What This Page Contains
On this page you will find a table listing all 45 American silent feature films of 1916 that can be viewed online, mostly on YouTube. For each film on the list, you will find a link to the best online version of the film.
Highlights of Our List of 1916 Online Films
1916 appears to have been the year of Douglas Fairbanks, as all 9 of his released features for this year survive, and 8 appear on our list. Included here are his first feature-length collaborations with directors Allan Dwan and John Emerson. Douglas’ first regular co-stars were Jewel Carmen and Bessie Love, who appear in three and two of Douglas’ offerings respectively in 1916.
Other blockbusters of 1916 included D.W. Griffith’s epic Intolerance, and Cecil B. DeMille’s masterful study of Joan of Arc, starring Geraldine Farrar, entitled Joan the Woman. Abortion is the topic of Lois Weber’s controversial Where Are My Children? A slim Eugene Pallette appears in his first feature films in 1916, most notably in Gretchen the Greenhorn, with Dorothy Gish. Directors Lloyd Ingraham and James Kirkwood debut on our lists in 1915. Westerns are well represented with three offerings starring William S. Hart. The first American Sherlock Holmes feature-length film, starring William Gillette as the sleuth, and America’s first full-length science-fiction thriller, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, were also released in 1916.
Want to See American Feature Films from Other Years?
Go to American Feature Films of: 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931
Dorothy Gish as
Gretchen the Greenhorn (1916)
Douglas Fairbanks in
Flirting with Fate (1916)
William S. Hart as The Aryan (1916)
1916 Statistics (per the Library of Congress database):
Number of Features Released: 843
Number Extant (complete and incomplete): 242
Number Completely Lost: 601
1916 American Feature Films Available for Viewing Online
| Title | # Reels | Director | Stars | Genre | YouTube Link | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | 8 | Stuart Paton | Allen Holubar, Dan Hanlon | Science fiction | Link I Link II | Link I: superior print, with electronic-music soundtrack. Link II: very nice tinted print, mixed small ensemble, contemporary score. |
|
| American Aristocracy | 5 | Lloyd Ingraham | Douglas Fairbanks, Jewel Carmen | Comedy | Link I Link II | Link I: soundtrack of period orchestra recordings. Link II: soundtrack of jazzy-style cuts. |
|
| Aryan, The | 5 | Reginald Barker, William S. Hart | William S. Hart, Bessie Love | Western | Link | With Spanish intertitles and English CC. | |
| Charlie Chaplin's Burlesque on Carmen | 4 | Charlie Chaplin | Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance | Comedy | Link | ||
| Children in the House, The | 5 | Chester M. Franklin, Sidney Franklin | Norma Talmadge, Jewel Carmen, Eugene Pallette | Drama | Link | ||
| Civilization | 10 | Reginald Barker, Thomas Ince | Howard Hickman, Herschel Mayall, George Fisher | War, Drama | Link | ||
| Crisis, The | 12 | Colin Campbell | George Fawcett, Bessie Eyton | Historical Drama | Link | No music. | |
| Devil's Needle, The | 5 | Chester Withey | Tully Marshall, Norma Talmadge | Drama | Link | ||
| East Lynne | 5 | Bertram Bracken | Theda Bara | Drama | Link | Film needs restoration | |
| Flirting with Fate | 5 | Christy Cabanne | Douglas Fairbanks, Jewel Carmen | Comedy | Link | ||
| Going Straight | 5 | Chester M. Franklin, Sidney Franklin | Norma Talmadge, Ralph Lewis | Crime, Drama | Link | ||
| Golden Chance, The | 5 | Cecil B. DeMille | Cleo Ridgely, Wallace Reid | Drama | Link | ||
| Good Bad Man, The | 5 | Allan Dwan | Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love, Sam De Grasse | Western | Link | Film survives in this 1923 re-issue. | |
| Gretchen, the Greenhorn | 5 | Chester M. Franklin, Sidney Franklin | Dorothy Gish, Ralph Lewis, Eugene Pallette | Crime, Drama | Link | ||
| Habit of Happiness, The | 5 | Allan Dwan | Douglas Fairbanks | Comedy | Link | No music. May be a short. | |
| Heart of a Hero, the | 6 | Emile Chautard | Robert Warwick, Gail Kane | Biography | Link | ||
| Hell's Hinges | 5 | William S. Hart, Charles Swickard | William S. Hart, Clara Williams | Western | Link I Link II | Link I: traditional piano score. Link II: original contemporary score by Andre Fratto. |
|
| His Picture in the Papers | 5 | John Emerson | Douglas Fairbanks, Clarence Handyside, Rene Boucicault | Comedy | Link I Link II | Link I: soundtrack of period Dixieland-style recordings. Link II: traditional piano accompaniment, slightly lesser video quality. |
|
| Hoodoo Ann | 5 | Lloyd Ingraham | Mae Marsh, Robert Harron | Comedy | Link I Link II | Link I: good print with music. Link II: side by side comparison of unrestored and restored versions, with music. |
|
| Idle Wives | 7 | Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley | Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley | Drama | Link | Only the first two reels or so appear to survive. | |
| Innocence of Lizette, The | 5 | James Kirkwood | Mary Miles Minter, Eugene Ford | Drama | Link | Intertitles in Dutch. | |
| Intolerance | 14 | D.W. Griffith | Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, Mael Marsh | Drama, Historical Drama | Link I Link II Link III Link IV | Link I: piano + small ensemble score. Link II: mixed grand orchestra soundtrack. Link III: another grand orchestral soundtrack. Link IV: improvised live piano accompaniment by the artist Somtow, |
|
| Intrigue, The | 5 | Frank Lloyd | Lenore Ulrich, Cecil Van Auker | Science Fiction | Link | ||
| Joan the Woman | 12 | Cecil B. DeMille | Geraldine Farrar, Raymond Halton | Historical Drama | Link | ||
| King Lear | 5 | Ernest C. Warde | Frederick Warde, Lorraine Hulig | Literary Drama | Link | No music; film needs restoration. | |
| Less Than the Dust | 7 | Joh Emerson | Mary Pickford, David Powell | Drama | Link | No music. | |
| Little Mary Sunshine | 5 | Henry King | Marie Osborne, Henry King | Drama | Link | No music. | |
| Lottery Man, The | 5 | Theodore Wharton | Thurlow Bergen, Elsie Esmond | Comedy | Link | Film quality not great. Oliver Hardy plays a woman! |
|
| Manhattan Madness | 5 | Allan Dwan | Douglas Fairbanks, Jewel Carmen | Comedy | Link | Video is only 29 minutes long; may be abbreviated version. No music. | |
| Matrimaniac, The | 5 | Paul Powell | Douglas Fairbanks, Constance Talmadge | Comedy | Link | ||
| Ocean Waif, The | 5 | Alice Guy | Carlyle Blackwell, Doris Kenyon | Comedy | Link I Link II | Link I: with piano score, includes superimposed Portuguese subtitles. Link II: no music. |
|
| Poor Little Peppina | 7 | Sidney Olcott | Mary Pickford, Eugene O'Brien | Drama | Link | No music. | |
| Reggie Mixes In | 5 | Christy Cabanne | Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love | Comedy | Link | No music; film quality not great. | |
| Return of Draw Egan, The | 5 | William S. Hart | William S. Hart, Margery Wilson | Western | Link I Link II | The two videos contain a different soundtrack of period orchestra music each. | |
| Sherlock Holmes | 7 | Arthur Berthelet | William Gillette, Marjorie Kay | Drama, Mystery | Link | ||
| Shoes | 5 | Lois Weber | Mary MacLaren, Harry Griffith | Drama | Link | Link is to bing.com videos. | |
| Silas Marner | 7 | Ernest C. Warde | Frederick Warde | Drama | Link | No music; film quality not great. According to Thanhouser.org, this is abbreviated version of original longer film. | |
| Sister of Six, A | n/a | Chester M. Franklin, Sidney Franklin | Ben Lewis, Bessie Love | Western | Link | May be only surviving portion of this partially-lost film. | |
| Snow White | 6 | J. Searle Dawley | Dorothy Cummings, Creighton Hale, Marguerite Clark | Fantasy | Link I Link II Link III Link IV | Link I: tradtional piano score. Links II and III: each contains a widely varying soundtrack of orchestral music. Link IV: recorded at live theater showing with real orchestra accompaniment (audience laughter included). |
|
| Social Secretary, The | 5 | John Emerson | Norma Talmadge | Comedy | Link | English intertitles, with French subtitles. | |
| Sold for Marriage | 5 | Christy Cabanne | Lillian Gish, Frank Bennett, Walter Long | Drama | Link | ||
| Son of Erin, A | 5 | Julia Crawford Ivers | Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston | Comedy | Link | ||
| Sunshine Dad | 5 | Edward Dillon | DeWolf Hopper, Sr. Fay Tincher | Comedy | Link | Video is 19 minutes long, likely abbreviated or incomplete version of full 5-reel film. | |
| Where are My Children? | 5 | Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley | Tyrone Power, Sr. | Drama | Link I Link II | Link I: with piano score. Full restoration quality. Link II: with ensemble score. Good quality. |
|
| World and the Woman, The | 5 | Eugene Moore | Jeanne Eagels, Boyd Marshall | Drama | Link | Link is to Thanhouser.org website page. Film shown in very small screen. |
1916 Films Commercially Available,
But Not Yet Uploaded Online
The goal is to get the films listed below uploaded to YouTube. All of these films are in the public domain. However, any musical accompaniment is likely not in the public domain, and may be flagged by YouTube; consequently, you may wish to upload them without any soundtrack (or add your own).
| Title | Director | Stars | Buy From | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Blair | William Desmond Taylot | Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston | Oldies.com | ||
| Child of the Paris Streets, A | Lloyd Ingraham | Mae Marsh, Robert Harron | SHOF, Oldies.com | ||
| Cossack Whip, The | John H. Collins | Viola Dana | Grapevine, Oldies.com | ||
| D'artagnan | Charles Swickard | Orrin Johnson, Dorothy Dalton | Oldies.com | aka The Three Musketeers | |
| Destiny's Toy | James B. O'Brien | Louise Huff | Grapevine | ||
| If My Country Should Fall | Joseph De Grasse | Dorothy Phillips | Oldies.com | ||
| Innocence of Ruth, The | John H. Collins | Edward Earle, Viola Dana | Grapevine | ||
| Manhattan Madness | Allan Dwan | Douglas Fairbanks, Jewel Carmen | n/a | YouTube version may be abbreviated version: IMDB says film is 50 minutes long; if so, need full film to uploaded. | |
| Place Beyond the Winds, The | Joseph de Grasse | Dorothy Phillips, Lon Chaney | Oldies.com | ||
| Sunshine Dad | Edward Dillon | DeWolf Hopper, Sr. | n/a | YouTube version may be abbreviated version; need full film to be uploaded. | |
| Trail of the Lonesome Pine, The | Cecil B. DeMille | Charlotte Walker, Thomas Meighan | SHOF | ||
| Vagabond Prince, The | Charles Giblyn | H.B. Warner, Dorothy Dalton | Grapevine, Oldies.com | ||
| World and the Woman, The | Eugene Moore | Jeanne Eagels | Thanhouser.org | Film needs to be uploaded to YouTube; current online version shown in format too small to watch. |