1921 in film

Events

• September 5 - At a San Francisco hotel party to celebrate his new $3,000,000 three-year contract with Paramount, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle mortally injures 25-year-old Virginia Rappe during a sexual encounter. Rappe sinks into a coma. A cover-up for Arbuckle is attempted, but the Deputy Coroner manages to get a police investigation started. Rumours fly that Arbuckle raped Rappe with a bottle.
• December 4 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against actor and film director Roscoe Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.

Top Grossing Films of the Year

1. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
2. The Kid
3. Every Woman's Problem

Movies Released

• Every Woman's Problem
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino
• The Kid, starring Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan
• Orphans of the Storm, starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish; directed by D.W. Griffith
• The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino

Births

• February 11 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress.
• May 2 - Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker.
• October 13 - Yves Montand, French singer and actor
• December 26 - Steve Allen, actor, composer, comedian, author

Deaths

Referenced By