1911 in film

The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.

Events

 * February: The Motion Picture Story Magazine, the first American film fan magazine, is published. It is followed later in the year by Photoplay.
 * April 8: Winsor McCay releases his first film Little Nemo, one of the earliest animated films.
 * October 23 (October 10 OS): Svetozar Botorić's The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe (Život i dela besmrtnog vožda Karađorđa, Живот и дела бесмртног вожда Карађорђа) premieres in Belgrade and becomes the first feature film made in Serbia and the Balkans.
 * October 26: Defence of Sevastopol («Оборона Севастополя») premieres at the Crimean palace of Tsar Nicholas II and becomes the first feature-length film made in the Russian Empire and one of the first in the world. It is also the first known film to use a multiple-camera setup (2 cameras)
 * October 27: David Horsley's Nestor Motion Picture Company opens the first motion picture studio in Hollywood.
 * November: The Kalem Company of New York pays the estate of author Lew Wallace $25,000 in legal settlement for having adapted Ben Hur (1907 film) from his novel without securing prior rights.

Films released in 1911

 * Aerial Anarchists
 * Alkali Ike's Auto, starring Bronco Billy Anderson
 * Les Aventures de Baron de Munchhausen (aka Baron Munchausen), directed by Georges Melies
 * The Baby's Ghost (French/ Lux Film)
 * Baseball and Bloomers
 * The Battle, directed by D. W. Griffith
 * Beneath the Tower Ruins (British-French co-production produced by Charles Urban)
 * The Bells, Australian film in 1911 written and directed by W. J. Lincoln, based on the 1871 play by Leopold Lewis
 * The Bewitched Window (French/ Pathe)
 * Bill Bumper's Bargain, starring Francis X. Bushman as Mephistopheles
 * Bill Taken for a Ghost (French/ Lux Film) aka Patouillard Fantome, directed by Romeo Bosetti; one of a series of 60 silent films made in France all featuring the comic character Patouillard (the character's name was changed to "Bill" in the US)
 * The Black Arrow, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel The Black Arrow
 * Blood Vengeance, Italian film directed by Luigi Maggi, starring Antonietta Calderari, based on a story by Gabriele (Cabiria) D'Anunzio
 * Brown of Harvard
 * The Buddhist Priestess
 * By the House That Jack Built (Imp/ Universal) directed by Thomas H. Ince, starring Mary Pickford
 * Cally's Comet
 * The Coffin Ship
 * The Colonel and the King
 * Courting Across the Court
 * The Cowboy and the Lady
 * Curse of the Wandering Minstrel (Walturdaw Films)
 * Dandy Dick of Bishopgate, British film directed by Theo Frenkel, shot in the two-color Kinemacolor process
 * David Copperfield (Thanhouser) directed by George O. Nichols
 * Defence of Sevastopol, Russian film directed by Vasili Goncharov
 * The Demon (an Italian/Russian co-production) directed by Giovanni Vitrotti, starring Madame Cemesnova and Mikhail Tamarov, based on a poem by Mikhail Lermontov
 * The Devil as a Lawyer (German/ Messter Films, UFA)
 * The Devil's Sonata, Danish film based on a musical work by the 18th-century Italian composer Giuseppe Tarantini, plot is similar to the 1894 George du Maurier novel Trilby.
 * The Diabolical Church Window, directed by Georges Melies
 * Dr. Charlie is a Great Surgeon (Eclair Prods.)
 * The Dream, directed by Thomas H. Ince, starring Mary Pickford
 * Enoch Arden, directed by D. W. Griffith
 * An Evil Power (Selig-Polyscope) written and directed by Francis Boggs, starring Sydney Ayres and Frank Clark
 * The Fairy Jewel (Italian film directed by Giuseppe de Liguoro)
 * The Fall Of Troy, directed by Giovanni Pastrone
 * Faust (British/ Hepworth) directed by Cecil M. Hepworth, starring Hay Plumb and Jack Hulcup (as Mephistopheles).
 * Faust and Marguerite (French/ Gaumont) directed by Jean Durand, starring Gaston Modot
 * First Indy 500 (First year footage from the auto race. Filmed on May 30, 1911.)
 * The Fisherman's Nightmare (French/ Pathe)
 * Flames and Fortune
 * For Her Sake
 * From Death to Life (Rex Films/ Universal) featured a mad scientist
 * The Ghost's Warning (Edison Prods.) directed by Ashley Miller, starring Mary Fuller, Darwin Karr and Marc McDermott
 * The Golden Beetle (Italian/ Cines-Kleine) ran 60 minutes
 * The Haunted Cafe (German film/ Messter) aka The Bewitched Restaurant, produced by Oskar Messter, starring Henny Porten, featured trick photography effects a la Melies
 * The Haunted House (French/ Gaumont)
 * The Haunted House (Universal/ Imp) directed by William F. Haddock, starring King Baggot
 * His Trust, directed by D. W. Griffith
 * His Trust Fulfilled, directed by D. W. Griffith. The sequel to Griffith's earlier 1911 short film "His Trust"
 * Her Crowning Glory
 * The Higher Law
 * The Hunchback (British) directed by A. E. Coleby, starring Edwin J. Collins as the hunchback
 * Hypnotism (French/ Lux) starring James Mapelli, based on the 1894 George du Maurier novel Trilby
 * The Inferno (L'Inferno) (Italian) aka Dante's Inferno, a big budget spectacular adapted from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy; directed by Francesco Bertolini and Giuseppe De Liguoro, starring Salvatore Anzelmo Papa and Arturo Pirovano
 * The Inner Mind (Selig-Polyscope Co.)
 * It Is Never Too Late to Mend (Australian film) written and directed by W. J. Lincoln, based on the 1856 Charles Reade novel, later remade in 1937 starring Tod Slaughter
 * Jones' Nightmare; or, The Lobster Still Pursued Him (British/ Acme Films) directed by Fred Rains (Claude Rains' father) who also starred.
 * Kitty in Dreamland (British/ Klein-Urban)
 * The Legend of the Lake (Italian/ Cines Films) based on the Legend of the Undines
 * The Life of a Nun (Danish/ Nordisk) starring Edith Buemann Psilander, possibly the first ever "nunsploitation" film, said to have inspired comic book artist Bob Kane to create a 1940s "Batman" comic book villain called The Monk
 * Little Nemo, silent animated short film by American cartoonist Winsor McCay
 * Little Red Riding Hood (British/ C&M Prods.)
 * Little Red Riding Hood (Essanay Films) starring Eva Prout
 * Little Red Riding Hood (Majestic) starring Mary Pickford
 * The Lobster Nightmare (British/ Walturdaw Films) not to be confused with Jones' Nightmare above.
 * The Lonedale Operator, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet
 * The Love of a Siren, aka Amore di sirena (Italian/ Cines)
 * The Man-Monkey (British/ C&M)
 * The Masque of the Red Death (Italian/ Ambrosio) based on the famous 1842 story by Edgar Allan Poe; said to have influenced Charles Beaumont when he wrote the screenplay for the 1964 Roger Corman-produced remake.
 * The Miser's Heart, directed by D. W. Griffith
 * A Modern Yarn (French/ Pathe)
 * The Moonstone (British) produced by Charles Urban, based on the 1868 novel by Wilkie Collins
 * Der Müller und sein Kind (translation from Austrian: The Miller and His Child)
 * The Mummy (French/ Pathe)
 * The Mummy (Thanhouser)
 * The Mummy (British/ Charles Urban Films)
 * The Mysterious Stranger (French/ Eclipse)
 * Notre Dame de Paris (French/ Pathe) aka The Hunchback of Notre Dame, directed by Albert Capellani, starring Henri Krauss as Quasimodo and Stacia Mapierkowska as Esmeralda, based on the Victor Hugo novel
 * The Odyssey (L'Odissea)
 * An Old Time Nightmare (Powers Films) features giant birds
 * The Pasha's Daughter
 * The Pied Piper of Hamlin (French/ Pathe)
 * The Pied Piper of Hamlin (Thanhouser Prods.)
 * Princess Clementina
 * Purgatory (Italian/ Helios Films) directed by Giuseppe Berardi (who also stars) and Arturo Busnego; a sequel to Helios' Inferno (1910).
 * Queen of Spades (Italian/ Cines) based on the 1834 story Pikovaya dama by Russian writer Alexander Pushkin; a lost film.
 * The Railroad Builder
 * Rosalie and Spiritisme (French/ Pathe-Lux)
 * Satan Defeated, aka Satan Vaincu (French/ Pathe); a lost film.
 * Satan on Mischief Bent (British) produced by Charles Urban
 * The Saving of Faust (French/ Pathe)
 * The Scarlet Letter
 * She (Thanhouser) written by Theodore Marston, directed by George Nichols, starring Marguerite Snow, James Cruze; based on the 1886 H. Rider Haggard novel
 * The Smuggler
 * A Spiritualistic Seance (French/ Pathe)
 * Sweet Memories
 * Swords and Hearts, directed by D. W. Griffith
 * A Tale of Two Cities
 * That's Happiness
 * Trilby and Svengali (British/ Kinematograph) produced by Charles Urban, directed by Theo Frankel (who also starred in it); filmed in color; based on the 1894 George du Maurier novel Trilby
 * What Shall We Do with Our Old?
 * Willy the Ghost (French/ Eclair Films) aka Willy Fantome, directed by Joseph Faivre, starring Willy Saunders (who starred in around 70 films all featuring the character "Willy".
 * Winsor McCay And His Animated Pictures
 * The Witch of Abruzzi (Belgian/ Le Lion Films) this Belgium film was partially shot in France.
 * The Witch of Seville (Italian/ Itala Films) aka La Strega de Siviglia
 * Won by Wireless

Births

 * January 5 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, actor (died 2001)
 * January 7 – Butterfly McQueen, actress (died 1995)
 * January 22 – Mary Hayley Bell, actress, writer and dramatist, wife of Sir John Mills (d 2005)
 * January 30 – Hugh Marlowe, actor (died 1982)
 * January 31 – Eddie Byrne, actor (died 1981)
 * February 6 – Ronald Reagan, actor, United States President (died 2004)
 * February 9 – Gypsy Rose Lee, actress and burlesque dancer (died 1970)
 * February 14 – Florence Rice, actress (died 1974)
 * February 19 – Merle Oberon, actress (died 1979)
 * February 20 – Margot Grahame, actress (died 1982)
 * March 3 – Jean Harlow, actress (died 1937)
 * March 10 – Edward Norris, actor, (died 2002)
 * March 18 – Smiley Burnette, actor, musician (died 1967)
 * April 23 – Ronald Neame, cinematographer, producer and director (died 2010)
 * May 7 – Ishirō Honda, director (died 1993)
 * May 11
 * Louise Campbell, actress (died 1997)
 * Phil Silvers, actor (died 1985)
 * May 17 – Maureen O'Sullivan, actress (died 1998)
 * May 18 – Sigrid Gurie, actress (died 1969)
 * May 27 – Vincent Price, actor (died 1993)
 * May 30 – Douglas Fowley, actor (died 1998)
 * June 1 – Gertrude Michael, actress (died 1964)
 * June 3 – Ellen Corby, actress (died 1999)
 * June 20 – Gail Patrick (died 1980)
 * June 29 – Bernard Hermann, composer (died 1975)
 * July 6 – Laverne Andrews, singer, actress, member of Andrews Sisters (died 1967)
 * July 14 – Terry-Thomas, actor (died 1990)
 * July 16 – Ginger Rogers, actress, dancer (died 1995)
 * July 18 – Hume Cronyn, actor (died 2003)
 * July 28 – Ann Doran, actress (died 2000)
 * August 2 – Ann Dvorak, American actress (died 1979)
 * August 3 – Alex McCrindle, British actor (died 1990)
 * August 5 – Robert Taylor, actor (died 1969)
 * August 6 – Lucille Ball, actress (died 1989)
 * August 7 – Nicholas Ray, director (died 1979)
 * August 12 – Cantinflas, actor (died 1993)
 * August 19 – Constance Worth, actress (died 1963)
 * September 2 – Erwin Hillier, cinematographer (died 2005)
 * September 10 – Renée Simonot, actress and voice artist (died 2021)
 * October 13 – Ashok Kumar, actor, India (died 2001)
 * October 20 – Will Rogers, Jr., actor (died 1993)
 * October 27 – Leif Erickson, actor (died 1986)
 * October 30 – Ruth Hussey, actress (died 2005)
 * October 31 – Sheila Bromley, actress, (died 2003)
 * November 5
 * Roy Rogers, singer, actor (died 1998)
 * Baby Marie Osborne, child actress (died 2010)
 * November 10 – Harry Andrews, actor (died 1989)
 * December 8 – Lee J. Cobb, actor (died 1976)
 * December 9 – Broderick Crawford, actor (died 1986)
 * December 23 – James Gregory, actor (died 2002)
 * December 29 – Claire Dodd, actress (died 1973)
 * December 30 – Jeanette Nolan, actress (died 1998)

Deaths

 * January 18 – Arthur Marvin, cinematographer, (born 1859)
 * May 29 – W. S. Gilbert, producer of musicals, half of the team of Gilbert and Sullivan, (born 1836)
 * July 18 – Genevieve Lantelme, actress, (born 1883)
 * August 11 – Verner Clarges, actor, (born 1846)
 * October 27 – Francis Boggs, director, (born 1870)
 * November 2 – Kyrle Bellew, actor, (born 1855)
 * December 22 – Wright Lorimer, stage actor, screenwriter, (born 1874)
 * Unknown – Woodville Latham, producer and exhibitor whose desire to shoot an entire boxing match on a single reel of film led to the invention of the Latham loop (born 1837)

Debuts

 * Lionel Barrymore – The Battle (*debatable; film debut much earlier)
 * Francis X. Bushman – His Friend's Wife (short)
 * Paul Kelly – Jimmie's Job (short)
 * Edgar Kennedy – Brown of Harvard
 * Ann Little – The Indian Maiden's Lesson (short)
 * Harold Lockwood – The White Red Man (short)
 * Anna Q. Nilsson – Molly Pitcher (short)
 * Anita Stewart – A Tale of Two Cities as Anna Stewart
 * Lenore Ulric – The First Man (1911 short)
 * Lois Weber – director, actress, A Heroine of '76 (short); writer, On the Brink (short)