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1915 in film

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Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Year nav topic5 Template:Yearsinfilm The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.

Events

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Top-grossing films (U.S.)

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The top ten 1915 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1915
Rank Title Studio Gross
1 The Birth of a Nation Epoch $10,000,000<ref name="Gross">Template:Cite book</ref>
2 Carmen Paramount $147,600<ref name="birchard">Template:Cite book</ref>
3 The Cheat $137,364<ref name="birchard"/>
4 Temptation $102,437<ref name="birchard"/>
5 The Girl of the Golden West $102,224<ref name="birchard"/>
6 The Warrens of Virginia $85,770<ref name="birchard"/>
7 The Golden Chance $83,504<ref name="birchard"/>
8 Chimmie Fadden $78,944<ref name="birchard"/>
9 Chimmie Fadden Out West $72,036<ref name="birchard"/>
10 The Arab $68,526<ref name="birchard"/>

Notable films released in 1915

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United States unless stated

A

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  • Adachihara Ubagaike Yurei (Japanese), starring Matsunosuke Onoe, produced in Japan by Nikkatsu <ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 143">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Agony of Fear, directed by Giles Warren<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 143"/>
  • Alice in Wonderland by W.W. Young
  • Are You a Mason?, directed by Thomas N. Heffron, starring John Barrymore
  • The Arrow Maiden, directed by Francis Powers<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 143"/>
  • Assunta Spina, starring Francesca Bertini – (Italy)
  • The Avenging Hand (British) aka The Wraith of the Tomb, directed by Charles Calvert, written by William J. Elliott<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 144">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>

B

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C

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  • Call From the Dead, early zombie film directed by Clem Easton for Thanhouser Films<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 144"/>
  • The Caprices of Kitty, directed by Phillips Smalley, starring Elsie Janis
  • Carmen, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Geraldine Farrar
  • Carmen, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Theda Bara
  • The Case of Becky, directed by Frank Reicher, starring Blanche Sweet<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 145">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The Castle of Thornfield (Italian) adapted from the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 145"/>
  • The Champion, starring Charles Chaplin and Edna Purviance
  • The Cheat, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Fannie Ward and Sessue Hayakawa
  • The Cheval Mystery, directed by (and starring) Harry Myers for Victor Films<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 145"/>
  • The Chronicles of Bloom Center, short comedy directed by Marshall Neilan <ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 145"/>
  • The Circular Staircase, directed by Edward J. LeSaint for Selig Films, based on the novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, starring Eugenie Besserer and Stella Razeto<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 143"/>
  • The Crazy Clock Maker, comedy starring Oliver Hardy
  • A Cry in the Night (British) a science fiction film about a winged gorilla created by a mad scientist, directed by Ernest G. Batley<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 146">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>

D

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  • Destiny's Skein, directed and scripted by George Terwilliger, about a murderer with a split personality<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 146"/>
  • The Devil (aka Satan's Pawn), based on the play by Ferenc Molnar, this film was produced and co-directed by Thomas H. Ince, starring Arthur Maude and Bessie Barriscale <ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 146"/>
  • The Devil to Pay (British) short film directed by Edwin J. Collins, with a story similar to Faust<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 147">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The Devil's Profession (British) written and directed by F.C.S. Tudor, foreshadowing Val Lewton's Bedlam (1946)<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 147"/>
  • Double Trouble, starring Douglas Fairbanks
  • A Drama of the Castle, or Do the Dead Return? (French) 6-minute film written and directed by Abel Gance<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 148">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The Dream Dance, directed by Leon D. Kent for Lubin Films, starring Lee Shumway<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 148"/>
  • The Duel in the Dark, starring Arthur Bauer and Carey L. Hastings, features an evil hypnotist<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 148"/>
  • The Dust of Egypt, mummy film directed by George D. Baker, starring Antonio Moreno and Edith Storey<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 148"/>

E

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  • The Eleventh Dimension, science fiction film produced and written by Raymond L. Schrock, directed by Clem Easton<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 148"/>
  • Enoch Arden, starring Lillian Gish

F

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G

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  • A Gentleman of Leisure, directed by George Melford, starring Wallace Eddinger
  • The Ghost Fakirs, a "Heinie and Louie" comedy short involving a haunted house
  • The Ghost of Twisted Oaks, voodoo film directed by Sidney Olcott for Lubin Films, starring Olcott's wife Valentine Grant<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The Golden Chance, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Cleo Ridgely and Wallace Reid
  • The Golem, aka Der Golem und Wie auf de Welt Kam (German/ Deutsche-Bioscop), directed by Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen, starring Paul Wegener and Lyda Salmonova (Germany)<ref>Kinnard, Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. Page 65. Template:ISBN.</ref>
  • The Gray Horror, a haunted house film directed by Joseph W. Smiley, who also starred in it<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 151">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The Greater Will, directed by Harley Knowles, starring Montagu Love, Cyril Maude and Lois Meredith <ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 151"/>

H

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  • The Hand of the Skeleton, French special effects film directed by Danish director George Schneevoight<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 151"/>
  • The Haunting of Silas P. Gould (British) directed by Elwin Neame, starring (his wife) Ivy Close<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 152">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Haunting Winds, directed by Carl M. Leviness for Universal, starring Frank MacQuarrie and Sydney Ayres<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 152"/>
  • His Egyptian Affinity, reincarnated mummy film directed by Al Christie for Nestor Films, starring Victoria Ford<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 153, ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • His Phantom Sweetheart, short horror/comedy produced and directed by Ralph W. Ince; the writer Earle Williams was also the star<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 153">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Horrible Hyde, a 5-minute comedy version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", directed by and starring Howell Hansel, filmed in Florida<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 153"/>
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles Parts 3 and 4 (German film) directed by Richard Oswald, starring Alwin Neuss as Sherlock Holmes; Part 3 was called "The Uncanny Room" and Part 4 was "Legend of the Hound"(see 1914 for first two parts)<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 153"/>
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles: The Dark Castle (German) Vitascope made their own conclusion to their earlier 1914 two-parter with this entry, directed by Willy Zeyn, starring Eugen Burg as Sherlock Holmes<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 154">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The House of a Thousand Candles, haunted house film based on the novel by Meredith Nicholson, directed by Thomas N. Heffron, starring Harry Mestayer and Edgar Nelson <ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 154"/>
  • The House With Nobody In It, a haunted house film based on the poem by Joyce Kilmer as well as a story by Clarence J. Harris; directed by Richard Garrick<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 154 ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>

I

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  • The Immigrant
  • The Inner Brute, starring Warren Waite, Warda Howard and John Lorenz<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 154"/>
  • An Innocent Sinner, directed by Kenean Buel, starring Katherine LaSalle and Guy Coombs<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 155">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Inspiration
  • The Italian

J

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  • Jane Eyre, based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte, directed by Travers Vale, starring Franklyn Ritchie, Louise Vale and Gretchen Hartman<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 155"/>
  • The Japanese Mask, an obscure French/U.S. co-production made by Pathe/Aetna Films<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 155"/>

L

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  • The Lamb, starring Douglas Fairbanks
  • Legend of the Lone Tree, a "weird western" film directed by Ulysses Davis for Vitagraph, starring Myrtle Gnzalez and Alfred Vosburgh <ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 156">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Life Without Soul, first full-length adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein (running 70 minutes); directed by Joseph W. Smiley, starring William A. Cohill as the scientist; the film was somewhat re-edited and re-released in 1916 also<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 156"/>
  • The Live Mummy (British) a 13-minute comedy short
  • London's Yellow Peril (British) directed by Maurice Elvey, written by Eliot Stannard; Elvey later went on to make a series of silent Fu Manchu movies<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 157">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Lord John in New York, first in a Universal Pictures series of five silent detective films, starring William Garwood as Lord John, directed by Edward LeSaint<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 157"/>

M

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  • Madame Butterfly, directed by Sidney Olcott, starring Mary Pickford
  • The Magic Skin, directed by Richard Ridgely for Thomas Edison's film company; this was the third film adaptation of Honore de Balzac's novel Le Peau de Chagrin<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 157"/>
  • The Man Who Couldn't Beat God, directed by Maurice Costello and Robert Gaillard, both of whom starred also
  • The Man Who Stayed at Home – (GB)
  • Martyrs of the Alamo
  • The Mesmerist (British) directed by Percy Nash, starring Douglas Payne<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 158">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Miss Jekyll and Madame Hyde, directed by Charles L. Gaskill and starring Helen Gardner; strangely this was more of an adaptation of Faust than the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 158"/>
  • The Missing Mummy, silent comedy directed by William Beaudine, starring Bud Duncan and Charles Inslee
  • The Monkey's Paw (British) this first film adaptation of the 1902 novel seems to have been based more on the 1907 play instead of the novel; directed by Sidney Northcote, starring John Lawson (who also starred in the play)<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 158"/>
  • The Moonstone, directed by Frank Hall Crane, starring Eugene O'Brien and Elaine Hammerstein, based on the 1868 novel by Wilkie Collins; this was the best known of the silent film versions<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 158"/>
  • Mortmain, directed by Theodore Marston for Vitagraph, starring Robert Edeson; this surgical horror film's plot eerily foreshadowed that of the later Conrad Veidt film The Hands of Orlac (1924).<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 159">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>

P

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  • Peer Gynt, directed by Raoul Walsh and Oscar Apfel
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray (Russian) - third film adaptation of the 1890 Oscar Wilde novel, wherein Dorian Gray is oddly played by a female actress (Varvara Yanova); directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold and Mikhail Doronin (both of whom also co-starred in the film)<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 159"/>
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray, directed by Eugene Moore for Thanhouser Films (U.S.), starring Harris Gordon (as Dorian) and Helen Fulton; this was the fourth film adaptation of the Oscar Wilde novel
  • The Portrait (Russian) 8-minute fantasy film written and directed by Wladyslaw Starewicz, who later went on to direct The Viy that same year<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Henry Ainley and Gerald Ames (GB)

R

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  • The Raven, directed by Charles Brabin, starring Henry B. Walthall and Wanda Howard, this was the third biopic to cover the life story of Edgar Allan Poe<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 161">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • Regeneration, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Rockliffe Fellowes and Anna Q. Nilsson
  • The Return of Maurice Donnelly, directed by William Humphrey, starring Leo Delaney and Anders Randolph, conceived as a social fable against capital punishment<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 161"/>
  • The Return of Richard Neal, mesmerism film directed by Edward T. Lowe Jr., starring Francis X. Bushman, Neil Craig and Ernest Maupin<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 161"/>

S

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  • Sagebrush Tom, starring Tom Mix
  • Satanic Rhapsody (Italian) directed by Nino Oxilia (who died in WWI), starring Lyda Borelli and Ugo Bazzini as Mephistopheles; film featured some tinted and hand-stenciled color scenes <ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 161"/>
  • The Scorpion's Sting (British) aka The Devil's Bondman, directed by Percy Nash, starring George Bellamy
  • The Secret Room, directed by Tom Moore for Kalem Films (he also starred in the film)
  • The Senator, directed by Joseph A. Golden
  • Shunen no hebi (translation: The Vengeful Snake) Japanese film directed by Uichiro Tamura
  • The Silent Command, directed by Robert Z. Leonard for Universal, starring Leonard and Ella Hall
  • The Soul of Broadway
  • The Soul of Phyra, directed by Charles Swickard, starring Enid Markey
  • The Spectre of the Vault (Italian) haunted tomb film directed by Ubaldo Maria Del Colle
  • The Strange Unknown, directed by Wilbe Melville, starring Helen Eddy and Dorothy Barrett; plot was influenced by Jane Eyre and The Woman in White<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 163">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>

T

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  • The Three Wishes, (French) obscure 8-minute fantasy film similar to The Monkey's Paw
  • Togakushi-yama no kijo (Japanese) short ghost film directed by Shozo Makino for Nikkatsu Films, starring Matsunosuke Onoe<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 163"/>
  • The Tramp, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin
  • Le traquenard, starring Irène Bordoni – (France)
  • Trilby, directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Clara Kimball Young as Trilby and Wilton Lackaye as Svengali; the film was slightly edited and re-released in 1917 and again in 1920<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
  • The Two Orphans, starring Theda Bara

U

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  • The Unfaithful Wife, directed by J. Gordon Edwards, starring Genevieve Hamper and Warner Oland in one of his earliest roles

V

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  • The Vivisectionist, directed by James W. Horne, starring Marin Sais and William H. West

W

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  • The Warning (aka The Eternal Penalty), directed by Edmund Lawrence starring Henry Kolker; this moral diatribe against alcohol abuse involves a dream trip to Hell
  • The Wheels of Justice, directed by Theodore Marston
  • When the Spirits Moved, directed by Al Christie for Universal Pictures, starring Lee Moran and Eddie Lyons
  • Which is Witch? (British) 6-minute short directed by Edwin J. Collins
  • A Witch of Salem Town, directed by Lucius Henderson, starring Mary Fuller and Curtis Benton
  • Work, directed by & starring Charles Chaplin
  • The Wraith of Haddon Towers, directed by Arthur Maude, starring Constance Crawley and Arthur Maude

Y

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  • Yurei Yashiki (Japanese) translation The Haunted House, directed by Kyomatsu Hosomaya for Nikksatsu

Short film series

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Births

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Deaths

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Film debuts

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References

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Template:Reflist

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Template:1915 films

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