On 7 February 1914, audiences first met Chaplin's Little Tramp, in a short film shot among real spectators at a children's pushcart race in Venice, California. The year before, Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra had premiered in Bombay, and in November 1917 Quirino Cristiani's El Apóstol opened in Buenos Aires, which historians consider the first animated feature film.
Sound arrived next. Station 2LO in London broadcast the British Broadcasting Company's first news bulletin in November 1922, and on 6 October 1927 Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, in which Al Jolson sang six songs. A year later came Steamboat Willie, treated as Mickey Mouse's official debut, with Disney himself supplying every voice, and in March 1931 Alam Ara became India's first sound film.
In December 1937 Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered in Los Angeles. In October 1938 Orson Welles imitated a live news broadcast to tell of a Martian invasion, and in December 1939 Gone with the Wind opened in Atlanta.
The events that carry the story, in date order. Each card links to its full entry on the page for its year.
Economy & trade
Universal Pictures is founded in New York City
· New York City, United States · North America
Some details uncertain.
On 30 April 1912 the Universal Film Manufacturing Company was legally incorporated in New York City, founded by Carl Laemmle and a group of film businessmen. It was formed by merging several film companies, among them Independent Moving Pictures and the Powers company.
Why it is interesting. Universal ranks as the fifth oldest studio worldwide, after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus and Nordisk Film.
· Bombay, British India (now Mumbai, India) · Asia
Dadasaheb Phalke's silent film Raja Harishchandra premiered at the Olympia Theatre in Bombay on 21 April 1913. Its general theatrical release followed on 3 May at the Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall.
Why it is interesting. The Government of India recognises it as the first Indian feature film, though some historians give that place to a 1912 film.
Chaplin's Little Tramp reaches the screen in Kid Auto Races at Venice
· Venice, Los Angeles, United States · North America
The short film, shot at a real children's pushcart race in Venice, California, was released on 7 February; Chaplin improvised gags in front of actual spectators.
Why it is interesting. The Tramp reached audiences five days after Chaplin's first film, in a short improvised among real spectators.
Animated film El Apóstol is released in Buenos Aires
· Buenos Aires, Argentina · South America
El Apóstol, directed by Quirino Cristiani, opened at the Cine Select-Suipacha on 9 November 1917. The silent film satirised Argentina's president Hipólito Yrigoyen and is considered by historians to be the first animated feature film.
Robert Wiene's German silent horror film, from a script by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, was released on 26 February 1920. A hypnotist played by Werner Krauss uses a sleepwalker, Cesare, played by Conrad Veidt, to commit murders.
Why it is interesting. Warped, angular sets by three designers made it the defining example of early German Expressionist film.
Station 2LO carries the British Broadcasting Company's first radio news bulletin
· London, United Kingdom · Europe
Station 2LO broadcast the British Broadcasting Company's first radio news bulletin on 14 November 1922. BBC News is now described as the world's largest broadcast news organisation.
Why it is interesting. Its newsroom in Broadcasting House is now described as the largest live newsroom in Europe.
Sergei Eisenstein's silent Soviet film about the 1905 mutiny of the battleship Potemkin crew had its first showing on 21 December 1925 at the Bolshoi Theatre, during a ceremonial meeting to mark the 1905 revolution.
Why it is interesting. Its Odessa Steps sequence became a widely influential example of montage editing.
Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, directed by Alan Crosland and using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, on 6 October 1927. Al Jolson sang six songs in it, and it was the first feature-length film with synchronized recorded music alongside lip-synchronous singing and speech.
Why it is interesting. Al Jolson's songs and spoken lines helped bring the silent era to an end.
Disney's cartoon Steamboat Willie premieres in New York
· New York City, United States · North America
Steamboat Willie debuted at the Colony Theater in New York City, treated as the official debut of both Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Disney aimed at one of the earliest cartoons with fully synchronized sound and supplied every voice himself.
Why it is interesting. The first attempt to synchronize the sound with the film, on 15 September, was a disaster.
Alam Ara, India's first sound film, premieres in Bombay
· Bombay, British India (now Mumbai, India) · Asia
Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara, a historical fantasy considered India's first sound film, premiered at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay on 14 March 1931. No print survives, which makes it a lost film.
Why it is interesting. Filming happened mostly at night because the studio stood beside a railway track.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premieres in Los Angeles
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
Some details uncertain.
Walt Disney's animated film had its first showing at Los Angeles's Carthay Circle Theatre on 21 December 1937, before a general US opening on 4 February 1938. RKO Radio Pictures released it.
Why it is interesting. Disney spent $1.5 million on the film, the first cel-animated feature, and it took in over $8 million on its first release.
Orson Welles's radio drama The War of the Worlds is broadcast
· New York, New York, United States · North America
Orson Welles directed and narrated a Halloween episode of the CBS series The Mercury Theatre on the Air, adapted by Howard Koch from H. G. Wells's novel. Its first half imitated a live news broadcast describing a Martian invasion.
Why it is interesting. Some listeners believed a real invasion was under way, though how widespread the panic was remains disputed.
The film adapts Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel, with David O. Selznick producing and Victor Fleming directing. It premiered in Atlanta.
Why it is interesting. Selznick delayed filming for two years to secure Clark Gable, and 1,400 unknown women were interviewed before Vivien Leigh was cast as Scarlett O'Hara.