August 28, 1912: “King of Comedy” Mack Sennett leaves Biograph and forms Keystone Film Company with two former bookies. August 27, 1917: The first feature to be directed by John Ford, the Harry Carey–Hoot Gibson western Straight Shooting, opens. August…
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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, 08.15.10
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, 08.08.10
August 9, 1930: The Fleischer Studio’s Betty Boop sashays onto the screen (as a dog!) in the cartoon short Dizzy Dishes. August 14, 1940: Top screenwriter of Easy Living and If I Were King, Preston Sturges, makes his directorial debut…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 08.01.10
August 6, 1926: The first film released with Vitaphone sound, Warner Bros.’ Don Juan, features sound effects and an orchestral score. August 3, 1929: Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo, the Marx Brothers, make their film debuts in Paramount’s The Cocoanuts….
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.25.10
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 31, 1928: Audiences first hear MGM mascot Leo the Lion’s mighty…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.18.10
July 22, 1934: After seeing MGM’s Manhattan Melodrama at Chicago’s Biograph Theater, gangster John Dillinger is gunned down outside by G-men. July 20, 1938: The major film studios are named to a governmental antitrust lawsuit over their dominance in both…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.11.10
July 14, 1908: Edison Company actor D.W. Griffith makes his directing debut with The Adventures of Dollie, the first of over 500 works to come. July 12, 1912: Adolph Zukor releases a French film, Queen Elizabeth, starring stage star Sarah…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.04.10
July 8, 1932: Audiences are repelled by scenes of real-life sideshow stars in Tod Browning‘s horror film Freaks, which will go on to become a cult classic. July 8, 1953: Otto Preminger‘s comedy The Moon Is Blue, which contains the…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 06.27.10
July 3, 1905: The long tradition of cinematic canine heroes begins in England with the debut of the seven-minute melodrama Rescued by Rover. June 30, 1929: Alfred Hitchcock‘s Blackmail, which nearly saw completion as a silent film, was re-shot with…
Read more →This Week In Film History: 06.13.10
June 19, 1905: The first “nickelodeon” opens its doors, on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh, charging a five-cent fee. First attraction: The Great Train Robbery. June 16, 1916: The merger of Famous Players and Jesse Lasky Feature Play Co. brings together…
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