# 1922 in film

This is an overview of 1922 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

## Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten films released in 1922 by U.S. gross are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1922 :
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
| 1 | Robin Hood | United Artists | $2,101,044 |
| 2 | Blood and Sand | Paramount | $1,250,000 |
| 3 | Manslaughter | Paramount | $1,206,014 |
| 4 | Grandma's Boy | Pathé Exchange | $1,100,000 |
| 5 | Smilin' Through | First National | $1,000,000 |
| 6 | Saturday Night | Paramount | $753,807 |
| 7 | Rags to Riches | Warner Bros. | $418,000 |
| 8 | Heroes of the Street | Warner Bros. | $366,000 |
| 9 | The Beautiful and Damned | Warner Bros. | $327,000 |
| 10 | Your Best Friend | Warner Bros. | $132,000 |

## Events

* June 11 – United States première of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature length documentary film.
* November 26 – The Toll of the Sea, starring Anna May Wong and Kenneth Harlan, debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so but it was not widely distributed).

## Notable films released in 1922

United States unless stated

### A

* At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern (lost), directed by Lloyd Ingraham, based on the 1905 novel by Myrtle Reed

### B

* The Bachelor Daddy (lost), directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Thomas Meighan
* The Beautiful and Damned (lost), directed by William A. Seiter, starring Marie Prevost
* Beauty's Worth, directed by Robert G. Vignola, starring Marion Davies
* Beyond the Rocks, directed by Sam Wood, starring Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino
* A Bill of Divorcement, directed by Denison Clift, starring Constance Binney and Fay Compton – (GB)
* The Blacksmith, directed by Mal St. Clair and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
* A Blind Bargain (lost), directed by Wallace Worsley, starring Lon Chaney, based on the 1897 novel The Octive of Claudius by Barry Pain
* Blood and Sand, directed by Fred Niblo, starring Rudolph Valentino, Lila Lee and Nita Naldi
* The Bohemian Girl, directed by Harley Knoles, Starring Ivor Novello and Gladys Cooper – (GB)
* The Bride's Play, directed by George Terwilliger, starring Marion Davies
* The Burning Soil (Der brennende Acker), directed by F. W. Murnau – (Germany)

### C

* The Card, directed by A. V. Bramble – (GB)
* Clarence (lost), directed by William C. deMille, starring Wallace Reid, Agnes Ayres and May McAvoy
* Cocaine, directed by Graham Cutts – (GB)
* Cops, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
* Crainquebille (Coster Bill of Paris), directed by Jacques Feyder – (France)

### D

* A Dangerous Adventure, 15-part serial directed by Sam Warner and Jack L. Warner, starring Grace Darmond
* Danse Macabre, directed by Dudley Murphy
* Day Dreams, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, Starring Buster Keaton and Renée Adorée
* A Debt of Honour, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Isobel Elsom and Clive Brook – (GB)
* The Dictator (lost), directed by James Cruze, starring Wallace Reid and Lila Lee
* Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse the Gambler), directed by Fritz Lang, starring Rudolf Klein-Rogge, based on the 1921 novel by Norbert Jacques – (Germany)
* Dr. Jack, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, starring Harold Lloyd
* Don Juan et Faust, directed by Marcel L'Herbier, based on an 1828 play by Christian Dietrich Grabbe – (France)
* The Dungeon (lost), written and directed by Oscar Micheaux

### E

* Estrellita del Cine, directed by José Nepomuceno – (Philippines)
* The Electric House, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
* Esmeralda (lost), directed by Edwin J. Collins, starring Sybil Thorndike, based on the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo – (GB)

### F

* Fair Lady, directed by Kenneth Webb
* Faust, directed by Challis Sanderson, based on the 1808 play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – (GB)
* Faust, directed by Gérard Bourgeois, based on the 1808 play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – (France)
* La Femme de nulle part (The Woman from Nowhere), directed by Louis Delluc – (France)
* Flames of Passion, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Mae Marsh and C. Aubrey Smith – (GB)
* Flesh and Blood, directed by Irving Cummings, starring Lon Chaney and Noah Beery Sr.
* Foolish Wives, starring and directed by Erich von Stroheim
* The Frozen North, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton

### G

* The Ghost Breaker (lost), directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Wallace Reid and Lila Lee, based on the 1909 play by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard
* A Gipsy Cavalier, directed by J. Stuart Blackton, starring Georges Carpentier and Flora le Breton – (GB)
* Grandma's Boy, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, starring Harold Lloyd
* The Grass Orphan, directed by Frank Hall Crane – (GB)

### H

* The Haunted House, directed by Erle C. Kenton
* Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, starring and directed by Benjamin Christensen – (Sweden/Denmark)
* The Headless Horseman, directed by Edward D. Venturini, starring Will Rogers, based of the 1820 short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
* Heroes of the Street, directed by William Beaudine, starring Wesley Barry and Marie Prevost

### I

* In the Name of the Law (lost), directed by Emory Johnson, starring Ralph Lewis and Claire McDowell

### L

* Laborer's Love (láogōng zhī àiqíng), directed by Zhang Shichuan – (China)
* Lorna Doone, directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Madge Bellamy
* The Loves of Pharaoh (Das Weib des Pharao), directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Emil Jannings – (Germany)
* Lucrezia Borgia, directed by Richard Oswald, starring Conrad Veidt and Liane Haid – (Germany)

### M

* The Man from Beyond, directed by Burton L. King, starring Harry Houdini
* Manslaughter, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Thomas Meighan and Lois Wilson
* Marizza (lost), directed by F. W. Murnau – (Germany)
* The Marriage Chance, written and directed by Hampton Del Ruth
* Money To Burn (lost), directed by Rowland V. Lee
* Moran of the Lady Letty, directed by George Melford, starring Dorothy Dalton and Rudolph Valentino
* More to Be Pitied Than Scorned (lost), directed by Edward LeSaint
* Mud and Sand, directed by Gilbert Pratt, starring Stan Laurel
* My Boy, directed by Victor Heerman and Albert Austin, starring Jackie Coogan
* My Wife's Relations, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton

### N

* Nanook of the North, a documentary directed by Robert J. Flaherty
* Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise), directed by Manfred Noa – (Germany)
* Nice People (lost), directed by William C. deMille, starring Wallace Reid, Bebe Daniels and Conrad Nagel
* Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror), directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck, based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker without authorization – (Germany)
* Number 13 (lost), directed by Alfred Hitchcock – (GB)

### O

* Oliver Twist, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Jackie Coogan and Lon Chaney
* One Exciting Night, written and directed by D. W. Griffith
* One Glorious Day (lost), directed by James Cruze, starring Will Rogers and Lila Lee

### P

* The Paleface, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
* Pay Day, a Charles Chaplin short
* Peg o' My Heart, directed by King Vidor, starring Laurette Taylor
* Phantom, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Alfred Abel, Lil Dagover and Lya De Putti – (Germany)
* Polikushka (Поликушка), directed by Alexander Sanin – (U.S.S.R.)
* The Primitive Lover, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Constance Talmadge and Harrison Ford
* The Prisoner of Zenda, directed by Rex Ingram, starring Lewis Stone and Alice Terry

### R

* Rags to Riches, directed by Wallace Worsley, starring Wesley Barry
* Rent Free (lost), directed by Howard Higgin, starring Wallace Reid and Lila Lee
* Robin Hood, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Beery
* Rob Roy, directed by W. P. Kellino – (GB)

### S

* Saturday Night, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Leatrice Joy and Conrad Nagel
* The Scarlet Letter, directed by Challis Sanderson, starring Sybil Thorndike – (GB)
* Shadows, directed by Tom Forman, starring Lon Chaney, Marguerite De La Motte and Harrison Ford
* Sherlock Holmes, directed by Albert Parker, starring John Barrymore, based on the 1899 stage play by William Gillette and Arthur Conan Doyle – (GB)
* Smilin' Through, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Norma Talmadge
* Sodom and Gomorrah, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Lucy Doraine – (Austria)
* La Souriante Madame Beudet (The Smiling Madame Beudet), directed by Germaine Dulac – (France)
* Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep, directed by George Pearson, starring Betty Balfour – (GB)
* The Suram Fortress (Suramis tsikhe), directed by Ivan Perestiani – (U.S.S.R.)

### T

* Tess of the Storm Country, directed by John S. Robertson, starring Mary Pickford
* The Three Must-Get-Theres, a Max Linder film
* The Toll of the Sea, directed by Chester M. Franklin, starring Anna May Wong

### W

* What's Wrong with the Women? (lost), directed by Roy William Neill, starring Constance Bennett
* When Knighthood Was in Flower, directed by Robert G. Vignola, starring Marion Davies
* Wildness of Youth, directed by Ivan Abramson

### Y

* The Young Diana (lost), directed by Albert Capellani and Robert G. Vignola, starring Marion Davies
* The Young Rajah. directed by Phil Rosen, starring Rudolph Valentino
* Your Best Friend, written and directed by William Nigh, starring Vera Gordon

## Short film series

* Charlie Chaplin (1914–1923)
* Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
* Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
* Our Gang (1922–1944)

## Animated short film series

* Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
* Koko the Clown (1919–1963)
* Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1934)

## Births

* January 2 – Jason Evers, actor (died 2005)
* January 3 – Bill Travers, British actor, screenwriter and director (died 1994)
* January 10 – Hannelore Schroth, actress (died 1987)
* January 13 – Albert Lamorisse, director (died 1970)
* January 16 – Irene Vernon, actress (died 1998)
* January 17 – Betty White, American actress (died 2021)
* January 19 – Guy Madison, actor (died 1996)
* January 20 – Ray Anthony, bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor
* January 21
** Telly Savalas, actor (died 1994)
** Paul Scofield, actor (died 2008)
* January 31
** Joanne Dru, actress (died 1996)
** William Sylvester, American actor (died 1995)
* February 4 –
** William Edward Phipps, American actor and producer (died 2018)
** Qin Yi, Chinese actress (died 2022)
* February 6 – Patrick Macnee, actor (died 2015)
* February 7 – Hattie Jacques, actress (died 1980)
* February 8 – Audrey Meadows, actress (died 1996)
* February 9 – Kathryn Grayson, singer, actress (died 2010)
* February 24 – Steven Hill, actor (died 2016)
* February 26 – Margaret Leighton, actress (died 1976)
* March 5 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian film director (died 1975)
* March 8 – Cyd Charisse, actress, dancer (died 2008)
* March 20 – Carl Reiner, comic actor, director and screenwriter (died 2020)
* March 21 – Russ Meyer, director, producer (died 2004)
* March 31
** Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (died 1999)
** Patrick Magee, Northern Irish actor (died 1982)
* April 3 – Doris Day, actress, singer (died 2019)
* April 4 - Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor (died 2004)
* April 5 – Gale Storm, singer, actress (died 2009)
* April 7 – Margia Dean, American beauty queen and actress (died 2023)
* April 15 – Michael Ansara, American stage, screen, and voice actor (died 2013)
* April 18 – Barbara Hale, American actress (died 2017)
* April 24 – J. D. Cannon, American actor (died 2005)
* April 26 – Mike Kellin, American actor (died 1983)
* April 27 – Jack Klugman, American actor (died 2012)
* May 2 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (died 2007)
* May 7
** Rolands Kalniņš, Latvian director, screenwriter and producer (died 2022)
** Darren McGavin, American actor (died 2006)
* May 10 – Nancy Walker, American actress (died 1992)
* May 13 - Truus Dekker, Dutch actress (died 2022)
* May 17 - Wei Wei, Chinese actress (died 2023)
* May 18 - Bill Macy, American actor (died 2019)
* May 25 - Syd Heylen, Australian character actor and comedian (died 2007)
* May 27 – Christopher Lee, English actor (died 2015)
* May 31 – Denholm Elliott, English actor (died 1992)
* June 1
** Joan Caulfield, American actress (died 1991)
** Joan Copeland, American actress (died 2022)
* June 9 – George Axelrod, American scriptwriter and director (died 2003)
* June 10
** Judy Garland, American singer, actress (died 1969)
** Bill Kerr, British-Australian actor and comedian (died 2014)
* June 16 – Frances Rafferty, American actress (died 2004)
* June 22 – Mona Lisa, Filipina actress (died 2019)
* June 26 – Eleanor Parker, American actress (died 2013)
* June 28 - Erik Bauersfeld, American voice actor (died 2016)
* July 6 – William Schallert, American actor (died 2016)
* July 19 - Bess Meisler, American actress
* July 21 – Demeter Bitenc, Slovenian actor (died 2018)
* July 23 - Sydney Lassick, American character actor (died 2003)
* July 26
** Blake Edwards, American director (died 2010)
** Jason Robards, American actor (died 2000)
* July 27
** Adolfo Celi, Italian film actor and director (died 1986)
** Norman Lear, American writer and producer (died 2023)
* August 1
** Arthur Hill, Canadian actor (died 2006)
** Paul Lambert, American actor (died 1997)
* August 8 – Rory Calhoun, American actor (died 1999)
* August 22 – Micheline Presle, French actress (died 2024)
* August 25 - Gloria Dea, American actress and musician (died 2023)
* September 1
** Vittorio Gassman, Italian actor, director (died 2000)
** Yvonne De Carlo, American actress (died 2007)
* September 6 – Elizabeth Lawrence, American actress (died 2000)
* September 8
** Sid Caesar, American comedian, actor (died 2014)
** Annabel Maule, British actress
* September 10 – Barbara Chilcott, Canadian actress (died 2022)
* September 14 – Michel Auclair, European actor (died 1988)
* September 15 – Jackie Cooper, American actor, director (died 2011)
* September 16
** Guy Hamilton, English director (died 2016)
** Janis Paige, American actress (died 2024)
* September 23 – Louise Latham, American actress (died 2018)
* September 24
** Bert I. Gordon, American filmmaker and visual effects artist (died 2023)
** Theresa Merritt, American actress (died 1998)
* September 29 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress (died 2015)
* October 5 – Woodrow Parfrey, American actor (died 1984)
* October 7 – Martha Stewart, American actress (died 2021)
* October 8 – Eileen Essell, English actress (died 2015)
* October 20 – John Anderson, American actor (died 1992)
* October 23 – Coleen Gray, American actress (died 2015)
* October 27 – Ruby Dee, American actress (died 2014)
* October 28 - Jack Murdock, American actor (died 2001)
* October 31 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (died 2005)
* November 9 – Dorothy Dandridge, American actress, singer (died 1965)
* November 12 – Kim Hunter, actress (died 2002)
* November 13
** Madeleine Sherwood, actress (died 2016)
** Oskar Werner, actor (died 1984)
* November 14 – Veronica Lake, American actress (died 1973)
* November 15 – Francesco Rosi, film director (died 2015)
* November 16 – Royal Dano, American actor (died 1994)
* November 17 - Ted Beniades, American character actor (died 2014)
* November 22 – Lynne Roberts, American actress (died 1978)
* November 26 – Adam Williams, American actor (died 2005)
* November 27 - Jacqueline White, American former actress
* November 29 – Laurie Main, Australian actor (died 2012)
* December 2
** Don Fellows, American actor (died 2007)
** Leo Gordon, American actor and screenplay writer (died 2000)
* December 3 - Len Lesser, American character actor (died 2011)
* December 4 – Gérard Philipe, French actor (died 1959)
* December 9 – Redd Foxx, American comedian and actor (died 1991)
* December 11 – Dilip Kumar, Indian actor (died 2021)
* December 21 – Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, voice artist, humanitarian and inventor (died 2005)
* December 22 – Ruth Roman, actress (died 1999)
* December 24 – Ava Gardner, American actress (died 1990)
* December 26 – Alfred Dennis, American actor (died 2016)
* December 28
** Ivan Desny, Swiss actor (died 2002)
** Stan Lee, American comic-book writer, producer and actor (died 2018)

## Deaths

* February 1 – William Desmond Taylor, film director, victim of an unsolved and widely publicised murder which provoked a great scandal. (born 1872)
* February 4 – Florence Deshon, American actress (born 1893)
* March 4 – Bert Williams, American actor and singer (born 1874)
* May 21 – Sidney Ainsworth, actor (born 1872)
* May 26 – Walter Jones, American actor (b.1874)
* June 6 – Lillian Russell, stage and screen actress (born 1860/61)
* June 15 – Howard Crampton, actor (born 1865)
* July 5 – Bobby Connelly, child star (born 1909)
* September 23 – W. Chrystie Miller, veteran stage & screen actor (born 1843)
* November 30 – René Cresté, actor and director (born 1881)

## Film debuts

* Fortunio Bonanova – Don Juan Tenorio
* Clara Bow – Beyond the Rainbow
* Elga Brink – Lust for Life
* Betty Bronson – Anna Ascends
* Lon Chaney Jr. – The Trap
* Lili Damita – L'Empereur des pauvres
* Alfredo del Diestro – María
* Marfa Dhervilly – Prix de beauté
* Ann Doran – Robin Hood
* Louise Dresser – The Glory of Clementina
* James Gleason – Polly of the Follies
* William Haines – Brothers Under the Skin
* Jeanne Helbling – Les Roquevillard
* Edward Everett Horton – Too Much Business
* Ursula Jeans – A Gipsy Cavalier
* Hazel Keener – Penrod
* Walter Kingsford – Sherlock Holmes
* Frederick Leister – The Glorious Adventure
* Gene Lockhart – Smilin' Through
* Anita Louise – Down to the Sea in Ships
* Jeanne Loury – Triplepatte
* Arlette Marchal – Mon p'tit
* Garry Marsh – Long Odds
* George O'Brien – White Hands
* William Powell – Sherlock Holmes
* Emma Roldán – María
* David Sharpe – Sherlock Holmes
* Anne Shirley – The Hidden Woman
* Valeska Stock – Der Bekannte Unbekannte
* Norma Varden – The Glorious Adventure
* Warren William – The Town That Forgot God
* Ian Wilson – A Master of Craft
* Roland Young – Sherlock Holmes