1920 in film

Events

• August – Jack Cohn, Joe Brandt and Harry Cohn form C. B. C. Film Sales Corporation which would later become Columbia Pictures.
• November 27 – The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks opens.

  Top-grossing films

Notable films released in 1920

Notable United States films

• Along the Moonbeam Trail contained animated dinosaur sequences by Willis O'Brien
• April Folly directed by Robert Z. Leonard; starring Marion Davies and Conway Tearle
• Black Shadows, directed by Howard M. Mitchell
• The Copperhead, starring Lionel Barrymore and Doris Rankin
• The Dark Mirror, directed by Charles Giblyn
• The Devil's Pass Key directed by Erich von Stroheim; starring Mae Busch and Maude George
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde directed by John S. Robertson; starring John Barrymore
• The Flapper, starring Olive Thomas
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by Charles J. Hayden, starring Sheldon Lewis
• The Girl in Number 29 directed by John Ford
• Go and Get It, starred Pat O'Malley and Wallace Beery
• His Brother's Keeper, directed by Wilfred North
• House of the Tolling Bell directed by J. Stuart Blackton
• The House of Whispers directed by Ernest C. Warde
• Huckleberry Finn directed by William Desmond Taylor; starring Lewis Sargent, Edythe Chapman, Martha Mattox
• If I Were King directed by J. Gordon Edwards; starring William Farnum, Betty Ross Clarke and Fritz Leiber, Sr.
• The Jack-Knife Man directed by King Vidor
• Judy of Rogue's Harbor directed by William Desmond Taylor; starring Mary Miles Minter, Fritzi Ridgeway and Theodore Roberts
• Lady Rose's Daughter directed by Hugh Ford; starring Elsie Ferguson
• The Last of the Mohicans directed by Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown; starring Wallace Beery, Barbara Bedford, Alan Roscoe
• The Love Flower directed by D. W. Griffith starring Richard Barthelmess and Carol Dempster
• Love Without Question, directed by B. A. Rolfe
• The Mark of Zorro directed by Fred Niblo; starring Douglas Fairbanks
• The Master Mind, starred Lionel Barrymore
• The Mollycoddle directed by Victor Fleming; starring Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Beery
• Nomads of the North, starring Lon Chaney and Lewis Stone
• Old Lady 31 directed by John Ince & Sherry Harris; starring Emma Dunn, Carrie Clark Ward, Winifred Westover & Martha Mattox
• One Hour Before Dawn, directed by Henry King for Pathe
• Outside the Law directed by Tod Browning
• Over the Hill to the Poorhouse
• The Penalty directed by Wallace Worsley; starring Lon Chaney
• Phantom Melody, directed by Douglas Gerrard for Universal
• Pollyanna, starring Mary Pickford
• The Restless Sex directed by Robert Z. Leonard; starring Marion Davies and Carlyle Blackwell
• Romance, starring Doris Keane and Norman Trevor
• Sex directed by Fred Niblo
• Shipwrecked Among Cannibals documentary film
• Something to Think About directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring Gloria Swanson and Monte Blue
• The Star Rover, based on the novel by Jack London, directed by Edward Sloman
• Stolen Moments, starring Rudolph Valentino
• Suds, starring Mary Pickford
• Treasure Island directed by Maurice Tourneur; starring Lon Chaney and Shirley Mason
• Way Down East directed by D. W. Griffith; starring Lillian Gish and Richard Barthelmess
• Within Our Gates directed by Oscar Micheaux, starring Evelyn Preer
• Why Change Your Wife?'' directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan and Bebe Daniels

  Austria

• Anita, directed by Luise Kolm and Jakob Fleck
• Boccaccio directed by Michael Curtiz.
• The Prince and the Pauper directed by Alexander Korda.
• The Scourge of God directed by Michael Curtiz.
• The Star of Damascus'' directed by Michael Curtiz.

  France

• Barrabas directed by Louis Feuillade
• The Man Who Sold His Soul to the Devil, directed by Pierre Caron

  Germany

• Algol, starring Emil Jannings
• Anna Boleyn directed by Ernst Lubitsch
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari directed by Robert Wiene; starring Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt and Lil Dagover
• Cagliostro, directed by Reinhold Schuenzel, starred Conrad Veidt
• Evening – Night – Morning directed by F.W. Murnau
• Genuine directed by Robert Wiene, starring Fern Andra
• directed by and starring Paul Wegener
• The Head of Janus directed by F.W. Murnau, starring Conrad Veidt and Bela Lugosi
• Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Willy Zehn, released in two parts
• The Hunchback and the Dancer directed by F.W. Murnau
• Kohlhiesels Töchter directed by Ernst Lubitsch
• The Last of the Mohicans, starring Bela Lugosi
• Nachtgestalten, directed by Richard Oswald, starring Conrad Veidt and Paul Wegener, based on the Karl Hans Strobl short story Eleagable Kuperus
• Satan directed by F. W. Murnau, starred Conrad Veidt, filmed in 1919
• Sumurun directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Paul Wegener and Pola Negri
• Die Todeskarawane, starring Dora Gerson and Bela Lugosi
• Torgus, the Coffin Maker, directed by Hans Kobe

  Italy

• The Monster of Frankenstein , directed by Eugenio Testa, starring Umberto Guarracino as the Monster
• Spiritism, starring Francesca Bettina

  Sweden

• Erotikon directed by Mauritz Stiller
• Herr och fru Stockholm, starring Greta Garbo
• Karin Daughter of Ingmar directed by & starring Victor Sjostrom
• The Monastery of Sendomir directed by Victor Sjostrom
• The Parson's Widow directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer

  United Kingdom

• The Barton Mystery, directed by Harry Roberts, starred Lyn Harding
• Bleak House directed by Maurice Elvey
• Build Thy House directed by Fred Goodwins, starring Henry Ainley
• Colonel Newcome directed by Fred Goodwins' starring Milton Rosmer, Joyce Carey
• Ernest Maltravers directed by Jack Denton; starring Lillian Hall-Davis
• The Ever Open Door directed by Fred Goodwins; starring Hayford Hobbs
• The Fordington Twins directed by W.P. Kellino
• General Post directed by Thomas Bentley; starring Douglas Munro, Lilian Braithwaite
• The Lure of Crooning Water directed by Arthur Rooke; starring Guy Newall and Ivy Duke
• Mr. Gilfil's Love Story directed by A.V. Bramble; starring Mary Odette
• A Son of David directed by Hay Plumb; starring Ronald Colman
• Trent's Last Case directed by Richard Garrick; starring Gregory Scott, Pauline Peters and Clive Brook
• The Twelve Pound Look directed by Jack Denton; starring Milton Rosmer

  Film series

• The Son of Tarzan, a 15-chapter film series:

1. The Call of the Jungle
2. Out of the Lion's Jaws
3. Girl of the Jungle
4. The Sheik's Revenge
5. The Pirate's Prey
6. The Killer's Mate
7. The Quest of the Killer
8. The Coming of Tarzan
9. The Kiss of the Beast
10. Tarzan Takes the Trail
11. Ashes of Love
12. Meriem's Ride in the Night
13. Double Crossed
14. Blazing Hearts
15. An Amazing Denouement

    Short film series

• Harold Lloyd
• *An Eastern Westerner
• *Get Out and Get Under
• *Haunted Spooks
• *High and Dizzy
• *His Royal Slyness
• *Number, Please?
• Buster Keaton
• *The Garage
• *One Week
• *The Saphead
• *Convict 13
• *The Scarecrow
• *Neighbors

  Animated short film series

• Felix the Cat
• *A Frolic with Felix
• *Felix the Big Game Hunter
• *Wrecking a Romeo
• *Felix the Food Controller
• *Felix the Pinch Hitter
• *Foxy Felix
• *A Hungry Hoodoo
• *The Great Cheese Robbery
• *Felix and the Feed Bag
• *Nifty Nurse
• *The Circus
• *My Hero
• *Felix the Landlord
• *Felix's Fish Story
• Out of the Inkwell

• The Boxing Kangaroo
• The Chinaman
• The Circus
• The Ouija Board
• The Clown's Little Brother
• Perpetual Motion
• Poker
• The Restaurant

  Births

• January 7 – Vincent Gardenia, actor
• January 20
• *DeForest Kelley, actor
• *Federico Fellini, film director
• January 27 – John Box, production designer, four-time Oscar winner
• January 30
• *Michael Anderson, director
• *Delbert Mann, director
• February 11 – Billy Halop, actor
• February 26 – Tony Randall, actor
• February 29 – Michèle Morgan, actress
• March 3 – James Doohan, actor
• March 6 – Lewis Gilbert, director
• March 16 – Leo McKern, actor
• April 1 – Toshiro Mifune, actor
• April 2 – Jack Webb, actor
• May 11 – Denver Pyle, actor
• May 16 – Martine Carol, actress
• May 26 – Peggy Lee, singer, songwriter, actress
• May 29 – Clifton James, actor
• June 17 – Setsuko Hara, Japanese film actress
• June 18 – Ian Carmichael, English stage, film and television actor
• June 29 – Ray Harryhausen, producer, visual effects artist
• July 11 – Yul Brynner, actor
• July 28 – Andrew V. McLaglen, film & TV director, son of Victor McLaglen
• August 6 – Ella Raines, actress
• August 17 – Maureen O'Hara, actress
• August 18 – Shelley Winters, actress
• August 22 – Ray Bradbury, writer
• September 18 – Jack Warden, actor
• September 23 – Mickey Rooney, actor
• September 27 – William Conrad, actor
• October 1 – Walter Matthau, actor
• October 10 - Noah Keen, actor
• October 13 – Laraine Day, actress
• October 17 – Montgomery Clift, actor
• October 18 – Melina Mercouri, actress
• October 21 – Hy Averback, actor
• October 22 – Mitzi Green, actress
• October 27 – Nanette Fabray, actress
• November 10 – Jennifer Holt, actress
• November 19 – Gene Tierney, actress
• November 25
• *Shelagh Fraser, English actress
• *Ricardo Montalbán, actor
• *Noel Neill, actress
• November 30 – Virginia Mayo, actress
• December 29 – Viveca Lindfors, actress
• December 7 – Frances Gifford, actress
• December 30 – Jack Lord, actor
• December 31 – Rex Allen, American cowboy actor, singer

  Deaths

• January 31 – Gilda Langer, 23, German actress
• February 11 – Gaby Deslys, 38, French actress, dancer, singer
• February 17 – Thomas Commerford, 64, American veteran character actor
• March 2 – Harry Solter, 46, American actor
• April 12 – Walter Edwards, 50, American director
• April 25 – Clarine Seymour, 21, American actress
• May 22 – Hal Reid, 59, American actor & director
• June 14 – Gabrielle Réjane, 64, stage and film actress
• August 1 – Eugene Gaudio, 33, Italian born cinematographer
• August 2 – Ormer Locklear, 29, American stunt flier
• August 13 – Gladys Field, 31, actress
• August 28 – Suzanne Grandais, 27, French actress
• September 5 – Robert Harron, 27, American actor
• September 10 – Olive Thomas, 25, American actress
• November 19 – Will S. Davis, 38, American film director
• December 9 – Mollie McConnell, 55, American actress

  Film debuts

• Mary Astor
• Madge Bellamy
• Charles Boyer
• Greta Garbo
• Alfred Hitchcock – director
• Barbara La Marr
• Victor McLaglen
• Nita Naldi
• Claude Rains
• Otis Skinner
• Cornelia Otis Skinner

  Films set in 1920

• Manhattan Melodrama
• Winterset
• The Road Back
• Clash of Loyalties
• Three Comrades
• Hostile Whirlwinds : Film portrays the first years of Soviet government, biography of Felix Dzerzhinsky in 1918–1921.
• Kappalottiya Thamizhan
• The Ball of Count Orgel : Set in 1920, the Comte hosts a soirée and dance for the upper echelons of Parisian society.
• Vengeance : The film is set in 1920 Peking, and centers on a revenge plight of Chiang.
• Reds
• Once Upon a Time in America : David "Noodles" Aaronson struggles as a street kid in Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1920.
• The Man Who Planted Trees
• A Month in the Country : Set in rural Yorkshire during the summer of 1920, the film follows a destitute World War I veteran employed to carry out restoration work on a Medieval mural discovered in a rural church while coming to terms with the after-effects of the war.
• Life and Nothing But : Set in October 1920, it tells the story of Major Delaplane, a man whose job is to find the identities of unknown dead soldiers after World War I.
• The Treaty : The film is about the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Michael Collins bargained for with the British government in 1921.
• Michael Collins
• The Image Makers : The drama is set in the year 1920 at Filmstaden where the film director Victor Sjöström is shooting the film The Phantom Carriage.
• The Admiral
• 1920 film series
• Battle of Warsaw 1920
• Sunstroke