1911 in film

"1911 film" and "1911 movie" redirect here. For the 2011 Chinese historical drama film, see 1911 (film).

The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.

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 released in 1911

United States unless stated

A

• Aerial Anarchists, directed by Walter R. Booth – (GB)
• Alkali Ike's Auto, directed by Broncho Billy Anderson

B

• Baron Munchausen's Dream (Les Hallucinations du baron de Münchausen), directed by Georges Méliès^[1] – (France)
• Baseball and Bloomers (lost), produced by the Thanhouser Company
• The Battle, directed by D. W. Griffith
• The Bells (lost), directed by W. J. Lincoln, based on the 1871 play by Leopold David Lewis^[2] – (Australia)
• Brown of Harvard, directed by Colin Campbell
• The Buddhist Priestess, produced by the Thanhouser Company

C

• Cally's Comet, produced by the Thanhouser Company
• The Coffin Ship, produced by the Thanhouser Company

D

• David Copperfield, directed by George O. Nichols, based on the 1850 novel by Charles Dickens^[3]
• Defence of Sevastopol, directed by Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and Vasily Goncharov^[4] – (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

E

• Enoch Arden, directed by D. W. Griffith

F

• The Fall of Troy (La caduta di Troia), directed by Giovanni Pastrone, based on the Greek epic poem the Iliad by Homer – (Italy)
• First Indy 500 (First year footage from the auto race. Filmed on May 30, 1911.)
• For Her Sake (lost), produced by the Thanhouser Company

H

• Her Crowning Glory, directed by Laurence Trimble
• His Trust, directed by D. W. Griffith
• His Trust Fulfilled, directed by D. W. Griffith
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre-Dame de Paris), directed by Albert Capellani, based on the 1833 novel by Victor Hugo^[5] – (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^[6] – (Italy)

L

• The Last Drop of Water, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet^[7]
• Little Nemo, directed by Winsor McCay
• The Lonedale Operator, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet

M

• The Miser's Heart, directed by D. W. Griffith
• Der Müller und sein Kind (The Miller and His Child), directed by Walter Friedemann – (Austria)
• The Mummy (lost), produced by the Thanhouser Company^[8]

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
• Princess Clementina, directed by William G.B. Barker – (GB)

S

• The Scarlet Letter, directed by Joseph W. Smiley and George Loane Tucker, starring King Baggot, based on the 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• She, directed by George Nichols, based on the 1887 novel by H. Rider Haggard^[9]
• A Spiritualistic Seance (Séance de spiritisme), directed by Léonce Perret^[10] – (France)
• 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 Norma Talmadge, based on the 1859 novel by Charles Dickens

W

• What Shall We Do with Our Old?, directed by D. W. Griffith

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)^[11]
  • 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, singer, actress, member of Andrews Sisters (died 1967)
• July 14 – Terry-Thomas, actor (died 1990)
• July 16 – Ginger Rogers, actress, dancer (died 1995)
• July 18 – Hume Cronyn, actor (died 2003)
• July 28 – Ann Doran, 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)