This is an overview of 1923 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top eight films released in 1923 by U.S. gross are as follows:
+Highest-grossing films of 1923 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1Paramount $4,169,798 2 $3,500,000 3/4 (tie)Safety Last!The Hunchback of Notre DamePathé ExchangeUniversal $1,500,000 5Scaramouche Metro $1,000,000 6Adam's Rib Paramount $881,206 7Main Street Warner Bros. $510,000Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 2 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551 8 $470,000 9Tiger Rose $466,000
Events April 4 – Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. incorporated in the United States. April 15 – Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers. Henry Roussel's Les Opprimés is released, introducing mattes (painted by W. Percy Day) to French cinema. October 16 – Brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney establish Disney Brothers Studio (later to be known as Walt Disney Productions).
Notable films released in 1923 American films unless stated otherwise
A Adam's Rib, directed by Cecil B. DeMille The Ancient Law (Das alte Gesetz), directed by E. A. Dupont, starring Henny Porten – (Germany) Ashes of Vengeance, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Norma Talmadge and Wallace Beery The Audacious Mr. Squire, directed by Edwin Greenwood, starring Jack Buchanan – (GB)
B The Balloonatic, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton Barsoum Looking for a Job, directed by Mohammed Bayoumi, starring Bishara Wakim – (Egypt) The Bells, directed by Edwin Greenwood, based on the 1867 play The Polish Jew by Erckmann-ChatrianWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 258. . – (GB) The Bishop of the Ozarks (lost), directed by Finis Fox Black Oxen, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Corinne Griffith The Blizzard (lost), directed by Mauritz Stiller – (Sweden) Blood and Soul (Chi to Rei), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan) The Blue Lagoon (lost), directed by William Bowden and Dick Cruikshanks, starring Molly Adair and Arthur Pusey - (GB / South Africa) Bonnie Prince Charlie (lost), directed by Charles Calvert, starring Ivor Novello and Gladys Cooper – (GB) The Brass Bottle (lost), directed by Maurice Tourneur
C Cameo Kirby, directed by John Ford, starring John Gilbert Circus Days, directed by Edward F. Cline, starring Jackie Coogan Cœur fidèle (Faithful Heart), directed by Jean Epstein – (France) The Courtship of Miles Standish, directed by Frederic Sullivan The Covered Wagon, directed by James Cruze, starring J. Warren Kerrigan and Lois Wilson
D The Daring Years (lost), directed by Kenneth Webb, starring Mildred Harris and Clara Bow The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning (Der Puppenmacher von Kiang-Ning), directed by Robert Wiene, starring Werner Krauss – (Germany) Drakula halála (Dracula's Death) (lost), directed by Károly Lajthay – (Hungary) The Drums of Jeopardy, directed by Edward Dillon, starring Elaine Hammerstein and Wallace Beery, based on the 1920 novel by Harold MacGrath
E The Extra Girl, directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Mabel Normand
F Faust, directed by Bertram Phillips, based on the 1808 play by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 260. . – (GB) Frozen Hearts, directed by J. A. Howe, starring Stan Laurel
G The Gold Diggers (lost), directed by Harry Beaumont The Grub-Stake, directed by Bert Van Tuyle, starring Nell Shipman
H The Harbour Lights, directed by Tom Terriss, starring Tom Moore and Isobel Elsom – (GB) Hoy o Nuca, Bésame, directed by José Nepomuceno – (Philippines) The Hunchback of Notre Dame, directed by Wallace Worsley, starring Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Miller and Norman Kerry, based on the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo
I I Will Repay, directed by Henry Kolker, starring Holmes Herbert and Flora Le Breton – (GB) I.N.R.I., directed by Robert Wiene – (Germany) The Isle of Lost Ships (lost), directed by Maurice Tourneur Itching Palms, directed by James W. Horne, based on the play When Jerry Comes Home by Roy Briant
L The Lady Owner, directed by Walter West – (GB) The Last Moment (lost), directed by J. Parker Read Jr., starring Henry Hull, Doris Kenyon and Louis Wolheim Little Old New York, directed by Sidney Olcott, starring Marion Davies The Lost Soul, directed by Hugo Werner-KahleWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 264. . – (Austria) The Love Nest, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots, directed by Denison Clift, starring Fay Compton – (GB)
M Main Street (lost), directed by Harry Beaumont The Man in the Iron Mask (Der Mann mit der eisernen Maske), directed by Max Glass – (Germany) The Merchant of Venice (Der Kaufmann von Venedig), directed by Peter Paul Felner, starring Werner Krauss and Henny Porten – (Germany) Merry-Go-Round, directed by Erich von Stroheim, starring Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry Miss Suwanna of Siam (Nang Sao Suwan) (lost), directed by Henry MacRae The Monkey's Paw, directed by Manning Haynes, based on the 1902 short story by W. W. Jacobs – (GB) Mysteries of a Barbershop (Mysterien eines Friseursalons), directed by Erich Engel – (Germany) The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, 15-part serial directed by A. E. ColebyWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 265. . – (GB)
O On the Banks of the Wabash, directed by J. Stuart Blackton Our Hospitality, directed by John G. Blystone and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton Out to Win, directed by Denison Clift, starring Catherine Calvert and Clive Brook – (GB)
P Paddy the Next Best Thing (lost), directed by Graham Cutts, starring Mae Marsh – (GB) The Pilgrim, a Charlie Chaplin film Puritan Passions (lost), directed by Frank Tuttle, starring Glenn Hunter and Mary Astor, based on the 1908 play The Scarecrow by Percy MacKayeWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 266. . The Purple Highway (lost), directed by Henry Kolker, starring Madge Kennedy
R Raskolnikow, directed by Robert Wiene – (Germany) The Red Inn (L'auberge rouge), directed by Jean Epstein, based on the 1831 short story by Honoré de Balzac (remade in 1951)Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 267. . – (France) Red Lights, directed by Clarence G. Badger, starring Marie Prevost, based on the play The Rear Car by Edward Everett RoseWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 268. . Le Retour à la Raison (Return to Reason), directed by Man Ray – (France) Rosita, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Mary Pickford La Roue (The Wheel), directed by Abel Gance – (France) Rupert of Hentzau (lost), directed by Victor Heerman
S Safety Last!, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd Salomé, directed by Charles Bryant, starring Alla Nazimova Scaramouche, directed by Rex Ingram, Starring Ramón Novarro, Alice Terry and Lewis Stone Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination (Shadows - a Nocturnal Hallucination), directed by Arthur Robison – (Germany) The Shock, directed by Lambert Hillyer, starring Lon Chaney The Shriek of Araby, directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Ben Turpin The Sign of Four, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Eille Norwood, based on the 1890 novel by Arthur Conan Doyle – (GB) Slave of Desire, directed by George D. Baker, starring Bessie Love, based on the 1831 novel La Peau de chagrin by Honoré de Balzac Souls for Sale, directed by Rupert Hughes, starring Eleanor Boardman, Mae Busch and Richard Dix A Spectre Haunts Europe, directed by Vladimir Gardin, based on the 1842 short story The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan PoeWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 257. . – (U.S.S.R.) Squibs M.P., directed by George Pearson, starring Betty Balfour – (GB) The Street (Die Straße), directed by Karl Grune – (Germany) Suzanna, directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Mabel Normand
T The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts This Freedom, directed by Denison Clift, starring Fay Compton and Clive Brook – (GB) Three Ages, directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton and Wallace Beery Three Wise Fools, directed by King Vidor Through Fire and Water, directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Clive Brook and Flora Le Breton – (GB) Tiger Rose, directed by Sidney Franklin (director), starring Lenore Ulric The Treasure (Der Schatz), directed by G. W. Pabst – (Germany) Trilby, directed by James Young, based on the 1894 novel by George du MaurierWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 270. . Tut-Tut and his Terrible Tomb, directed by Bertram Phillips – (GB)
U Under the Red Robe, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Robert B. Mantell The Unknown Tomorrow (Das unbekannte Morgen), directed by Alexander Korda, starring Werner Krauss – (Germany)
W While Paris Sleeps (lost), directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Lon Chaney and John Gilbert, based on a novelThe Glory of Love by Leslie BeresfordWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 272. . The White Shadow, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Betty Compson and Clive Brook – (GB) The White Sister, directed by Henry King, starring Lillian Gish and Ronald Colman Why Worry?, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston Wild Bill Hickok, directed by Clifford Smith, starring William S. Hart Within the Law, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Norma Talmadge A Woman of Paris, written and directed by Charles Chaplin, starring Edna Purviance Woman to Woman (lost), directed by Graham Cutts, starring Betty Compson and Clive Brook – (GB)
Short film series Charlie Chaplin (1914–23) Buster Keaton (1917–41) Laurel and Hardy (1921–43) Our Gang (1922–44)
Animated short film series Felix the Cat (1919–36) Koko the Clown (1919–34) Aesop's Film Fables (1921–34) Alice Comedies Alice's Wonderland The Red Head Comedies (1923).
Births January 1 – Valentina Cortese, Italian actress (died 2019) January 3 - Bud Tingwell, Australian actor (died 2009) January 5 - Boris Leskin, Soviet-American actor (died 2020) January 7 – Pinkas Braun, Swiss actor, director (died 2008) January 8 – Larry Storch, American actor (died 2022) January 17 - Carol Raye, British-born Australian actress, comedian and singer (died 2022) January 19 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (died 2013) January 22 - Diana Douglas, American actress (died 2015) January 23 – Silvano Campeggi, Italian poster designer (died 2018) January 26 – Anne Jeffreys, American actress (died 2017) January 29 – Paddy Chayefsky, American screenwriter (died 1981) February 2 – Bonita Granville, American actress (died 1988) February 12 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian director (died 2019) February 18 - Allan Melvin, American actor and impressionist (died 2008) February 21 – Lola Flores, Spanish actress (died 1995) February 28 – Charles Durning, American actor (died 2012) March 8 – Booth Colman, American actor (died 2014) March 10 – Dolores Fuller, American actress (died 2011) March 11 – Terence Alexander, English actor (died 2009)