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The History of Cinema: 1921

USA July-December

Following scathing French reviews of Fred Niblo’s The Three Musketeers, its star, Douglas Fairbanks, vows “never to put a foot in France again”  [ADD]

Fred Niblo’s The Three Musketeers, starring Douglas Fairbanks, is released, further consolidating the star’s position as an action hero and marking a move away from his usual light comedies. [ADD]

The Federal Trade Commission accuses Famous Players-Lasky of block-booking, the practice whereby exhibitors must take packages of films unseen in order to obtain copies of major films. [ADD]

D. W. Griffith builds a $150,000 replica of an 18^th century French village for his latest film, Orphans of the Storm. [ADD]

Roscoe Arbuckle is charged with the rape of actress Virginia Rappe, who died of peritonitis following a party held by Arbuckle at the Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco.   Arbuckle pleads his innocence after Maude Delmont, a friend of Rappe’s, accuses him of the rape. [ADD]

Cecil B. DeMille’s film version of Arthur Schnitzler’s scandalous 1890’s play, Anatol, is released.   The Affairs of Anatol stars heartthrob Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson. [ADD]

Sun-Life Pictures release The Lucky Dog, which was filmed in 1919.   The film is noticeable only for the fact that it marks the first pairing of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.   Hardy plays a thief who robs Laurel at gunpoint. [ADD]

The Sheik, directed by George Melford and starring Rudolph Valentino, is released.   Supporting cast includes Agnes Ayres, Patsy Ruth Miller, George Waggner, Frank Butler, Lucien Littlefold and Adolphe Menjou. [ADD]

Following Metro Pictures refusal to increase Rudolph Valentino’s weekly salary to $450, the actor moves to Paramount, who offer him $500. [ADD]

Max Linder’s Be My Wife is released.   As well as co-starring with Alta Allen, the French comedian also produced and directed. [ADD]

Ernst Lubitsch arrives in America to promote his film The Loves of Pharaoh, and to consider offers from Hollywood producers. [ADD]

Henry King’s version of Joseph Hergesheimer’s Tol’able David is released.   Richard Barthelmess, the star,  purchased the film rights from director D. W. Griffith for $7,500, and formed his own production company, Inspiration Pictures, to get the film made. [ADD]

Paramount Pictures announce that they produced a total of 101 feature films in 1921 – the most ever produced by a single studio to date. [ADD]

– First National and United Artists both open distribution branches in France. [ADD]

– George W. Bingham is awarded a patent for his Widescope film system, which uses 70mm stock which is slit during processing and screened on two interlocked 35mm projectors. [ADD]

– The 8,000-seater Capitol Theater in New York becomes the world’s largest cinema. [ADD]

Other Key Films of 1921

Camille (Ray C. Smallwood) [ADD]

Dream Street (D. W. Griffith) [ADD]

Fool’s Paradise (Cecil B. DeMille) [ADD]

The Garden of Allah (Herbert Brenon) [ADD]

The Idle Class (Charles Chaplin) [ADD]

The Prisoner of Zenda (Dave Fleischer and Max Fleischer) [ADD]

The Queen of Sheba (J. Gordon Edwards) [ADD]