1918 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020

The year 1918 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• Following litigation for anti-trust activities, the US Supreme Court orders the Motion Picture Patents Company to disband.
• 28 mm safety standard film, designed by Alexander Victor, becomes one of the earliest film formats to use "safety film" bases in order to safeguard the amateur market against nitrate fires.
• Warner Bros. is established.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

Notable films released in 1918

All films below were produced in the United States, except where stated.

Poster

• Alraune, directed by Michael Curtiz - (Hungary)
• Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne - (Germany)
• Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Mary Pickford
• Among the Cannibal Isles of the South Pacific
• Are Crooks Dishonest?, a Harold Lloyd short
• Arizona, starring Douglas Fairbanks
• The Bell Boy, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Buster Keaton short
• 'Blue Blazes' Rawden, starring William S. Hart
• The Blue Bird, directed by Maurice Tourneur
• The Bond, starring Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Sydney Chaplin
• Bound in Morocco, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Douglas Fairbanks
• Carmen, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri (Germany)
• The Cook, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Buster Keaton short
• A Dog's Life, a Charlie Chaplin short
• The Eyes of Julia Deep, starring Mary Miles Minter
• Fabiola directed by Enrico Guazzoni - (Italy)
• Father Sergius, directed by Yakov Protazanov, starring Ivan Mozzukhin - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Ghost of Slumber Mountain
• The Goddess of Lost Lake, starring Louise Glaum
• Headin' South, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Douglas Fairbanks
• The Heart of Humanity, starring Erich von Stroheim
• Hearts of the World, directed by D.W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish
• The House of Mirth, directed by Albert Capellani, starring Katherine Corri Harris
• Huck and Tom
• I Don't Want to Be a Man (Ich möchte kein Mann sein), directed by Ernst Lubitsch - (Germany)
• The Lamb, a Harold Lloyd short.
• Men Who Have Made Love to Me, starring Mary MacLane
• Mickey, directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Mabel Normand
• M'Liss, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Mary Pickford and Thomas Meighan
• Moonshine, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Buster Keaton short
• My Four Years in Germany, the first film produced by the four Warner Brothers
• On the Quiet, directed by Chester Withey, starring Jack Barrymore
• Out of the Inkwell, an animated film directed by Max Fleischer
• Out West, a 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Buster Keaton short
• The Outlaw and His Wife (Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru), directed by & starring Victor Sjöström - (Sweden)
• The Romance of Tarzan, starring Elmo Lincoln
• Salomé, directed by J. Gordon Edwards, starring Theda Bara
• Shoulder Arms, directed by Charlie Chaplin, starring Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Sydney Chaplin
• The Sinking of the Lusitania, a short animated propaganda film by Winsor McCay; likely the longest animated film of its time.
• Stella Maris, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Mary Pickford
• Tarzan of the Apes, directed by Scott Sidney, starring Elmo Lincoln and Enid Markey
• The Tenth Symphony (La Dixième Symphonie), directed by Abel Gance, starring Séverin-Mars and Jean Toulout - (France)
• Tih Minh, directed by Louis Feuillade, starring René Cresté - (France)
• Triple Trouble, a Charlie Chaplin short.
• Vendemiaire, directed by Louis Feuillade - (France)
• Victory and Peace, directed by Herbert Brenon (GB)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Under the Yoke, directed by J. Gordon Edwards, starring Theda Bara
• Under the Greenwood Tree directed by Emile Chautard starring Elsie Ferguson
• The Whispering Chorus, starring Raymond Hatton and Kathlyn Williams
• Why Pick on Me?, starring Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels

Comedy film series

• Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
• Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
• Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
• Buster Keaton (1917–1944)

Births

• January 29 - John Forsythe, actor (died 2010)
• February 4 - Ida Lupino, actress, director (died 1995)
• February 16 - Patty Andrews, singer, actress, member of The Andrews Sisters (died 2013)
• March 1 - Roger Delgado, actor (died 1973)
• March 9 - Mickey Spillane, writer, actor (died 2006)
• April 17
  • Anne Shirley, actress (died 1993)
  • William Holden, actor (died 1981)
• May 14 - June Duprez, actress (died 1984)
• May 26 - John Dall, actor (died 1971)
• June 8 - Robert Preston, actor, singer (died 1987)
• June 11 - Jane Bryan, actress (died 2009)
• July 6 - Sebastian Cabot, actor (died 1977)
• July 14 - Ingmar Bergman, actor, writer, director (died 2007)
• July 18 - Jane Frazee, singer, actress (died 1985)
• July 26 - Marjorie Lord, actress (died 2015)
• August 9 - Robert Aldrich, director (died 1983)
• August 17 - Evelyn Ankers, actress (died 1985)
• September - Rin Tin Tin, canine actor (died 1932)
• September 13 - Dick Haymes, actor, singer (died 1980)
• September 21 - Rand Brooks, actor (died 2003)
• September 28 - Arnold Stang, actor and comedian (died 2009)
• October 9 - Lila Kedrova, actress (died 2000)
• October 13 - Robert Walker, actor (died 1951)
• October 17 - Rita Hayworth, actress (died 1987)
• October 26 - Diana Serra Cary, (Baby Peggy) actress
• October 27 - Teresa Wright, actress (died 2005)
• November 4
  • Art Carney, actor (died 2003)
  • Cameron Mitchell, actor (died 1994)
• November 30 - Efrem Zimbalist Jr., actor (died 2014)
• December 15 - Jeff Chandler, actor (died 1961)

Deaths

• January 12 - Simeon Wiltsie, American actor
• February 1 - Joseph Kaufman, 36, American silent film actor & director, married to film star Ethel Clayton
• February 15 - Vernon Castle, 30, American dancer & writer
• March 13 - William Courtleigh, Jr., 26, American actor
• April 30 - "Mother" Mary Maurice, 73, American veteran stage & film actress
• May 19 - S. Rankin Drew, 26, American actor and director.
• June 29 - John van den Broek, 23, Dutch cinematographer
• July 4 - Walter Stradling, 43, British cinematographer
• August 12 - Anna Held, 46, Polish actress & singer
• September 21 - Hal August, 28, American actor; brother of Edwin August
• October 19 - Harold Lockwood, 31, American actor
• October 22 - Julian L'Estrange, 38, English actor
• October 28 - Louise Vale, American actress
• November 6 - William Shea, 67, Scottish veteran film actor & director
• November 18 - Wayland Trask, Jr., 31, American comedian
• December 6 - Charles Gunn, 35, American actor
• December 29 - Jode Mullally, 32, American actor

Debuts

• Noël Coward - Hearts of the World
• Will Rogers - Laughing Bill Hyde