American Cinema in 1914

1914 is a busy year: Charlie Chaplin transforms slapstick humour, D. W. Griffith leaves Biograph to start filming The Birth of a Nation and Cecil B. DeMille directs Hollywood's first feature.

Ethel Lloyd and Edith Storey in Sidney Drew's A Florida Enchantment (1914)

Key developments

The war in Europe allows the American film industry to start dominating domestic and international markets.

Charlie Chaplin debuts the iconic Little Tramp in Kid Auto Races at Venice.

Lois Weber becomes the first American woman to direct a feature with the release of The Merchant of Venice.

Explore the 1914 timeline

Key films

Judith of Bethulia (1914)

Griffith’s longest Biograph production showed his expanding commitment to spectacle, massed action, and feature-scale Biblical storytelling.

Read about this film

Charlie Chaplin in Henry Lehrman's Kid Auto Races at Venice Beach (1914)

Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)

Charlie Chaplin’s screen debut as the Little Tramp introduced a character who became cinema’s most internationally recognised comic icon.

Read about this film

The Squaw Man (1914)

Cecil B. DeMille’s feature-directing debut helped launch Paramount’s predecessor studio and marked the beginning of feature-film production in Hollywood.

Read about this film

Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)

Often regarded as the first feature-length screen comedy, pairing Chaplin with Marie Dressler and Mabel Normand in Keystone slapstick.

Read about this film

People who made their mark

Charlie Chaplin

Worldwide silent-film star, director and creator of the enduring Little Tramp.

Read biography

Cecil B. DeMille

Influential director and producer whose spectacles helped define Hollywood feature filmmaking.

Read biography

Lillian Gish

Major silent-screen actress celebrated for her work with D. W. Griffith and later filmmakers.

Read biography

D. W. Griffith

Pioneering director whose narrative techniques shaped early feature filmmaking, amid a contested legacy.

Read biography

William S. Hart

Leading western actor, writer and director admired for his realistic frontier dramas.

Read biography

Siegmund Lubin

Early film exhibitor, producer and studio owner who built the Lubin Manufacturing Company.

Read biography

Mabel Normand

Groundbreaking comedienne who played a major role in Keystone’s formative years.

Read biography

Mary Pickford

“America’s Sweetheart,” a leading silent star, producer and co-founder of United Artists.

Read biography

Mack Sennett

Founder of Keystone Studios and a key creator of American slapstick comedy.

Read biography

Active studios

Biograph

From 1908 Biograph became the USA's prominent studio thanks to the groundbreaking work of director D. W. Griffith.

Read studio history

Kalem

A pioneering studio that at first owned no active studio, Kalem was the first American company to send units to film in foreign lands.

Read studio history

Back to the 1910s