1908 in film

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Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
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The year 1908 in film involved some significant events.

Events[edit]

• July 14 - D. W. Griffith becomes a director at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in New York City. Between 1908 and 1913, Griffith will direct nearly 500 films starting with the release of The Adventures of Dollie.
• October 28 - The Russian Film Industry begins with the release of Russia's first fictional narrative film Stenka Razin.
• November 18 - Release in France of The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (La Mort du duc de Guise), the first film with a screenplay by an eminent man of letters, the playwright Henri Lavedan;^[1] it is also directed by two men of the theatre, Charles Le Bargy and André Calmettes, features actors of the Comédie-Française, and is accompanied by a score from Saint-Saëns.
• December - Thomas Edison forms the Motion Picture Patents Company, with goals of controlling production and distribution, raising theater admission prices, cooperating with censorship bodies, and preventing film stock from getting into the hands of nonmember producers.
• Pathé invents the newsreel that was shown in cinemas prior to a feature film.^[2]

Films released in 1908[edit]

• The Adventures of Dollie, directed by D. W. Griffith
• After Many Years
• Airy Fairy Lillian Tries On Her New Corsets
• Antony and Cleopatra, directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Charles Kent
• The Assassination of the Duke of Guise
• Betrayed by a Handprint, directed by D. W. Griffith
• Cupid's Prank, directed by Edwin S. Porter
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The Dog And His Various Merits, produced by Pathé
• Dreams of Toyland, directed by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper
• A L'Ecu d'Or ou la bonne auberge, a French film regarded as one of the first pornographic films
• Excursion To The Moon, directed by Segundo de Chomón
• The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
• Fantasmagorie, directed by Émile Cohl (first fully animated film)
• Fire In A Burlesque Theatre
• From Show Girl To Burlesque Queen
• The Haunted House, directed by Segundo de Chomón
• In the Sultan's Power
• Long Distance Wireless Photography, directed by Georges Melies
• Macbeth, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
• Magic Bricks, directed by Segundo de Chomón
• Moscow Clad In Snow, produced by Pathé
• Over The Hill To The Poorhouse
• The Physician Of The Castle
• The Reprieve: An Episode in the Life of Abraham Lincoln
• The Tempest, directed by Percy Stow
• Troubles Of A Manager Of A Burlesque Show
• Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, directed by J. Searle Dawley, starring D. W. Griffith
• Romeo and Juliet, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
• Stenka Razin
• The Taming of the Shrew, directed by D. W. Griffith
• The Thieving Hand, directed by J. Stuart Blackton
• Trouble Of A Grass Widower, starring Max Linder
• Un dame vraiment bien (Feuillade)
• A Visit To The Seaside, directed by George Albert Smith. First natural color movie in cinema.
• Whaling Afloat And Ashore, directed by Robert W. Paul

Births[edit]

• January 10
  • Bernard Lee, English actor (died 1981)
  • Paul Henreid - Austrian-American actor, director (died 1992)
• January 11 - Lionel Stander, American actor (died 1994)
• January 12 - Jean Delannoy, French director (died 2008)
• January 16 - Ethel Merman, American actress, singer (died 1984)
• February 4 - Gwili Andre, Danish actress (died 1959)
• February 5 - Peg Entwistle, Welsh actress (died 1932)
• February 7 - Buster Crabbe, American actor (d. 1983)
• February 11 - Philip Dunne, American screenwriter, director, and producer (d. 1992)
• February 22 - John Mills, English actor (died 2005)
• March 5 - Rex Harrison, English actor (died 1990)
• March 7 - Anna Magnani, Italian actress (died 1973)
• March 20 - Michael Redgrave, English actor (died 1985)
• April 2 - Buddy Ebsen, American actor, (died 2003)
• April 5 - Bette Davis, American actress (died 1989)
• April 15 - Lita Grey, American actress (died 1995)
• April 19 - Irena Eichlerówna, Polish actress (died 1990)
• April 24 - Marceline Day, American actress (died 2000)
• April 30 - Eve Arden, American actress (died 1990)
• May 2 - William Bakewell, American actor (died 1993)
• May 6 - Lucien Ballard - American cinematographer (died 1988)
• May 20 - James Stewart, American actor (died 1997)
• May 26 - Robert Morley, English actor (died 1992)
• May 30 - Mel Blanc, American voice actor (died 1989)
• May 31 - Don Ameche, American actor (died 1993)
• July 12 - Milton Berle, American actor (died 2002)
• July 18 - Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (died 1944)
• August 30 - Fred MacMurray, American actor (died 1991)
• September 13 - Mae Questel, American voice actress (died 1998)
• September 15 - Penny Singleton, American actress, (died 2003)
• October 5 - Joshua Logan, American director (died 1988)
• October 6 - Carole Lombard, American actress (died 1942)
• November 16 - Burgess Meredith, American actor (died 1997)
• December 11
  • Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese director (died 2015)
  • Sally Eilers, American actress (died 1978)
• December 13 - Van Heflin, Actor (died 1971)
• December 18 - Celia Johnson, English actress (died 1982)
• December 20 - Dennis Morgan, American actor, singer (died 1994)
• December 25 - Helen Twelvetrees, American actress (died 1958)
• December 28 - Lew Ayres, American actor (died 1996)

Deaths[edit]

• May 23 - Peter F. Dailey, actor, singer (born 1868)

Film debuts[edit]

• Lionel Barrymore - The Paris Hat (short)(unconfirmed) (*proper debut would be 1911)
• Hobart Bosworth - The Count of Monte Cristo (short)
• Sidney Drew - Cupid's Realm or A Game of Hearts (short)
• Julia Swayne Gordon - Othello (short)
• D.W. Griffith - actor/writer When Knighthood was in Flower (short); producer Deceived Slumming Party (short); director The Adventures of Dollie (short)
• Marion Leonard - At the Crossroads of Life (short)
• Owen Moore - The Guerilla (short)
• Miriam Nesbitt - Saved by Love
• Mack Sennett - Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker (short)
• Earle Williams - Barbara Fritchie: The Story of a Patriotic Woman (short)
• Kathlyn Williams - On Thanksgiving Day (short)

References[edit]