1922 in film

"1922 film" redirects here. For films titled 1922, see 1922 (disambiguation) § Arts, entertainment, and media.

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

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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[1]
2	Blood and Sand	Paramount	$1,250,000[2]
3	Manslaughter		$1,206,014[3]
4	Grandma's Boy	Pathé Exchange	$1,100,000[2]
5	Smilin' Through	First National	$1,000,000[2]
6	Saturday Night	Paramount	$753,807[3]
7	Rags to Riches	Warner Bros.	$418,000[4]
8	Heroes of the Street		$366,000[4]
9	The Beautiful and Damned		$327,000[4]
10	Your Best Friend		$132,000[4]

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^[5]

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^[6]
• 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^[7]
• 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^[8] – (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^[9] – (France)
• The Dungeon (lost), written and directed by Oscar Micheaux^[10]

E

• Estrellita del Cine, directed by José Nepomuceno^[11] – (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^[12] – (GB)
• Faust, directed by Gérard Bourgeois, based on the 1808 play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe^[13] – (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^[14]
• 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^[15]
• 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^[16] – (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^[17]
• 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 cartoon.

• 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)^[18]
• 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)^[19]
• 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)^[20]
• 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)^[21]
  • 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