Editing 1917 in film

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{{about|the film industry during the year 1917|the 2019 film titled '1917'|1917 (2019 film)}}
{{Year nav topic5|1917|film|music|radio}}
{{Yearsinfilm}}
'''1917 in film''' was a particularly fruitful year for the art form, and is often cited as one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with [[1913 in film|1913]]. 
Secondarily the year saw a limited global embrace of narrative film-making and featured innovative techniques such as continuity cutting. Primarily, the year is an American landmark, as 1917 is the first year where the narrative and visual style is typified as [[Classical Hollywood cinema|"Classical Hollywood"]].
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==Events==
*January – ''[[Panthea (film)|Panthea]]'' is released, the first film from the company that [[Joseph Schenck]] formed with his wife, [[Norma Talmadge]], after leaving [[Loews Theatres|Loew's Consolidated Enterprises]].
*February – [[Buster Keaton]] first meets [[Roscoe Arbuckle|Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle]] in New York and is hired as a co-star and gag man.
*April 9 – [[Supreme Court of the United States]] rule in [[Motion Picture Patents Co. v. Universal Film Manufacturing Co.]] which ends the [[Motion Picture Patents Company]] appeal and results in the end of the company.
*April 23 – Release in the United States of the short ''[[The Butcher Boy (1917 film)|The Butcher Boy]]'', the first of [[Roscoe Arbuckle|Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle]]'s series of films with the Comique Film Corporation, and [[Buster Keaton]]'s film debut.
*April 25 – [[Thomas Lincoln Tally]], in a meeting in New York, co-founds the [[First National Pictures|First National]] Exhibitors Circuit.<ref>[http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1998/winter98/firstnational.shtml Films of the Golden Age.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216204706/http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1998/winter98/firstnational.shtml |date=2004-12-16 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/company/co0051651/ First National filmography.]</ref>
*June – [[Thomas H. Ince]] and [[Mack Sennett]] leave [[Triangle Film Corporation]] following [[Stephen Andrew Lynch]] taking control.
*September 13 – Release in the United States of ''[[The Gulf Between (1917 film)|The Gulf Between]]'', the first film made in [[Technicolor]] System 1, a two-color process.
*November 9 – World's first [[Feature film|feature-length]] animated film is made in [[Argentina]] by [[Quirino Cristiani]] (''[[El Apóstol]]'')
*December 18 – Foundation of [[Universum Film AG]] (UƒA), as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.
*Movette, another revision of the 17.5&nbsp;mm film format, is made available.

==Top-grossing films (U.S.)==
The top five 1917 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
|+Highest-grossing films of 1917
|-
! Rank!! Title !! Studio !! Domestic rentals
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1
|''[[Cleopatra (1917 film)|Cleopatra]]''
|[[Fox Film Corporation|Fox Film]]
| $1,000,000<ref name=CleopatraBook>{{cite book|first1=Gregory N.|last1= Daugherty|title=The Reception of Cleopatra in the Age of Mass Media |date=2022|isbn=978-1-3503-4073-2|quote= No data survives, but Bara herself claimed that the epic grossed a million dollars, quite an achievement since it reportedly cost $500,000 to make.}}</ref>
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2
|''[[The Little American]]''
|rowspan="4"|[[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]
| $446,236<ref name="birchard">{{cite book|last=Birchard|first=Robert S.|date=2004|title=Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813123240}}</ref>
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 3
|''[[A Romance of the Redwoods]]''
| $424,718<ref name="birchard"/>
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 4
|''[[The Woman God Forgot]]''
| $340,504<ref name="birchard"/>
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 5
|''[[The Devil Stone]]''
| $296,031<ref name="birchard"/>
|-
|}

==Notable films released in 1917==
[[List of American films of 1917|United States]] unless stated

*January 8 – ''[[Great Expectations (1917 film)|Great Expectations]]'', starring [[Jack Pickford]]
*January 22 – ''[[Easy Street (1917 film)|Easy Street]]'', starring [[Charles Chaplin|Charlie Chaplin]], [[Edna Purviance]]
*January 22 – ''[[Her Right to Live]]'', directed by [[Paul Scardon]], starring [[Peggy Hyland]], [[Antonio Moreno]], [[Mae Costello]], [[John S. Robertson]]
*January 29 – ''[[A Man There Was]]'' (Terje Vigen), directed by [[Victor Sjöström]] – ([[Swedish films before 1930|Sweden]])
*February 2 – ''[[The Marriage of Luise Rohrbach]]'', directed by [[Rudolf Biebrach]], starring [[Henny Porten]], [[Emil Jannings]] – ([[List of German films 1895-1918|Germany]])
*February 18 – ''[[The Bad Boy (1917 film)|The Bad Boy]]'', starring [[Robert Harron]], [[Mildred Harris]], [[Colleen Moore]]
*March 3 – ''[[The Tornado (1917 film)|The Tornado]]'', directed by [[John Ford]] (his debut)
*March 5 – ''[[The Poor Little Rich Girl]]'', starring [[Mary Pickford]]
*March 7 – ''[[The Torture of Silence]]'' (Mater Dolorosa), directed by [[Abel Gance]] – ([[List of French films of 1917|France]])
*April 15 – ''[[Teddy at the Throttle]]'', a Keystone comedy starring [[Gloria Swanson]]
*April 16 – ''[[The Cure (1917 film)|The Cure]]'', a [[Charles Chaplin|Charlie Chaplin]] short.
*April 23 – ''[[The Butcher Boy (1917 film)|The Butcher Boy]]'', starring [[Roscoe Arbuckle|"Fatty" Arbuckle]] with [[Buster Keaton]]
*May 7 – ''[[Kidnapped (1917 film)|Kidnapped]]'', directed by [[Alan Crosland]], starring [[Raymond McKee]], Joseph Burke, and Ray Hallor
*May 14 – ''[[A Romance of the Redwoods]]'', directed by [[Cecil B. DeMille]], starring [[Mary Pickford]]
*May 19 – ''[[One Law for Both]]'' directed by [[Ivan Abramson]]
*May 20 – ''[[Souls Triumphant]]'', starring [[Lillian Gish]]
*May 21 – ''[[A Reckless Romeo]]'', a [[Fatty Arbuckle|'Fatty' Arbuckle]] short.
*May – ''[[Frank Hansen's Fortune]]'' directed by [[Viggo Larsen]] – ([[List of German films 1895-1918|Germany]])
*June 17 – ''[[The Immigrant (1917 film)|The Immigrant]]'', starring [[Charles Chaplin|Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Edna Purviance]]
*June 24 – ''[[Wild and Woolly (1917 film)|Wild and Woolly]]'', starring [[Douglas Fairbanks]]
*June 25 – ''[[A Kentucky Cinderella]]'', starring [[Ruth Clifford]]
*June 25 – ''[[The Rough House]]'', a [[Fatty Arbuckle|'Fatty' Arbuckle]] / [[Buster Keaton]] short.
*June – ''[[The Labour Leader]]'', directed by [[Thomas Bentley (director)|Thomas Bentley]], starring [[Owen Nares]], [[Fay Compton]] – ([[British films before 1920|GB]])
*July 5 – ''[[Big Timber (1917 film)|Big Timber]]''
*July – ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray (1917 German film)|The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'' (Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray) – ([[List of German films 1895-1918|Germany]])
*August 12 – ''[[Golden Rule Kate]]'', a drama western starring [[Louise Glaum]]
*August 20 – ''[[His Wedding Night]]'', a [[Fatty Arbuckle|'Fatty' Arbuckle]] / [[Buster Keaton]] short.
*August 27 – ''[[The Little American]]'', starring [[Mary Pickford]]; directed by [[Cecil B. DeMille]].
*August 27 – ''[[Straight Shooting]]'', directed by [[John Ford]]
*August 28 – ''[[Brcko in Zagreb]]'' – ([[Croatia]])
*August – ''[[The Gay Lord Quex (1917 film)|The Gay Lord Quex]]'' directed by [[Maurice Elvey]] and starring [[Ben Webster (actor)|Ben Webster]] and [[Irene Vanbrugh]] – ([[British films before 1920|GB]])
*September 13 – ''[[The Gulf Between (1917 film)|The Gulf Between]]'', All [[color film|color]] movie.
[[File:Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.jpg|thumb|Advertisement, August 1917]]
*September 22 – ''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]'', starring [[Mary Pickford]]
*September 30 – ''[[Camille (1917 film)|Camille]]'', starring [[Theda Bara]]
*September 30 – ''[[Oh Doctor! (1917 film)|Oh Doctor!]]'', a [[Fatty Arbuckle|'Fatty' Arbuckle]] / [[Buster Keaton]] short.
*September 30 – ''[[The Sultan's Wife]]'', starring [[Gloria Swanson]]
*September – ''[[Fear (1917 film)|Fear]]'' directed by [[Robert Wiene]] and starring [[Conrad Veidt]] – ([[List of German films 1895-1918|Germany]])
[[File:ThedaBara-Cleopatra.jpg|thumb|[[Theda Bara]] as Cleopatra]]
*October 14 – ''[[Cleopatra (1917 film)|Cleopatra]]'', starring [[Theda Bara]]
*October 21 – ''[[Satan Triumphant]]'' (Satana likuyushchiy) – ([[Soviet films: 1917-1921|U.S.S.R.]])
*October 22 – ''[[The Adventurer (1917 film)|The Adventurer]]'', a [[Charles Chaplin|Charlie Chaplin]] short.
*October 29 – ''[[Coney Island (1917 film)|Coney Island]]'', a [[Fatty Arbuckle|'Fatty' Arbuckle]] / [[Buster Keaton]] short.
*November 9 – ''[[El Apóstol]]'' (The Apostle), animated by [[Quirino Cristiani]] – ([[List of Argentine films|Argentina]])
*November 11 – ''[[The Little Princess (1917 film)|A Little Princess]]'', directed by [[Marshall Neilan]], starring [[Mary Pickford]], [[Norman Kerry]], [[ZaSu Pitts]]
*November 12 – ''[[Harrison and Barrison]]'', directed by [[Alexander Korda]], starring [[Márton Rátkai]] – ([[List of Hungarian films 1901–1947|Hungary]])
*November 25 – ''[[All Aboard (1917 film)|All Aboard]]'', a [[Harold Lloyd]] short
*November 26 – ''[[The Silent Man (film)|The Silent Man]]'', starring [[William S. Hart]]
*December 10 – ''[[Tom Sawyer (1917 film)|Tom Sawyer]]'', starring [[Jack Pickford]]
*December 24 – ''[[Bucking Broadway]]'', directed by [[John Ford]], starring [[Harry Carey (actor)|Harry Carey]]
*December – ''[[Raffles the Amateur Cracksman]]'', starring [[John Barrymore]]

==Other 1917 Releases==
*''[[Bestia (1917 film)|Bestia]]'' (aka The Polish Dancer), starring [[Pola Negri]] – ([[List of Polish films pre 1930|Poland]])
*''Black Orchids'' (aka ''The Fatal Orchid''), directed by Rex Ingram for Universal Pictures, starring Cleo Madison and Jean Hersholt<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 181">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''The Bottle Imp'' (aka ''The Mountain Devil'') directed by Marshall Neilan, produced by Jesse Lasky, starring Sessue Hayakawa and Lehua Waipahu; this was the 2nd ever film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 181"/>
*''Brand of Satan'', directed by George Archianbaud, starring Montagu Love and Gerda Holmes
*''[[The Colonel (1917 film)|The Colonel]]'' (aka Az Ezredes), directed by [[Michael Curtiz]], starring [[Bela Lugosi]] – ([[List of Hungarian films 1901–1947|Hungary]])
*''The Darling of Paris'', directed by J. Gordon Edwards for Fox Films, starring Theda Bara and Walter Law; an early film adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''The Devil Stone'', directed by [[Cecil B. DeMille]], produced by [[Jesse L. Lasky]], starring Geraldine Farrar, [[Tully Marshall]] and [[Gustav von Seyffertitz]]
*''The Devil's Assistant'', directed by Harry A. Pollard, starring Monroe Salisbury and Margarita Fischer
*''[[Dombey and Son (film)|Dombey and Son]]'', directed by [[Maurice Elvey]] and starring [[Hayford Hobbs]] – ([[British films before 1920|GB]])
*''Le Cygne (film)'' ("Umirayushchii Lebed") – ([[Soviet films: 1917-1921|U.S.S.R.]])
*''The Enchanted Kiss'', directed by David Smith for Vitagraph, starring Chet Ryan and a young Jack Pierce; based on a short story by O. Henry
*''The Eternal Sin'' (aka ''Lucretia Borgia''), directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Florence Reed and Richard Barthelmess, based on the 1833 Victor Hugo novel ''Lucretia Borgia''<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 185">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''Even As You and I'', directed by Lois Webber for Universal Pictures, starring Harry Carter (as Satan), Ben F. Wilson and Priscilla Dean<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 185"/>
*''The Fall of the Romanoffs'', directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Edward Connelly as Rasputin, based on a book written by a monk named Iliodor (who also played himself in the film)
*''The Fatal Ring'', a 20-chapter serial directed by George B. Seitz for Pathe/Aster, starring Warner Oland, Earl Foxe and Pearl White
*''Fear''/ ''Furcht'' (German) directed by Robert Wiene, starring Conrad Veidt and Bruno Decarli;  this was the first time Wiene and Veidt worked together on a film<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''Flames'' (British) directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Owen Nates, Clifford Cobb and Douglas Munro; based on the novel by Richard Hichens
*''Ghost Hounds'', comedy short starring Lloyd Hamilton and Bud Duncan
*''The Ghost House'', directed by William C. DeMille (Cecil's brother) for producer Jesse L. Lasky, starring Jack Pickford (Mary's brother), Eugene Pallette and Louise Huff
*''The Ghost of Old Morro'' directed by Richard Ridgely for producer Thomas Edison, starring Mabel Trunnelle and Helen Strickland
*''The Golem and the Dancing Girl''/ ''Der Golem und die Tanzerin'' (German), a lost 1917 parody of the 1915 film ''The Golem'', written and directed by Paul Wegener, starring Wagner as the Golem and Lydia Salmonova as the dancer<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''The Haunted House'', directed by Albert Parker, starring Winifred Allen, Richard Rosson and Albert Parker
*''Hilde Warren and Death'' (German) directed by Joe May, written by Fritz Lang, starring Mila May, Bruno Kastner and Georg John as "Death"<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 189">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''The Image Maker'', directed by Eugene Moore for Thanhouser Films, starring Valda Valkyrien and Harris Gordon, deals with reincarnation
*''The Inspirations of Harry Larrabee'', directed by Bertram Bracken, starring Clifford Grey and Margaret Landis, based on the short story by Howard Fielding<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 189"/>
*''It's Never Too Late to Mend'' (British) directed by Dave Aylott, starring George Leyton and Margaret Hope, based on the political novel by Charles Reade<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 190">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''Kaidan Chibusa Enoki''/ ''Ghost Story of the Breast-Nettle Tree'' (Japanese) produced by Nikkatsu Films, starring Matsunosuke Onoe and Kakumatsuro Arashi
*''Magia'' (Hungarian) directed by Alexander Korda, starring Mihaly Varkony and Lucie Labass; plot involves Baron Munchausen as a vampire<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 190"/>
*''The Magic Girdle'' ("Der Magische Gürtel") ([[List of German films 1895-1918|Germany]])
*''[[The Man Without a Country (1917 film)|The Man Without a Country]]'', starring [[Florence La Badie]]
*''The Memoirs of Satan'' (German) directed by [[Robert Heymann]], starring Kurt Brenkendorf and Friedrich Kuhne; a 3-chapter serial that relates the misadventures of Satan<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 190"/>
*''Midnight'', 11-minute short starring and directed by Allen Holubar for Universal Pictures, scripted by E.J. Clawson
*''Mothers of Men'', starring [[Dorothy Davenport]]
*''Nabeshima Kaibyo'' (Japanese) a Ghost-cat horror film produced by Nikkatsu, starring Matsunosuke Onoe and Suminojo Ichikawa
*''The Picture of Dorian Gray''/ ''Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray'' (Germany) written and directed by Richard Oswald, starring Bernd Aldor and Lupu Pick, based on Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''Rasputin'' (German) directed by Herr Arno, starring Max Hiller and Fritz Holbauer
*''Rasputin, the Black Monk'', directed by Arthur Ashley, starring Montagu Love and Henry Hull
*''Runaway Romany'', directed by [[George Lederer]], starring [[Marion Davies]] and [[Matt Moore (actor)|Matt Moore]]
*''Saga no yozakura'' (Japanese) ghost-cat film directed by Shozo Makino, starring Matsunosuke Onoe
*''Satan Triumphant'' (Russian) directed by Yakov Protazanov, starring Pavel Pavlov and Ivan Mozhukhin
*''Seven Keys to Baldpate'', directed by Hugh Ford, starring Geoge M. Cohan and Hedda Hopper; first American film to be based on the 1913 novel by Earl Derr Biggers<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 193">Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''She'', directed by Kenean Buel for Fox Films, starring Valeska Suratt (as "She") and Ben Taggart as Leo Vincey; based on the eponymous novel by H. Rider Haggard (a lost film today)<ref name="Workman, Christopher 2016 p. 193"/>
*''A Sleeping Memory'', directed by George D. Baker for Metro Films, starring Emily Stevens and Frank Mills, based on the 1902 novel by Edward Phillips Oppenheim<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''The Sorrows of Satan'' (British) directed by Alexander Butler, starring Ceceil Humphreys and Gladys Cooper, based on the 1895 novel by Marie Corelli
*''Tangled Lives'', directed by J. Gordon Edwards for Fox Films, starring Genevieve Hamper and Stuart Holmes, based on the Wilkie Collins novel ''The Woman in White''
*''[[Thaïs (Italian film)|Thaïs]]'' – ([[List of Italian films of 1917|Italy]])
*''U-Boote Heraus!'' ("U-Boat Release") ([[List of German films 1895-1918|Germany]])
*''Unconquered'', directed by Frank Reicher for Paramount, written by Beatrice DeMille, starring Mabel Van Buren, Tully Marshall (wearing blackface) and Hobart Bosworth<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>
*''The Voice on the Wire'', a 15-chapter Universal serial directed by Stuart Paton, starring Ben Wilson, Neva Gerber, Hoot Gibson and Nigel De Brulier, based on the 1915 novel by Eustace Hale Ball
*''The Woman in White'', directed by Ernest C. Warde for Thanhouser Films, starring Florence La Badie, Richard Neill and Gertrude Dallas, this was Thanhouser's second film adaptation of the eponymous Wilkie Collins novel (he also produced a 1912 version);  the film was re-released in the early 1920s as ''The Unfortunate Marriage''.<ref>Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.</ref>

==Comedy film series==
*''[[Harold Lloyd]]'' (1913–1938)
*''[[Charlie Chaplin]]'' (1914–1940)
*''[[Lupino Lane]]'' (1915–1939)
*''[[Buster Keaton]]'' (1917–1944)

==Births==
*January 2 – [[Vera Zorina]], dancer, actress (died [[2003 in film|2003]])
*January 3 – [[Jesse White (actor)|Jesse White]], actor (died [[1997 in film|1997]])
*January 5 – [[Jane Wyman]], actress (died [[2007 in film|2007]])
*January 10 – [[Hilde Krahl]], actress (died [[1999 in film|1999]])
*January 21 – [[Lally Bowers]], English actress and singer (died [[1984 in film|1984]])
*January 24 – [[Ernest Borgnine]], actor (died [[2012 in film|2012]])
*February 5 - Melvina Farley, American actress and singer (died [[1999 in film|1999]])
*February 6 – [[Zsa Zsa Gabor]], actress (died [[2016 in film|2016]])
*February 21 – [[Lucille Bremer]], actress (died [[1996 in film|1996]])
*February 25 – [[Brenda Joyce (actress)|Brenda Joyce]], American actress (died [[2009 in film|2009]])
*March 2 – [[Desi Arnaz]], actor (died [[1986 in film|1986]])
*March 12 – [[Googie Withers]], actress (died [[2011 in film|2011]])
*March 22 – [[Virginia Grey]], actress (died [[2004 in film|2004]])
*April 2 -  [[Dabbs Greer]], actor (died [[2007 in film|2007]])
*April 14 – [[Valerie Hobson]], actress (died [[1998 in film|1998]])
*April 17 – [[R. G. Armstrong]], actor, playwright (died [[2012 in film|2012]])
*April 29 
** [[Celeste Holm]], actress (died 2012)
** [[Maya Deren]], experimental filmmaker (died [[1961 in film|1961]])
*May 1 – [[Danielle Darrieux]], actress (died [[2017 in film|2017]])
*May 5 - [[June Lang]], American actress (died [[2005 in film|2005]])
*May 7 - [[David Tomlinson]], English actor and comedian (died [[2000 in film|2000]])
*May 10 – [[Margo (actress)|Margo]], actress (died [[1985 in film|1985]])
*May 16 – [[George Gaynes]], actor (died [[2016 in film|2016]])
*May 18 – [[James Donald]], actor (died [[1993 in film|1993]])
*May 21 – [[Raymond Burr]], actor (died [[1993 in film|1993]])
*May 22 - [[Nathan Davis (actor)]], American actor (died [[2008 in film|2008]]) 
*May 25 – [[Steve Cochran]], actor (died [[1965 in film|1965]])
*June 2 - [[Max Showalter]], American actor and musician (died [[2000 in film|2000]])
*June 3 – [[Leo Gorcey]], actor, comedian (died [[1969 in film|1969]])
*June 7 – [[Dean Martin]], singer, actor (died [[1995 in film|1995]])
*June 30
**[[Lena Horne]], singer, actress (died [[2010 in film|2010]])
**[[Susan Hayward]], actress (died [[1975 in film|1975]])
*July 1 – [[Virginia Dale]], American actress (died [[1994 in film|1994]])
*July 8 – [[Faye Emerson]], actress (died [[1983 in film|1983]])
*July 17 – [[Phyllis Diller]], comedian, actress (died 2012)
*July 26 – [[Lorna Gray]], actress (died 2017)
*August 6 – [[Robert Mitchum]], actor (died [[1997 in film|1997]])
*August 8 – [[Earl Cameron (actor)|Earl Cameron]], actor (died [[2020 in film|2020]])
*August 12 – [[Marjorie Reynolds]], actress, dancer (died [[1997 in film|1997]])
*August 13 – [[Gloria Dickson]], actress (died [[1945 in film|1945]])
*August 25 – [[Mel Ferrer]], actor (died [[2008 in film|2008]])
*September 9 – [[Rolf Wenkhaus]], actor (died [[1942 in film|1942]])
*September 11 – [[Herbert Lom]], actor (died 2012)
*September 18 - [[June Foray]], American voice actress (died 2017)
*October 7 
**[[Helmut Dantine]], actor (died [[1982 in film|1982]])
**[[June Allyson]], actress (died [[2006 in film|2006]])
*October 11 - [[J. Edward McKinley]], American character actor (died [[2004 in film|2004]])
*October 16 – [[Alice Pearce]], actress (died [[1966 in film|1966]])
*October 17 – [[Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1917)|Marsha Hunt]], American actress (died [[2022 in film|2022]])
*October 22 – [[Joan Fontaine]], actress (died [[2013 in film|2013]])
*November 2 – [[Ann Rutherford]], actress (died 2012)
*November 4 – [[Virginia Field]], actress (died [[1992 in film|1992]])
*November 30 - [[Ilse Steppat]], German actress (died 1969)
*December 7 – [[Hurd Hatfield]], actor (died 1998)
*December 12 – [[Margaret Marquis]], actress (died 1993)
*December 13 - [[John Hart (actor)|John Hart]], American actor (died [[2009 in film|2009]])
*December 18 - [[Ossie Davis]], American film, television and Broadway actor, director, poet, playwright, author and civil rights activist (died [[2005 in film|2005]])
*December 22 – [[Frankie Darro]], actor (died [[1976 in film|1976]])
*December 28 - [[Kim Chan]], Chinese-American actor and producer (died [[2008 in film|2008]])

==Deaths==
* February 21 – [[Fred Mace]], 38, American actor & comedian, ''[[What Happened to Jones (1915 film)|What Happened to Jones]]'', ''His Last Scent'', ''A Lover's Might'', ''The Love Comet''
* March 6 – [[Valdemar Psilander]], 32, Danish actor, ''Rytterstatuen'', ''Lykken'', ''[[Lydia (film)|Lydia]]'', ''Klovnen'', ''[[Favoriten]]'', ''In Defense of a Nation'', ''John Redmond, the Evangelist''
* July 2 – [[Herbert Beerbohm Tree]], 64, English stage & screen actor, ''Beerbohm Tree, The Great English Actor''; ''[[Henry VIII (film)|Henry VIII]]''; ''[[Macbeth (1916 film)|Macbeth]]''; ''[[Trilby (1914 film)|Trilby]]''; ''[[The Old Folks at Home]]''
* October 13 – [[Florence La Badie]], 29, American actress, ''[[The Man Without a Country (1917 film)|The Man Without a Country]]'', ''War and the Woman'', ''[[The Woman in White (1917 film)|The Woman in White]]'', ''[[When Love Was Blind (1917 film)|When Love Was Blind]]''
* October 25 – [[Jack Standing]], 31, English actor, ''With Hoops of Steel'', ''The Curse of Eve'', ''The Innocent Sinner'', ''The Price of Her Soul'', ''One Touch of Sin'' 
* November 5 – [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0360617/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 Howell Hansel], 46, American actor and director
* November 18 – [[Nino Oxilia]], 28, Italian director, ''[[Rapsodia satanica]]'', ''[[Blue Blood (1914 film)|Blue Blood]]''
* December 20 – [[Eric Campbell (actor)|Eric Campbell]], 38, Scottish actor, ''[[The Immigrant (1917 film)|The Immigrant]]'', ''[[Behind the Screen]]'', ''The Count'', ''[[Easy Street (1917 film)|Easy Street]]'', ''[[The Adventurer (1917 film)|The Adventurer]]''[[The Adventurer (1917 film)|(short)]], ''[[The Cure (1917 film)|The Cure]]''[[The Cure (1917 film)|(short)]]

==Film debuts==
*[[Maude Allen]] – ''[[The Moth (1917 film)|The Moth]]''
*[[Eduardo Ciannelli]] – ''[[The Food Gamblers]]''
*[[Jackie Coogan]] – ''[[Skinner's Baby]]''
*[[Marion Davies]] – ''[[Runaway Romany]]''
*[[Vittorio De Sica]] – ''[[The Clemenceau Affair]]''
*[[Richard Dix (actor)|Richard Dix]] – ''[[One of Many (film)|One of Many]]''
*[[Fritz Feld]] – ''[[The Golem and the Dancing Girl]]''
*[[John Ford]] (director) – ''[[Straight Shooting]]''
*[[Ferdinand Gottschalk]] – ''[[Please Help Emily]]''
*[[Taylor Holmes]] – ''Fools for Luck''
*[[Leslie Howard]] – ''[[The Happy Warrior (1917 film)|The Happy Warrior]]''
*[[Isabel Jeans]] – ''The Profligate''
*[[Buck Jones]] – ''A Rough Shod Fighter''
*[[Madge Kennedy]] – ''[[Baby Mine (1917 film)|Baby Mine]]''
*[[Bela Lugosi]] – ''[[Leoni Leo]]''
*[[Bert Lytell]] – ''[[The Lone Wolf (1917 film)|The Lone Wolf]]''
*[[May McAvoy]] – ''Hate''
*[[Chester Morris]] – ''[[An Amateur Orphan]]''
*[[ZaSu Pitts]] – ''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]''
*[[Marjorie Rambeau]] – ''[[The Greater Woman]]''
*[[Gustav von Seyffertitz]] – ''[[Down to Earth (1917 film)|Down to Earth]]''
*[[Amy Veness]] – ''Please Help Emily''
*[[Clifton Webb]] – ''[[National Red Cross Pageant]]''
*[[Marjorie Wood]] – ''National Red Cross Pageant''
*[[Loretta Young]] – ''[[The Primrose Ring]]''

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=feature,short&release_date=1917-01-01,1917-12-31&adult=include&sort=num_votes,desc List of 1917 films] at [[IMDb]]
*[https://www.imdb.com/search/name/?death_date=1917-01-01,1917-12-31&adult=include List of 1917 deaths] at [[IMDb]]
* [https://www.imdb.com/search/name/?birth_date=1917-01-01,1917-12-31&adult=include List of 1917 births] at [[IMDb]]

{{1917 films}}

[[Category:1917 in film| ]]
[[Category:Film by year]]