1927 in film

January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.

April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premieres (in a shortened version) at the Paris Opéra and demonstrates techniques and equipment that will not be revived for years to come, such as hand-held cameras, and what is often considered the first widescreen projection format Polyvision. It will be more than three decades before films with a widescreen format would again be attempted.

May 11 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded in Los Angeles by Douglas Fairbanks. The 1st Academy Awards (Oscars) will be awarded to films which are released in 1927 or 1928.

August 12 - Paramount's dramatic film Wings, which will go on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture, opens at the Criterion Theater in New York City, with an unheard-of roadshow admission price of $2.00 per ticket.

September 7 - Oswald the Lucky Rabbit debuts in Trolley Troubles.

September 23 - Fox Films acquires the rights to the Tri-Ergon sound-on-film technology, which had been developed in 1919 by three German inventors, Josef Engl, Hans Vogt, and Joseph Massole.

October 6 - The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, premieres at the Warner Theater in New York City. Although not the first 'talkie', The Jazz Singer becomes the first box-office hit and popularizes sound motion pictures. It is the highest-grossing movie up to this time.

December 3 - The silent short Putting Pants on Philip, the first official billing of comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, is released in the United States.

Cinematograph Films Act sets a minimum quota for British films to be shown in United Kingdom cinemas.

Italian Alberto Rabagliati wins a Rudolph Valentino look-alike contest and moves to Hollywood to start his acting career.

Academy Awards

Best Production: Wings

Best Artistic Quality: Sunrise

Best Actor: Emil Jannings for The Way of All Flesh and the 1928 movie The Last Command

Best Actress: Janet Gaynor for Seventh Heaven and Sunrise, as well as the 1928 movie Street Angel

Best Director: Frank Borzage for Seventh Heaven

Notable films released in 1927

U.S.A. unless stated

Annie Laurie, starring Lillian Gish

Bed and Sofa (Tretya meshchanskaya) - (U.S.S.R.)

The Beloved Rogue, directed by Alan Crosland, starring John Barrymore, Marceline Day

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (documentary) - (Germany)

Bigamie, starring Heinrich George - (Germany)

Blighty, directed by Adrian Brunel; starring Ellaline Terriss and Lillian Hall-Davis - (Britain)

The Bugle Call'

The Cat and the Canary, directed by Paul Leni

Chicago, directed by Frank Urson

Children of Divorce, starring Clara Bow, Gary Cooper and Esther Ralston

The Chinese Parrot, directed by Paul Leni

The Club of the Big Deed (Союз Великого дела) - (U.S.S.R.)

College, directed by James W. Horne and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton

Confetti, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Jack Buchanan and Annette Benson - (GB)

The Dove, directed by Roland West, starring Norma Talmadge, Gilbert Roland and Noah Beery

Downhill, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ivor Novello and Isabel Jeans - (GB)

The Drop Kick, directed by Millard Webb, starring Richard Barthelmess

Education of a Prince - (France)

The End of St. Petersburg (Konets Sankt-Peterburga) - (U.S.S.R.)

The Fair Co-Ed, directed by Sam Wood; starring Marion Davies and Johnny Mack Brown

The First Auto, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Barney Oldfield, Patsy Ruth Miller, Charles Emmett Mack, Russell Simpson, Gibson Gowland

The Forty-First (Sorok pervyy) - (U.S.S.R.)

The Gaucho, directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Lupe Vélez

Ghost Train, directed by Géza von Bolváry, starring Guy Newall - (GB/Germany)

Her Wild Oat, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Colleen Moore

His First Flame, directed by Harry Edwards, starring Harry Langdon

His Greatest Bluff (Sein größter Bluff) - (Germany)

The Honorable Mr. Buggs, starring Anna May Wong

Hula, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Clara Bow

Huntingtower, by George Pearson, starring Harry Lauder - (Britain)

Husband Hunters, directed by John G. Adolfi starring Mae Busch, Jean Arthur and Mildred Harris

It, starring Clara Bow

The Jazz Singer, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Al Jolson and May McAvoy

Johnny Get Your Hair Cut, directed by B. Reeves Eason and Archie Mayo starring Harry Carey

The Kid Brother, a comedy starring Harold Lloyd

The King of Kings, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring H. B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming and Joseph Schildkraut

The Lady in Ermine, directed by James Flood, starring Corinne Griffith

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring June and Ivor Novello - (GB)

London After Midnight, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lon Chaney, Sr., Conrad Nagel and Marceline Day

Long Pants, directed by Frank Capra, starring Harry Langdon

The Love of Jeanne Ney (Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney), directed by G.W. Pabst - (Germany)

The Love of Sunya, directed by Albert Parker starring Gloria Swanson

The Loves of Carmen, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Dolores del Río

Madame Pompadour, directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish - (GB)

Man from the Restaurant (Chelovek iz restorana) - (U.S.S.R.)

Mata Hari starring Magda Sonja - (Germany)

Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Alfred Abel - (Germany)

Mockery, directed by Benjamin Christensen starring Lon Chaney

The Mountain Eagle, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Nita Naldi - (GB/Germany)

My Best Girl, starring Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers

Napoléon directed by Abel Gance, starring Albert Dieudonne - (France)

October: Ten Days That Shook the World - (U.S.S.R.)

The Only Way directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring John Martin Harvey and Madge Stuart - (Britain)

The Patent Leather Kid, starring Richard Barthelmess

The Private Life of Helen of Troy, directed by Alexander Korda

Quality Street, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Marion Davies and Conrad Nagel

Quinneys, directed by Maurice Elvey and starring John Longden and Alma Taylor - (Britain)

The Red Mill, directed by William Goodrich (Fatty Arbuckle), starring Marion Davies

The Ring, directed by Alfred Hitchcock - (GB)

Robinson Crusoe - (GB)

Romance of the Western Chamber - (China)

The Scar of Shame, a race movie starring Harry Henderson and Lucia Lynn Moses

Seventh Heaven, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell

Shooting Stars, directed by Anthony Asquith and A.V. Bramble - (GB)

Singed, starring Blanche Sweet and Warner Baxter

Slide, Kelly, Slide, starring Harry Carey

Sorrell and Son, starring H.B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson - (GB)

Spring Fever, starring Joan Crawford

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ramón Novarro and Norma Shearer

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor

Svengali directed by Gennaro Righelli and starring Paul Wegener - (Germany)

Tillie the Toiler, directed by Hobart Henley; starring Marion Davies and Matt Moore

Topsy and Eva, directed by Del Lord; starring Rosetta Duncan and Vivian Duncan

Twelve Miles Out, directed by Jack Conway, starring John Gilbert and Joan Crawford

Uncle Tom's Cabin, directed by Harry A. Pollard, starring Margarita Fischer

Underworld, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring George Bancroft, Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent

The Unknown, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lon Chaney Sr., Norman Kerry, and Joan Crawford

The Way of All Flesh, starring Emil Jannings

When a Man Loves, an early Vitaphone sound movie starring John Barrymore and Dolores Costello who would become John Barrymore's future wife

Why Girls Love Sailors, a Laurel and Hardy short

Wings, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers and Richard Arlen

Comedy film series

Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)

Buster Keaton (1917–1944)

Our Gang (1922–1944)

Harry Langdon (1924–1936)

Laurel and Hardy (1921–1945)

Animated short film series

Felix the Cat (1919–1962)

Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1933)

Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes (1924-1927)

Alice Comedies

Alice the Golf Bug

Alice Foils the Pirates

Alice at the Carnival

Alice at the Rodeo

Alice the Collegiate

Alice in the Alps

Alice's Auto Race

Alice's Circus Daze

Alice's Knaughty Knight

Alice's Three Bad Eggs

Alice's Picnic

Alice's Channel Swim

Alice in the Klondike

Alice's Medicine Show

Alice the Whaler

Alice the Beach Nut

Alice in the Big League

Krazy Kat (1925–1940)

Un-Natural History (1925-1927)

Pete the Pup (1926-1927)

Inkwell Imps (1927-1929)

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Trolley Troubles

Oh Teacher

The Mechanical Cow

Great Guns!

All Wet

The Ocean Hop

The Banker's Daughter

Empty Socks

Rickety Gin

Newslaffs (1927-1928)

Births

January 15 – Phyllis Coates, American actress

January 17 – Eartha Kitt, American actress, singer (died 2008)

January 31 – Jean Speegle Howard (died 2000)

February 7 – Juliette Gréco, French singer, actress

February 20 – Sidney Poitier, American actor

March 1 – Harry Belafonte, American actor, singer

March 20 – Cairbre (also known as Leo), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's lion mascot, born in Dublin Zoo

March 31 – William Daniels, American actor

April 13 – Maurice Ronet, French film actor, director and writer (died 1983)

April 30 – Ellen Alaküla, Estonian actress (d. 2011)

May 13 – Herbert Ross, American film director, producer, choreographer (died 2001)

May 30 – Clint Walker, American actor

June 8 – Jerry Stiller, American actor

June 23 – Bob Fosse, American dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter and director (died 1987)

June 27 – Geoffrey Palmer, British actor

July 4 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress

July 6 – Janet Leigh, American actress (died 2004)

August 9 – Robert Shaw, British actor and novelist (died 1978)

September 16 – Peter Falk, American actor (died 2011)

September 19

Rosemary Harris, English actress

William Hickey, American actor (died 1997)

October 14 – Roger Moore, English actor

October 18 – George C. Scott, American film and stage actor (died 1999)

October 31 – Lee Grant, American actress

November 14 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (died February 15, 1996)

November 20 – Estelle Parsons, American actress

Deaths

January 13 – Arnold Daly, American actor, playwright and producer (born 1875)

March 17 – Charles Emmett Mack, American actor (born 1900)

April 25 – Earle Williams, American actor (born 1880)

May 7 – Bruce McRae, American stage and screen actor (born 1867)

May 16 – Sam Bernard, English stage and screen actor (born 1863)

May 20 – Oscar Stribolt, Danish actor (born 1873)

June 3 – Einar Hanson, Swedish stage and screen actor (born 1897)

June 4 – Robert McKim, American actor (born 1886)

July 26 – June Mathis, American screenwriter (born 1889)

September 5 – Marcus Loew, American theater chain executive & founder of Loews Theaters (born 1870)

October 5 – Sam Warner, American co-founder of Warner Brothers studios (born 1887)

October 13 – Hughie Mack, American actor (born 1884)

November 4 – Valli Valli, German stage and film actress (born 1882)

December 6 – Kate Toncray, American actress (born 1867)

December 16 – Romaine Fielding, American actor and director (born 1868)

Film debuts

Robert Armstrong - The Main Event

Claudette Colbert - For the Love of Mike

Barbara Stanwyck - Broadway Nights

Lupe Vélez - What Women Did for Me

Fred Zinneman, director and producer - The March of the Machines