1909 in film

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Years in film
19th century
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 …
v t e

The year 1909 in film involved some significant events.

• Carl Laemmle founds the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP).^[1]
• Selig Polyscope Company establish the first permanent film studio in Los Angeles in Edendale, Los Angeles.
• The New York Motion Picture Company is founded and also open a film studio in Edendale. The studio is later used by Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and then Mascot Pictures, which become part of Republic Pictures.
• February 4 – The Paris Film Congress begins, an attempt by leading European producers to form a cartel similar to that of the Motion Picture Patents Company in the United States.
• February 26 – Kinemacolor is shown to the public for the first time in the Palace Theatre in London.^[2]
• March 16 – Charles Urban forms the Natural Color Kinematograph Company.
• May 12 – Mr. Flip is released, the first film to feature someone being hit in the face with a pie.
• May 23 – The first news cinema, The Daily Bioscope, opens in London.
• June 17 – In the Sultan's Power, directed by Francis Boggs, is the first film ever completely made in Los Angeles, California.
• October 25 – IMP release their first film, Hiawatha, based on the 1855 poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.^[3]
• November 5 - A Nature Movie by Arthur C. Pillsbury using film to explore the wonders of Yosemite. This first showing was for John Muir, a friend and associate of Pillsbury. Included was footage of the Hetch Hetchy. This film was then shown for the 1910 season at the Pillsbury Studio in Yosemite, advertised using postcards.^[4]
• December 2 – Matsunosuke Onoe, who will become the first superstar of Japanese cinema, appears in his first film, Goban Tadanobu.
• December 20 – James Joyce opens the Volta Cinematograph, the first cinema in Dublin.^[5]

• Oliver Twist^[6]
• The Judgment of Solomon
• The Life of Moses
• The Life of Napoleon
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Charles Kent and J. Stuart Blackton
• Les Misérables, directed by J. Stuart Blackton. A proto-feature film, or many short-films (in this case 4) that when combined can be seen as one feature film.
• Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy

• At the Altar
• A Corner in Wheat
• The Country Doctor, starring Mary Pickford
• The Curtain Pole, directed by D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett (uncredited)
• The Death Disc: A Story of the Cromwellian Period
• The Drive for a Life
• A Drunkard's Reformation
• Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven
• Fools of Fate
• The Golden Louis
• The Hessian Renegades
• Lady Helen's Escapade
• The Lonely Villa
• The Red Man's View
• Resurrection
• The Sealed Room, starring Mary Pickford
• The Suicide Club, directed by D. W. Griffith (U.S.)
• Those Awful Hats
• A Trap for Santa Claus

• The Count's Wooing
• The Diabolical Tenant (aka The Diabolical Lodger), directed by George Melies (French)^[7]
• The Doctor's Secret, directed by George Melies (French)^[8]
• Fortune Favors the Brave, directed by George Melies (French)^[8]
• Le papillon fantastique

• The Adventures of Lieutenant Rose
• The Airship Destroyer (originally titled Der Luftkrieg Der Zukunft, also titled "The Aerial Torpedo", "The Battle of the Clouds" {UK} and "The Battle in the Clouds" {US}), directed by Walter R. Booth
• The Ancient Roman (made in Italy)
• Ballad of a Witch, directed by Luigi Maggi (made in Italy)
• The Bewitched Manor House (French/ Pathe)^[7]
• Bluebeard, directed by J. Searle Dawley for Thomas Edison, starred Charles Ogle
• The Bogey Woman (French/ Pathe)
• The Butcher's Dream (French)
• Capturing the North Pole, features Baron Munchausen (British/ Urban-Eclipse Films)^[7]
• The Cat That Was Changed Into a Woman, directed by Louis Feuillade (French)
• The Convict Guardian's Nightmare (French)
• The Cowboy Millionaire, directed by Francis Boggs and Otis Turner
• Dance of Fire (Pathe)
• Dante's Inferno, directed by Giuseppe de Liguoro, starring Salvatore Papa (Italian); ran 59 minutes^[7]
• The Defeat of Satan (French/ Pathe)^[7]
• The Devil (Edison Co.) adaptation of the play starring George Arliss^[7]
• Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by August Blom, starring Alwin Neuss and Oda Alstrup; made in Denmark for Nordisk Films^[8]
• Don Juan Tenorio, directed by Enrique Rosas (made in Mexico)
• Doomed (French/ Pathe)
• The Egyptian Mystery (Edison)
• Electric Transformations, directed by Percy Stow (British/ Clarendon)^[8]
• Entrevista de los Presidentes Díaz-Taft (Mexico), a documentary directed by the Alva Brothers
• Faust, directed by J. Searle Dawley and Edwin S. Porter for Thomas Edison
• The Ferryman's Sweetheart (Gaumont)^[8]
• The Fitzsimmons-Bill Lang Fight
• The Forbidden Fruit (Pathe)^[8]
• Gertie the Dinosaur, animated cartoon by Winsor McKay^[8]
• Goddess of the Sea^[9]
• The Grey Lady (aka The Grey Dame), directed by Viggo Larsen, starring Viggo Larsen as Sherlock Holmes (Denmark)^[9]
• Hansel and Gretel^[9]
• The Haunted Hotel (French/ Pathe)
• The Haunted Man, introduced the "doppelganger" theme, similar to The Student of Prague (Germany/ Duskes Film)^[9]
• Her Dolly's Revenge (French/ Lux)
• Hiawatha, directed by William V. Ranous based on the 1855 poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the first film produced by Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures.^[3]
• The Hunchback, directed by Van Dyke Brooke for Vitagraph; unauthorized remake of the 1906 film Esmeralda^[9]
• The Imp of the Bottle (Thomas Edison), based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson^[9]
• The Invisible Thief, directed by Segundo de Chomon and Ferdinand Zecca (French); first adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel The Invisible Man^[9]
• Les Joyeux Microbes, directed by Émile Cohl
• The Last Look (Pathe)^[10]
• Lucrece Borgia (French)
• Lunatics in Power (Thomas Edison Co.), based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe called The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether^[9]
• Macbeth, directed by André Calmettes
• The Man Monkey (Pathe)^[10]
• The Man Who Laughs (French), based on the famous novel by Victor Hugo
• The Marvelous Pearl (made in Italy)^[10]
• Mephisto and the Maiden, directed by Frank Boggs
• The Mirror of Life (French/ Pathe)^[10]
• Miss Faust (French/ Pathe)^[10]
• Mr. Flip, directed by Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson
• A Modern Dr. Jekyll, produced by William Selig
• The Moonstone, produced by William Selig, based on the novel by Wilkie Collins^[10]
• Mother Goose (Edison Co.)
• The Mummy of the King Ramses directed by Gerard Bourgeois (French)
• Mystery of Edwin Drood, directed by Arthur Gilbert (British), based on Charles Dickens' novel
• Mystery of the Lama Convent, directed by Viggo Larsen (Denmark)
• Nerone, directed by Luigi Maggi
• The New Jonah (Pathe)^[11]
• The Nymphs' Bath (French/ Gaumont)^[11]
• The Old Shoemaker (French/ Gaumont), based on The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Oriental Mystic (Vitagraph, U.S.)
• Papa Gaspard; or, The Ghost of the Rocks^[11]
• Phaedra (French/ Pathe) featured a sea monster^[11]
• The Phantom Sirens^[11]
• The Pit and the Pendulum, directed by Henri Desfontaines (French/ Warwick), based on the famous story by Edgar Allan Poe^[12]
• The Princess and the Fisherman, directed by Louis Feuillade (French)^[11]
• Revenge of the Ghosts, animated cartoon directed by Emil Cohl (French)^[11]
• Satan's Smithy, directed by Segundo de Chomon (French)
• Shooting in the Haunted Woods, directed by Louis Feuillade (French)
• The Spirit of the Lake (fantasy film made in Italy); it was followed by a sequel called The Legend of the Lake in 1911^[11]
• The Suicide Club, directed by Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset (French)
• The Sword and the King (U.S./ Vitagraph)
• Talked to Death (Lubin)^[13]
• Teddy Roosevelt in Africa, directed by Cherry Kearton
• Tis Now the Very Witching Time of Night, produced by Thomas Edison
• The Ugliest Queen on Earth (French/ Gaumont)^[13]
• Viy (aka The Vij), directed by Vasilii Gonmcharov (Russian)^[14]
• The Wild Ass's Skin (French/ Pathe) based on the story by Balzac^[13]
• The Witch^[13]
• The Witch's Cavern (Selig Polyscope)^[13]
• The Yiddisher Boy

• January 1 – Dana Andrews, actor (died 1992)
• January 3 – Victor Borge, musician, actor (died 2000)
• January 8 - Willy Millowitsch, actor (died 1999)
• January 15 – Gene Krupa, musician, actor (died 1973)
• January 22 – Ann Sothern, actress (died 2001)
• January 24 – Ann Todd, actress (died 1993)
• January 29 – Alan Marshal, actor (died 1961)
• February 2 – Frank Albertson, actor (died 1964)
• February 6 – Aino Talvi, Estonian actress (d. 1992)
• February 9
  • Carmen Miranda, singer, actress (died 1955)
  • Heather Angel, actress (died 1986)
• February 11
  • Max Baer – boxer, actor (died 1959)
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz – director, screenwriter, producer (died 1993)
• February 16
  • Hugh Beaumont, actor, director, writer (died 1982)
  • Jeffrey Lynn, actor (died 1995)
• March 19 – Louis Hayward, actor (died 1995)
• March 26 – Chips Rafferty, actor (died 1971)
• April 4 – Bobby Connelly, child actor (died 1922)
• April 22– Ralph Byrd, actor (died 1952)
• April 29 – Tom Ewell, actor (died 1994)
• May 4 – Howard Da Silva, actor, director (died 1986)
• May 15 – James Mason, actor (died 1984)
• May 16 – Margaret Sullavan, actress (died 1960)
• May 30 – Benny Goodman, musician, actor (died 1986)
• June 7 – Jessica Tandy, actress (died 1994)
• June 8 – Robert Carson, actor (died 1979)
• June 14 – Burl Ives, actor (died 1995)
• June 20 – Errol Flynn, actor (died 1959)
• June 26- Wolfgang Reitherman, director, producer, animator (died 1985)
• July 1 – Madge Evans, actress (died 1981)
• July 11
  • Irene Hervey, actress (died 1998)
  • John 'Dusty' King, actor, singer (died 1987)
• July 12 – Curly Joe DeRita, actor (died 1993)
• July 23 – Helen Martin, American actress (died 2000)
• July 24 - Sydney Bromley, English character actor (died 1987)
• August 25
  • Ruby Keeler, singer, actress (died 1993)
  • Michael Rennie, actor (died 1971)
• August 26 – Jim Davis, American actor (died 1981)
• September 7 – Elia Kazan, director (died 2003)
• September 27 - Amerigo Tot, Hungarian actor (died 1984)
• October 6 – Robert Carson, screenwriter (died 1983)
• October 20 – Carla Laemmle, actress (died 2014)
• October 29 – Douglass Montgomery, actor (died 1966)
• November 11 – Robert Ryan, actor (died 1973)
• November 26 – Frances Dee, actress (died 2004)
• December 9 – Douglas Fairbanks Jr., actor (died 2000)
• December 12 – Karen Morley, actress (died 2003)
• December 20 – Diane Ellis, actress (died 1930)
• December 22 - Patricia Hayes, English character actress (died 1998)

• January 27 – Benoît-Constant Coquelin, actor, Cyrano de Bergerac (born 1841)
• September 4 – Clyde Fitch, author & playwright whose works have been adapted into films. (born 1865)

• Fatty Arbuckle – Ben's Kid (as Roscoe Arbuckle)
• Ethel Clayton – Justified (short)
• Dolores Costello (as a child) – A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Helene Costello (as a child) – Les Misérables (Part I) (short)
• Marie Dressler – Marie Dressler (short)
• Francis Ford – The Stolen Wireless
• Annette Kellerman – The Bride of Lammermoor: A Tragedy of Bonnie Scotland
• James Kirkwood – The Heart of an Outlaw (short)
• Florence La Badie – The Politician's Love Story
• Tom Mix – The Cowboy Millionaire
• Mary Pickford – Mrs. Jones Entertains
• Billy Quirk – The Heart of an Outlaw
• William A. Russell – Tag Day (short)
• William Stowell – The Cowboy Millionaire
• Blanche Sweet – A Man with Three Wives
• Rose Tapley – The Way of the Cross (short)
• Clara Kimball Young – Washington Under the American Flag (short)

• List of 1909 films at IMDb
• List of 1909 deaths at IMDb
• List of 1909 births at IMDb