1928 in film

Top-grossing films

Events

• January 6 – The long-awaited Charlie Chaplin comedy The Circus premieres at the Strand Theatre in New York City.
• April 21 – The Passion of Joan of Arc is released.
• July 6 – Lights of New York is released by Warner Bros. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film. Previous releases Don Juan and The Jazz Singer had used a synchronized soundtrack with sound effects and music, with The Jazz Singer having a few incidental lines spoken by Al Jolson.
• September 19 – The Singing Fool, Warner Bros' follow-up to The Jazz Singer, is released. While still only a partial-talkie, 66 minutes of the film's 105 minute running time feature dialogue or songs, making it the longest talking motion picture yet. It is the highest-grossing film of the year, becomes Warner Bros' highest-grossing film for the next 13 years, and is the most financially successful film of Al Jolson's career.
• October 23 – RKO Productions Inc. created
• November 10 – At the beginning of White Shadows in the South Seas, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's mascot Leo the Lion roars for the very first time, giving voice to one of the most popular American film logos.
• November 18 – Disney's Steamboat Willie premieres, marking the official introduction of Mickey Mouse. This animated short is the first film to include a soundtrack, completely created in post production, including sound effects, music, and dialogue.
• December 25 – In Old Arizona, released by Fox Films, is the first sound-on-film feature-length talkie, utilizing the Movietone process. Previously, feature-length talkies used the less-reliable Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. It is also the first Western talkie, and the first sound film primarily shot outdoors.

  Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Wings – Paramount Pictures
• Best Unique and Artistic Picture: ' – Fox Film Corporation
• Best Director, Dramatic Picture: Frank Borzage – 7th Heaven
• Best Director, Comedy Picture: Lewis Milestone – Two Arabian Knights
• Best Actor: Emil Jannings – The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh
• Best Actress: Janet Gaynor – 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and '

Notable films released in 1928

A

• Accident –
• Across to Singapore, starring Ramón Novarro and Joan Crawford
• The Actress directed by Sidney Franklin; starring Norma Shearer
• Adam's Apple, starring Monty Banks –
• Alraune, starring Brigitte Helm and Paul Wegener –
• L'Argent, starring Pierre Alcover and Brigitte Helm –
• The Awakening, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Vilma Bánky and Louis Wolheim

  B

• Balaclava, starring Cyril McLaglen, Benita Hume –
• Beau Sabreur, directed by John Waters, starring Gary Cooper and Evelyn Brent
• Beggars of Life, directed by William Wellman, starring Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks
• The Big City, starring Lon Chaney, Sr.
• The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple – – Released in 18 parts as the film runs for a total of 27 hours

  C

• The Cameraman, a Buster Keaton film
• The Cardboard Lover, directed by Robert Z. Leonard; starring Marion Davies, Nils Asther, and Jetta Goudal
• Champagne, directed by Alfred Hitchcock –
• The Circus, starring, directed and written by Charles Chaplin
• The Constant Nymph, starring Ivor Novello –
• The Cossacks starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée and Ernest Torrence
• The Crowd, directed by King Vidor

  D

• Dawn, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Sybil Thorndike –
• The Devious Path, directed by G.W. Pabst –
• The Divine Woman, starring Greta Garbo
• The Docks of New York, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring George Bancroft, Betty Compson and Olga Baclanova

  E

• Easy Virtue, directed by Alfred Hitchcock –

  F

• The Fall of the House of Usher, directed by James Sibley Watson
• The Fall of the House of Usher –
• The Farmer's Wife, directed by Alfred Hitchcock –
• Feel My Pulse, starring Bebe Daniels, Richard Arlen and William Powell
• The First Born, starring Miles Mander, Madeleine Carroll –
• Four Sons, directed by John Ford

  G

• The Gallant Hussar, directed by Géza von Bolváry, starring Ivor Novello, Evelyn Holt
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, starring Ruth Taylor and Alice White, subtitles written by Anita Loos
• A Girl in Every Port, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Victor McLaglen, Robert Armstrong, Louise Brooks
• The Godless Girl, directed by Cecil B. DeMille
• The Guns of Loos, directed by Sinclair Hill, starring Madeleine Carroll

  H

• Hangman's House, directed by John Ford, starring Victor McLaglen and June Collyer
• His House in Order, starring Tallulah Bankhead
• Homecoming –
• The House on Trubnaya, directed by Boris Barnet –
• Hungarian Rhapsody, directed by Hanns Schwarz, starring Lil Dagover, Willy Fritsch, Dita Parlo

  I

• Interference, Paramount's first ever all talking movie
• The Italian Straw Hat, directed by René Clair –

  J

• Jujiro –

  K

• Kurama Tengu –

  L

• Ladies of the Mob, starring Clara Bow, Richard Arlen and Helen Lynch
• The Last Command, directed by Joseph von Sternberg, starring Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent and William Powell
• Laugh, Clown, Laugh, starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young
• Lights of New York
• A Little Bit of Fluff, starring Sydney Chaplin and Betty Balfour –
• Lonesome, directed by Paul Fejos –

  M

• The Man Who Laughs, directed by Paul Leni, starring Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin
• Maria Marten, starring Trilby Clark and Warwick Ward
• The Matinee Idol, directed by Frank Capra, starring Bessie Love and Johnnie Walker.
• The Midnight Taxi
• Mother Machree, directed by John Ford
• Moulin Rouge directed by Ewald André Dupont –
• The Mysterious Lady, starring Greta Garbo and Conrad Nagel

  N

• Noah's Ark, starring George O'Brien
• The Noose, starring Richard Barthelmess
• Number 17, directed by Géza von Bolváry, starring Guy Newall and Lien Deyers –

  O

• , directed by Sergei Eisenstein –
• On Trial, sound film, starring Pauline Frederick and Bert Lytell
• Our Dancing Daughters, starring Joan Crawford and Johnny Mack Brown

  P

• The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, starring Maria Falconetti –
• The Patsy, directed by King Vidor, starring Marion Davies and Marie Dressler
• Piccadilly, starring Anna May Wong, Gilda Gray and Cyril Ritchard
• The Power of the Press, directed by Frank Capra, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr

  R

• The Racket, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Thomas Meighan, Marie Prevost, and Louis Wolheim.
• Ramona, starring Dolores del Río and Warner Baxter
• The Red Dance, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Dolores del Río and Charles Farrell
• Red Hair, starring Clara Bow
• The Ringer directed by Arthur Maude –
• The Road to Ruin
• Rose-Marie, starring James Murray and Joan Crawford

  S

• Sadie Thompson, starring Gloria Swanson and Lionel Barrymore
• The Seashell and the Clergyman –
• Sex in Chains, starring and directed by William Dieterle –
• Show People, directed by King Vidor, starring Marion Davies and William Haines
• The Singing Fool, starring Al Jolson and Betty Bronson
• Sins of the Fathers starring Emil Jannings and Ruth Chatterton
• Skyscraper, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring William Boyd, Alan Hale, Sue Carol and Alberta Vaughn
• The Smart Set, starring William Haines, Jack Holt, and Alice Day
• A South Sea Bubble, starring Ivor Novello, Benita Hume
• Speedy, starring Harold Lloyd
• Spione, directed by Fritz Lang –
• Steamboat Bill, Jr., a Buster Keaton film
• Steamboat Willie, a Walt Disney Mickey Mouse short
• Storm Over Asia, starring Valéry Inkijinoff –
• Street Angel, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell
• Sweeney Todd, starring Moore Marriott –

  T

• Take Me Home, a lost film directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Bebe Daniels
• Tempest, starring John Barrymore, Camilla Horn and George Fawcett
• The Terror, starring May McAvoy, Edward Everett Horton, and Louise Fazenda
• Tesha, directed by Victor Saville, starring María Corda, Jameson Thomas –
• Thérèse Raquin, directed by Jacques Feyder –
• Three Sinners starring Pola Negri, Warner Baxter and Olga Baclanova
• Tillie's Punctured Romance, starring W. C. Fields, Louise Fazenda and Chester Conklin
• Tommy Atkins, starring Lillian Hall-Davis
• Toni starring Jack Buchanan –
• The Trail of '98, starring Dolores del Río
• The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Matheson Lang
• Two Tars, starring Laurel and Hardy

  U

• Underground, directed by Anthony Asquith –

  V

• The Viking – the first feature-length Technicolor film
• Vormittagsspuk, a dadaist animated short –
• The Vortex, starring Ivor Novello –

  W

• We Faw Down, starring Laurel and Hardy
• The Wedding March, directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim with Fay Wray and ZaSu Pitts
• West of Zanzibar, starring Lon Chaney and Lionel Barrymore
• West Point, starring William Haines and Joan Crawford
• What a Night!, directed by A. Edward Sutherland; starring Bebe Daniels
• While the City Sleeps, directed by Jack Conway; starring Lon Chaney
• White Shadows in the South Seas, starring Monte Blue and Raquel Torres
• The Wind, directed by Victor Sjostrom, starring Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson
• A Woman of Affairs, starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert

  Z

• Zvenigora, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko –

  Short film series

• Buster Keaton
• Our Gang
• Laurel and Hardy

  Animated short film series

• Felix the Cat
• Aesop's Film Fables
• Krazy Kat
• Inkwell Imps
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
• * Harem Scarem
• * Neck 'n' Neck
• * The Ol' Swimmin' Hole
• * Africa Before Dark
• * Rival Romeos
• * Bright Lights
• * Oh, What a Knight
• * Sagebrush Sadie
• * Ride'em Plow Boy
• * Sky Scrappers
• * Ozzie of the Mounted
• * Hungry Hoboes
• * Poor Papa
• * The Fox Chase
• * Tall Timber
• * Sleigh Bells
• * Hot Dog
• Newslaffs
• Mickey Mouse
• * Plane Crazy
• * Gallopin' Gaucho
• * Steamboat Willie
• * The Barn Dance

  Births

• January 2 – Ellen Kaarma, Estonian actress
• January 7 – William Peter Blatty, American screenwriter
• January 23 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress, singer, screenwriter and director
• January 26 – Roger Vadim, French director, screenwriter, actor
• February 1 – Stuart Whitman, American film and television actor
• February 8 – Jack Larson, American actor
• February 11 – Conrad Janis, American actor
• February 22 - Paul Dooley, American actor, writer and comedian.
• February 29 – Tempest Storm, American burlesque performer and actress
• March 1 – Jacques Rivette, French director
• March 19 – Patrick McGoohan, Irish actor
• March 24 – Vanessa Brown American actress
• April 2 – Piet Römer, Dutch actor
• April 4 – Estelle Harris, American actress and comedienne
• April 7 – James Garner, American actor
• April 23 – Shirley Temple, American actress
• May 7 – Georgi Rusev, Bulgarian actor
• May 30 – Agnès Varda, Belgian-born French director, producer and screenwriter
• June 12 – Vic Damone, American singer, entertainer and actor
• June 13 – Nikola Todev, Bulgarian actor
• June 19 – Nancy Marchand, American actress
• June 20 – Martin Landau, American actor
• June 22 – Ralph Waite, American actor
• July 6 – Néstor de Villa, Filipino actor
• July 14 – Nancy Olson, American actress
• July 26 – Stanley Kubrick, American director
• August 6 – Andy Warhol, American artist and director
• August 14
• *Joëlle Bernard, French actress
• *Jacques Rouffio, French director and screenwriter
• August 15
• *Nicolas Roeg, English director
• *Simone Silva, Egyptian-born French actress
• August 16 – Ann Blyth, American actress
• August 31 – James Coburn, American actor
• September 4 – Dick York, American actor
• September 11 – Earl Holliman, American actor
• September 17 – Roddy McDowall, Anglo-American actor
• September 19 – Adam West, American actor
• October 1 – George Peppard, American actor
• October 2 – George McFarland, American actor
• November 1 – Emmaline Henry, American actress
• November 3 – Wanda Hendrix, American actress
• November 10 – Ennio Morricone, Italian composer
• November 13
• *Helena Carroll, Scottish-American actress
• *Ralph Foody, American actor
• December 9 – Dick Van Patten, American actor
• December 25 – Dick Miller, American actor

  Deaths

• January 2 – Emily Stevens, American stage & film actress
• January 3 – Claude France, German film actress
• January 25 – Charles Gorman, American stage and screen actor
• February 22 – American cinematographer
• March 5 – Lidia Quaranta, Italian actress
• March 13 – Poppy Wyndham, British actress and heiress; lost at sea
• April 22 – Frank Currier, American director, stage & silent film actor
• June 22 – George Siegmann, American silent film actor
• June 24 – Holbrook Blinn, American stage & silent film actor
• July 20 – Scott Sidney, American film director
• July 21
• *Ellen Terry, British stage actress of the Victorian and Edwardian times and later a silent film actress
• *Ward Crane, American film actor
• August 10 – Rex Cherryman, American actor
• August 17 – Frank Urson, American film director
• August 26 – Colin Campbell, British-born film director
• October 8 – Larry Semon, American film comedian
• November 10 – Anita Berber, German film actress
• November 19 – Jeanne Bérangère, French stage and film actress
• December 14 – Theodore Roberts, American film actor
• December 25 – Fred Thomson, American film actor

  Film debuts

• Jack Benny – Bright Moments
• Humphrey Bogart – The Dancing Town
• Madeleine Carroll – The Guns of Loos
• Andy Devine – That's My Daddy
• Jean Gabin – Ohé! Les valises
• Jean Harlow – Moran of the Marines
• Miriam Hopkins – The Home Girl
• Charles Laughton – The Tonic
• Anna Magnani – Scampolo
• Ray Milland – Moulin Rouge
• Randolph Scott – Sharp Shooters
• Mickey Mouse – Steamboat Willie