This is a list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer-related films released before 1920. It contains theatrically released films that deal with important gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer characters or issues and may have same-sex romance or relationships as a plot device.
1895-1919
edit| Title | Year | Director | Country | Genre | Cast | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dickson Experimental Sound Film | 1895 | William Dixon | United States | Although described as having a homosexual subtext by film historian Vito Russo this interpretation has been disputed.[1] | ||
| The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon | 1907 | Georges Méliès | France | Short, fantasy | a.k.a. L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune | |
| Algie the Miner | 1912 | Alice Guy-Blaché | United States | Comedy, western | Billy Quirk, Mary Foy | |
| A Florida Enchantment | 1914 | Sidney Drew | United States | Comedy | Edith Storey, Sidney Drew, Ethyl Lloyd, Grace Stevens, Charles Kent, Jane Morrow, Ada Gifford, Lillian Burns, Allan Campbell, Cortland van Deusen, Frank O'Neil | Based on the novel and play (the latter of which is now lost) of the same name by Fergus Redmond and Archibald Clavering Gunter |
| Zapata's Gang | 1914 | Urban Gad | Germany | Comedy | Asta Nielsen, Fred Immler, Senta Eichstaedt, Adele Reuter-Eichberg and Mary Scheller | a.k.a. Zapatas Bande |
| Filibus | 1915 | Mario Roncoroni | Italy | Adventure, science fiction | Valeria Creti, Giovanni Spano, Cristina Ruspoli | |
| The Wings | 1916 | Mauritz Stiller | Sweden | Drama | Egil Eide, Lars Hanson, Lili Bech, Julius Hälsig | a.k.a. Vingarne; based on the novel Mikaël by Herman Bang |
| Behind the Screen | 1916 | Charlie Chaplin | United States | Comedy, romance | Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell | After Chaplin's prophand character kisses Edna Purviance's character in drag, villain Eric Campbell sees this and begins doing an effeminite dance to mock Chaplin's character. |
| I Don't Want to Be a Man | 1918 | Ernst Lubitsch | Germany | Comedy, romance | Ossi Oswalda, Curt Goetz, Ferry Sikla, Margarete Kupfer, Victor Janson | a.k.a. Ich möchte kein Mann sein |
| Different from the Others | 1919 | Richard Oswald | Germany | Drama | Conrad Veidt, Fritz Schulz, Reinhold Schünzel, Anita Berber, Magnus Hirschfeld, Karl Giese | a.k.a. Anders als die Andern |
| A Man’s Girlhood | 1919 | Paul Legband, Julius Rode[2] | Germany | Biopic | Erika Glässner, Hans Albers, Olga Engl and Lotte Stein[2] | a.k.a. Aus eines Mannes Mädchenjahren, based on the autobiography of the same name by Karl M. Baer (under the pseudonym N.O. Body) about his experiences as an intersex person |
References
edit- ^ Russo (1987), pp. 6–7. For rebuttal of Russo's claim, see, e.g., Dixon (2003), p. 53; Justin DeFreitas, "Moving Pictures: Documentary Puts Modern Gay Cinema in Context", Berkeley Daily Planet, July 7, 2006 (available online).
- ^ a b "Aus eines Mannes Mädchenjahren". IMDb. Retrieved 24 November 2023.