Movies

This page indexes the individual year in film pages. Each year is annotated with a significant event as a reference point.

• 19th century in film
• 20th century in film:
  • 1900s - 1910s - 1920s - 1930s - 1940s - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s - 1990s
• 21st century in film:
  • 2000s

19th century in film

• 1875
• 1888 - The first credited film, Roundhay Garden Scene, is recorded.
• 1889
• 1890
• 1891
• 1892
• 1893
• 1894 - Thomas Edison records Fred Ott's sneeze
• 1895
• 1896
• 1897
• 1898
• 1899 - Cinderella

1900s

• 1900
• 1901
• 1902 - A Trip to the Moon by George Méliès
• 1903 - The Great Train Robbery, by Edwin S. Porter
• 1904 - The Great Train Robbery, remake by Siegmund Lubin
• 1905 -
• 1906 - The world's first feature film, "The Story of the Kelly Gang", released in Australia
• 1907 - Ben-Hur, directed by Sidney Olcott
• 1908 - Thomas Edison formed the Motion Picture Patents Company
• 1909 -

1910s

• 1910 - First filmed "Frankenstein" by Edison studios.
• 1911 - Nestor Films opens the first motion picture studio in Hollywood.
• 1912 - From the Manger To the Cross, directed by Sidney Olcott. First American feature film made, Oliver Twist.
• 1913 - The first Charlie Chaplin movies are made.
• 1914 - Tillie's Punctured Romance produced by Mack Sennett, stars Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin, and Mabel Normand.
• 1915 - The Country Girl, starring Florence LaBadie. The first great epic of American film, The Birth of a Nation is produced by D. W. Griffith.
• 1916 - D. W. Griffith's second monumental production, Intolerance is released.
• 1917 - Technicolor is introduced
• 1918 - "My Four Years in Germany" is the first Warner Brothers production. First National releases the first Tarzan film, starring Elmo Lincoln.
• 1919 - United Artists is founded by Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith.

1920s

• 1920 - Buster Keaton begins starring in shorts and his first feature, "The Saphead" at Metro. Erich Von Stroheim's "The Devil's Passkey" stars Mae Busch at Goldwyn.
• 1921 - Laurel and Hardy's first film together is "A Lucky Dog".
• 1922 - Nosferatu, first ever vampire film released. Also, "Our Gang" series begins at Hal Roach studios.
• 1923 - Harold Lloyd's greatest movie "Safety Last" produced by Hal Roach, released by Pathe; Charles Chaplin releases A Woman of Paris
• 1924 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio established. Erich von Stroheim's magnum opus, Greed released.
• 1925 - Lon Chaney's greatest film, The Phantom of the Opera is released by Universal with colour sequences.
• 1926 - First Vitaphone feature, "Don Juan" starring John Barrymore, released by Warner Brothers. Posthumously released, "The Son Of the Shiek" is Rudolph Valentino's biggest grossing film.
• 1927 - Al Jolson movie The Jazz Singer popularizes sound motion pictures. First talkie newsreel,"Fox Movietone News".
• 1928 - First talkie cartoon,"Dinner Time" is produced by VanBuren Studios, the second talkie cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" by Walt Disney is released a month later.
• 1929 - The first Academy Awards, or Oscars, are distributed. Also, Laurel & Hardy make their talkie debut in "Unaccustomed As we are" co-starring Thelma Todd at Hal Roach Studios. Rko-Radio studio is established.

1930s

• 1930 - The first Busby Berkely musical film, "Whoopee" starring Eddie Cantor, is released by Goldwyn in colour. Also, Max Fleischer's animated star "Betty Boop" debuts.
• 1931 - Laurel & Hardy's first feature, "Pardon Us" is released by MGM.
• 1932 - Shirley Temple's film career begins
• 1933 - Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees premieres, the first film produced in the three-strip Technicolor process. The film Ecstacy, which shows simulated sex, shocks audiences. Also, First Popeye cartoon, "Popeye the Sailor" debuts.
• 1934 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from Frank J. Baum. The first Columbia Three Stooges short is released. Shirley Temple becomes a star. The so-called 'pre-code' era ends when the Production Code is amended to require all films to obtain a certificate of approval. The code is effectively enforced for the first time with the removal of nude scenes from the movie Tarzan and his Mate.
• 1935 - Laurel & Hardy's last short subject, "Thicker Than water". The first feature-length motion picture in three-strip Technicolor, RKO's Becky Sharp.
• 1936 - Thelma Todd's final short subject "An All-American Toothache" co-starring Patsy Kelly and Mickey Daniels.
• 1937 - Snow White, first feature-length animated movie
• 1938 - Bringing Up Baby released to a cold box-office reception.
• 1939 - Hollywood is in its Golden Age; Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and The Wizard of Oz premiere.

1940s

• 1940 - Columbia releases Charley Chase's last film, "South of the Boudoir"
• 1941 - Citizen Kane, starring Orson Welles, premieres
• 1942 - Bambi released. Casablanca, starring Humprey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, released.
• 1943 - Lassie Come Home introduces Lassie.
• 1944 - Last Our Gang shorts, produced by MGM.
• 1945 - National Velvet brings Elizabeth Taylor to prominence
• 1946 - Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life premieres
• 1947 - Miracle on 34th Street
• 1948 - Joan of Arc, starring Ingrid Bergman, Edgar Kennedy's final short for RKO.
• 1949 - Sands of Iwo Jima, directed by Allan Dwan

1950s

• 1950 - Disney's Cinderella. Also, Laurel & Hardy's final film, "Atoll K" is made in Europe.
• 1951 - An American in Paris
• 1952 - Cinerama-system is introduced
• 1953 - Disney's Peter Pan
• 1954 - On the Waterfront, A Star Is Born and Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
• 1955 - East of Eden, starring James Dean
• 1956 - The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston
• 1957 - Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley
• 1958 - Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo- Edward Dmytryk's The Young Lions
• 1959 - Ben-Hur premieres

1960s

• 1960 - Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho
• 1961 - West Side Story premieres
• 1962 - Lawrence of Arabia and To Kill a Mockingbird premiere
• 1963 - Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
• 1964 - The Beatles star in A Hard Day's Night
• 1965 - The Sound of Music premieres
• 1966 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• 1967 - The Graduate
• 1968 - Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
• 1969 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

1970s

• 1970 - Patton and M*A*S*H are released
• 1971 - The French Connection premieres
• 1972 - The Godfather premieres
• 1973 - The Sting and The Exorcist are released
• 1974 - Jesus Christ Superstar
• 1975 - Steven Spielberg's Jaws is released
• 1976 - Rocky premieres
• 1977 - George Lucas' science fiction film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is released and The Bee Gees sing in Saturday Night Fever
• 1978 - National Lampoon's Animal House; Dawn of the Dead (1978 film); The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)
• 1979 - Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now

1980s

• 1980 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Caddyshack are released.
• 1981 - The George Lucas/Steven Spielberg collaboration, Raiders of the Lost Ark, premieres
• 1982 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial premieres
• 1983 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, The Big Chill, and The Right Stuff are released
• 1984 - Ghost Busters and Amadeus are released, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• 1985 - Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple premieres
• 1986 - Fatal Attraction premieres
• 1987 - Three Men and a Baby is released
• 1988 - Rain Man starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise
• 1989 - Batman, directed by Tim Burton, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade starring Sean Connery

1990s

• 1990 - The first Home Alone is released. Dances with Wolves takes best picture
• 1991 - The Silence of the Lambs is released
• 1992 - Family films like Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Aladdin are released
• 1993 - Schindler's List and Jurassic Park are released
• 1994 - Tom Hanks stars in Forrest Gump; The Lion King becomes the highest grossing animated film of all-time (record held until 2003).
• 1995 - Mel Gibson directs and stars in Braveheart
• 1996 - Fargo is released, The English Patient
• 1997 - Titanic, As Good as It Gets and Men in Black are released; Atom Egoyan releases The Sweet Hereafter
• 1998 - Tom Hanks stars in Saving Private Ryan, The Sixth Sense (diretcted by M. Night Shyamalan)
• 1999 - Science fiction films such as Star Wars, Episode I - The Phantom Menace and The Matrix are released.

2000s

• 2000 - Gladiator, Cast Away and O Brother, Where Art Thou? are released
• 2001 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ; Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Shrek, Agent Provocateur controversial ad campaign features Kylie Minogue
• 2002 - Julie Taymor - Frida, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, George Lucas' Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• 2003 - Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Pixar's Finding Nemo overtakes The Lion King as highest grossing animated film of all time.
• 2004 - Shrek 2 breaks records for animated movies, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ; Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, Spider-Man 2
• 2005 - George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter Jackson's King Kong

External links

• Box office grosses 1900-2006
• Interactive/editable movie timeline 1900-Present Day