This is an overview of 1924 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1924 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Events
January 10 – CBC Distributions corp. is renamed and incorporated as Columbia Pictures. D. W. Griffith, co-founder of United Artists, leaves the company. April 17 – Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gains control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) November 15 – In Los Angeles, director Thomas Ince ("The Father of the Western") meets publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst to work out a deal. When Ince dies a few days later, reportedly of a heart attack, rumors soon surface that he was murdered by Hearst. Loews Theatres acquires the 4,000 seat Capitol Theatre in New York City becoming the flagship of the theatre chain and site of many future MGM premieres. Joseph Schenck becomes president of United Artists. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) considers making a film of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. MGM and the estate of L. Frank Baum failed to come to an agreement so the rights were sold to Chadwick Pictures.
Notable films released in 1924
For the complete list of US film releases for the year, see United States films of 1924
A
Aelita, directed by Yakov Protazanov – (U.S.S.R.) The Alaskan (lost), directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Thomas Meighan and Estelle Taylor Along Came Ruth (lost), directed by Edward F. Cline, starring Viola Dana America, directed by D. W. Griffith, Neil Hamilton and Lionel Barrymore Au Secours! (Help!), directed by Abel Gance, starring Max Linder – (France)
B
Ballet Mécanique, directed by Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy – (France) Beau Brummel, directed by Harry Beaumont, starring John Barrymore and Mary Astor Behind the Curtain, directed by Chester M. Franklin, based on a story by William J. Flynn
C
Captain January directed by Edward F. Cline, starring Baby Peggy and Hobart Bosworth Carlos and Elisabeth, directed by Richard Oswald, starring Conrad Veidt – (Germany) Claude Duval, directed by George A. Cooper, starring Fay Compton and Nigel Barrie – (GB) The City Without Jews (Die Stadt ohne Juden), directed by Hans Karl Breslauer – (Austria)
D
Dante's Inferno, directed by Henry Otto
The Dixie Handicap (lost), directed by Reginald Barker
E
The Enchanted Cottage, directed by John S. Robertson, starring Richard Barthelmess and May McAvoy Entr'acte, directed by René Clair – (France) The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (Neobychainye priklyucheniya mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov), directed by Lev Kuleshov – (U.S.S.R.)
F
Forbidden Paradise, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Rod La Rocque and Adolphe Menjou The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu Manchu, eight-part series directed by A. E. Coleby – (GB)
G
Girl Shy, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston The Grand Duke's Finances (Die Finanzen des Großherzogs), directed by F. W. Murnau – (Germany) The Great Well, directed by Henry Kolker – (GB) Greed, directed by Erich von Stroheim, starring Gibson Gowland and ZaSu Pitts
H
Happiness, directed by King Vidor, starring Laurette Taylor
The Hands of Orlac (Orlacs Hände), directed by Robert Wiene, starring Conrad Veidt, based on the 1920 novel by Maurice Renard – (Austria) He Who Gets Slapped, directed by Victor Sjöström starring Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer and John Gilbert Helena, directed by Manfred Noa – (Germany) Helen's Babies, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Edward Everett Horton, Baby Peggy and Clara Bow Her Night of Romance, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Constance Talmadge and Ronald Colman His Hour, directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert Hot Water, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston The Humming Bird, directed by Sidney Olcott, starring Gloria Swanson
I
Icebound (lost), directed by William C. deMille, starring Lois Wilson and Richard Dix L'Inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman), directed by Marcel L'Herbier – (France) The Iron Horse, directed by John Ford, starring George O'Brien and Madge Bellamy Isn't Life Wonderful, directed by D. W. Griffith
J
Janice Meredith, directed by E. Mason Hopper, starring Marion Davies
L
The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann), directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Emil Jannings – (Germany) Little Robinson Crusoe, directed by Edward F. Cline, starring Jackie Coogan