1926 in film

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The following is an overview of 1926 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1926 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1926

Rank	Title	Studio	Domestic rentals
1	What Price Glory?	Fox Film Corporation	$4,000,000
2	The Black Pirate	United Artists	$2,000,000
3	Beau Geste	Paramount Pictures	$1,500,000
4	Don Juan	Warner Bros. Pictures	$1,258,000
5	The Son of the Sheik	United Artists	$1,000,000
6	The Better 'Ole	Warner Bros.	$955,000
7	The Sea Beast		$814,000
8	Flesh and the Devil	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$603,000
9	The Temptress		$587,000
10	Beverly of Graustark		$539,000

Events

• February – The oldest surviving animated feature film is released in the Weimar Republic, directed by Lotte Reiniger. It is called The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed).
• August 5 – Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system uses multiple 33+1⁄3 rpm gramophone records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back music and sound effects synchronized with film.
• August 23 – Rudolph Valentino, whose film The Son of the Sheik was currently playing, dies at the age of 31 in New York. Riots occur at the funeral parlor as thousands of people try to see his body.
• October 7 – Warner Brothers release the second Vitaphone film, The Better 'Ole, starring Sydney Chaplin.
• December 5 – The 1925 Soviet film Battleship Potemkin premieres in the United States, at the Biltmore Theatre in Manhattan.
• Theodore W. Case and E. I. Sponable demonstrate their sound-on-film experiments to William Fox of the Fox Film Corporation. The Fox-Case Corp. is formed in an effort to exploit the system, which is given the name Movietone. Fox begin to create Movietone News newsreels at this time. One of the first newsreels is of Charles Lindbergh's takeoff for Paris.
• Al Jolson films A Plantation Act, one of the first unreleased talkies and a test film for The Jazz Singer
• Ang Tatlong Hambog (The Three Humbugs), the first Filipino film to feature a kissing (make out) scene, is released in the Philippines.

Notable films released in 1926

For the complete list of US film releases for the year, see United States films of 1926

0-9

• 3 Bad Men, directed by John Ford

A

• The Adventures of Prince Achmed, directed by Lotte Reiniger – (Germany)
• Aloma of the South Seas, directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Gilda Gray & William Powell
• Ang Tatlong Hambog (The Three Humbugs), directed by Jose Nepomuceno, starring Luis Tuason, Dimples Cooper - Philippines
• Ashridge Castle - The Monmouth Rebellion (British), directed by Charles Calvert, 19-minute documentary about haunted castles in England

B

• Baddesley Manor - The Phantom Gambler (British), directed by Maurice Elvey, 17-minute documentary about haunted castles in England
• Bardelys the Magnificent, directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert and Eleanor Boardman
• The Bat, produced and directed by Roland West, based on the novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood.
• Battling Butler, directed by and starring Buster Keaton
• Beau Geste, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Ronald Colman and Alice Joyce
• The Bells, directed by James Young, starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff
• Beverly of Graustark, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Marion Davies and Antonio Moreno
• The Black Pirate, directed by Albert Parker, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Billie Dove
• Bodiam Castle and Eric the Slender (British), directed by A. V. Bramble, 17-minute documentary about haunted castles in England
• La Bohème, directed by King Vidor, starring Lillian Gish, John Gilbert and Renée Adorée
• Botan doro/ The Peony Lantern (Japanese), ghost film directed by Koroku Numata for Makino Films
• Bride of Glomdal (Glomdalsbruden), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer – (Denmark)
• Brown of Harvard directed by Jack Conway, starring William Haines, Jack Pickford and Mary Brian
• Brudeferden i Hardanger (The bridal procession in Hardanger) – (Norway)

C

• Cab No. 13, (Einspanner Nr 13), directed by Michael Curtiz – (Germany)
• Cruise of the Jasper B, starring Rod La Rocque, Mildred Harris and Snitz Edwards

D

• Dangerous Traffic, directed by Bennett Cohen, starring Ralph Bushman, Mildred Harris and Jack Perrin
• The Devil's Circus, starring Norma Shearer
• The Devil's Wheel, (Chyortovo koleso) – (U.S.S.R.)
• Don Juan, directed by Alan Crosland, starring John Barrymore

F

• Falešná kočička aneb Když si žena umíní (Fake Woman or When He is a She) – (Czechoslovakia)
• Fate and Consequence, directed by Vicente Salumbides, starring Raymunda Guidote-Abila
• Faust, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Gösta Ekman and Emil Jannings – (Germany)
• Fool's Luck, directed by Fatty Arbukle, starring Lupino Lane and George Davis
• For Heaven's Sake, directed by Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston

G

• The General, starring Buster Keaton
• Glamis Castle (British), directed by Maurice Elvey
• The Golden Butterfly (Der goldene Schmetterling), directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Lili Damita and Nils Asther – (Germany)
• The Great Gatsby, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Warner Baxter and Lois Wilson
• The Great K & A Train Robbery, starring Tom Mix
• Guy of Warwick (British), directed by Fred R. Paul

H

• Hampton Court Palace (British), directed by Bert Cann
• Hands Up!
• The Haunted Ranch, directed by Paul Hurst, starring Ken Maynard and his Wonder Horse "Tarzan", aka The Haunted Range
• The Holy Mountain (Der heilige Berg), starring Leni Riefenstahl – (Germany)

I

• In the Way of Zorro
• Irene, starring Colleen Moore. In color sequence by Technicolor.
• It Must Be Love, starring Colleen Moore.

J

• The Johnstown Flood, starring George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor

K

• Kid Boots, starring Eddie Cantor and Clara Bow

L

• The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) – (Italy)
• Loetoeng Kasaroeng, directed by L. Heuveldorp, starring Martoana – (Dutch East Indies)
• Love's Berries (Yagodka lyubvi) – (U.S.S.R.)

M

• Madame Mystery, directed by Richard Wallace and Stan Laurel, starring Theda Bara
• The Magician, directed by Rex Ingram, starring Alice Terry and Paul Wegener
• Manon Lescaut, UFA production; directed by Arthur Robison, starring Lya De Putti – (Germany)
• Mare Nostrum, directed by Rex Ingram, starring Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry
• Ménilmontant, directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff, starring Nadia Sibirskaïa – (France)
• Michel Strogoff, directed by Viktor Tourjansky, starring Ivan Mozzhukhin and Nathalie Kovanko - (France)
• Midnight Faces, directed by Bennett Cohen, starring Francis X. Bushman Jr.
• Miss Mend, directed by Fyodor Otsep, starring Boris Barnet – (U.S.S.R.)
• The Mistletoe Bough (British), directed by Charles Calvert
• Mother, directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin – (U.S.S.R.)
• Mummy Love, directed by Marcel Perez, a two-reel comedy short starring Alyce Ardell
• My Stars, directed by Fatty Arbuckle

N

• Nana directed by Jean Renoir – (France)
• Nell Gwyn, directed by Herbert Wilcox; starring Dorothy Gish, Randle Ayrton – (GB)
• Nelson, starring Cedric Hardwicke – (GB)
• The Non-Stop Flight, directed by Emory Johnson, starring Knute Erickson

O

• Old Ironsides, directed by James Cruze; starring Esther Ralston
• Orphan of Lowood, directed by Curtis Bernhardt, based on Charlotte Bronte's 1847 novel Jane Eyre (Germany)
• The Overcoat (Shinel) – (U.S.S.R.)

P

• A Page of Madness (Kurutta Ippēji) – (Japan)
• Passion of a Woman Teacher/ Kyoren no Onna Shisho (Japanese), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, ghost story based on the 1860 novel Shinkei Kasane-ga-fuchi/ The Ghost of Kasane Swamp
• Phantom of the Western Temple/ Nanbandera no kaijin (Japanese), directed by Shiroku Nagao, a Japanese version of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera

Q

• The Quarterback, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer; starring Richard Dix

R

• Rien que les heures (Nothing but Time), directed by Alberto Cavalcanti – (France)

S

• Scared Stiff, a Hal Roach comedy short directed by James W. Horne, written by Stan Laurel
• The Scarlet Letter, starring Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson
• The Sea Beast, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara
• Secrets of a Soul (German), directed by G. W. Pabst, starring Werner Krauss, a Freudian psychological thriller – (Germany)
• Shin Sarayashiki (Japanese), ghost film directed by Shuichi Yamashita, starring Rokuro Akashi
• Shivering Spooks, a Hal Roach "Our Gang" comedy short directed by Robert F. McGowan, starring Joe Cobb and Johnny Downs
• The Show-Off, directed by Mal St. Clair; starring Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks
• The Son of the Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky
• So's Your Old Man, starring W. C. Fields
• The Sorrows of Satan, directed by D.W Griffith, starring Adolphe Menjou, based on the eponymous 1895 Marie Corelli novel
• Sparrows, directed by William Beaudine, starring Mary Pickford
• The Strong Man, starring Harry Langdon
• The Student of Prague (German), directed by Henrik Galeen, starring Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, Agnes Esterhazy and Fritz Alberti, remake of the 1913 silent film written by Hanns Heinz Ewers – (Germany)
• Sweeney Todd (British), directed by George Dewhurst, serial killer film based on a serialized short story "The String of Pearls" (written anonymously) published in an 1846 British magazine

T

• Tartuffe, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Emil Jannings – (Germany)
• Tell It to the Marines, directed by George W. Hill, starring William Haines and Lon Chaney
• The Temptress, starring Greta Garbo and Antonio Moreno
• The Three Million Trial – (U.S.S.R.)
• Torrent, starring Ricardo Cortez and Greta Garbo
• The Tower of London (British), directed by Maurice Elvey
• Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, starring Harry Langdon and Joan Crawford
• A Trip to Chinatown, starring Margaret Livingston and Earle Foxe
• The Triumph of the Rat, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Ivor Novello and Isabel Jeans – (GB)

U

• Unknown Treasures, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Robert Agnew and Gustav voy Seyffertitz, an Old Dark House film based on the short story The House Behind the Hedge by Mary Spain Vigus

V

• The Volga Boatman, directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring William Boyd

W

• What Price Glory?, starring Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen and Dolores del Río
• While London Sleeps, directed by H.R. Bretherton, starring Rin Tin Tin the Wonder Dog (only the sound discs survive from this film)
• Whispering Wires, directed by Albert Ray, starring Anita Stewart and Edmund Burns, based on the novel by Henry Leverage
• Windsor Castle (British), directed by Maurice Elvey
• The Winning of Barbara Worth, starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky and Gary Cooper
• A Woman of the Sea, directed by Josef von Sternberg; starring Edna Purviance (unreleased)
• Woodcroft Castle (British) directed by Walter West and starring James Knight, a 15-minute action film and part of a multi-film series on haunted castles in England

Y

• Young April, directed by Donald Crisp; starring Joseph Schildkraut

Comedy film series

• Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
• Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Harry Langdon (1924–1936)

Animated short film series

• Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
• Koko the Clown (1919–1934)
• Alice Comedies
  • Alice on the Farm
  • Alice's Balloon Race
  • Alice's Orphan
  • Alice's Little Parade
  • Alice's Mysterious Mystery
  • Alice Charms the Fish
  • Alice's Monkey Business
  • Alice in the Wooly West
  • Alice the Fire Fighter
  • Alice Cuts the Ice
  • Alice Helps the Romance
  • Alice's Spanish Guitar
  • Alice's Brown Derby
  • Alice the Lumber Jack
• Koko's Song Car Tunes (1924–1927)
• Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
• Un-Natural History (1925–1927)
• Pete the Pup (1926–1927)

Births

• January 1 - Zena Marshall, British actress (died 2009)
• January 6 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and 1955 Mr. Universe (died 2006)
• January 14 – Tom Tryon, actor and novelist (died 1991)
• January 15 – Maria Schell, actress (died 2005)
• January 17 – Moira Shearer, actress and dancer (died 2006)
• January 18 – Salah Zulfikar, actor (died 1993)
• January 19 – Fritz Weaver, actor (died 2016)
• January 20 – Patricia Neal, actress (died 2010)
• January 25 - Ted White (stuntman), American stuntman and actor (died 2022)
• January 30 - Ramesh Deo, Indian actor (died 2022)
• February 1 – Nancy Gates, actress (died 2019)
• February 2 – Lia Laats, actress (died 2004)
• February 11 – Leslie Nielsen, actor and comedian (died 2010)
• February 16 – John Schlesinger, director (died 2003)
• February 20 – Gillian Lynne, dancer, actress and choreographer (died 2018)
• February 23 - Dorothy Steel (actress), American actress (died 2021)
• March 1 - Robert Clary, French-American actor and singer
• March 5 - Joan Shawlee, American actress (died 1987)
• March 6 – Andrzej Wajda, director (died 2016)
• March 13 - Lenny Montana, American actor (died 1992)
• March 16 – Jerry Lewis, American actor (died 2017)
• March 18 - Peter Graves, American actor (died 2010)
• March 21 – André Delvaux, Belgian director (died 2002)
• March 30 - Peter Marshall (entertainer), American former game show host, television and radio personality, singer and actor
• April 5 – Roger Corman, American director
• April 7
  • Prem Nazir, Indian actor (died 1989)
  • Gloria Warren, American actress (died 2021)
• April 8
  • Shecky Greene, American comedian
  • Shirley Mills, American actress (died 2010)
• April 12 – Jane Withers, American actress (died 2021)
• April 14 – Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (died 2018)
• April 22 – Charlotte Rae, American actress (died 2018)
• April 25 – Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (died 2013)
• April 29 - Leonard Fenton, English actor and director (died 2022)
• April 30 – Cloris Leachman, American actress (died 2021)
• May 4 - Enzo Garinei, Italian actor (died 2022)
• May 5 - Bing Russell, American actor, minor-league baseball club owner (died 2003)
• May 7 - Val Bisoglio, American character actor (died 2021)
• May 8
  • David Attenborough, English broadcaster
  • Don Rickles, American comedian and actor (died 2017)
• May 10
  • Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, American film personality, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter (died 2004)
  • Vladimir Tatosov, Russian actor (died 2021)
• May 11 – Frank Thring, Australian actor (died 1994)
• May 12 - Marilyn Knowlden, American former child actress
• May 17 - María Duval (Argentine actress), Argentine actress (died 2022)
• May 19 - Michelle Marquais, French actress (died 2022)
• May 25 – Claude Akins, American actor (died 1994)
• May 30 - Nina Agapova, Russian actress (died 2021)
• June 1
  • Andy Griffith, American actor (died 2012)
  • Marilyn Monroe, American actress (died 1962)
  • Aubrey Morris, British actor (died 2015)
• June 5 - Lu Leonard, American actress (died 2004)
• June 9 - Mona Freeman, American actress, painter (died 2014)
• June 10
  • June Haver, American actress, singer, dancer (died 2005)
  • Lionel Jeffries, English actor, director and screenwriter (died 2010)
• June 13 – Paul Lynde, American comedian and actor (died 1982)
• June 15 - Jesús Guzmán (actor), Spanish actor
• June 17 - Elio Pandolfi, Italian actor, radio personality and voice actor (died 2021)
• June 28 – Mel Brooks, American actor, comedian and filmmaker
• July 5 – Diana Lynn, American actress (died 1971)
• July 10 – Carleton Carpenter, American actor, magician, author and songwriter (died 2022)
• July 12 - Sandy Ward, American actor (died 2005)
• July 14 – Harry Dean Stanton, American character actor (died 2017)
• July 20 – Diane Hart, English actress, inventor (died 2002)
• July 21 – Norman Jewison, Canadian director
• July 22 – Bryan Forbes, English director (died 2013)
• July 23 - Rae Allen, American actress, director and singer (died 2022)
• August 7 – Stan Freberg, American voice actor, author, radio personality and comedian (died 2015)
• August 29 – Betty Lynn, American actress (died 2021)
• September 19 – James Lipton, American actor, screenwriter and presenter (died 2020)
• September 23 - Henry Silva, American actor (died 2022)
• September 25 - Aldo Ray, actor (died 1991)
• September 26 - Julie London, American singer, actress (died 2000)
• September 28 - Ralph Ahn, American actor (died 2022)
• October 15
  • Jeffrey Hayden, American director and producer (died 2016)
  • Jean Peters, American actress (died 2000)
• October 17
  • Julie Adams, American actress (died 2019)
  • Beverly Garland, American actress (died 2008)
• October 18 – Klaus Kinski, German actor (died 1991)
• October 25 – Biff McGuire, American actor (died 2021)
• November 1 – Betsy Palmer, American actress (died 2015)
• November 13 - Don Gordon (actor), American actor (died 2017)
• November 17 - Robert Brown, American actor (died 2022)
• November 25
  • Harry Landis, British actor and director (died 2022)
  • Terry Kilburn, English-American actor
• November 30 – Richard Crenna, American actor (died 2003)
• December 1
  • Allyn Ann McLerie, American actress (died 2018)
  • Robert Symonds, American actor (died 2007)
• December 18 – Walter Lassally, German-born British-Greek cinematographer (died 2017)
• December 27 – Jerome Courtland, American actor, director, producer (died 2012)

Deaths

• January 30 – Barbara La Marr, actress (born 1896)
• February 6 – Carrie Clark Ward, actress (born 1862)
• April 20 – Billy Quirk, actor (born 1873)
• March 2 – Victory Bateman, actress (born 1865)
• May 7 - Lillian Lawrence, actress (born 1868)
• July 22 – Willard Louis, actor (born 1882)
• July 23 - Charles Avery
• August 22 – Joe Moore, actor, brother of Mary Moore, Matt Moore, Owen Moore & Tom Moore
• August 23 – Rudolph Valentino, actor (born 1895)
• August 30 – Eddie Lyons, American actor (born 1886)
• September 8 – Kisaburo Kurihara, Japanese actor (born 1885)
• September 11 – Matsunosuke Onoe, actor (born 1875)
• October 31 – Harry Houdini, magician & actor (born 1874)
• November 7 – Tom Forman, silent film actor & director (born 1893)
• November 8 – James K Hackett, stage & silent film actor (born 1869)
• November 17 – Harold Vosburgh, silent film actor (born 1870)

Film debuts

• Sterling Holloway – The Battling Kangaroo
• Nancy Kelly – The Untamed Lady
• Joel McCrea – Torrent
• Franklin Pangborn – Exit Smiling
• Buddy Rogers – Fascinating Youth
• Mickey Rooney – Not to Be Trusted (as Mickey McBain)
• John Wayne – Brown of Harvard