History of Movie Firsts
by wunderdunder | created - 23 Jun 2011 | updated - 13 Apr 2012 | PublicAll of these were the first to accomplish something in the flim world.
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1. Dante's Inferno (1911)
71 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Loosely adapted from Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired by the illustrations of Gustav Doré the original silent film has been restored and has a new score by Tangerine Dream.
Directors: Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, Giuseppe de Liguoro | Stars: Salvatore Papa, Arturo Pirovano, Giuseppe de Liguoro, Pier Delle Vigne
Votes: 3,462
First feautre length film shown in its entirety in the US.
2. The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)
Not Rated | 70 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
Originally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.
Director: Charles Tait | Stars: Elizabeth Tait, John Tait, Nicholas Brierley, Norman Campbell
Votes: 900
First feature length film ever.
3. Oliver Twist (I) (1912)
Drama
An orphan in early 19th century England escapes the poorhouse only to fall among a gang of pickpockets in London.
Stars: Nat C. Goodwin, Vinnie Burns, Charley Rogers, Mortimer Martine
Votes: 41
First US produced film shown in its entirety.
4. Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)
Not Rated | 82 min | Comedy
A con man from the city dupes a wealthy country girl into marriage.
Directors: Mack Sennett, Charles Bennett | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, Mack Swain
Votes: 3,728
First feature length American Comedy.
5. The Squaw Man (1914)
Not Rated | 74 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A chivalrous British officer takes the blame for his cousin's embezzlement and journeys to the American West to start a new life on a cattle ranch.
Directors: Oscar Apfel, Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Dustin Farnum, Monroe Salisbury, Winifred Kingston, Mrs. A.W. Filson
Votes: 1,048 | Gross: $0.53M
First feature length western.
6. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
TV-PG | 195 min | Drama, History, War
The Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper
Votes: 26,354 | Gross: $10.00M
First Controversial Film
7. Robin Hood (1922)
Not Rated | 143 min | Adventure, Family, Romance
A nobleman becomes the vigilante Robin Hood who protects the oppressed English people from the tyrannical Prince John.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Wallace Beery, Sam De Grasse, Enid Bennett
Votes: 2,482 | Gross: $5.45M
First movie to have a Hollywood Premiere.
8. The Toll of the Sea (1922)
Unrated | 54 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
While visiting China, an American man falls in love with a young Chinese woman, but he then has second thoughts about the relationship.
Director: Chester M. Franklin | Stars: Anna May Wong, Kenneth Harlan, Beatrice Bentley, Priscilla Moran
Votes: 899
First feature length film released that used two strip Technicolor
9. The Lost World (1925)
Passed | 110 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.
Director: Harry O. Hoyt | Stars: Wallace Beery, Bessie Love, Lloyd Hughes, Lewis Stone
Votes: 5,830 | Gross: $1.19M
First feature length Sci-Fi
Also the first "in flight" movie. Shown by Imperial Airways.
10. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
Not Rated | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
A handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, battling demons and falling in love with a princess.
Directors: Lotte Reiniger, Carl Koch
Votes: 6,900
First feature length (surviving) animated film.
11. The Jazz Singer (1927)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Music, Musical
The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.
Director: Alan Crosland | Stars: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, Eugenie Besserer
Votes: 11,083 | Gross: $7.63M
First feature length "talkie" film.
12. Steamboat Willie (1928)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Mickey Mouse is a mischievous deckhand on a riverboat that is under the command of the tyrannical Captain Pete.
Directors: Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney | Star: Walt Disney
Votes: 11,266
First sound animated flim.
First Mickey Mouse cartoon released.
13. On with the Show! (1929)
Passed | 104 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A musical advertised as the first 100% natural color, all-singing production. The plot concerns a wide-eyed former hatcheck girl who takes the place of a rebellious star.
Director: Alan Crosland | Stars: Arthur Lake, Betty Compson, Joe E. Brown, Sally O'Neil
Votes: 376
The first all talkie all color film released.
14. The Big Trail (1930)
Passed | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Breck Coleman leads hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.
Directors: Raoul Walsh, Louis R. Loeffler | Stars: John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel, Tully Marshall
Votes: 4,388
First movie to use a swear word.
15. Flowers and Trees (1932)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A jealous stump threatens two trees that are in love by starting a forest fire. When the rain comes and puts out the fire the forest revives and celebrates the wedding.
Director: Burt Gillett | Stars: Clarence Nash, Esther Campbell, Pinto Colvig, Marion Darlington
Votes: 3,794
First generally released 3 Strip Technicolor film.
16. It Happened One Night (1934)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
A rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns
Votes: 112,355 | Gross: $4.36M
First film to win all major Oscars. (Best picture, director, actor, and actress.)
17. Becky Sharp (1935)
Unrated | 84 min | Drama, Romance, War
Against the backdrop of Napoleon's Waterloo campaign, an ambitious woman from a family of entertainers begins a destructive climb up the social ladder.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Miriam Hopkins, Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke
Votes: 1,292
First feature length 3 strip Technicolor film released.
18. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Approved | 83 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
Exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.
Directors: William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell
Votes: 215,616 | Gross: $184.93M
First cel-animated feature length film along with the first movie released that grossed over $100,000,000 in the box office. (multiple rleases)
19. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,941 | Gross: $2.08M
First feature length film broadcast on TV. (1956)
20. Fantasia (1940)
G | 124 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy
A series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.
Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe Jr., Norman Ferguson, David Hand, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Corey Burton
Votes: 104,055 | Gross: $76.41M
First film with stereo sound.
21. Bwana Devil (1952)
Not Rated | 79 min | Adventure
British railway workers in Kenya are becoming the favorite snack of two man-eating lions. Head engineer Bob Hayward becomes obsessed with trying to kill the beasts before they maul everyone on his crew.
Directors: Arch Oboler, Robert Clampett | Stars: Robert Stack, Barbara Britton, Nigel Bruce, Ramsay Hill
Votes: 422
First 3-D feature length film.
22. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Not Rated | 131 min | Drama
A bitter, aging couple, with the help of alcohol, use their young houseguests to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other over the course of a distressing night.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Votes: 79,970
First PG-rated film.
23. Ulysses (1967)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama
James Joyce's masterpiece incarnated: The story of two seperated Dublin wanderers, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, struggling to control their personal lives.
Director: Joseph Strick | Stars: Milo O'Shea, Barbara Jefford, Maurice Roëves, T.P. McKenna
Votes: 979
First major movie to use the F-word.
24. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
R | 113 min | Drama
A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver
Votes: 120,919 | Gross: $44.79M
First X-rated movie to win a Best Picture Oscar.
25. Tiger Child (1970)
17 min | Short
Through the use of multi-image compositions and giant IMAX format full-frame shots, Tiger Child expresses a poetic vision of civilization at the dawn of the 1970s, filmed on locations around the world as a travelogue of the human spirit.
Director: Donald Brittain
Votes: 16
First IMAX format flim.
26. Carnal Knowledge (1971)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
Chronicling the lifelong sexual development of two men who meet and become friends in college.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret
Votes: 14,907 | Gross: $28.62M
First movie to show a condom.
27. Fritz the Cat (1972)
X | 78 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Fritz drops out of college, starts a riot in Harlem and hits the road with an ex-girlfriend before getting mixed up with domestic terrorists.
Director: Ralph Bakshi | Stars: Skip Hinnant, Rosetta LeNoire, John McCurry, Judy Engles
Votes: 14,357 | Gross: $25.00M
First X-Rated cartoon.
28. Cheongchun gyosa (1972)
90 min | Drama, Family
A new teacher organizes a volleyball game to boost school spirit and self confidence while fighting with the conservative school board and chauvanistic principal. Two of her students run ... See full summary »
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Se-hie Yun, Shin Seong-il, Am Park
Votes: 11
First movie released on VHS.
The last was: A History of Violence
29. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 660,031 | Gross: $260.00M
First movie to break $100,000,000 box office in a single release.
Also first to collect over $100,000,000 in rentals.
30. Looker (1981)
PG | 93 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Three of four models, who had plastic surgery done by Larry after a computed list, are dead. Neither the cops nor Larry believe they're suicides. Larry investigates and stays with the fourth model. Who's behind the lists and murders?
Director: Michael Crichton | Stars: Albert Finney, James Coburn, Susan Dey, Leigh Taylor-Young
Votes: 6,195 | Gross: $3.28M
First movie to have a CGI character.
31. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,122,406 | Gross: $309.13M
First film shown in THX certified auditorium.
32. Red Dawn (1984)
PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
It is the dawn of World War III. In the west mountains of America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen
Votes: 63,148 | Gross: $38.38M
First PG-13 rated film.
33. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,175,044 | Gross: $204.84M
First film with a $100,000,000 dollar budget.
34. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
G | 84 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy
A prince cursed to spend his days as a hideous monster sets out to regain his humanity by earning a young woman's love.
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise | Stars: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jesse Corti, Rex Everhart
Votes: 479,929 | Gross: $218.97M
First animated film to be nominated for best picture.
35. Batman Returns (1992)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
While Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken
Votes: 327,713 | Gross: $162.83M
First film using Dolby Digital Sound.
36. Death Becomes Her (1992)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
When a fading actress learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini
Votes: 131,486 | Gross: $58.42M
First human skin CGI software.
37. Jurassic Park (1993)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 1,068,137 | Gross: $402.45M
First movie using DTS digital sound.
38. The Flintstones (1994)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
In a parallel modern-day Stone Age world, a working-class family, the Flintstones, are set up for an executive job. But they learn that money can't buy happiness.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Rosie O'Donnell, Halle Berry
Votes: 86,587 | Gross: $130.51M
First CGI-rendered fur.
39. Casper (1995)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An afterlife therapist and his daughter meet a friendly young ghost when they move into a crumbling mansion in order to rid the premises of wicked spirits.
Director: Brad Silberling | Stars: Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle
Votes: 146,911 | Gross: $100.33M
First CGI lead character.
40. Toy Story (1995)
G | 81 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's bedroom.
Director: John Lasseter | Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney
Votes: 1,069,490 | Gross: $191.80M
First fully CGI animated movie.
41. Twister (I) (1996)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Two storm chasers on the brink of divorce must work together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.
Director: Jan de Bont | Stars: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz
Votes: 213,826 | Gross: $241.72M
First movie released on DVD.
42. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 606,120 | Gross: $306.17M
First movie to make $100,000,000 in it's first week.
43. The Cable Guy (1996)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black
Votes: 178,190 | Gross: $60.24M
First time an actor recieves a $20,000,000 salary for a role.
44. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
PG | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Ten years after initially meeting, Anakin Skywalker shares a forbidden romance with Padmé Amidala, while Obi-Wan Kenobi discovers a secret clone army crafted for the Jedi.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lee
Votes: 759,673 | Gross: $310.68M
First major movie shot entirely on digital film.
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