Firsts in Film History

Do you ever wonder when a certain event happened for the first time in recorded history? Well, if you do, you are in for a treat (hopefully), because today I am sharing with you 10 firsts in film history. From the first motion picture to premiere in Hollywood, to the first «talkie» and the first Technicolor film, these events not only represented advances in cinema technology, but also paved the way for future filmmakers.

1. The first ever motion picture to be made in Hollywood was In Old California (1910). Directed by D. W. Griffith for Biograph Company, then based in New York City, the film was a 17-minute melodrama set in the early 19th century, when California was under Spanish and Mexican rule. It starred Frank Powell, Arthur V. Johnson, Marion Leonard and Henry B. Walthall. The short was considered lost for many decades, until a copy was found in 2004 and screened at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.

LEFT: Marion Leonard, Henry B. Walthall and Arthur Johnson in In Old California. RIGHT: D. W. Griffith in his office at Biograph Company in New York City.

2. The first ever movie to have a Hollywood premiere was Robin Hood (1922). Directed by Allan Dwan for United Artists, this swashbuckler starred Douglas Fairbanks as the iconic title character, Enid Bennett as his love interest, Lady Marian, and Paul Dickey as his rival, Sir Guy of Gisbourne. One of the most expensive films of the 1920s, Robin Hood premiered at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on October 18, 1922, and it was a massive critical and commercial success. The admission price to the premiere was $5 (about $80 in 2021).

Crowds gathered outside of Grauman's Egyptian Theatre for the premiere of Robin Hood, on October 18, 1922.

3. The first motion picture to have a full-length synchronised soundtrack was Don Juan (1926). 

Directed by Alan Crosland for Warner Bros., the film starred John Barrymore in the title role of the legendary 16th-century Spanish womanizer. Don Juan used the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, which was developed at Western Electric's Bell Laboratories in New York City and acquired by Warner Bros. in 1925. It has a synchronised musical score and sound effects, although it has no spoken dialogue.

LEFT: Theatrical release poster of Don Juan. MIDDLE: John Barrymore in costume as the title character in Don Juan. RIGHT: Crowd gathered outside the Warners' Theatre in New York City for the premiere of Don Juan on August 6, 1926.

5. The first all-talking full-length feature film was Lights of New York (1928). Directed by Bryan Foy for Warner Bros., and starring Helene Costello, Cullen Landis and Eugene Pallette, this crime drama told the story of a gangster who framed two bootleggers for the shooting of a police officer in New York City. Lights of New York used the studio's own Vitaphone sound-on-disc system to add synchronised spoken dialogue all the way through the film. Despite the generally negative critical reviews, the picture was a massive box-office success, with audiences driven to the theatres by the novelty of a all-taking feature film.

 

LEFT: Theatrical poster of Lights of New York. MIDDLE: Cullen Landis and Helene Costello in Lights of New York. RIGHT: Vitaphone ad seen in The Film Daily.

6. The first ever motion picture made in Technicolor was The Gulf Between (1917). Starring Grace Darmond and Niles Welch, the film used Technicolor's «System 1,» a two-colour (red and green) process. Because of the technical difficulties in keeping the red and green images aligned during projection, it was the only motion picture made using this process. A copy of The Gulf Between was destroyed in a fire in 1961 and the film is now considered lost, with only a few short fragments known to survive.

Two of the few surviving frames of The Gulf Between. LEFT: Grace Darmond. RIGHT: Charles Brandt, Grace Darmond and Niles Welch.

7. The first sequel in movie history was The Fall of a Nation (1916). Directed by Thomas Dixon Jr., and based on his own novel, the drama was a sequel to D. W. Griffith's controversial epic The Birth of a Nation (1915), and starred Lorraine Huling, Percy Standing and Arthur Shirley. Unlike its predecessor, it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. The film is now lost, although the complete score still exists.

 

Two surviving stills from The Fall of a Nation. Except for the score, the film is now considered lost.

8. The first 3D film to be shown in front of an audience was The Power of Love (1922). Starring Elliot Sparling, Barbara Bedford and Noah Beery, the drama was directed by Nat G. Deverich and Harry K. Fairall, who developed the method for making stereoscopic films. The film premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theatre in Los Angeles on September 27, 1922, and used a red-and-green anaglyph system for the 3D experience. It also gave the audience the option of viewing (in 2D) one of two different endings to the story, either happy or tragic, by looking through only the red or the green lens of the spectacles. The Power of Love was not a success in 3D, and was distributed in 2D as Forbidden Lover over the next two years. Both versions are now presumed lost.

LEFT: A still from The Power of Love published in Exhibitor's Herald. MIDDLE: Harry K. Fairall. RIGHT: An early example of a 3D camera.

9. The first ever full-length narrative feature film was The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Directed by Charles Tait, this Australian picture traced the exploits of the 19th-century gang of bushrangers and outlaws led by Ned Kelly. With a running time of 60 minutes, the film premiered at the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne on December 26, 1906, and was a critical and commercial success, giving way to a series of other movies about the Kelly gang. Approximately 17 minutes of the film and some stills are known to exist. Due do its historical significance, The Story of the Kelly Gang is now part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

Two surviving stills from The Story of the Kelly Gang. The cast has not been positively identified.

10. The first feature film to be shown on television was The Crooked Circle (1932). Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, this detective flick starred ZaSu Pitts, James Gleason and Ben Lyon. It was broadcast for the first time on March 10, 1933, by the Don Lee Broadcasting System over their experimental station W6XAO, transmitting an 80-line resolution mechanical television picture to about 12 receiving sets in Los Angeles.

LEFT: Poster for The Crooked Circle. MIDDLE: ZaSu Pitts and James Gleason in The Crooked Circle. RIGHT: An early television, circa 1935.

Do you know any other interesting firsts in film history that I can add to this list?