborne, child actress (died 2010)
  • November 10 – Harry Andrews, actor (died 1989)
  • December 8 – Lee J. Cobb, actor (died 1976)
  • December 9 – Broderick Crawford, actor (died 1986)
  • December 23 – James Gregory, actor (died 2002)
  • December 29 – Claire Dodd, actress (died 1973)
  • December 30 – Jeanette Nolan, actress (died 1998)

Deaths

  • January 18 – Arthur Marvin, cinematographer, (born 1859)
  • May 29 – W. S. Gilbert, producer of musicals, half of the team of Gilbert and Sullivan, (born 1836)
  • July 18 – Genevieve Lantelme, actress, (born 1883)
  • August 11 – Verner Clarges, actor, (born 1846)
  • October 27 – Francis Boggs, director, (born 1870)
  • November 2 – Kyrle Bellew, actor, (born 1855)
  • December 22 – Wright Lorimer, stage actor, screenwriter, (born 1874)
  • Unknown – Woodville Latham, producer and exhibitor whose desire to shoot an entire boxing match on a single reel of film led to the invention of the Latham loop (born 1837)

Debuts

  • Lionel Barrymore – The Battle (*debatable; film debut much earlier)
  • Francis X. Bushman – His Friend's Wife (short)
  • Paul Kelly – Jimmie's Job (short)
  • Edgar Kennedy – Brown of Harvard
  • Ann Little – The Indian Maiden's Lesson (short)
  • Harold Lockwood – The White Red Man (short)
  • Anna Q. Nilsson – Molly Pitcher (short)
  • Anita Stewart – A Tale of Two Cities as Anna Stewart
  • Lenore Ulric – The First Man (1911 short)
  • Lois Weber – director, actress, A Heroine of '76 (short); writer, On the Brink (short)

References

  • List of 1911 films at IMDb
  • List of 1911 deaths at IMDb
  • List of 1911 births at IMDb