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1921 Films
This is an overview of 1921 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top nine films released in 1921 by U.S. gross are as follows: Events *January 21 – The silent comedy drama '' The Kid'', written by, produced by, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin (in his Tramp character) – his first full-length film as a director – and featuring Jackie Coogan, is released in the United States. It is the year's second-highest-grossing film. *March 6 – The silent epic war film '' The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'', adapted for the screen by June Mathis, is released in the United States. It is the year's highest-grossing film (and the sixth-best-grossing silent film of all time), propels Rudolph Valentino to stardom and inspires a tango craze and a fashion for gaucho pants. *July 1 – The silent crime docudrama '' Yan Ruisheng'' is the first full-length feature film made in China to ...
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Silent Film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of inter- title cards. The term "silent film" is something of a misnomer, as these films were almost always accompanied by live sounds. During the silent era, which existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist, theater organist—or even, in larger cities, an orchestra—would play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music, or improvisation. Sometimes a person would even narrate the inter-title cards for the audience. Though at the time the technology to synchronize sound with the film did not exist, music was seen as an essential part of the viewing experience. "Silent film" is typically used as a historical term to describe an era of cinema p ...
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Yan Ruisheng
''Yan Ruisheng'' () is a 1921 Chinese silent film directed by Ren Pengnian and starring Chen Shouzi and Wang Caiyun. A docudrama based on the murder of Wang Lianying the previous year, it follows a young man named Yan Ruisheng who, deeply in debt, kills a courtesan to steal her jewellery. The crime is discovered, and he and his accomplices attempt to flee. Yan is captured in Xuzhou and returned to Shanghai, where he is executed. China's first full-length feature film, ''Yan Ruisheng'' was produced as short films were gaining traction among domestic producers. A collaborative project of the Chinese Cinema Study Society, the film extensively used the resources of the Commercial Press' filmmaking division. It emphasized verisimilitude in its casting and setting; the stars were chosen based on their physical resemblance to those involved, while extensive use of location shooting allowed scenes to be set in places associated with the murder. Despite the generally poor box-office p ...
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Docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typically strive to adhere to known historical facts, while allowing some degree of Artistic license, dramatic license in peripheral details, such as when there are gaps in the historical record. Dialogue may, or may not, include the actual words of Reality, real-life people, as recorded in historical documents. Docudrama producers sometimes choose to film their reconstructed events in the actual locations in which the historical events occurred. A docudrama, in which historical fidelity is the keynote, is generally distinguished from a film merely "List of films based on actual events, based on true events", a term which implies a greater degree of dramatic lic ...
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Gaucho
A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, the southern part of Bolivia, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and renowned in legend, folklore, and literature and became an important part of their regional cultural tradition. Beginning late in the 19th century, after the heyday of the gauchos, they were celebrated by South American writers. According to the , in its historical sense a gaucho was a "mestizo who, in the 18th and 19th centuries, inhabited Argentina, Uruguay, and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and was a migratory horseman, and adept in cattle work". In Argentina and Uruguay today, gaucho can refer to any "country person, experienced in traditional livestock farming". Because historical gauchos were reputed to be brave, if unruly, the word is also applied metaphorically to mean "noble, brave and genero ...
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Tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Argentine Milonga, Spanish-Cuban Habanera, and Uruguayan Candombe celebrations. It was frequently practiced in the brothels and bars of ports, where business owners employed bands to entertain their patrons. It then spread to the rest of the world. Many variations of this dance currently exist around the world. On August 31, 2009, UNESCO approved a joint proposal by Argentina and Uruguay to include the tango in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. History Tango is a dance that has influences from African and European culture. Dances from the Candombe ceremonies of former African enslaved people helped shape the modern day tango. The dance originated in working-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Tango music der ...
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Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known silent films including ''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921 film), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'', ''The Sheik (film), The Sheik'' (both 1921), ''Blood and Sand (1922 film), Blood and Sand'' (1922), ''The Eagle (1925 film), The Eagle'' (1925), and ''The Son of the Sheik'' (1926). Valentino was a sex symbol of the 1920s, known in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood as the "Latin lover, Latin Lover" (a title invented for him by Hollywood moguls), the "Great Lover", or simply Valentino. His early death at the age of 31 caused mass hysteria among his fans, further cementing his place in early cinematic history as a cultural film icon. Early life Childhood and emigration Valentino was born in Castellaneta, Apulia, Italy and name ...
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June Mathis
June Mathis (born June Beulah Hughes, January 30, 1887 – July 26, 1927) was an American screenwriter. Mathis was the first female executive for Metro/MGM and at only 35, she was the highest paid executive in Hollywood. In 1926 she was voted the third most influential woman in Hollywood, behind Mary Pickford and Norma Talmadge.Journal of Humanities. 2007. Mathis is best remembered for discovering Rudolph Valentino and writing such films as '' The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' (1921), and '' Blood and Sand'' (1922). Early life June Mathis was born June Beulah Hughes in Leadville, Colorado, the only child of Virginia Ruth and Dr. Philip Hughes. Her parents divorced when she was seven and her mother remarried to William D. Mathis, a widower with three children whose name she would eventually adopt as a stage name. She had been a sickly child and believed she healed herself through her sheer force of will. She believed everything was mental and everyone had certain vibratio ...
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The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (film)
''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' is a 1921 American silent film, silent epic film, epic war film produced by Metro Pictures, Metro Pictures Corporation and directed by Rex Ingram (director), Rex Ingram. Based on the 1916 Spanish novel ''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (novel), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'', by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, it was adapted for the screen by June Mathis. The film stars Pomeroy Cannon, Josef Swickard, Bridgetta Clark, Rudolph Valentino, Wallace Beery, and Alice Terry. Often regarded as one of the first anti-war films, it had a huge cultural impact and became the top-grossing film of 1921 by beating out Charlie Chaplin's ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid''. The film turned the little-known actor Rudolph Valentino into a superstar and associated him with the image of the Latin lover (stereotype), Latin lover. The film also inspired a tango craze and such fashion fads as gaucho pants. The film was written by June Mathis, who, by its success ...
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War Film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war films often end with them. Themes explored include combat, survival and escape, camaraderie between soldiers, sacrifice, the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and the moral and human issues raised by war. War films are often categorized by their milieu, such as the Korean War; the most popular subjects are the World War II, Second World War and the American Civil War. The stories told may be fiction, historical drama, or biographical. Critics have noted similarities between the Western (genre), Western and the war film. Nations such as China, Indonesia, Japan, and Russia have their own traditions of war film, centred on their own revolutionary wars but taking varied forms, from action an ...
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Epic Film
Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a heroic character. An epic's ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other genres such as the period piece or adventure film. Epic historical films would usually take a historical or a mythical event and add an extravagant setting, lavish costumes, an expansive musical score, and an ensemble cast, which would make them extremely expensive to produce. The most common subjects of epic films are royalty and important figures from various periods in world history. Characteristics The term "epic" originally came from the poetic genre exemplified by such works as the '' Epic of Gilgamesh'' and the works of the Trojan War Cycle. In classical literature, epics are considered works focused on deeds or journeys of heroes upon which the fate of ...
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Jackie Coogan
John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the history of Hollywood. He later sued his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings and inspired California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers, the California Child Actor's Bill, widely known as the "Coogan Act". Coogan continued to act throughout his life, later earning renewed fame in middle age portraying Uncle Fester in the 1960s television series ''The Addams Family (1964 TV series), The Addams Family''. Early life and education John Leslie Coogan was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1914 to John Henry Jr. and Lillian Rita (née Dolliver) Coogan. He began performing as an infant in both vaudeville and film, with the title role (uncredited) in ...
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