1916 in film

The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.

Fandom movies:1916

Events

Charlie Chaplin signs for Mutual Film for a salary of $10,000 a week and a signing on fee of $150,000, making him one of the highest-paid people in the United States.
June 24 – Mary Pickford signs a contract for $10,000 a week plus profit participation, guaranteeing her over $1 million per year.
July 19 – Famous Players–Lasky is formed through a merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company and Jesse L. Lasky's Feature Play Company. Later in the year, they acquire distributor Paramount Pictures.
August 10 – The official British documentary propaganda film The Battle of the Somme is premièred in London. In the first six weeks of general release 20 million people view it.
September 5 – Release of D. W. Griffith's epic film Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages, starring Lillian Gish and Constance Talmadge, in the United States. It is estimated to have cost around $2.5 million to make but is initially a commercial failure.
October 17 – Release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star.
November 19 – Samuel Goldfish and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures, later to become one of the most successful independent filmmakers.
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is founded in the United States as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers.
11 mm, an amateur film gauge, appears on the market.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top six 1916 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Rank	Title	Studio	Gross
1	Intolerance	Triangle	$1,750,000
2	Joan the Woman	Paramount	$605,731
3	Maria Rosa	Paramount	$102,767
4	The Heart of Nora Flynn	Paramount	$87,738
5	The Trail of the Lonesome Pine	Paramount	$77,944
6	The Dream Girl	Paramount	$66,725

Notable films

Films produced in the United States unless stated otherwise

O

One A.M., directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin

P

The Pawnshop, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin, with Edna Purviance
Police, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin, with Edna Purviance
Poor Little Peppina, directed by Sidney Olcott, starring Mary Pickford

Q

The Queen of Spades , directed by Yakov Protazanov, starring Ivan Mosjoukine, based on the 1834 novella by Alexander Pushkin –

R

Reggie Mixes In, directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Bessie Love
The Return of Draw Egan, directed by and starring William S. Hart, with Louise Glaum
The Rink, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin, with Edna Purviance

S

Sherlock Holmes, directed by Arthur Berthelet, starring William Gillette, based on the 1899 play by William Gillette and Arthur Conan Doyle
Shoes, directed by Lois Weber, starring Mary MacLaren
Snow White, directed by J. Searle Dawley, starring Marguerite Clark, based on the 1812 fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm

V

The Vagabond, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Edna Purviance

W

Where Are My Children?, directed by Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber, starring Tyrone Power Sr.

Short film series

Births

January 4 – Robert Parrish, American director editor and former child actor
January 5 – Alfred Ryder, American actor and director
February 8 – Betty Field, American film and stage actress
February 11 – Walter Newman, American radio, writer and screenwriter
February 13 – James Griffith, American character actor, musician and screenwriter
February 14
*Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese film director and screenwriter
*Edward Platt, American actor
February 16 – Alberto Sorrentino, Italian film actor
February 17 – Raf Vallone, Italian actor and footballer
February 21 – Jan Wiley, American film actress
February 26 – Jackie Gleason, American comedian, actor, writer, and composer
February 29 – Dinah Shore, American singer, actress, television personality
March 6 – Virginia Gregg, American actress
March 11 – Ferdy Mayne, German-British actor
March 19 – Eric Christmas, English actor
March 26 – Sterling Hayden, American actor, author, sailor, and Marine
April 4 – David White, American actor
April 5 – Gregory Peck, American actor
April 6 – Phil Leeds, American character actor
April 7 – Anthony Caruso, American character actor
April 10
*John Alderson, English actor
*Alfie Bass, English actor
April 26 – Vic Perrin, American radio, film and television actor
April 30 – Phil Brown, American actor
May 1 – Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor
May 6 – Adriana Caselotti, American actress and singer
May 24 – Peter Whitney, American actor
May 27 – Willie Best, American television and film actor
May 29 – Sidney Glazier, American film producer
June 6 – Dorothea Kent, American film actress
June 12 – Irwin Allen, American film and television producer and director
June 14 – Dorothy McGuire, American actress
June 19 – Karin Booth, American film and television actress
June 23 – Irene Worth, American stage and screen actress
June 29 – Ruth Warrick, American singer, actress and political activist
July 1 – Olivia de Havilland, British-American actress
July 2 – Ken Curtis, American actor and singer
July 23 – Sandra Gould, American actress
July 27 – Keenan Wynn, American character actor
July 31 – Sydney Tafler, English actor
August 18 – Don Keefer, American actor
August 21 – Geoffrey Keen, English actor
August 24 – Hal Smith, American actor
August 25 – Van Johnson, American actor and dancer
August 27
*George Montgomery, American actor
*Martha Raye, American comic actress and singer
September 12 – Edward Binns, American actor
September 15 – Margaret Lockwood, British actress
September 18 – Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor, director and screenwriter
September 28 – Peter Finch, English-Australian actor
October 4 – George Sidney, American film director and producer
October 10 – Benson Fong, American character actor
October 20 – Anton Diffring, German actor
November 5 – Willoughby Gray, English actor
November 12 – Liam Dunn, American character actor
November 16 – Daws Butler, American voice actor
November 17 – Frank Maxwell, American actor
November 20 – Evelyn Keyes, American film actress
November 23 – Michael Gough, British actor
November 29 – Fran Ryan, American character actress
December 5 – Margaret Hayes, American film, stage, and television actress
December 8 – Richard Fleischer, American film director
December 9 – Kirk Douglas, American actor and filmmaker
December 13 – Mark Stevens, American actor
December 18 – Betty Grable, American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer

Deaths

January 17, Arthur V. Johnson, 39, American screen actor and director, The Sealed Room, The Unchanging Sea, The Adventures of Dollie, The Voice of the Violin, tuberculosis
June 22
*Page Peters, 26, American screen actor, The Warrens of Virginia, The Purple Scar, An International Marriage, Davy Crockett, Pasquale, drowned swimming
*Maurice Vinot, 27, French screen actor, airplane crash
September 9 – Sydney Ayres, 37, American stage & screen actor and director, The Sting of Conscience, The Avenger, As in a Dream, multiple sclerosis
September 17 – Arthur Hoops, 45, American stage & screen actor, The Secret of Eve, Bridges Burned, Extravagance, The Eternal Question, The Scarlet Woman, heart attack
September 27 – Camille D'Arcy, 37, American actress, The Prince Chap, Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, A Daughter of the City, The White Sister, The Pacifist, infection from bathing
October 6 – Henry Woodruff, 47, American stage & screen actor, A Beckoning Flame, A Man and His Mate, Bright's disease
November 30 – Dorrit Weixler, 23, German comic actress, Maria, Kammermusik, Heimgekehrt, Todesrauchen, suicide by hanging
unknown – Jean, the Vitagraph Dog, American Border Collie, Jean and the Calico Doll, ''Fraid Cat''