Stockholm, 1 January:Victor Sjöström has released his film version of Selma Lagerlöf's popular novel, Körkärlen (The Phantom Carriage), starring himself and Hilda Borgström. New York, 6 January: Charlie Chaplin's first feature-length film, The Kid, has opened in New York to instant and resounding success. For once Chaplin has found a foil worthy of his mettle, the bewitching little Jackie Coogan, whom he had spotted parodying his father's tapdance routine at an Annette Kellerman revue. After meeting Jackie two days later, Chaplin declared, "This is the most amazing person I ever met in my life." As Chaplin watched the child, the idea for the six-reel film sprung into his mind. After testing the little boy in a two-reeler called A Day's Pleasure, he cast Coogan as the bright-eyed ragamuffin in battered cap and oversized trousers who is reared, lost and then finally regained by the Tramp. Coogan provides a miniature version of the Tramp's pathos and arfulness and at times it seems as if the "Little Fellow," as Chaplin calls the Tramp, is walking hand-in-hand with his infant self. For his own part, Chaplin has suggested that the orphaned Coogan represents all those children orphaned by the Great War. While watching the film, it is hard not to be struck by the remarkable rapport between Chaplin and his small co-star. Jackie Coogan Sr. has also played his part in the production, appearing in several roles including a bum who picks the Tramp's pocket and the Devil in a dream sequence.      The Kid has placed Chaplin in a very strong financial position. Already confident that he had a winner on his hands after giving the film a trial showing in Salt Lake City, he asked First National for an advance of $1.5 million plus 50 percent of the net after the company had recovered the advance. First National stalled and displayed a studied lack of enthusiasm even after seeing the film. But Chaplin stuck to his guns, and the stubborn executives were forced to acknowledge that The Kid had given him an unbeatable hand. The Kid is also certain to make a worldwide star of Jackie Coogan, and Chaplin has stated that though they will not work together again, he will not hold Coogan back. Paris, 10 January: Daniel Bompard's film Une Bruje (A Beast), with André Noix, has been banned by censors. Paris, 9 March: A Gaumont documentary on the transformation of engines of war into tractors was shown to deputies at the Palais-Bourbon. Paris, 26 March: The opening session (by invitation) of the Madeleine cinema took place yesterday evening. Two American films were screened: Wolves of the Night with William Farnum and a Mary Pickford offering, Little Lord Fauntleroy. New York, 10 April: Opening of Fox's The Queen of Sheba. This exotic epic by director J. Gordon Edwards stars Betty Blythe (instead of vamp Theda Bara) as the titular character with the tagline "The Love Romance of the World's Most Beautiful Woman"; only a few provocative still photos remain of the revealingly-dressed actress - usually scantily-clad, thinly-veiled and mostly bare-breasted - in the story of the ill-fated romance between Solomon, king of Israel (Fritz Lieber), and the Queen of Sheba. France, 25 April: To the delight of the inhabitants of Pérouges, Henri Diamant-Berger and his film team have arrived at the town's medieval site to continue filming The Three Musketeers. Montceau-les-Mines, 1 May: René Leprince seized the occasion of the local Labor Day parade to take shots for his film l'Empereur des pauvres (Emperor of the Poor). New York, 10 May: Abel Gance has held a preview of the American version of his film J'accuse (I Accuse) for the press and movie theater owners at the Ritz. The title is already well known because of the acclaim it received from critics after its London release. Paris, 15 May: There has been an alarming drop in movie attendance in the capital due to the current heat wave. Very few theaters are equiped with adequate ventilation. Pompeii, 24 May: Luitz-Morat, the French filmmaker, received special permission from the Italian Minister of Fine Arts to shoot scenes for La Terre du diable among the famous ruins. The stars are Gaston Modot and Yvonne Aurel, and even Vesuvius played its role by erupting. Pyrenees, 7 June: Pearl White has been found safe. The famous American star lost her way during an excursion on horseback in the mountains. After finding a rough shelter, she slept for 16 hours before being rescued by a local shepherd. Paris, 10 June: A memorable quote appears in the latest issue of Louis Delluc's magazine, Cinéa. "There is," it says, "a great actor in L'Atlantide made by Jacques Feyder: it is the sand." Paris, 15 June: According to Ciné-Journal, the biggest movie theater in the world is the 8,000-seat Capitol in New York City. Hollywood, 1 July: Douglas Fairbanks has vowed "never to put a foot in France again." The reason is that his interpretation of D'Artagnan in the American version of The Three Musketeers, directed by Fred Niblo, received bad press from the French. Berlin, 14 July: The actress Henny Porten has married Dr. Wilhelm von Kaufmann, who has finally decided to give up his medical practice to devote himself to producing his wife's films. France, 17 July: Séverin-Mars, the well-known star of Abel Gance's J'accuse (I Accuse) and the yet-to-be-released La Roue (The Wheel), has died unexpectedly on the banks of the Seine. He just made his debut as a filmmaker with Le Cœur magnifique (The Magnificent Heart). Paris, 22 July: The French public may never see the boxing match between Frenchman Georges Carpentier and the American Jack Dempsey that finished in the latter's favor. French distributors are refusing to pay Fox, who holds the rights to the match, the asking price of 700,000 francs. Hollywood, 28 August: America's idol, Douglas Fairbanks, was born to play D'Artagnan, "the best swordsman in France," and does so in Fred Niblo's new film The Three Musketeers which is based on Alexandre Dumas' novel. This second historical legend, following last year's The Mark of Zorro, is confirmation of the recent change that has come over the energetic actor. Turning his back on contemporary comedies, Fairbanks has decided to project his American dynamism into distant times and places. As a triumphant and optimistic D'Artagnan -- in his plumed headgear, long curly wig and moustache -- Fairbanks has given and American flavor to Richelieu's France. And as proof of how popular the actor has become in the US, a mountain peak in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada has been named after him. Now that's certainly what's known as reaching the heights! New York, 31 August: D. W. Griffith has spent $150,000 building a replica of an 18th-century French village at the Mamoroneck studios for his film Orphans of the Storm, based on a popular French melodrama. The set is to be burned as soon as filming is complete. Paris, 5 September: Almè Simon-Girard, D'Artagnon in Henri Diamant-Berger's film The Three Musketeers, has bought the horse he rode in the film. They can be seen together in the Bois. San Francisco, 10 September: Grave charges have been leveled against comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle after the death under suspicious circumstances of a young actress, Virginia Rappe. She died yesterday in the hospital where she was admitted after becoming ill at a wild 48-hour party thrown by Arbuckle in three adoining rooms at the Saint Francis Hotel. The party was held to celebrate Arbuckle's $3 million move to Paramount to make full-length features. Now the deal, and Fatty's future, are imperiled by Rappe's death. The doctors diagnosed acute peritonitis caused by a ruptured bladder, but one of Virginia's friends, Maude Delmont, who was also at the party, has told police that Arbuckle raped Miss Rappe, or at least attempted to do so. On the basis of these serious allegations, Arbuckle was arrested on a homicide charge. Throughout his interrogation by the police, the comedian has vigorously protested his innocence, but a large black cloud threatens the career of the film industry's favorite Fat Man. The press has not been supportive. A Hearst newspaper has already written that Rappe, once voted the Best-Dressed Girl in the Movies, "today wears the oldest garment in the world. It is a shroud." Moscow, 15 September: S. M. Eisenstein has been admitted to the GVIRM (State Filmmakers Institute of Higher Education), headed by V. E. Meyerhold. London, 15 September: Charles Chaplin's visit to Britain has proved an even bigger even that the Armistice! He decided to go on a sudden impulse several weeks before the American release of The Idle Class. The return to his native land of this "prodigal son" has generated a huge wave of enthusiasm. From the moment of his arrival at Waterloo Station on 10 September, the King of Comedy was engulfed by wildly excited crowds surging through the police cordons that vainly tried to hold them back. It was little short of a miracle that no one was trampled in the ensuing crush. Accompanied by actor Donald Crisp, Chaplin made a sentimental pilgrimage to the scenes of his deprived childhood. He was followed everywhere, at a respectful distance, by curious crowds. Installed in the agreeable surroundings of the elegant Ritz Hotel, he has held court to a never-ending stream of journalists and personalities come to pay homage. The great and the good have extended their hospitality. At the invitaiton of E. V. Lucas, he dined at the Garrick Club where he sat next to Sir James Barrie, who told Chaplin that he would like him to play Peter Pan. His encounter with the writer H. G. Wells has also been widely reported. The two men watched a new film of Wells' novel Kipps and dined afterwards with Rebecca West. Chaplin is now an immortal among immortals. New York, 18 September: The Austrian playwright Arthur Schnitzler's first play Anatol, performed in 1890, was pretty shocking at the time. This was not only because it is risqué subject matter -- the amorous adventures of a young Viennese man-about-town -- but also because of its impressionistic technique and psychological insights. Now Cecil B. De Mille has brought it to the screen under the title The Affairs of Anatol, with Wallace Reid as the irresponsible gallant. Though still able to send shock waves out to audiences, the director has tried to play down the risqué elements by giving the story a moral lift. De Mille has achieved this by devoting a great deal of footage to Anatol's wife, played by Gloria Swanson, to whom the philanderer keeps returning. Who could complain! Gorgeously dressed, Miss Swanson is once again more sinned against than sinning. Particularly pleasing are the lavish sets that create the ambiance for the teasing boudoir tale to be told. Nice, 19 September: The prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, Armand Bernard, has decided to ban all films with scenes of crime, theft or murder from the region. Paris, 20 September: Louis Delluc's criticisms and notes on Chaplin's work have been published under the title Charlot. Los Angeles, 21 September: Richard Barthelmess has formed his own film production company, Inspiration Pictures, in partnership with the director Henry King. D. W. Griffith had acquired the frights of Joseph Hergesheimer's novel of small-town life, Tol'able David, for Barthelmess but, on the advice of Lillian Gish, he abandoned it to make Orphans of the Storm instead. Because there was no role in the latter suitable for him, Barthelmess bought the rights from Griffith for $7,500 and produced it himself. With King directing his first important film, from a scenario by Edmund Goulding, Tol'able David is extremely successful. Barthelmess is perfectly cast in the title role of a plucky and good-natured mountain boy, suspected of cowardice, who triumphs over three bullying brothers, saves the US mail and becomes a man of character and strength. The film delivers a splendid evocation of rural America, with a nostalgic love of the landscape. Before the premiere this week, this star of many Griffith films showed it to his former mentor. Griffith embraced and kissed Barthelmess at the end, such was his unbegrudging admiration for the film. Paris, 30 September: At the moment, L'Atlantide, directed by Jacques Feyder and based on Pierre Benoit's novel, is showing here in the large auditorium of the Gaumont Palace.      "A Man Who Dared..." is how the advertisers are characterizing Feyder, who did not hesitate to shoot the film in the middle of the Sahara, against the advice of all and sundry, and under extremely difficult conditions. It was worth it, because the magnificently photographed Hoggar desert is the real star of the film, more so than the mysterious Antinéa, played by Stacia Napierkowska. Screen actors Jean Angelo and George Melchior, in the roles of Captain Morhange and Lieutenant Saint-Avit, have been swift to capture female hearts. Jacques Feyder and Louis Aubert, who financed the picture on a budget of 2 million francs -- making it the most expensive French production to date -- have carried it off. The exotic L'Atlantide has already become a great popular success. Berlin, 7 October: After the success of The Spiders last year, the 30-year-old Viennese film director Fritz Lang has triumphed once again with a dark and mystical three-episode allegory entitled Destiny (Der müde Tod). The story, co-written with Thea von Harbou, tells of a honeymoon destroyed when the husband disappears with a sinister stranger who turns out to be Death. (The German title literally means "The Tired Death".) The wife pleads with Death for her husband's life, and he strikes a series of bargains with her, until love finally wins out. The film is even more impressive for its mastery of visual composition than some of the director's previous work, and confirms Lang as one of the most exciting directors working in Germany today. Paris, 15 Octboer: Sirène have published Bonjour Cinéma, the first book by Jean Epstein. Epstein has also just made his debut in films as director Louis Delluc's assistant director on Le Tonnerre. Los Angeles, 30 October: Almost the entire female population of America has fallen in love with Rudolph Valentino, the dashingly romantic star of Metro's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In Rex Ingram's adaptation of the novel by Blasco Ibañez, Valentino plays a wastrel who becomes a war hero. When he swoops across the screen in a sensual tango, women in the audience are seen to faint dead away in the aisles.      The object of all this adulation was born Rodolfo Guglielmi in Italy in May 1895, the son of a veterinarian. He arrived in America, traveling steerage, in 1913. After a spell as a gardener in New York's Central Park, he became a nightclub dancer, briefly replacing Clifton Webb as the partner of exhibition dancer Bonnie Glass. At this time Valentino was moving in fast company, and New York became a little too hot for him when he found himself involved in a scandalous society divorce. He made his way west to San Francisco with a touring theatrical company and then finally on to Los Angeles and the world of the movies. Mae Murray, an old friend, found Valentino work in Alimony (1918), and he soon carved a niche for himself playing oily heavies. In Eyes of Youth, he was cast as a professional co-respondent hired to romance Clara Kimball Young. Then shortly afterwards, his marriage to actress Jean Acker collapsed on their wedding night. Valentino's big break came earlier this year when June Mathis, chief of Metro's script department and a powerful figure at the studio, suggested him for the second lead in Rex Ingram's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. By the end of the shooting, Valentino's part had been built up into the starring role. Success, however, has only soured relations between Metro and their new star. While playing Armand opposite Nazimova in the film Camille he was refused a salary increase from $350 to $450 a week. The studio's stinginess could cost it dear, as both Valentino and the valued June Mathis are now contemplating a move. New York, October: Release of A Lucky Dog, the first movie in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appear together. In this comedy short from Sun-Lite Pictures -- made in 1919, but shelved for a few years -- Stanley stars as down-on-his-luck dog lover, and Ollie plays a heavy who tries to rob him. Hardy's first on-screen line to Laurel is on a title card: 'Put 'em both up, insect, or I'll comb your hair with lead!' Moscow, 18 November: Lenin has published his Thesis on Propaganda and Production: the cinema must be used in the service of ideological development. New York, 20 November: Nationwide release of The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres. George Melford directs this entertaining romance from Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount, with Patsy Ruth Miller, George Waggner, Frank Butler, Charles Brinley, Lucien Littlefield and Adolphe Menjou in supporting roles. This is the film with a starring role that brings Valentino -- the first international (and Hollywood) male sex symbol and the biggest star of the silent era -- to the attention of screen audiences; it's a kitschy Arab desert romance melodrama, with the title character being Arab chieftain Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan, representing seductive passion and forbidden eroticism (often represented by a smile and rolling eyes) opposite free-willed British socialite Lady Diana Mayo. The term 'sheik' comes to be used in slang, meaning a man who aggressively woos women. New York, 21 November: Box-office tills are still ringing for Metro's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse months after its sensational premiere in New York. Originally Rudolph Valentino had only featured billing, but all prints were recalled after the hoopla that surrounded its opening, and the credits were altered to make him the star. There is general agreement in the movie world that the huge audience the film has reached will help to make picture-going respectable. Hollywood, 27 November: The love affair between Rudolph Valentino and Metro has ended. Disenchanted with the studio's reluctance to reward his huge drawing power at the box office with a commensurate salary, the biggest new star in Hollywood took himself to Paramount, which secured his services at the bargain price of $500 a week. They already had the perfect property for him, The Sheik, adapted from the lurid bestseller by E.M. Hull. Valentino plays the prince of the desert, Ahmed Ben Hassan, and Agnes Ayers is the object of his erotic emoting. The Latin's flashing eyes and magnificently flared nostrils are sending shock waves of "Sheik mania" racing across America. Paramount has rewarded him by more than doubling his salary to $1,250 a week. His next project is Moran of the Lady Letty, co-starring Dorothy Dalton. Paris, 2 December: Abel Gance is still editing La Roue (The Wheel). Shooting finished last year, but cutting is a long process. The filmmaker is said to have exposed 277,863 metres of negative. New York, 6 December: Release of Be My Wife, produced and directed by Max Linder, who also stars alongside Alta Allen and Caroline Rankin. Paris, 16 December: The film Pour Don Carlos (For Don Carlos), co-directed by Musidora and Jacques Lasseyne, is still not having much success with the public, despite having been cut by a fifth of its original length. Berlin, 22 December: Hintertreppe (Backstairs), an allegorical and Expressionist work that is directed by Leopold Jessner and Paul Leni and stars Henny Porten, Wilhelm Dieterle and Fritz Kortner, opens today. New York, 24 December: Ernst Lubitsch, the brilliant German director of Carmen, Madame Dubarry, Anna Boleyn (known here as Deception) and many other notable films, has arrived on his first visit to the US. He has just completed his latest screen epic, The Loves of Pharaoh, and he hopes to help promote it. During the course of his visit, Lubitsch also plans to make important contacts within the film industry and to familiarize himself with the latest American production techniques. It appears that he has already received offers from a number of Hollywood producers, including Mary Pickford, but he has not yet committed himself. Paris, 27 December: A gala evening to help War Widows and Orphans was held at the Opéra de Paris with a screening of L'Agonie des aiges (The Agony of Eagles) from director Dominique Bernard-Deschamps. The date was carefully chosen by the organizers to coincide with the centenary of Napoleon I's death. Berlin, 31 December: The number of films made by German production companies during the year was 600. Hollywood, 31 December: Paramount Pictures has announced that it made a total of 101 feature-length films during the year. This is the highest output to date achieved by a single studio.