Thomas Harper Ince

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Image:Incethomas.jpg Thomas Harper Ince (November 6, 1882 – November 20, 1924) was an American silent film director, producer and screenwriter.

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, he invented many mechanisms of professional movie production, like the usage of a detailed "shooting script", which also contained information on who was in the scene, and the "scene plot" which listed all interiors and exteriors, cost control plans and so on. He helped create a standardized and mechanized mode of production. He also was one of the first who had a separate writer, director and cutter (instead of doing everything himself).

Working under General Manager Fred J. Balshofer at the California studio/ranch of Bison Motion Pictures division of the New York Motion Picture Company, Ince's movies were mainly early Westerns, which were successful because of their beautiful images and their rhythm. Ince wrote a number of screenplays including 1915's The Italian which has been preserved by the United States National Film Registry.

In 1915, Thomas Ince partnered up with D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett to create the Triangle Motion Picture Company.

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Murder or natural death debate

On November 19, 1924 the silent film producer and father of the western died, offically of a heart attack suffered while on a weekend boat trip with William Randolph Hearst aboard Hearst's lavish yacht The Oneida while attending a cruise in honor of Ince's 42nd birthday. Other prominent guests in attendance were actor Charlie Chaplin, newspaper columnist Louella Parsons and film actresses Marion Davies, Aileen Pringle, Jacqueline Logan, Seena Owen and Julanne Johnston. In the time since, several conflicting stories have circulated about Ince's death, often revolving around the claim that Hearst shot Ince in a fit of jealousy and used his power and influence to cover up a murder. A 2001 film, The Cat's Meow, tells a tale based around these rumours.

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Filmography (as director)

  • Anna Christie (1923)
  • Dividend (1916)
  • Civilization (1916)
  • The Stepping Stone (1916)
  • Peggy (1916)
  • The Coward (1915)
  • The Toast of Death (1915)
  • The Cup of Life (1915)
  • The Alien / The Sign of the Rose (1915)
  • The Devil / Satan's Pawn (1915)
  • The Death Mask (1914)
  • The Hour of Reckoning (1914)
  • The Last of the Line (1914)
  • The Village 'Neath the Sea (1914)
  • Out of the Night (1914)
  • The Ambassador's Envoy (1913)
  • The Boomerang (1913)
  • Bread Cast Upon the Waters (1913)
  • Days of '49 (1913)
  • Granddad (1913)
  • The Hateful God (1913)
  • A Shadow of the Past (1913)
  • In Love and War / Call to Arms (1913)
  • The Battle of Gettysburg (1913)
  • The Drummer of the 8th (1913)
  • The Battle of the Red Men (1912)
  • Blazing the Trail (1912)
  • The Clod (1912)
  • The Colonel's Son (1912)
  • The Colonel's Ward (1912)
  • A Double Reward (1912)
  • The Empty Water Keg (1912)
  • For Freedom of Cuba (1912)
  • For the Cause (1912)
  • The Law of the West (1912)
  • A Mexican Tragedy (1912)
  • War on the Plains (1912)
  • The Invaders (1912)
  • The Altar of Death (1912)
  • The Sergeant's Boy (1912)
  • Custer's Last Raid (1912)
  • The Desert (1912)
  • The Colonel's Peril (1912)
  • His Message (1912)
  • Soldier's Honor (1912)
  • The Outcast (1912)
  • The Lieutenant's Last Fight (1912)
  • The Post Telegraphers (1912)
  • The Deserter (1912)
  • The Crisis (1912)
  • The Indian Massacre / Heart of an Indian (1912)
  • The Tables Turned (1912)
  • Through the Flames (1912)
  • The Kid and the Sleuth (1912)
  • Artful Kate (1911)
  • Behind the Stockade (1911)
  • The Brand (1911)
  • A Dog's Tale (1911)
  • The Fisher-Maid (1911)
  • For Her Brother's Sake (1911)
  • Her Darkest Hour (1911)
  • The Hidden Trail (1911)
  • His Nemesis (1911)
  • The House That Jack Built (1911)
  • In Old Madrid (1911)
  • In the Sultan's Garden (1911)
  • Little Nell's Tobacco (1911)
  • Maid or Man (1911)
  • A Manly Man (1911)
  • Message in the Bottle (1911)
  • New Cook (1911)
  • Over the Hills (1911)
  • The Penniless Prince (1911)
  • Sweet Memories (1911)
  • The Aggressor (1911)
  • Across the Plains (1911)
  • The Dream (1911)
  • Their First Misunderstanding (1911)
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External links

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