1907 in film
The year 1907 in film involved some significant events.
Events
- January 19 - Variety publishes its first film review.
- May 7 - Seattle film maker William Harbeck sets up a camera at the front of a B.C. Electric streetcar and films the downtown streets of Vancouver, British Columbia. Pieces of the film, the earliest surviving footage of the city,[1] have disappeared, only about 7 minutes remain.[2]
- June 20 - L'Enfant prodigue, the first feature-length motion picture produced in Europe, opens in Paris.
- November 28 - In Haverhill, Massachusetts, scrap-metal dealer Louis B. Mayer opens his first movie theater (in a few years he had the largest theater chain in New England and in 1917 he founded his own production company, which eventually became part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).
- Carl Laemmle, later of Universal, experiments with combining audio from phonographs with film. Laemmle's experiments lead to the German development of "Syncroscope." Syncroscope had several successful demonstrations, but was eventually abandoned.
- The Kalem Company founded in New York City by Frank J. Marion, Samuel Long, and George Kleine. They would make the first Ben-Hur film, directed by Sidney Olcott.
Films released in 1907
- 20,000 Lieues Sous les Mers
- Ben-Hur, directed by Sidney Olcott
- A Curious Dream, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
- The Dancing Pig
- The Eclipse, directed by Georges Melies
- The Enchanted Sedan Chair, directed by Georges Melies
- First Prize for the Cello
- The Good Glue Stick, directed by Georges Melies
- The Golden Beetle, directed by Segundo de Chomon
- Laughing Gas, directed by Edwin S. Porter
- L'Enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Son), directed by Michel Carré. First feature film from Europe.
- The Lion Hunt
- La Marseillaise, directed by Georges Mendel [An early sound film that has the singing of the French National Anthem. May be the longest sound film up to that point in time.]
- The Policemen's Little Run, directed by Ferdinand Zecca
- The Race For The Sausage, directed by Alice Guy
- The Red Spectre, directed by Segundo de Chomón and Ferdinand Zecca
- Robert Macaire and Bertrand, directed by Georges Melies
- The Runaway Horse, directed by Louis J. Gasnier
- Salaviinanpolttajat
- El Sartorio
- Satan s'amuse
- That Fatal Sneeze, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon, produced by Cecil Hepworth
- Tunneling the Channel, directed by Georges Melies
- Vancouver, directed by William Harbeck
Births
- January 3 - Ray Milland, actor (d. 1986)
- January 16 - Alexander Knox, actor (d. 1995)
- January 20 - Paula Wessely, actress, producer (d. 2000)
- January 22 - Mary Dresselhuys, actress, (d. 2004)
- February 12 - Joseph Kearns, actor (d. 1962)
- February 15 - Cesar Romero, actor (d. 1994)
- February 17 - Buster Crabbe, actor (d. 1983)
- February 22 - Robert Young, actor (d. 1998)
- March 11 - Jessie Matthews, actress, singer (d. 1981)
- March 19 - Kent Smith, actor (d. 1985)
- March 31 - Eddie Quillan, actor (d. 1990)
- April 3 - Iron Eyes Cody, actor (d. 1999)
- April 11 - Paul Douglas, actor (d. 1959)
- April 19 - Lina Basquette, actress (d. 1994)
- April 29 - Fred Zinnemann, director (d. 1997)
- May 12 - Katharine Hepburn, actress (d. 2003)
- May 22 - Lord Laurence Olivier, actor (d. 1989)
- May 26 - John Wayne, actor (d. 1979)
- June 4 - Rosalind Russell, actress (d. 1976)
- June 16 - Jack Albertson, actor (d. 1981)
- June 24 - Martha Sleeper, actress (d. 1987)
- July 14 - Olive Borden, actress (d. 1947)
- July 16 - Barbara Stanwyck, actress (d. 1990)
- July 19 - Isabel Jewell, actress (d. 1972)
- July 27 - Ross Alexander, actor (d. 1937)
- August 3 - Adrienne Ames, actress (d. 1947)
- August 12 - Joe Besser, actor, comedian (d. 1988)
- September 15 - Fay Wray, actress (d. 2004)
- September 29 - Gene Autry, actor (d. 1998)
- December 16 - Barbara Kent, actress (d. 2011)
- December 22 - Peggy Ashcroft, actress (d. 1991)
- December 25 - Mike Mazurki, Austrian-American actor (d. 1990)
Deaths
Debuts
References
