The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top five films released in 1920 by U.S. gross are as follows:
Events
Notable films released in 1920
Austria
For a complete list see: List of Austrian films of the 1920s
France
For a complete list see: List of French films of 1920
- Barrabas, a 12-chapter serial/ crime drama directed by Louis Feuillade
- The Man Who Sold His Soul to the Devil, directed by Pierre Caron
- Les Morts qui parlent/ The Dead Who Speak, directed by Pierre Marodon
- Narayana (translates as Vishnu), directed by Leon Poirier, starring Laurence Myrga and Edmon Van Daele; based on the 1831 novel "Le Peau de Chagrin" by Honore de Balzac, with some story elements lifted from Wilkie Collins' novel The Moonstone
- The Silence, ghost film directed by Louis Delluc, starring Gabriel Signoret and Eve Francis (Delluc's wife)
Germany
For a complete list see: List of German films of 1920
- Algol: Tragedy of Power, science fiction film directed by Hans Werckmeister, starring Emil Jannings
- Anna Boleyn directed by Ernst Lubitsch
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari directed by Robert Wiene; starring Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt and Lil Dagover
- Cagliostro, directed by Reinhold Schuenzel, starred Schuenzel and Conrad Veidt (a lost film)
- The Devil Worshippers/ Die Teufelsanbeter, A 6-part serial directed by Marie Louise Droop, starring Carl de Vogt and Bela Lugosi, based on the novel by Carl May
- Evening â Night â Morning (Abend â Nacht â Morgen) directed by F. W. Murnau
- Genuine: A Tale of a Vampire, directed by Robert Wiene, starring Fern Andra; only a 43-minute condensation of the much longer original film exists
- ' (Der Golem, Wie Er in die Welt Kam), directed by and starring Paul Wegener based on the old Jewish folktale, photographed by Karl Freund
- The Head of Janus (Der Januskopf), directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Conrad Veidt and Bela Lugosi, photographed by Karl Freund; based (without authorization) on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Willy Zehn, released in two parts (Dr. MacDonald's Sanitorium and The House Without Windows); Willy Keyser-Heyl played Sherlock Holmes
- The House Without Windows, directed by Friedrich Feher, not to be confused with the above Hound of the Baskervilles
- The Hunchback and the Dancer (Der Bucklige und die Tänzerin), directed by F. W. Murnau, photographed by Karl Freund
- Kohlhiesels Töchter (Kohlhiesel's Daughter) directed by Ernst Lubitsch
- Kurfurstendamm, a horror-comedy written and directed by Richard Oswald, starring Conrad Veidt as The Devil, photographed by Carl Hoffmann
- The Last of the Mohicans (Der Letzte der Mohikaner), starring Bela Lugosi
- Nachtgestalten (aka Eleagable Kuperus), directed by Richard Oswald, starring Conrad Veidt and Paul Wegener, photographed by Carl Hoffmann, based on the Karl Hans Strobl short story Eleagable Kuperus
- Satan (Satanas) directed by F. W. Murnau, starred Conrad Veidt, filmed in 1919
- Sumurun (One Arabian Night) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Paul Wegener and Pola Negri
- Die Todeskarawane, starring Dora Gerson and Bela Lugosi
- Torgus, the Coffin Maker, directed by Hans Kobe
Hungary
- Lord Arthur Saville's Crime (aka The Mark of the Phantom), written and directed by Paul Fejos, starring Margit Lux, based on the 1891 story by Oscar Wilde
Ireland
Italy
- The Last of the Borgias, directed by Armando Carbone
- Monella Street, directed by Umberto Fracchia and starring Carmen Boni
- The Power of the Borgias, directed by Luigi Caramba for Medusa Film, starring Irene Saffo-Nomo and Enrico Piacentini
- Spiritism (aka Spiritismo), starring Francesca Bettina
Japan
- Akakabe Myojin/ The Red Wall God, a ghost-cat film directed by Jiro Yoshino for Kokkatsu Films, starring Shirogoro Sawamura
- Arima no neko/ The Cat in Arima, a ghost-cat film directed by Shozo Makino for Nikkatsu Films, starring Matsumosuke Onoe and Sentaro Nakamura
Philippines
For a complete list see: List of Philippine films before 1940
Sweden
For a complete list see: List of Swedish films before 1930
United Kingdom
For a complete list see: List of British films of 1920
- At the Villa Rose, directed by Maurice Elvey, based on the 1910 novel by A.E.W. Mason
- The Barton Mystery, directed by Harry (Henry) Roberts, starred Lyn Harding; based on the 1917 stage play by Walter Hackett
- Bleak House directed by Maurice Elvey
- Build Thy House directed by Fred Goodwins, starring Henry Ainley
- Colonel Newcome directed by Fred Goodwins' starring Milton Rosmer, Joyce Carey
- Desire (aka The Magic Skin) directed by George Edwardes-Hall, starring Dennis Neilson-Terry, based on the 1831 novel Le Peau de Chagrin by Honore de Balzac
- Ernest Maltravers directed by Jack Denton; starring Lillian Hall-Davis
- The Ever Open Door directed by Fred Goodwins; starring Hayford Hobbs
- The Face at the Window, directed by Wilfred Noy, starring C. Aubrey Smith and Gladys Jennings, based on the stage play by F. Brooke Warren
- The Fordington Twins directed by W.P. Kellino
- General Post directed by Thomas Bentley; starring Douglas Munro, Lilian Braithwaite
- The Great London Mystery, a 12-chapter serial directed by Charles Raymond for T&P Films, starring David Devant and Lady Doris Stapleton; features a Yellow Peril menace called Ching Ling Fu.
- The Lure of Crooning Water directed by Arthur Rooke; starring Guy Newall and Ivy Duke
- Mr. Gilfil's Love Story directed by A.V. Bramble; starring Mary Odette
- The Price of Silence (aka At the Mercy of Tiberius), directed by Fred Leroy Granville, starring Peggy Hyland and Campbell Gullan
- A Son of David directed by Hay Plumb; starring Ronald Colman
- Trent's Last Case directed by Richard Garrick; starring Gregory Scott, Pauline Peters and Clive Brook
- The Twelve Pound Look directed by Jack Denton; starring Milton Rosmer
- The Yellow Claw, directed by Rene Plaisetty, starring Arthur Cullin and Cyril Percival; based on the 1915 novel by Sax Rohmer featuring a criminal Asian menace named Mr. King.
United States
For a complete list see: List of American films of 1920
A
B
- Black Shadows, directed by Howard M. Mitchell
C
D
- The Dark Mirror, directed by Charles Giblyn, starring Dorothy Dalton, based on the story by Louis Joseph Vance
- The Devil's Pass Key (lost), directed by Erich von Stroheim, starring Mae Busch
- The Devil to Pay, directed by Ernest C. Warde, based on a 1917 novel by Frances Nimmo Greene
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by John S. Robertson, starring John Barrymore
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by J. Charles Haydon, starring Sheldon Lewis
- The Dream Cheater, directed by Ernest C. Warde, starring J. Warren Kerrigan, based on the 1831 novel La Peau de chagrin by Honoré de Balzac
F
G
H
- Haunted Spooks, directed by Alfred J. Goulding and Hal Roach, starring Harold Lloyd
- His Brother's Keeper (lost), directed by Wilfred North
- The House of the Tolling Bell, directed by J. Stuart Blackton, starring May McAvoy and Bruce Gordon, based on the novel by Edith Sessions Tupper
- The House of Whispers (lost), directed by Ernest C. Warde, starring J. Warren Kerrigan, based on the 1918 novel by William Andrew Johnston
- Huckleberry Finn, directed by William Desmond Taylor, starring Lewis Sargent
I
J
L
- Lady Rose's Daughter (lost), directed by Hugh Ford, starring Elsie Ferguson
- The Last of the Mohicans, directed by Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown, starring Wallace Beery and Barbara Bedford
- The Love Flower, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Richard Barthelmess and Carol Dempster
- Love Without Question (lost), directed by B. A. Rolfe, starring Olive tell, based on the 1917 novel The Abandoned Room by Charles Wadsworth Camp
- Luring Shadows, directed by Joseph Levering
M
N
O
P
R
S
- The Screaming Shadow (lost), a 15-chapter serial directed by Ben F. Wilson and Duke Worne
- Sex, directed by Fred Niblo, starring Louise Glaum
- Shipwrecked Among Cannibals (lost), documentary film directed by William F. Adler
- Something to Think About, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Gloria Swanson
- Stolen Moments, directed by James Vincent, starring Marguerite Namara and Rudolph Valentino
- Suds, directed by John Francis Dillon, starring Mary Pickford
T
W
Film serials
Short film series
Animated short film series
The following is a list of animated shorts of the year 1920 that belong to series that lasted several years.
- Felix the Cat (1919âÂÂ1936)
- A Frolic with Felix (January 25, 1920)
- Felix the Big Game Hunter (February 22, 1920)
- Wrecking a Romeo (March 7, 1920)
- Felix the Food Controller (April 11, 1920)
- Felix the Pinch Hitter (April 18, 1920)
- Foxy Felix (May 16, 1920)
- A Hungry Hoodoo (June 6, 1920)
- The Great Cheese Robbery (June 13, 1920)
- Felix and the Feed Bag (July 18, 1920)
- Nifty Nurse (August 22, 1920)
- The Circus (September 26, 1920)
- My Hero (October 24, 1920)
- Felix the Landlord (November 21, 1920)
- Felix's Fish Story (December 26, 1920)
- Out of the Inkwell (1918âÂÂ1929)
A major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929 in which it appeared Koko the Clown:
- The Boxing Kangaroo
- The Chinaman
- The Circus
- The Ouija Board
- The Clown's Little Brother
- Perpetual Motion
- Poker
- The Restaurant
Births
- January 4 - Rosalie Crutchley, British actress (died 1997)
- January 6 - Henry Corden, Canadian-American actor (died 2005)
- January 7
- Vincent Gardenia, Italian actor (died 1992)
- Witold Sadowy, Polish actor (died 2020)
- January 9 - Clive Dunn, English actor (died 2012)
- January 16 - Elliott Reid, American actor (died 2013)
- January 19 - Johnny Haymer, American actor (died 1989)
- January 20
- DeForest Kelley, actor (died 1999)
- Federico Fellini, film director (died 1993)
- January 24 - Jerry Maren, American actor (died 2018)
- January 27 â John Box, production designer, four-time Oscar winner (died 2005)
- January 30
- Michael Anderson, director (died 2018)
- Delbert Mann, director (died 2007)
- February 3 - Bibi Osterwald, American actress (died 2002)
- February 8 â Bengt Ekerot, Swedish actor and director (died 1971)
- February 11 â Billy Halop, actor (died 1976)
- February 26 â Tony Randall, actor (died 2004)
- February 29 â Michèle Morgan, actress (died 2016)
- March 3 â James Doohan, actor (died 2005)
- March 6 â Lewis Gilbert, director (died 2018)
- March 16 â Leo McKern, actor (died 2002)
- March 19 â Paul Hagen, Danish actor (died 2003)
- March 22
- Werner Klemperer, German actor (died 2000)
- Ross Martin, Polish-American actor (died 1981)
- Francis Rigaud, French director, writer and producer
- April 1
- Toshiro Mifune, actor (died 1997)
- Susanna Ramel, Swedish actress (died 2020)
- April 2 â Jack Webb, actor (died 1982)
- April 17 - Arnold Yarrow, British actor and screenwriter (died 2024)
- April 20 â Gianrico Tedeschi, actor (died 2020)
- April 28 - John Strauss, American composer (died 2011)
- May 2
- John Boswall, British actor (died 2011)
- Preben Neergaard, Danish actor (died 1990)
- May 7 â Rendra Karno, Indonesian actor (died 1985)
- May 11 â Denver Pyle, actor (died 1997)
- May 16 â Martine Carol, actress (died 1967)
- May 20 â Virginia Vale, actress (died 2006)
- May 26
- John Dall, American actor (died 1971)
- Peggy Lee, singer, songwriter, actress (died 2002)
- May 29 â Clifton James, actor (died 2017)
- June 1 - Alethea McGrath, Australian actress and comedian (died 2016)
- June 12 â Jim Siedow, American actor (died 2003)
- June 13 â Rex Everhart, American actor (died 2000)
- June 15 â Alberto Sordi, Italian actor (died 2003)
- June 17 â Setsuko Hara, Japanese film actress (died 2015)
- June 18 â Ian Carmichael, English stage, film and television actor (died 2010)
- June 25 - Lassie Lou Ahern, American actress (died 2018)
- June 29 â Ray Harryhausen, producer, visual effects artist (died 2013)
- July 1 â Harold Sakata, American film actor (died 1982)
- July 5 - Viola Harris, American actress (died 2017)
- July 11 â Yul Brynner, actor (died 1985)
- July 12 â Keith Andes, American actor (died 2005)
- July 16 â Phillip Pine, American actor (died 2006)
- July 28 â Andrew V. McLaglen, film & TV director, son of Victor McLaglen (died 2014)
- July 29 â Rodolfo Acosta, actor (died 1974)
- July 31 â Franca Valeri, actress (died 2020)
- August 1 - Victor Millan, American actor (died 2009)
- August 6 â Ella Raines, actress (died 1988)
- August 8 - Dominique Marcas, French actress (died 2022)
- August 11 - Mike Douglas, American singer, television host and actor (died 2006)
- August 13 â Neville Brand, actor (died 1992)
- August 17 â Maureen O'Hara, actress (died 2015)
- August 18 â Shelley Winters, actress (died 2006)
- August 19 - Hugh Manning, English actor (died 2004)
- August 22 â Ray Bradbury, writer (died 2012)
- August 30 - Leonid Shvartsman, Russian animator (died 2022)
- August 31
- James Lanphier, American actor (died 1969)
- G. D. Spradlin, American actor (died 2011)
- September 1 - Richard Farnsworth, American actor and stuntman (died 2000)
- September 13 - John Crawford, American actor (died 2010)
- September 18 â Jack Warden, actor (died 2006)
- September 23 â Mickey Rooney, actor (died 2014)
- September 26 â Barbara Britton, actress (died 1980)
- September 27 â William Conrad, actor (died 1994)
- October 1 â Walter Matthau, actor (died 2000)
- October 9 - Jason Wingreen, American actor (died 2015)
- October 10 - Noah Keen, actor (died 2019)
- October 13 â Laraine Day, actress (died 2007)
- October 15 - Mario Puzo, American author and screenwriter (died 1999)
- October 17 â Montgomery Clift, actor (died 1966)
- October 18 â Melina Mercouri, actress (died 1994)
- October 19 - LaWanda Page, American actress and comedian (died 2002)
- October 21
- Hy Averback, actor (died 1997)
- Ruth Terry, actress, singer (died 2016)
- October 22 â Mitzi Green, actress (died 1969)
- October 27 â Nanette Fabray, actress (died 2018)
- October 29 - Hilda Bernard, Argentine actress (died 2022)
- November 8 - Esther Rolle, American actress (died 1998)
- November 10 â Jennifer Holt, actress (died 1997)
- November 13 â Jack Elam, actor (died 2003)
- November 19 â Gene Tierney, actress (died 1991)
- November 21 â Ralph Meeker, actor (died 1988)
- November 25
- Shelagh Fraser, English actress (died 2000)
- Ricardo Montalbán, actor (died 2009)
- Noel Neill, actress (died 2016)
- November 26 - Daniel Petrie, Canadian director (died 2004)
- November 27 - Buster Merryfield, British actor (died 1999)
- November 30 â Virginia Mayo, actress (died 2005)
- December 7 â Frances Gifford, actress (died 1994)
- December 29 â Viveca Lindfors, actress (died 1995)
- December 30 â Jack Lord, actor (died 1998)
- December 31 â Rex Allen, American cowboy actor, singer (died 1999)
Deaths
- January 31 â Gilda Langer, 23, German actress
- February 11 â Gaby Deslys, 38, French actress, dancer, singer
- February 17 â Thomas Commerford, 64, American veteran character actor
- March 2 â Harry Solter, 46, American actor
- April 12 â Walter Edwards, 50, American director
- April 25 â Clarine Seymour, 21, American actress
- May 22 â Hal Reid, 59, American actor & director (father of Wallace Reid)
- June 14 â Gabrielle Réjane, 64, stage and film actress
- August 1 â Eugene Gaudio, 33, Italian born cinematographer (brother of Tony Gaudio)
- August 2 â Ormer Locklear, 29, American stunt flier
- August 13 â Gladys Field, 31, actress (died in childbirth)
- August 28 â Suzanne Grandais, 27, French actress
- September 5 â Robert Harron, 27, American actor
- September 10 â Olive Thomas, 25, American actress
- November 19 â Will S. Davis, 38, American film director
- December 9 â Mollie McConnell, 55, American actress
Film debuts
Films set in 1920
There are films released in later years whose plot is developed totally or partially in 1920:
:1920 (2008)
:' (2012)
:1920: London (2016)
See also
References
External links