1912 in film

Events

February - Babelsberg Studio outside Berlin begins operation with shooting of The Dance of the Dead (Der Totentanz) by Danish director Urban Gad starring Asta Nielsen (released September 7).

May 18 - Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, the first Indian film, is released.

July 4 - Mack Sennett, who has previously worked as an actor and comedy director with D. W. Griffith, forms a new company with New York City entrepreneur Adam Kessel, Keystone Studios. It will play an important role in developing slapstick comedy as the home to the Keystone Cops, English actor Charlie Chaplin, and others.

July 26 - Edison Studios releases What Happened to Mary, the first ever motion picture serial.

October 31 - The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D. W. Griffith, debuts as the first gangster film.

Edison introduces the Home Kinetoscope, a home film-projector which uses a 22 mm print consisting of three rows of frames.

Pathé releases Pathe Kok, their first entry into the amateur market, with a gauge of 28 mm.

Alexander F. Victor improves on the 17.5 mm format with his Duoscope, which uses two center perforations instead of the typical one.

Bell & Howell introduce the first all-metal camera, the 2709 35mm.

Films released in 1912

All for a Girl, directed by Frederick A. Thompson

At the Foot of the Ladder, produced by the Thanhouser Company

Aurora Floyd, directed by Theodore Marston

Baby Hands

The Bandit of Tropico

A Battle of Wits

Beautiful Leukanida

The Belle of Bar-Z Ranch, directed by Thomas Ricketts

A Business Buccaneer

The Cameraman's Revenge

Cleopatra, directed by Charles L. Gaskill and starring Helen Gardner; one of the earliest American feature films

Conductor 786, produced by the Thanhouser Company

The Copper Beeches, starring Georges Treville as Sherlock Holmes

The County Fair

The Conquest of the Pole, directed by Georges Méliès

Custer's Last Fight, directed by Francis Ford

A Dash Through the Clouds, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand and American aviation pioneer Philip Parmelee.

The Deserter, directed by Thomas H. Ince

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Female of the Species, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Mary Pickford

The Fickle Spaniard, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand

For His Son, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet

Frankfurters and Quail

Friends, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Mary Pickford and Lionel Barrymore

From the Manger to the Cross, directed by Sidney Olcott (One of the earliest American feature film.)

Geronimo's Last Raid

The Girl and Her Trust, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Dorothy Bernard and Wilfred Lucas

The Half-Breed's Way

The Honor of the Family

Hot Stuff, starring Mack Sennett, Mabel Normand, and Dell Henderson

How a Mosquito Operates

Indian Romeo and Juliet

In Nacht und Eis

The Independence of Romania The first Romanian feature film to run for two hours.

The Invaders

It Happened Thus

Keystone Comedy

The Land Beyond the Sunset

The Lesser Evil, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet

The Little Girl Next Door

Mabel's Lovers, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand

Making An American Citizen

The Massacre, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet and Lionel Barrymore

Maud Muller

The Mender Of Nets, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Mabel Normand and Mary Pickford

The Miracle, the first full-color, full-length feature film (5,500 feet)

Das Mirakel

The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish

A New Cure for Divorce

The New York Hat, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Mary Pickford and Lionel Barrymore

The Old Actor

Oliver Twist, possibly the first American feature film, with an original run time of over an hour; partly lost.

Onesime, Clock-maker, directed by Jean Durand

The Passer-By, directed by Oscar Apfel. Not the first moving camera shot, but it may be the first long-shot-to-close-up dolly moving camera shot. May also be the first dolly moving camera shot.

Petticoat Camp

Pilgrim's Progress

Please Help the Pore

The Power of Melody

A Primitive Man's Career to Civilization

Put Yourself in His Place

Richard III (Second oldest American feature film. Currently the oldest completely intact American feature film.)

Robin Hood

Saved From the Titanic

A Six Cylinder Elopement

A Spanish Dilemma, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand

The Speed Demon, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Fred Mace

Standing Room Only

The Star of Bethlehem

The Street Singer

The Tell-Tale Message

The Thunderbolt

Tomboy Bessie, directed by Mack Sennett, starring Mabel Normand

An Unseen Enemy, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish

The Voice of Conscience

The Water Nymph, starring Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett. First Keystone comedy.

What Happened to Mary?, starring Mary Fuller.

When the Fire Bells Rang

When the Heart Calls, starring Lee Moran, Russell Bassett and Louise Glaum

With Our King and Queen Through India

With the Mounted Police

The Young Millionaire

Births

February 19 - Saul Chaplin, American film composer (died 1997)

February 21 - Arline Judge, American actress (died 1974)

February 26 - Dane Clark, American actor (died 1998)

March 22 - Karl Malden, American actor (died 2009)

April 8 - Sonja Henie, Norwegian Olympic ice-skater, actress (died 1969)

April 16 - Catherine Scorsese, American actress (died 1997)

April 18 - Wendy Barrie, English actress (died 1978)

May 9 - Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (died 1963)

May 18 - Perry Como, American singer, actor (died 2001)

May 23

Marius Goring, English actor (died 1998)

John Payne, American actor (died 1989)

May 29 - Iris Adrian, American actress (died 1994)

June 1 - Doris Wishman, American filmmaker (died 2002)

June 26 - Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor (Tonto) (died 1980)

July 4 - Viviane Romance, French actress (died 1991)

July 5 - Ilona Massey, Hungarian-born American actress (died 1974)

August 2 - Ann Dvorak, American actress (died 1979)

August 12 - Samuel Fuller, American director (died 1997)

August 15 - Wendy Hiller, English actress (died 2003)

August 23 - Gene Kelly, American actor (died 1996)

August 29 - Barry Sullivan, American actor (died 1974)

September 5 - Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-born German actress (died 2001)

September 21 - Chuck Jones, American animator (died 2002)

September 23 - Martha Scott, American actress (died 2003)

September 29 - Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director (died 2007)

October 11 - Betty Noyes American singer/dubber (died 1987)

October 12 - Peer Guldbrandsen, Danish screenwriter, actor, film director and producer (died 1996)

October 13 - Cornel Wilde, Hungarian-born American actor (died 1989)

October 31 - Dale Evans, American actress (died 2001)

November 21 - Eleanor Powell, American dancer, actress (died 1982)

November 24 - Garson Kanin, American writer (died 1999)

December 11 - Carlo Ponti, Italian producer (died 2007)

Deaths

March 30 – Karl May, writer, Apache Gold

April 15 – Jacques Futrelle, writer, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, (perished in the Titanic)

April 20 – Bram Stoker, writer, Dracula

May 14 – August Strindberg, writer, Miss Julie

May 19 – Bolesław Prus, writer, Faraon

June 1 – Philip Parmalee, actor (with Mabel Normand in A Dash Through the Clouds); pioneer aviator for the Wright brothers

July 1 – Harriet Quimby, writer (seven scenarios for D.W. Griffith); actress in one film; pioneer American aviator

December 14 – Harry Cashman, comedy producer and actor for the Chicago-based Essanay company. (*Harry Cashman;Kinotv)

Film debuts

John Barrymore - The Dream of a Moving Picture Director (as Jack Barrymore)

Frank Borzage - On Secret Service (short)

Charlotte Burton - The Would-Be Heir (short)

Lon Chaney - The Honor of the Family (short) (unconfirmed)

Lillian Gish - An Unseen Enemy (short)

Dorothy Gish - An Unseen Enemy (short)

Louise Glaum - Brave Heart's Hidden Love (short)

Mildred Harris - The Post Telegrapher (short)

Cleo Madison - A Business Buccaneer (short)

Mary Miles Minter - The Nurse (short) (as Juliet Shelby)

Antonio Moreno - Iola's Promise (short)

Warner Oland - Pilgrim's Progress

Olga Petrova - Departure of a Grand Old Man (short)

Victor Sjöström - director, A Ruined Life; actor, The Gardener

Frederick Warde - Richard III