D.W. Griffith reaches an agreement that releases him from his contract with United Artists.
Samuel Goldwyn signs a contract with United Artists to supply from two to four films a year.
Warner Bros. takes over the Vitagraph Company of America. As part of the agreement, Warner Bros. inherits all research undertaken by Vitagraph in the field of sound.
Warner Bros. forms “The Vitaphone Corporation of America ” to exploit their sound–on–disc system for films, and to continue the research in the field of sound synchronization that had been developed by Western Electric.
The Fox Film Corporation creates a new company called the “Fox Theater Corporation”. Stock in this new company is sold to the public, and with the proceeds entire theater chains are acquired.
The Fox Film Corporation acquires Theodore Case’s sound–on–film process, as well as European sound–on–film patents.
The huge German production company, UFa, has signed a reciprocal agreement with Paramount and MGM for the importation of films between the two countries.
The Swedish film star, Greta Garbo, visits Hollywood and signs a contract to make films at MGM.
Significant Films:
Erich von Stroheim’s film, “Greed”, is released by MGM. Stroheim disowns the film because MGM insisted that he reduce the length of the film from 22 reels (five and a half hours) to 10 reels, less than half the original length.
Charlie Chaplin releases “The Gold Rush”. Having taken over a year to film, it is declared Chaplin’s finest film.
MGM releases, “Ben–Hur”. It took almost a year to shoot, and cost $4 million.