# 1914 in film

The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.

## Events

* February 2 – Charlie Chaplin's first film, Making a Living, is released.
* February 7 – Release of Charlie Chaplin's second film, the Keystone comedy Kid Auto Races at Venice, in which his character of The Tramp is introduced to audiences (although first filmed in Mabel's Strange Predicament, released two days later).
* February 8 – Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur greatly advances filmed animation movement techniques.
* February 10 – Release of the film Hearts Adrift; the name of Mary Pickford, the star, is displayed above the title on movie marquees.
* February – Lewis J. Selznick and Arthur Spiegel organize the World Film Corporation, a distributor of independently produced films located in Fort Lee, New Jersey,
* March 8 – D. W. Griffith's first feature film, Judith of Bethulia, is released. It is his last production for the Biograph Company.
* March 20 – Tess of the Storm Country makes Mary Pickford an icon in the US and a celebrity around the world.
* March 31 – The serial The Perils of Pauline is an early example of the damsel in distress in film.
* April 12 – The 3,300-seat Mark Strand Theatre opens in New York City.
* April 18 – Cabiria, directed by Giovanni Pastrone, is released in Italy, the first epic film, featuring the first extensive use of a moving camera dolly in a feature film, and introducing the long-running character Maciste.
* May 8 – Paramount Pictures is formed as a film distributor by William Wadsworth Hodkinson.
* June 13 – 1914 Lubin vault fire: a major fire destroys the main nitrate film vault of the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia (U.S.).
* September – The Neptune Film Company opens the Neptune Studios (the first "dark stage" in England) at Borehamwood, north of London.
* November 14 – The Kalem Company of California releases the first in the adventure film series The Hazards of Helen, initially starring actress/stuntwoman Helen Holmes, releasing a new episode every Saturday until February 1917.
* November 19 – William Fox's Box Office Attractions Company releases its first production, Life's Shop Window.
* December 3 – William S. Hart appears in his first feature film, The Bargain, which makes him a star.
* December 21 – Release of the first American made feature-length comedy film, Tillie's Punctured Romance, which also contains Marie Dressler and Charlie Chaplin's feature film debuts.
* December – Chaplin joins Essanay Studios for $1,250 per week.
* Filoteo Alberini introduces a new 70 mm format, Panoramico, with the film Il sacco di Roma.

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

The top eight 1914 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1914 :
| Rank | Title | Studio | Gross |
| 1 | The Spoilers | General | $1,000,000 |
| 2 | Dough and Dynamite | Paramount | $130,000 |
| 3 | The Virginian | Paramount | $111,518 |
| 4 | Rose of the Rancho | Paramount | $87,028 |
| 5 | The Man from Home | Paramount | $62,091 |
| 6 | What's His Name | Paramount | $61,560 |
| 7 | The Call of the North | Paramount | $52,284 |
| 8 | The Ghost Breaker | Paramount | $50,136 |

## Selected films with 1914 release dates

* January – The House of Bondage, a lost 1914 silent film drama directed by Pierce Kingsley and starring Lottie Pickford.
* January 3 – Engelein, German silent comedy film written and directed by Urban Gad
* January 12 – Fantomas Part Four: Fantômas Contre Fantômas (Parts 1 through 3 of this serial were released in 1913, while Parts 4 & 5 were released in 1914)
* January 14 – Captive Souls (Hungarian: Rablélek), a Hungarian film directed by Michael Curtiz
* January 22 – Absinthe, American silent drama film starring King Baggot and Leah Baird and directed by Herbert Brenon
* February 2 – Making a Living, the first film starring Charlie Chaplin.
* February 5 – O Mimi San, starring Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki and Mildred Harris
* February 7 – Kid Auto Races at Venice, starring Charlie Chaplin
* February 8 – Gertie the Dinosaur, an animated film that incorporated many cinematic innovations
* February 9 – Mabel's Strange Predicament, starring Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin
* February 12 – The Squaw Man, directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille, starring Dustin Farnum
* March 1 – How Moscha Came Back, silent film comedy short directed by Phillips Smalley
* March 8 – Judith of Bethulia, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet
* March 24 – The Avenging Conscience, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall; loosely based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe
* March 31 – The Perils of Pauline, (serial), starring Pearl White
* April 6 – The Old Curiosity Shop directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Alma Taylor
* April 15 – Brewster's Millions
* April 18 – Cabiria, directed by Giovanni Pastrone
* April 18 – Mabel at the Wheel, starring Mabel Normand, Harry McCoy, and Charlie Chaplin
* April 23 – A Little Madonna
* May ? – Fantomas Part Five: Le Faux Magistrat
* May 11 – The Master Mind
* May – Mr. Barnes of New York
* June 8 – The Wrath of Gods, starring Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki and Frank Borzage
* June 12 – Der Hund von Baskerville aka The Hound of the Baskervilles (Germany/ Vitascope), directed by Rudolf Meinert, written by Richard Oswald, starring Alwin Neuß and Hanni Weiss; originally released in two parts, later edited down into a feature version.
* June 15 – The Only Son
* June 22 – The Million Dollar Mystery, (serial), starring Florence La Badie
* July 13 – My Official Wife, starring Clara Kimball Young
* July 13 – The Man on the Box
* July 17 – The Stain, starring Theda Bara
* July 22 – By the Sun's Rays
* August 10 – The Call of the North, starring Robert Edeson
* September 7 – The Virginian, starring Dustin Farnum
* September 22 – Ireland a Nation
* September 23 – The Aztec Treasure
* September 28 – The Patchwork Girl of Oz
* September 28 – The Magic Cloak of Oz, starring Mildred Harris
* October 14 – His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz, starring Mildred Harris
* October 14 – Mabel's Blunder
* October 22 – What's His Name, starring Max Figman
* November 2 – Salomy Jane
* November 7 – The Hazards of Helen (serial), starring Helen Holmes
* November 7 – His Musical Career, starring Charlie Chaplin
* November 9 – The Man from Home
* November 9 – The Wishing Ring
* November 13 – Demolition of the Monument at San Stefano, directed by Fuat Uzkınay, considered to be the first Turkish movie – (Ottoman Empire)
* November 15 – Rose of the Rancho, starring Bessie Barriscale
* November 19 – Life's Shop Window, first film produced by William Fox's Box Office Attractions Company, the forerunner to Fox Film
* December 7 – The Ghost Breaker (Paramount) directed by Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar C. Apfel, starring H. B. Warner and Rita Stanwood; remade in 1922 and again in 1940.
* December 7 – His Prehistoric Past, written, directed, and starring Charlie Chaplin
* December 7 – In the Land of the Head Hunters
* December 14 – The Last Egyptian, produced and written by L. Frank Baum, directed by Joseph Farrell MacDonald (who also starred), also starring Howard Davies and Jefferson Osborne.
* December 21 – Tillie's Punctured Romance, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin. First comedy feature film.
* December 28 – A Study in Scarlet, directed by George Pearson; based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story
* December 28 – Cinderella, starring Mary Pickford
* December 28 – The Exploits of Elaine, (serial), directed by Louis Gasnier and George B. Seitz, starring Pearl White and Sheldon Lewis

## Notable films released in 1914

United States unless stated

### A

* Absinthe (incomplete), directed by Herbert Brenon, starring King Baggot
* The Avenging Conscience, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe

### B

* Brewster's Millions (lost), directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille, based on the 1902 novel by George Barr McCutcheon
* By the Sun's Rays, directed by Charles Giblyn, starring Lon Chaney

### C

* Cabiria, directed by Giovanni Pastrone – (Italy)
* The Call of the North, directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille
* A Christmas Carol, directed by Harold M. Shaw, based on the 1843 novel by Charles Dickens – (GB)
* Cinderella, directed by James Kirkwood Sr., starring Mary Pickford, based on the classic fairy tale

### D

* A Deal with the Devil (Den Mystiske Fremmede), directed by Holger-Madsen, based on 18th-century play Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – (Denmark)
* Demolition of the Monument at San Stefano (Ayastefanos'taki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı), directed by Fuat Uzkınay – (Ottoman Empire)
* Discord and Harmony (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney

### E

* The Embezzler (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* The End of the Feud (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* The Exploits of Elaine, film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier and George B. Seitz, starring Pearl White

### F

* Fantômas (parts 4 & 5), film serial directed by Louis Feuillade, based on the true crime novels by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain – (France)
* The Forbidden Room (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney

### G

* Gertie the Dinosaur, animated film directed by Winsor McCay
* The Ghost Breaker (lost), directed by Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar C. Apfel, starring H. B. Warner

### H

* The Hazards of Helen, film serial directed by J. P. McGowan and J. Gunnis Davis, starring Helen Holmes
* Her Bounty (lost), directed by Joseph De Grasse, starring Lon Chaney
* Her Escape (lost), directed by Joseph De Grasse, starring Lon Chaney
* Her Life's Story (lost), directed by Joseph De Grasse, starring Lon Chaney
* The Higher Law (lost), directed by Charles Giblyn, starring Lon Chaney
* His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz, directed by J. Farrell MacDonald, based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
* His Musical Career, a Charlie Chaplin film
* His Prehistoric Past, a Charlie Chaplin film
* The Honor of the Mounted (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* The Hopes of Blind Alley (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* Der Hund von Baskerville (The Hound of the Baskervilles), directed by Rudolf Meinert, based on the 1902 novel by Arthur Conan Doyle – (Germany)
* The House of Bondage (lost), directed by Pierce Kingsley, starring Lottie Pickford.
* How Moscha Came Back, directed by Phillips Smalley

### I

* In the Land of the Head Hunters, directed by Edward S. Curtis
* Ireland a Nation, directed by Walter MacNamara

### J

* Judith of Bethulia, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet

### K

* Kid Auto Races at Venice, directed by Henry Lehrman, starring Charlie Chaplin

### L

* The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* The Last Egyptian (incomplete), directed by J. Farrell MacDonald, based on the 1908 novel by L. Frank Baum
* The Lie (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* Life's Shop Window (lost), directed by J. Gordon Edwards, first film produced by William Fox
* Lights and Shadows (lost), directed by Joseph De Grasse, starring Lon Chaney.
* The Lion, the Lamb, the Man (incomplete), directed by Joseph De Grasse, starring Lon Chaney
* Little Angel (Engelein), directed by Urban Gad, starring Asta Nielsen – (Germany)

### M

* Mabel at the Wheel, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin
* Mabel's Blunder, directed by and starring Mabel Normand
* Mabel's Strange Predicament, directed by and starring Mabel Normand, with Charlie Chaplin
* The Magic Cloak of Oz, directed by J. Farrell MacDonald, starring Mildred Harris
* Making a Living, directed by Henry Lehrman, the first film starring Charlie Chaplin
* The Man from Home, directed by Cecil B. DeMille
* The Man with Wax Faces (Figures de cire), directed by Maurice Tourneur – (France)
* The Menace to Carlotta (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* The Million Dollar Mystery (lost), film serial directed by Howell Hansel, starring Florence La Badie
* My Official Wife (incomplete), directed by James Young, starring Clara Kimball Young

### O

* The Old Cobbler (lost), directed by Murdock MacQuarrie, starring Lon Chaney
* The Old Curiosity Shop, directed by Thomas Bentley, based on the 1841 novel by Charles Dickens – (GB)
* The Oubliette, directed by Charles Giblyn, starring Lon Chaney

### P

* The Patchwork Girl of Oz, directed by J. Farrell MacDonald
* The Perils of Pauline, film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier, starring Pearl White

### R

* Remember Mary Magdalen (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* Richelieu (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* Rose of the Rancho, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Bessie Barriscale

### S

* Salomy Jane, directed by William Nigh and Lucius J. Henderson, starring Beatriz Michelena
* A Small Town Girl (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* The Squaw Man, directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille, starring Dustin Farnum
* The Stain, directed by Frank Powell, starring Theda Bara
* A Study in Scarlet (lost), directed by George Pearson, based on the 1887 novel by Arthur Conan Doyle – (GB)

### T

* Tillie's Punctured Romance, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, Charlie Chaplin and the Keystone Cops
* The Tragedy of Whispering Creek, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney
* Trilby, directed by Harold M. Shaw, starring Herbert Beerbohm Tree, based on the 1884 novel by George du Maurier – (GB)

### U

* The Unlawful Trade (lost), directed by Allan Dwan, starring Lon Chaney

### V

* The Virginian, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Dustin Farnum, based on the 1902 novel by Owen Wister
* Virtue Is Its Own Reward (lost), directed by Joseph De Grasse, starring Lon Chaney

### W

* What's His Name, directed by Cecil B. DeMille
* The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England, directed by Maurice Tourneur
* The Wrath of the Gods, directed by Reginald Barker, starring Sessue Hayakawa and Frank Borzage

## Short film series

* Broncho Billy Anderson (1910–1916)
* Harold Lloyd (1913–1921)
* Charlie Chaplin (1914–1923)

## Births

* January 5 – George Reeves, actor (died 1959)
* January 6 – Danny Thomas, singer, actor, comedian (died 1991)
* January 13 – Osa Massen, Danish actress (died 2006)
* January 14 – Harold Russell, actor (died 2002)
* January 15 – Dimples Cooper, Filipina actress (died 1960)
* January 30 – John Ireland, actor (died 1992)
* January 31 – Carey Loftin, American stuntman, stunt coordinator and actor (died 1997)
* February 3 – Mary Carlisle, actress (died 2018)
* February 6 – Thurl Ravenscroft, actor, singer (died 2005)
* February 15 – Kevin McCarthy, actor (died 2010)
* February 17 – Arthur Kennedy, actor (died 1990)
* February 18 – Mahmoud Zulfikar, director (died 1970)
* February 21 – Zachary Scott, actor (died 1965)
* February 26 – Robert Alda, actor (died 1986)
* March 2 – Martin Ritt, director (died 1990)
* March 3 – Charlotte Henry, actress (died 1980)
* March 27 – Richard Denning, actor (died 1998)
* April 2 – Alec Guinness, actor (died 2000)
* April 4 – Richard Coogan, actor (died 2014)
* April 14 – John Hubbard, actor (died 1988)
* April 16 – John Hodiak, actor (died 1955)
* May 5 – Tyrone Power, actor (died 1958)
* May 19 – Beverly Roberts, actress, singer (died 2009)
* May 24 – Lilli Palmer, actress (died 1986)
* May 31 – Hannes Schiel, Austrian actor (died 2017)
* June 7 – Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, director (died 1987)
* June 18 – E. G. Marshall, actor (died 1998)
* June 21 – Wensley Pithey, character actor (died 1993)
* July 2 – Ethelreda Leopold, American actress (died 1998)
* July 20 – Masa Niemi, Finnish comic actor (died 1960)
* July 23 – Julie Mitchum, actress (died 2003)
* July 29 – Irwin Corey, comedian (died 2017)
* July 31 – Louis de Funès, actor (died 1983)
* August 2 – Beatrice Straight, actress (died 2001)
* August 5 – Parley Baer, actor (died 2002)
* August 13 – Norman Spencer, film producer (died 2024)
* August 14 – Andrea Leeds, actress (died 1984)
* August 31 – Richard Basehart, actor (died 1984)
* September 10 – Robert Wise, director (died 2005)
* September 12 – Desmond Llewelyn, actor (died 1999)
* September 20 – Kenneth More English actor (died 1982)
* September 27 – Sophie Sooäär, Estonian actress and singer (d. 1996)
* October 1 – Maciej Maciejewski, Polish screen and stage actor (died 2018)
* October 9 – Edward Andrews, American actor (died 1985)
* October 26 – Jackie Coogan, actor (died 1984)
* October 28 - Dody Goodman, American character actress (died 2008)
* October 30 – Anna Wing, actress (died 2013)
* November 6 - Jonathan Harris, (died 2002)
* November 8 – Norman Lloyd, actor (died 2021)
* November 9
** Alan Caillou, English actor and screenwriter (died 2006)
** Hedy Lamarr, actress (died 2000)
* November 10 – William Henry, actor (died 1982)
* November 13
** Amelia Bence, actress (died 2016)
** Henri Langlois, film preservationist (died 1977)
** Alberto Lattuada, director (died 2005)
* November 23
** Roger Avon, British film and television actor (died 1998)
** Ellen Drew, American actress (died 2003)
* December 10 – Dorothy Lamour, actress (died 1996)
* December 13 – Larry Parks, actor (died 1975)
* December 26 – Richard Widmark, actor (died 2008)
* December 28 – Lee Bowman, actor (died 1979)

## Deaths

* January 9 – Gladys Rankin, American actress as Mrs. Sidney Drew; writer as George Cameron
* January 11 – William A. Russell, 35, American actor
* March 25 – Frédéric Mistral, 83, French writer, Mirèio
* June 19 – Brandon Thomas, 65, British writer, Charley's Aunt
* July 1
** Grace McHugh, American actress died while filming the movie Across the Border
** Owen Carter, American cinematographer died while trying to save Grace McHugh, Across the Border
* August 21 – Charles J. Hite, 38, President and CEO of Thanhouser Film Corporation
* August 22 – David Davie Shelby, 66, actor.
* October 24 – Gustav Wied, 56, Danish playwright and novelist
* November 14 – Stellan Rye, 34, Danish film director, Dur Verfuhrte, Evinrude, The Student of Prague

## Film debuts

* Mary Alden – The Battle of the Sexes
* Mary Anderson – My Official Wife
* Theda Bara – The Stain
* Ethel Barrymore – The Nightingale
* John Barrymore – An American Citizen
* Lionel Barrymore – Judith of Bethulia
* Milton Berle – The Perils of Pauline
* Charlie Chaplin – Making a Living
* Edythe Chapman – Richelieu
* Marguerite Clark – Wildflower
* Walter Connolly – The Marked Woman
* Donald Crisp – The Battle of the Sexes
* Dorothy Dalton – Pierre of the Plains
* Harry Davenport – Damon and Pythias
* Cecil B. DeMille (director) – The Squaw Man
* William Elmer – The Squaw Man
* Dustin Farnum – Soldiers of Fortune
* William Farnum – The Spoilers
* Alan Hale Sr. – Jane Eyre
* Creighton Hale – The Million Dollar Mystery
* Juanita Hansen – The Patchwork Girl of Oz
* William S. Hart – The Bargain
* Raymond Hatton – The Squaw Man
* Sessue Hayakawa – The Wrath of the Gods
* Jack Holt – Salomy Jane
* Emil Jannings – Im Schützengraben
* Eulalie Jensen – St. Elmo
* Winifred Kingston – Soldiers of Fortune
* Dick La Reno – John Barleycorn
* George Majeroni – The Sign of the Cross
* Vivian Martin – The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England
* Jack McDonald – The Spoilers
* Adolphe Menjou – The Man Behind the Door
* Tom Mix – In the Days of the Thundering Herd
* Musidora – Severo Torelli
* Pola Negri – Slave of Sin
* Wheeler Oakman – The Spoilers
* Tyrone Power, Sr. – Aristocracy
* Grete Reinwald – Ein Sommernachtstraum in unserer Zeit
* Cleo Ridgely – The Spoilers
* Charlie Ruggles – The Patchwork Girl of Oz
* Monroe Salisbury – The Squaw Man
* Milton Sills – The Pit
* Russell Simpson – The Virginian
* Slim Summerville – Tillie's Punctured Romance
* Ethel Grey Terry – The Sign of the Cross
* Rudolph Valentino – My Official Wife
* May Wallace – The Million Dollar Mystery
* H. B. Warner – The Lost Paradise
* Charles Wellesley – My Official Wife