October 25, 1925: France’s star of silent slapstick comedy Max Linder, 41,and his young wife are found dead in a Paris hotel, victims of an apparent suicide pact. October 23, 1950: Al Jolson, legendary entertainer and star of the seminal…
Read more →Movie History
Movie history take a quick look at pivotal points in the history of cinema. Movie History features noteworthy and historical film facts from the turn of the last century to current hollywood events.
This Week In Film History, 10.02.11
October 5, 1956: Charlton Heston, as Moses, parts the Red Sea in Cecil B. DeMille‘s gargantuan remake of The Ten Commandments. October 6, 1927: The curtain opens on the “talkies” with Warner Bros.’ The Jazz Singer. Star Al Jolson says, “You ain’t heard…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 09.18.11
September 18, 1909: The first feature film to be produced in the U.S., Les Miserables, is released in four separate parts between now and Nov. 27. September 19, 1915: Vaudeville star W.C. Fields brings his famed pool-playing routine to the…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 09.04.11
September 5, 1901: William McKinley, the first U.S. president to be captured on film, is shown at the Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, one day before his assassination. September 5, 1916: In response to the outcry over The Birth of a…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 08.21.11
August 27, 1953: Audrey Hepburn captivates audiences with her Hollywood debut as the runaway princess in Roman Holiday, for which she’ll win an Academy Award. August 27, 1917: The first feature to be directed by John Ford, the Harry Carey–Hoot Gibson western Straight…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 08.14.11
August 18, 1925: MGM settles on the winner of a fan magazine contest to rechristen contract starlet Lucille LeSeur, and adds “Joan Crawford” to the lexicography. August 16, 1926: Up-and-coming starlet Clara Bow inks a deal with Paramount, but refuses…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.31.11
August 6, 1926: The first film released with Vitaphone sound, Warner Bros.’ Don Juan, features sound effects and an orchestral score. July 31, 1928: Audiences first hear MGM mascot Leo the Lion’s mighty roar with the studio’s first sound film,…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.24.11
July 28, 1928: Encouraged by the response to the few minutes of sound in The Jazz Singer, Warner Bros. releases Lights of New York, the first all-talking picture. July 28, 1948: Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bela Lugosi play the Wolf…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.17.11
July 17, 1913: An old vaudeville gag is reborn on screen as Mabel Normand becomes the first to throw a pie into “Fatty” Arbuckle’s kisser, in A Noise from the Deep. July 22, 1934: After seeing MGM’s Manhattan Melodrama at…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 06.26.11
June 30, 1929: Alfred Hitchcock‘s Blackmail, which nearly saw completion as a silent film, was re-shot with sound, becoming Britain’s first “talkie.” June 29, 1933: Unable to overcome the scandal that plagued him 12 years earlier, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, 46,…
Read more →