1927 in film

The following is an overview of 1927 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The top ten 1927 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

^[10][11]

• January 10 – Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany. The film receives its American premiere in New York City on March 6.
• March 11 – World's largest movie theatre, the Roxy Theatre, opens in New York City.
• April 7 – Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premieres (in a shortened version) at the Paris Opéra and demonstrates techniques and equipment that will not be revived for years to come, such as hand-held cameras, and what is often considered the first widescreen projection format Polyvision.
• May 11 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded in Los Angeles by Douglas Fairbanks. The 1st Academy Awards (Oscars) will be awarded to films which are released in 1927 or 1928.
• August 12 – Paramount's dramatic film Wings, which will go on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture, opens at the Criterion Theater in New York City, with an unheard-of roadshow admission price of $2.00 per ticket.
• September 5 – Nicholas Schenck becomes president of Loews Inc. following the death of Marcus Loew.
• September 7 – Oswald the Lucky Rabbit debuts in Trolley Troubles.
• September 23 – Fox Films acquires the rights to the Tri-Ergon sound-on-film technology, which had been developed in 1919 by three German inventors, Josef Engl, Hans Vogt, and Joseph Massole.
• October 6 – The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, premieres at the Warner Theater in New York City. Although not the first 'talkie', The Jazz Singer becomes the first box-office hit and popularizes sound motion pictures. It is the highest-grossing movie up to this time.^{[citation needed]}
• December 3 – The silent short Putting Pants on Philip, the first official billing of comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, is released in the United States.
• Ang Manananggal, the first Filipino horror film, is released in the Philippines.^[12]
• Cinematograph Films Act sets a minimum quota for British films to be shown in British cinemas.
• Italian Alberto Rabagliati wins a Rudolph Valentino look-alike contest and moves to Hollywood to start his acting career.
• The Three Tramps, the first Filipino comedy film featuring the Silos brothers, is released in the Philippines.^[13]

• Best Production: Wings
• Best Artistic Quality: Sunrise
• Best Actor: Emil Jannings for The Way of All Flesh and the 1928 movie The Last Command
• Best Actress: Janet Gaynor for Seventh Heaven and Sunrise, as well as the 1928 movie Street Angel
• Best Director: Frank Borzage for Seventh Heaven

For the complete list of US film releases for the year, see United States films of 1927^[14]

• Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
• Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Harry Langdon (1924–1936)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1945)

• Felix the Cat (1919–1962)
• Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1933)
• Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes (1924-1927)
• Alice Comedies
  • Alice the Golf Bug
  • Alice Foils the Pirates
  • Alice at the Carnival
  • Alice at the Rodeo
  • Alice the Collegiate
  • Alice in the Alps
  • Alice's Auto Race
  • Alice's Circus Daze
  • Alice's Knaughty Knight
  • Alice's Three Bad Eggs
  • Alice's Picnic
  • Alice's Channel Swim
  • Alice in the Klondike
  • Alice's Medicine Show
  • Alice the Whaler
  • Alice the Beach Nut
  • Alice in the Big League
• Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
• Un-Natural History (1925-1927)
• Pete the Pup (1926-1927)
• Inkwell Imps (1927–1929)
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
  • Trolley Troubles
  • Oh Teacher
  • The Mechanical Cow
  • Great Guns!
  • All Wet
  • The Ocean Hop
  • The Banker's Daughter
  • Empty Socks
  • Rickety Gin
• Newslaffs (1927–1928)

• January 4 – Barbara Rush, American actress (died 2024)
• January 10 – Lee Philips, American actor (died 1999)
• January 15 – Phyllis Coates, American actress (died 2023)
• January 17 – Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer (died 2008)
• January 22 – Walter Sparrow, English actor (died 2000)
• January 28 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director (died 2001)^[19][20]
• January 29 – Peter Fernandez, American actor, voice director and writer (died 2010)
• January 31 – Jean Speegle Howard, American actress (died 2000)
• February 3 – Kenneth Anger, American underground experimental filmmaker and actor (died 2023)
• February 7 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actress (died 2020)
• February 12
  • Eric Mason, British actor (died 2010)
  • H. M. Wynant, American actor
• February 14 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress (died 2007)
• February 15 - Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (died 2008)
• February 16 – June Brown, English actress (died 2022)^[21]
• February 20 – Sidney Poitier, American actor (died 2022)
• March 1 – Harry Belafonte, American singer and actor (died 2023)
• March 4 - Thayer David, American actor (died 1978)
• March 7 – James Broderick, American actor and director (died 1982)
• March 18 - George Plimpton, American actor (died 2003)
• March 20 – Cairbre (also known as Leo), Dublin Zoo-born Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion mascot
• March 21 – Virginia Weidler, American actress (died 1968)
• March 25 – Monique van Vooren, Belgian-American actress (died 2020)
• March 31 – William Daniels, American actor
• April 1 – Maria Eugénia, Portuguese actress (died 2016)
• April 2
  • Rita Gam, American actress (died 2016)
  • Ken Sansom, American actor and voice actor (died 2012)
• April 3 - Robert Hoy, American actor, stuntman and director (died 2010)
• April 5 – Chao-Li Chi, Shanxi-born actor (died 2010)
• April 13 – Maurice Ronet, French film actor, director and writer (died 1983)
• April 16 – Peter Mark Richman, American actor (died 2021)
• April 19 – Cora Sue Collins, American former child actress
• April 30 – Ellen Alaküla, Estonian actress (died 2011)
• May 5 – Pat Carroll, American actress (died 2022)
• May 6 – Ettore Manni, Italian actor (died 1979)
• May 11
  • Bernard Fox, Welsh actor (died 2016)
  • Mort Sahl, Canadian-born American comedian and actor (died 2021)
• May 13 – Herbert Ross, American film director, producer and choreographer (died 2001)
• May 20 – David Hedison, American actor (died 2019)
• May 21 – Kay Kendall, English actress, comedienne (died 1959)
• May 22 – Michael Constantine, Greek American actor (died 2021)
• May 30 – Clint Walker, American actor (died 2018)
• May 31 – Koreyoshi Kurahara, Malaysian-Japanese screenwriter, director (died 2002)
• June 2 – Thomas Hill, Indian-born American character actor (died 2009)
• June 8 – Jerry Stiller, American actor and comedian (died 2020)
• June 15 – Ottó Foky, Hungarian animator (died 2012)
• June 23 – Bob Fosse, American dancer, musical theatre choreographer, screenwriter and director (died 1987)
• June 24 - Bette Ford, American retired actress
• June 27 – Geoffrey Palmer, British actor (died 2020)
• June 30
  • Mario Lanfranchi, Italian director, screenwriter, producer and actor (died 2022)
  • Pat McCormick, American actor and writer (died 2005)
• July 2 - Brock Peters, American actor and singer (died 2005)
• July 3 - Tim O'Connor, American character actor (died 2018)
• July 4
  • Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress (died 2023)
  • Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter (died 2018)
• July 5 – Beverly Tyler, American actress, singer (died 2005)
• July 6 – Janet Leigh, American actress (died 2004)
• July 9
  • Ed Ames, American singer and actor (died 2023)
  • Susan Cabot, American actress (died 1986)
• July 15
  • Nan Martin, American actress (died 2010)
  • Joe Turkel, American character actor (died 2022)
• July 27 - Henry O, Chinese-American actor
• July 30
  • Richard Johnson, British actor, writer and producer (died 2015)
  • Joan Vohs, American model, actress (died 2001)
• August 9 – Robert Shaw, British actor and novelist (died 1978)
• August 14 – Roger Carel (Bancharel), French voice actor (died 2020)
• August 19 – L. Q. Jones, American actor (died 2022)
• August 20 - Yootha Joyce, English actress (died 1980)
  • August 21 – Tony Steedman, English character actor (died 2001)
  • Barry Foster (actor), British actor (died 2002)
• August 30 – Bill Daily, American actor (died 2018)
• September 9 – Penelope Houston, English critic (died 2015)
• September 12
  • Freddie Jones, English actor (died 2019)
  • Franco Latini, Italian actor and voice actor (died 1991)
• September 13 - Beverly Polcyn, American actress (died 2018)
• September 16 – Peter Falk, American actor (died 2011)
• September 19
  • Rosemary Harris, English actress
  • William Hickey, American actor (died 1997)
• September 20 - Rachel Roberts, Welsh actress (died 1980)
• September 21 - Joan Hotchkis, American actress and writer (died 2022)
• September 24 – Arthur Malet, English actor (died 2013)
• September 26 - Patrick O'Neal, American actor (died 1994)
• October 1 – Tom Bosley, American actor (died 2010)
• October 7 - Al Martino, American singer and actor (died 2009)
• October 14 – Roger Moore, English actor (died 2017)
• October 15 – Jeannette Charles, British actress (died 2024)
• October 16 – Eileen Ryan, American actress (died 2022)
• October 18 – George C. Scott, American film and stage actor (died 1999)
• October 21 - Howard Zieff, American director and producer (died 2009)
• October 27 – Silvia Laidla, Estonian actress (died 2012)
• November 1 – Marcel Ophuls, German documentary maker
• November 3 - Florence Paterson, Canadian actress (died 1995)
• November 12 – John Hollis, British screen actor (died 2005)
• November 17
  • Fenella Fielding, English actress (died 2018)
  • Lynn Stalmaster, American casting director (died 2021)
• November 14 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (died 1996)
• November 20 – Estelle Parsons, American actress
• November 23 – Sybil Jason, American actress (died 2011)
• November 30 – Robert Guillaume, American actor and singer (died 2017)
• December 26 - Chuck Hicks, American actor and stuntman (died 2021)
• December 29 – Giorgio Capitani, Italian film director and screenwriter (died 2017)
• December 30 – Bernard Barrow, American Actor (died 1993)

• January 13 – Arnold Daly, American actor, playwright and producer (born 1875)
• March 17 – Charles Emmett Mack, American actor (born 1900)
• April 25 – Earle Williams, American actor (born 1880)
• May 7 – Bruce McRae, American stage and screen actor (born 1867)
• May 16 – Sam Bernard, English stage and screen actor (born 1863)
• May 20 – Oscar Stribolt, Danish actor (born 1873)
• June 3 – Einar Hanson, Swedish stage and screen actor (born 1897)
• June 4 – Robert McKim, American actor (born 1877)
• July 26 – June Mathis, American screenwriter (born 1887)
• September 5 – Marcus Loew, American theatre chain executive & founder of Loews Theatres (born 1870)
• October 5 – Sam Warner, American co-founder of Warner Brothers studios (born 1887)
• October 13 – Hughie Mack, American actor (born 1884)
• November 4 – Valli Valli, German stage and film actress (born 1882)
• December 6 – Kate Toncray, American actress (born 1867)
• December 16 – Romaine Fielding, American actor and director (born 1868)
• December 24 – Julia Bruns, American stage & film actress (born 1895)

• Robert Armstrong – The Main Event
• Hermione Baddeley – A Daughter in Revolt
• Louise Beavers – Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Johnny Mack Brown – The Bugle Call
• Nancy Carroll – Ladies Must Dress
• Claudette Colbert – For the Love of Mike
• June Collyer – Broadway Nights
• Ruth Donnelly – Rubber Heels
• Virginia Grey – Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Elsa Lanchester – One of the Best
• Dickie Moore – The Beloved Rogue
• Helen Parrish – Babe Comes Home
• Mickey Rooney – Orchids and Ermine
• Angelo Rossitto – The Beloved Rogue
• Ann Sothern – Broadway Nights
• Barbara Stanwyck – Broadway Nights
• Frederick Valk – Out of the Mist
• Lupe Vélez – The Gaucho

• List of American films of 1927