1911 E1 - The Feature Begins?
From The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever by Tristan Ettleman
March 4, 2026 · 5 min · Season 13 · Episode 1
About this episode
The episode discusses the emergence of feature films in 1911 and highlights various films from that year.
1911 really feels like the beginning of the feature film. Oh sure, it didn’t suddenly define the output of the global film industry, but ambitious experiments from Italy, Denmark, Russia, and only very tentatively, America, sat alongside narrative, as well as plenty of non-narrative, successes and intriguing failures in the short form. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your top five for 1911! Films mentioned: L’Inferno (1911) - Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, and Giuseppe De Liguoro L’Odissea (1911) - Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, and Giuseppe De Liguoro The Black Dream (1911) - Urban Gad The Girl Behind the Counter (1911) - August Blom Defence of Sevastopol (1911) - Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and Vasily Goncharov Enoch Arden (1911) - D.W. Griffith Little Nemo (1911) - Winsor McCay and J. Stuart Blackton David Copperfield (1911) - Theodore Marston She (1911) - George Nichols A Tale of Two Cities (1911) - Charles Kent and William J. Humphrey The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1911) - Albert Capellani A Heroine of ‘76 (1911) - Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley, and Edwin S. Porter Ben Hur (1907) - Sidney Olcott and Frank Oakes Rose
People in this episode
Host: Tristan Ettleman
Topics covered
- feature films
- film history
- early cinema
- narrative films
- film reviews
Keywords
- 1911
- feature films
- film history
- L’Inferno
- early cinema
- narrative
- film reviews
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: L’Inferno, L’Odissea, The Black Dream, The Girl Behind the Counter, Defence of Sevastopol, Enoch Arden, Little Nemo, David Copperfield, She, A Tale of Two Cities
More episodes of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever
- 1913 E1 - A Milestone Year? · June 10, 2026 · 5 min
- 1912 E7 - The Ol' Power Players Hang in There · June 3, 2026 · 5 min
- 1912 E6 - Paul (PT) Klein · May 27, 2026 · 1h 8m
- 1912 E5 - Stephen Horne · May 20, 2026 · 47 min
- 1912 E4 - Marsha Gordon · May 13, 2026 · 57 min
- 1912 E3 - Alison Strauss · May 6, 2026 · 43 min
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