1924 in film

The following is an overview of 1924 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

List of years in film (table)
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As of 2019, all American made films from this year officially became the first copywrited materials to enter public domain. This will continue every year in the United States until 2072, when the last materials under the original Copywrite laws will be officially voided (the films of 1977).

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

Highest-grossing films of 1924

Rank	Title	Studio	Box office gross rental
1	The Sea Hawk	Associated First National Pictures	$2,000,000[1]
2	The Thief of Bagdad	United Artists	$1,587,275[2]
3	Girl Shy	Pathé Exchange	$1,550,000[1]
4	Secrets	Associated First National Pictures	$1,500,000[1]
5	Hot Water	Pathé Exchange	$1,350,000[1]
6	He Who Gets Slapped	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$881,000[3]
7	His Hour		$595,000[3]
8	Beau Brummel	Warner Bros.	$453,000[4]
9	The Dixie Handicap	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$447,000[3]
10	The Marriage Circle	Warner Bros.	$373,000[4]

Events

• January 10 – CBC Distributions corp. is renamed and incorporated as Columbia Pictures.
• D. W. Griffith, co-founder of United Artists, leaves the company.
• April 17 – Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Loews Theatres acquires the 4,000 seat Capitol Theatre in New York City becoming the flagship of the theatre chain and site of many future MGM premieres.
• Joseph Schenck becomes president of United Artists.
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) considers making a silent film of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. MGM and the estate of L. Frank Baum failed to come to an agreement so the rights were sold to Chadwick Pictures.

Notable films released in 1924

United States unless stated

A

• Aelita, directed by Yakov Protazanov – (U.S.S.R.)
• The Alaskan, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Thomas Meighan and Estelle Taylor
• Along Came Ruth, directed by Edward F. Cline
• America, directed by D. W. Griffith
• Au Secours! (Help), directed by Abel Gance, starring Max Linder – (France)

B

• Ballet Mécanique, directed by Dudley Murphy and Fernand Léger – (France)
• Beau Brummel, directed by Harry Beaumont; starring John Barrymore, Mary Astor, Willard Louis and Irene Rich

c

• Captain January directed by Eddie Cline; starring Baby Peggy and Hobart Bosworth
• Carlos and Elisabeth, starring Conrad Veidt – (Germany)
• Claude Duval, starring Nigel Barrie, Fay Compton (GB)
• The City Without Jews (Die Stadt ohne Juden) – (Austria)

D

• Dante's Inferno, directed by Henry Otto

E

• The Enchanted Cottage dir. by John S. Robertson and starring Richard Barthelmess and May McAvoy
• Entr'acte, directed by René Clair – (France)
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (Neobychainye priklyucheniya mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov) – (U.S.S.R.)

F

• Forbidden Paradise, directed by Ernst Lubitsch; starring Pola Negri, Adolphe Menjou and Rod La Rocque

G

• Girl Shy, starring Harold Lloyd
• Gösta Berlings saga, directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Greta Garbo – (Sweden)
• The Grand Duke's Finances (Die Finanzen des Großherzogs), directed by F. W. Murnau – (Germany)
• The Great Well directed by Henry Kolker – (GB)
• Greed, directed by Erich von Stroheim; starring ZaSu Pitts and Gibson Gowland

H

• Happiness, directed by King Vidor
• The Hands of Orlac, starring Conrad Veidt – (Austria)
• He Who Gets Slapped, directed by Victor Sjöström; starring Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer and John Gilbert
• Helena, directed by Manfred Noa (Germany)
• Helen's Babies, starring Edward Everett Horton, Baby Peggy and Clara Bow
• Her Night of Romance, directed by Sidney Franklin; starring Constance Talmadge and Ronald Colman
• His Hour, directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert
• Hot Water, starring Harold Lloyd
• The Humming Bird, starring Gloria Swanson

I

• Icebound, directed by William C. deMille, starring Richard Dix and Lois Wilson
• L'Inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman) – (France)
• The Iron Horse, starring George O'Brien
• Isn't Life Wonderful, directed by D. W. Griffith

J

• Janice Meredith, starring Marion Davies, Holbrook Blinn, and Tyrone Power, Sr.
• The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann), directed by F. W. Murnau; starring Emil Jannings – (Germany)

L

• Little Robinson Crusoe, starring Jackie Coogan

M

• The Marriage Circle, directed by Ernst Lubitsch
• Michael, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer – (Germany)
• Monsieur Beaucaire, directed by Sidney Olcott; starring Rudolph Valentino and Bebe Daniels

N

• The Navigator, starring Buster Keaton
• Die Nibelungen: Siegfried, directed by Fritz Lang; starring Paul Richter – (Germany)
• Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache, by Fritz Lang – (Germany)

O

• Open All Night, starring Viola Dana

Q

• Quo Vadis, starring Emil Jannings – (Italy)

P

• Paris Qui Dort, directed by René Clair – (France)
• The Passionate Adventure, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Clive Brook – (GB)
• Peter Pan, starring Betty Bronson

S

• The Sea Hawk, starring Milton Sills
• Secrets, starring Norma Talmadge
• Sherlock Jr., starring and directed by Buster Keaton
• Stupid, But Brave, directed by Fatty Arbuckle
• Symphonie diagonale – (Germany)

T

• The Thief of Bagdad, directed by Raoul Walsh; starring Douglas Fairbanks
• Three Weeks, starring Conrad Nagel and Aileen Pringle
• Three Women, directed by Ernst Lubitsch

W

• Waxworks (Das Wachsfigurenkabinett), directed by Paul Leni, starring Conrad Veidt and Emil Jannings – (Germany)
• Wild Oranges, directed by King Vidor
• Wine, directed by Louis J. Gasnier; starring Clara Bow
• Wine of Youth, directed by King Vidor; starring Eleanor Boardman and ZaSu Pitts

Y

• Yolanda, directed by Robert Vignola; starring Marion Davies and Ralph Graves

Short film series

• Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)

Animated short film series

• Koko the Clown (1919–1934)
• Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
• Alice Comedies (1923–1927)
  • Alice's Day at Sea
  • Alice's Spooky Adventure
  • Alice's Wild West Show
  • Alice's Fishy Story
  • Alice and the Dog-Catcher
  • Alice the Peacemaker
  • Alice Gets in Dutch
  • Alice Hunting in Africa
  • Alice and the Three Bears
  • Alice the Piper

Births

• January 9 – Sergei Parajanov, Soviet director (died 1990)
• January 14 – Carole Cook, American actress
• January 16 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (died 2002)
• January 26 – Armand Gatti, French filmmaker (died 2017)
• February 12 – Louis Zorich, American actor (died 2018)
• February 19 – Lee Marvin, American actor (died 1987)
• March 12 – Helen Parrish, American actress (died 1959)
• March 25 – Machiko Kyō, Japanese actress
• April 3 – Marlon Brando, American actor (died 2004)
• April 7 – Astrid Lepa, Estonian actress and director (died 2015)
• April 13 – Stanley Donen, American director and choreographer (died 2019)
• April 18 – Leida Rammo, Estonian actess
• April 20
  • Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (died 2008)
  • Leslie Phillips, English comic actor
• April 29 – Heikki Haravee, Estonian actor (died 2003)
• May 1 – Dodo Abashidze, Soviet Georgian director (died 1990)
• May 2 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American actor (died 2015)
• June 25 – Sidney Lumet, American director (died 2011)
• July 1 - Florence Stanley, American actress (died 2003)
• July 4 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
• July 6 – Draga Ahačič, Slovene actress and director
• July 20 – Lola Albright, American actress (died 2017)
• July 21 – Don Knotts, American actor (died 2006)
• August 1 – Marcia Mae Jones, American actress (died 2007)
• August 10 – Martha Hyer, American actress (died 2014)
• August 29 – Tanis Chandler, French-born American actress
• September 8 – Denise Darcel, French actress (died 2011)
• September 9 – Jane Greer, American actress (died 2001)
• September 16 – Lauren Bacall, American actress (died 2014)
• September 21 – Gail Russell, American actress (died 1961)
• September 28 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (died 1996)
• September 30 – Truman Capote, American author (died 1984)
• October 25 – Billy Barty, American actor (died 2000)
• November 22 – Geraldine Page, American actress (died 1987)
• December 2 – Vilgot Sjöman, Swedish director (died 2006)
• December 14 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director and producer (died 1988)
• December 25 – Rod Serling, American screenwriter (died 1975)

Deaths

• April 16 – Amleto Novelli, Italian stage and screen actor (born in 1885)
• April 21 – Eleonora Duse, Italian veteran and stage actress who made one film in 1916 (born in 1858)
• August 9 – L. Rogers Lytton, American stage and screen actor (born in 1867)
• September 23 – Ben Deeley, film actor married to Barbara La Marr (born in 1878)
• October 12 – Kate Lester, English veteran stage and film actress (born in 1857)
• November 19 – Thomas Ince, American actor and pioneer film producer (born in 1882)

Film debuts

• Clark Gable – White Man and Forbidden Paradise
• Janet Gaynor – Cupid's Rustler
• John Gielgud – Who Is the Man?
• Johannes Heesters – Cirque hollandais

References

1. "The All Time Best Sellers". International Motion Picture Almanac 1937–38. Quigley Publishing Company. p. 942. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
2. Box Office Information for The Thief of Bagdad
3. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
4. Glancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television. 15.