1921 in film - Definition and Overview

Events

• February 20 - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
• September 5 - At a San Francisco hotel party to celebrate his new $3,000,000 three-year contract with Paramount, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle mortally injures 25-year-old Virginia Rappe during a sexual encounter. Rappe sinks into a coma. A cover-up for Arbuckle is attempted, but the Deputy Coroner manages to get a police investigation started. Rumours fly that Arbuckle raped Rappe with a bottle.
• December 4 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against actor and film director Roscoe Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.

Top grossing films

1. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
2. The Kid
3. Every Woman's Problem

Movies released

Movies released in 1921 include:

• Every Woman's Problem
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino
• The Kid, starring Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan
• Orphans of the Storm, starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish; directed by D.W. Griffith
• The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino

Births

• January 27 - Donna Reed, actress (d. 1986)
• January 31 - Carol Channing, actress
• January 31 - Mario Lanza, singer, actor (d. 1959)
• February 8 - Lana Turner, actress (d. 1995)
• February 11 - Eva Gabor, actress (d. 1995)
• February 16 - Vera-Ellen, actress, dancer (d. 1981)
• February 22 - Giulietta Masina, actress (d. 1994)
• February 26 - Betty Hutton, actress
• March 3 - Diana Barrymore, actress (d. 1960)
• March 4 - Joan Greenwood, actress (d. 1987)
• March 8 - Cyd Charisse, actress, dancer
• March 12 - Gordon MacRae, actor, singer (d. 1986)
• March 25 - Simone Signoret, actress (d. 1985)
• March 28 - Dirk Bogarde, actor (d. 1999)
• April 10 - Chuck Connors, actor (d. 1992)
• April 16 - Peter Ustinov, actor (d. 2004)
• May 2 - Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (d. 1992)
• May 23 - Grigori Chukhrai, Ukranian film director (d. 2001)
• May 31 - Alida Valli, actress
• June 8 - Alexis Smith, actress (d. 1993)
• June 21 - Jane Russell, actress
• June 21 - Judy Holliday, actress (d. 1965)
• July 3 - Susan Peters, actress (d. 1952)
• August 3 - Marilyn Maxwell, actress (d. 1972)
• September 8 - Harry Secombe, actor, singer (d. 2001)
• September 30 - Deborah Kerr, actress
• October 13 - Yves Montand, singer, actor (d. 1991)
• November 3 - Charles Bronson, actor (d. 2003)
• November 20 - Phyllis Thaxter, actress
• November 22 - Rodney Dangerfield, actor, comedian (d. 2004)
• November 23 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian actor and singer
• December 4 - Deanna Durbin, actress
• December 26 - Steve Allen, actor, composer, comedian, author (d. 2000)

Deaths