1923 in film

Events

*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.

Top grossing films

#"The Covered Wagon"
#"The Ten Commandments"
#"The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
#"Safety Last"
#"Daddy"
#"Homeward Bound"
#"The Ne'er Do-Well"
#"The Pilgrim"

Films released in 1923

*"Ashes of Vengence", starring Norma Talmadge
*"The Covered Wagon"
*"The Daring Years", starring Mildred Harris, Charles Emmett Mack and Clara Bow
*"The Hunchback of Notre Dame", starring Lon Chaney
*"Daddy" starring Jackie Coogan
*"The Lights of London"
*"Our Hospitality", directed by and starring Buster Keaton
*"The Pilgrim", starring Charlie Chaplin
*"The Purple Highway", starring Madge Kennedy, Monte Blue, Vincent Coleman and Pedro de Cordoba
*"Safety Last!", starring Harold Lloyd. In one scene, Lloyd is seen climbing around and hanging off the side of a tall building, including a very famous scene where he hangs off a clock. Lloyd did all of his own stunts, and worked without a safety net.
*"Salomé", starring Alla Nazimova; directed by Charles Bryant
*"Schatten - Eine nächtliche Halluzination" (aka "Warning Shadows"), directed by Arthur Robison
*"Scaramouche (1923 film)" Staring Ramon Novarro, Alice Terry, Lewis Stone, Lloyd Ingraham
*"Song of Love (1923 film)", starring Norma Talmadge
*"Souls for Sale", starring Richard Dix and Eleanor Boardman
*"Die Straße" ("The Street"), directed by Karl Grune
*"The Ten Commandments", starring Theodore Roberts; directed by Cecil B. DeMille
*"Why Worry?", starring Harold Lloyd
*"Within The Law", starring Norma Talmadge
*"A Woman of Paris", starring Edna Purviance; directed by Charles Chaplin

hort film series

*"Charlie Chaplin" (1914-1923)
*"Buster Keaton" (1917-1941)
*"Laurel and Hardy" (1921-1943)
*"Our Gang" (1922-1944)

Animated short film series

*"Felix the Cat" (1919-1930)
*"Koko the Clown" (1919-1934)
*"Aesop's Film Fables" (1921-1934)
*"Alice Comedies" (1923-1927)
*"The Red Head Comedies" (1923).

Births

*January 7 - Pinkas Braun, actor, director
*January 11 - Jacqueline Maillan, actress (d. 1992)
*January 19 - Jean Stapleton, actress
*January 29 - Paddy Chayefsky writer (d. 1981)
*February 2 - Bonita Granville, actress (d. 1988)
*February 12 - Franco Zeffirelli, director
*February 21 – Lola Flores, actress (d. 1995)
*February 28 - Charles Durning, actor
*April 12 - Ann Miller, dancer, actress (d. 2004)
*May 7 - Anne Baxter, actress (d. 1985)
*July 22 - Mukesh, singer (d. 1976)
*August 3 - Jean Hagen, actress (d. 1977)
*August 10 - Rhonda Fleming, actress
*August 29 - Richard Attenborough, English actor and director
*September 7 - Peter Lawford, actor (d. 1984)
*October 5 - Glynis Johns, actress
*October 16 - Linda Darnell, actress (d. 1965)
*November 9 - Dorothy Dandridge, singer, actress (d. 1965)
*November 28 - Gloria Grahame, actress (d. 1981)

Deaths

* January 18 – Wallace Reid American actor
* March 26 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress
* May 21 - Charles Kent, veteran actor & director
* June 11 - Porter Strong, American silent film actor
* June 17 - Macey Harlan, screen actor
* July 30 - Sir Charles Hawtrey, veteran British actor
* November 20 - Allen Holubar, silent film actor and director
* November 30 - Martha Mansfield, American actress

Film Debuts

*Johnny Arthur
* Gary Cooper
* Jack Oakie
* Fay Wray