• January 19 –
Variety publishes its first film review. • The
Kalem Company founded in New York City by
Frank J. Marion, Samuel Long, and
George Kleine. • May 7 – Seattle film maker William Harbeck sets up a camera at the front of a B.C. Electric streetcar and films the downtown streets of
Vancouver,
British Columbia. Pieces of the film, the earliest surviving footage of the city, have disappeared, only about 7 minutes remain. • May 29 –
Salaviinanpolttajat, also known as
The Moonshiners, the first fictional film made in Finland, is released. • June 20 – ''
L'Enfant prodigue'', the first feature-length motion picture produced in Europe, opens in Paris. •
Peerless Film Manufacturing Company was founded in Chicago by
George K. Spoor and
Gilbert M. Anderson. On August 10, the studio name was changed to
Essanay Studios ("S and A"). • November 28 - In
Haverhill, Massachusetts, scrap-metal dealer
Louis B. Mayer opens his first
movie theatre (in a few years he had the largest theatre chain in
New England and in 1917 he founded his own production company, which eventually became part of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). • December 7 – First
Ben-Hur film, directed by
Sidney Olcott and produced by the
Kalem Company, released. •
Carl Laemmle, later of
Universal, experiments with combining audio from
phonographs with film. Laemmle's experiments lead to the
German development of "Syncroscope." Syncroscope had several successful demonstrations, but was eventually abandoned. ==Notable films==