The following is an overview of 1927 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Events
January 10 – Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany. The film receives its American premiere in New York City on March 6. March 11 – World's largest movie theatre, the Roxy Theatre, opens in New York City. April 7 – Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premieres (in a shortened version) at the Paris Opéra and demonstrates techniques and equipment that will not be revived for years to come, such as hand-held cameras, and what is often considered the first widescreen projection format Polyvision. May 11 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded in Los Angeles by Douglas Fairbanks. The 1st Academy Awards (Oscars) will be awarded to films which are released in 1927 or 1928. August 12 – Paramount's dramatic film Wings, which will go on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture, opens at the Criterion Theater in New York City, with an unheard-of roadshow admission price of $2.00 per ticket. September 5 – Nicholas Schenck becomes president of Loews Inc. following the death of Marcus Loew. September 7 – Oswald the Lucky Rabbit debuts in Trolley Troubles. September 23 – Fox Films acquires the rights to the Tri-Ergon sound-on-film technology, which had been developed in 1919 by three German inventors, Josef Engl, Hans Vogt, and Joseph Massole. October 6 – The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, premieres at the Warner Theater in New York City. Although not the first 'talkie', The Jazz Singer becomes the first box-office hit and popularizes sound motion pictures. It is the highest-grossing movie up to this time. December 3 – The silent short Putting Pants on Philip, the first official billing of comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, is released in the United States. Ang Manananggal, the first Filipino horror film, is released in the Philippines. Cinematograph Films Act sets a minimum quota for British films to be shown in British cinemas. Italian Alberto Rabagliati wins a Rudolph Valentino look-alike contest and moves to Hollywood to start his acting career. The Three Tramps, the first Filipino comedy film featuring the Silos brothers, is released in the Philippines.
Academy Awards Best Production: Wings Best Artistic Quality: Sunrise Best Actor: Emil Jannings for The Way of All Flesh and the 1928 movie The Last Command Best Actress: Janet Gaynor for Seventh Heaven and Sunrise, as well as the 1928 movie Street Angel Best Director (Dramatic Picture): Frank Borzage for Seventh Heaven Best Director (Comedy Picture): Lewis Milestone for Two Arabian Knights
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1927 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1927 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1The King of Kings Pathé Exchange $2,641,687 2The Jazz Singer Warner Bros. $1,974,000 37th Heaven Fox Film $1,750,000 4The Gaucho United Artists $1,400,000 5The Patent Leather KidJesse James First NationalParamount $1,200,000 Karen R. Jones, American West: Competing Visions, Edinburgh University Press, 2009, pp. 250-251 6Wings Paramount $1,100,000 7My Best Girl United Artists $1,027,757 8LoveMGM $946,000 9The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg $894,000 10Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans Fox Film $818,000
Notable films released in 1927 For the complete list of US film releases for the year, see United States films of 1927
# 7th Heaven, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell
A Ang Manananggal, directed by José Nepomuceno, starring Mary Walter – (Philippines) Annie Laurie, directed by John S. Robertson, starring Lillian Gish and Norman Kerry
B Bed and Sofa (Tretya meshchanskaya), directed by Abram Room – (U.S.S.R.) The Beloved Rogue, directed by Alan Crosland, starring John Barrymore, Conrad Veidt and Marceline Day Belphégor, directed by Henri Desfontaines – (France) Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt), directed by Walter Ruttmann – (Germany) Bigamy (Bigamie), directed by Jaap Speyer, starring Heinrich George – (Germany) Blighty, directed by Adrian Brunel, starring Ellaline Terriss and Lillian Hall-Davis – (GB) The Bugle Call (lost), directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Jackie Coogan
C The Cat and the Canary, directed by Paul Leni, starring Laura La Plante and Creighton Hale, based on the 1922 stage play by John WillardWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 311. . Chicago, directed by Frank Urson, starring Phyllis Haver Children of Divorce, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Clara Bow, Esther Ralston and Gary Cooper The Chinese Parrot (lost), directed by Paul Leni The Club of the Big Deed (Soyuz velikogo dela), directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg – (U.S.S.R.) College, directed by James W. Horne and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton Confetti, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Jack Buchanan and Annette Benson – (GB)
D The Dove, directed by Roland West, starring Norma Talmadge, Noah Beery Sr. and Gilbert Roland Downhill, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ivor Novello and Isabel Jeans – (GB) The Drop Kick, directed by Millard Webb, starring Richard Barthelmess
E Easy Pickings, directed by George Archainbaud, starring Anna Q. Nilsson, based on the stage play by Paul A. Kruger and William A. Burton Education of a Prince (Éducation de Prince), directed by Henri Diamant-Berger – (France) The End of St. Petersburg (Konets Sankt-Peterburga), directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin – (U.S.S.R.)
F The Fair Co-Ed, directed by Sam Wood; starring Marion Davies and Johnny Mack Brown The Filipino Woman (La Mujer Filipina), directed by José Nepomuceno – (Philippines) The First Auto, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Barney Oldfield and Patsy Ruth Miller Flesh and the Devil, directed by Clarence Brown, starring John Gilbert, Greta Garbo and Lars Hanson The Forty-First (Sorok pervyy), directed by Yakov Protazanov – (U.S.S.R.)
G The Gaucho, directed by F. Richard Jones, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Lupe Vélez Ghost Train (Der Geisterzug), directed by Géza von Bolváry, starring Guy Newall – (GB/Germany) The Gorilla, directed by Alfred Santell, starring Charles Murray and Walter Pidgeon, based on the 1925 stage play by Ralph SpenceWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 313. .
H Her Wild Oat, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Colleen Moore His First Flame, directed by Harry Edwards, starring Harry Langdon His Greatest Bluff (Sein größter Bluff), directed by Henrik Galeen and Harry Piel – (Germany) The Honorable Mr. Buggs, directed by Fred Jackman, starring Matt Moore, Anna May Wong and Oliver Hardy Hot Kisses, directed by José Nepomuceno – (Philippines) Hula, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Clara Bow Husband Hunters, directed by John G. Adolfi, starring Mae Busch, Jean Arthur and Mildred Harris
I It, directed by Clarence G. Badger, starring Clara Bow and Antonio Moreno
J The Jazz Singer, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Al Jolson, May McAvoy and Warner Oland Johann the Coffinmaker, directed by Robert Florey Johnny Get Your Hair Cut, directed by B. Reeves Eason and Archie Mayo, starring Jackie Coogan and Harry Carey
K The Kid Brother, directed by Ted Wilde, starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston The King of Kings, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring H. B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming and Joseph Schildkraut
L The Lady in Ermine (lost), directed by James Flood, starring Corinne Griffith Laila, directed by Aziza Amir, starring Aziza Amir and Stephan Rosti – (Egypt) The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ivor Novello, based on the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes – (GB) London After Midnight (lost), written and directed by Tod Browning, starring Lon Chaney, Marceline Day and Conrad Nagel Long Pants, directed by Frank Capra, starring Harry Langdon The Love of Jeanne Ney (Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney), directed by G.W. Pabst – (Germany) The Love of Sunya, directed by Albert Parker, starring Gloria Swanson The Loves of Carmen, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Dolores del Río and Victor McLaglen
M Madame Pompadour, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Dorothy Gish and Antonio Moreno – (GB) Man from the Restaurant (Chelovek iz restorana), directed by Yakov Protazanov – (U.S.S.R.) The Manor House of Fear (Le Manoir de la Peur), directed by Alfred Machin and Henry Wulschleger, starring Romuald JoubéWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 317. . – (France) Mata Hari, directed by Friedrich Feher, starring Magda Sonja – (Germany) Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Alfred Abel – (Germany) Mockery, directed by Benjamin Christensen, starring Lon Chaney and Ricardo Cortez The Mountain Eagle (lost), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Nita Naldi – (GB/Germany) My Best Girl, directed by Sam Taylor, starring Mary Pickford and Charles "Buddy" Rogers
N Napoléon, directed by Abel Gance, starring Albert Dieudonné – (France) Noidan kirot (The Curse of the Witch), directed by Teuvo Puro – (Finland)
O The Only Way, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring John Martin Harvey and Madge Stuart – (GB)
P The Patent Leather Kid, directed by Alfred Santell, starring Richard Barthelmess Prelude, written and directed by Castleton Knight, based on the short story The Premature Burial by Edgar Allan Poe – (GB) The Private Life of Helen of Troy (lost), directed by Alexander Korda, starring María Corda, Lewis Stone and Ricardo Cortez
Q Quality Street, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Marion Davies and Conrad Nagel The Queen of Spades, directed by Aleksandr Razumny, based on the 1833 short story Pikovaya Dama by Alexander PushkinWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 318. . – (Germany) Quinneys, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring John Longden and Alma Taylor – (GB)
R The Red Mill, directed by William Goodrich (Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle), starring Marion Davies The Ring, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Carl Brisson and Lillian Hall-Davis – (GB) Robinson Crusoe, directed by M. A. Wetherell, based on the novel by Daniel Defoe – (GB) Romance of the Western Chamber, directed by Hou Yao – (China)
S The Scar of Shame, directed by Frank Peregini Shooting Stars, directed by Anthony Asquith and A.V. Bramble – (GB) The Show, directed by Tod Browning, starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée and Lionel Barrymore, based on the 1910 novel The Day of Souls by Charles Tenney Jackson Singed, directed by John Griffith Wray, starring Blanche Sweet and Warner Baxter Slide, Kelly, Slide, directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring William Haines, Sally O'Neil and Harry Carey Sorrell and Son, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring H. B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson – (GB) Spring Fever, directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring William Haines, Joan Crawford and George K. Arthur The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ramón Novarro and Norma Shearer Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Janet Gaynor and George O'Brien Svengali, directed by Gennaro Righelli, starring Paul Wegener, based on the 1894 novel Trilby by George du Maurier – (Germany)
T The Telephone Girl, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Madge Bellamy and Warner Baxter The Three Tramps, directed by Manuel Silos – (Philippines) Tillie the Toiler, directed by Hobart Henley, starring Marion Davies Topsy and Eva, directed by Del Lord, starring Rosetta Duncan and Vivian Duncan Twelve Miles Out, directed by Jack Conway, starring John Gilbert, Ernest Torrence and Joan Crawford
U Uncle Tom's Cabin, directed by Harry A. Pollard