Showing posts with label Alice Terry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alice Terry. Show all posts

29 August 2021

Was Rex Ingram a visionary filmmaker or a dangerous maverick?

After a hiccup last Thursday, we continue our Summer series on more or less recent film books. In 'Rex Ingram - Visionary director of the Silent Screen' (2014), Irish scholar Ruth Barton explores the life and legacy of the pioneering filmmaker Rex Ingram (1893-1950). Alongside D. W. Griffith, Cecil B. De Mille, and Erich von Stroheim, he was one of the greatest artists of silent Hollywood. Ingram directed such smash hits as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), and Scaramouche (1923). His films made stars of Rudolph Valentino, Ramón Novarro, and Alice Terry ― who also became his second wife. After Scaramouche, Ingram went into a self-imposed exile on the French Riviera. Thanks to his box office successes, Ingram's career flourished throughout the 1920s, although Louis B. Mayer regarded him as a dangerous maverick. Or was he a visionary filmmaker?

Rex Ingram
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 137a.

Rex Ingram
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 137.

Rex Ingram and Alice Terry
Rex Ingram and Alice Terry. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 807/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Bafag.

Rex Ingram
Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, no. 88. Photo: Le grandi films Virginio Rebua, Milano. The postcard claims this is Ramon Novarro, but it is Rex Ingram. Ingram directed Novarro in various early 1920s films, such as The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), Where the Pavement Ends (1923), Scaramouche (1923), and The Arab (1924).

Ruth Barton, Rex Ingram visionary director of the silent screen
Book cover for Ruth Barton, 'Rex Ingram - Visionary director of the silent screen' (2014). Publisher: University Press of Kentucky.

A fascination for the bizarre and the grotesque


Rex Ingram was born in 1893 as Reginald Ingram Montgomery Hitchcock in Rathmines, now part of Dublin, Ireland. He spent much of his adolescence living in the Old Rectory, Kinnitty, Birr, County Offaly where his father was the Church of Ireland rector. When the sensitive Rex was 15, his sickly mother died. Biographer Ruth Barton suggests that this led to his later portraying women as either pure-hearted souls or tempting sirens. Barton had access to Ingram's memoirs which gave her insight into his life. Her book focuses on telling the compelling narrative of Ingram’s life and links it often with his work.

Ingram's father tried to push him into business, but Rex wanted to be an artist. After failing to get into Trinity College Dublin, much to his father’s shame, he emigrated in 1911 to the United States. He was 18 and studied briefly sculpture at the Yale University School of Art, where he also contributed to The Yale Record, a campus humour magazine. In New York, Rex met the son of inventor and film pioneer Thomas Edison, and he decided to move into the new movie business. From 1913, the handsome young Irishman acted in silent films for the Edison studios, and in 1915, he took his mother’s name, Ingram, as his surname. So interestingly he changed Hitchcock into Ingram to break into the cinema! Barton however suggests that the name change was meant as a firm break with his father's ambitions for him.

After Edison, he worked with legendary director D.W. Griffith at the Biograph Studios for a while. Ingram later also worked for Vitagraph, Fox and Universal. Soon he took on writing, producing and directing jobs, directing mainly action or supernatural films. His first film as producer-director was the romantic drama The Great Problem (Rex Ingram, 1916) with Violet Mersereau. In his following films such as Black Orchids (Rex Ingram, 1917) with Cleo Madison, The Little Terror (Rex Ingram, 1917) and The Flower of Doom (Rex Ingram, 1917), he showed a fascination for the bizarre and the grotesque. In 1920, Rex Ingram moved to Metro. There, he was under the supervision of executive June Mathis. Together, they hired young Italian immigrant dancer Rudolph Valentino to star in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rex Ingram, 1921) opposite Alice Terry. Valentino's film's sizzling tango sequence turned the film into a smash hit. Mathis and Ingram would make four films together, also Hearts are Trump (Rex Ingram, 1920) again with Alice Terry, The Conquering Power (Rex Ingram, 1921) with Valentino and Terry, and Turn to the Right (Rex Ingram, 1922).

After Valentino left Metro for Paramount, Rex Ingram needed a new leading man and took a chance on a young, handsome Mexican, who would become Ramon Novarro. With his role as the villain Rupert von Hentzau in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922) he became Ingram's new star. Ingram also gathered a steady technical crew around him. Very important for his films would be cameraman John Seitz, who invented the matte painting. Also important for Ingram's films was his editor, Grant Whytock. Ruth Barton describes how Ingram and his crew worked. The Prisoner of Zenda features careful lighting, well-placed props, and a novel 3-D effect. In one shot, two soldiers drink and play cards. Behind them, to the right, a military statue stands out, in focus. Still farther back in the room, and to the left, a young man plays the piano. It is Ramon Novarro. Almost a painting, the effect is multi-dimensional.

On 5 November 1921, Ingram and Alice Terry were married in Adobe Flores in South Pasadena. It was on a Saturday and they sneaked off the set of The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922) without telling anyone. The next day they saw three films and went back to work on Monday. When the film was completed, they went to San Francisco for their honeymoon. Ruth Barton speaks of his rumoured bisexuality, but it remains unconfirmed. In his work, you can see undertones of what was probably an actively bisexual life. Ingram's films contain splendid flashes of macabre fantasy, such as the ride of the Four Horsemen in the Valentino epic, or the 'ghoul visions' that bring about the death of the miser in The Conquering Power (Rex Ingram, 1921). His more or less mystical bent was later apparent in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926) and The Garden of Allah (Rex Ingram, 1927), which he filmed in the Mediterranean and North Africa, respectively.

Rudolph Valentino in  The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
Vintage postcard. Rudolph Valentino in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rex Ingram, 1921). Madariaga "The Centaur" (Pomeroy Cannon), the richest man in Argentine, and his grandson, the handsome tango dancer Julio (Rudolph Valentino).

Rudolph Valentino and Alice Terry in The Conquering Power (1921)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 748/1. Photo: Bafag. Rudolph Valentino and Alice Terry in The Conquering Power (Rex Ingram, 1921).

Colecciones Amatller, Rex Ingram
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Amatller, Series EE, artist no. 40, no. 82.

Colecciones Amatller, Lewis Stone, The Prisoner of Zenda
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Amatller, Series EE, artist no. 41, no. 83. Lewis Stone In The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Alice Terry and Lewis Stone in The Prisoner of Zenda
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 679/4. Photo: Bafag. Lewis Stone as Rudolph Rassendyll and Alice Terry as Princess Flavia in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922). Stuart Holmes is the man in black on the right. The Bismarck-like guy behind Terry is the actor Robert Edeson, who plays Colonel Sapt. Behind him is actor Malcolm McGregor, who plays Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim. Both are the loyal aids of the King, defending him against his evil half-brother Michael (Stuart Holmes) and his plotting cronies: his mistress Antoinette (Barbara la Marr) and Rupert von Hentzau (Ramon Novarro). Trying to stop a coup by Michael, who has abducted and imprisoned the real king, Sapt and Tarlenheim arrange for a lookalike cousin of the king to be crowned (which we see on this card). The substitute king falls in love with Princess Flavia but he cannot tell the truth... Stone played both the King and his lookalike.

Ramon Novaro and Alice Terry in Scaramouche (1923)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 447. Ramon Novarro and Alice Terry in the Metro Pictures production Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923).

Ramon Novaro in Scaramouche (1923)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 457. Ramon Novaro in Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923).

Converting to the Islam


In 1923, the restless Rex Ingram and Alice Terry relocated to the French Riviera. They hired the Victorine Studio, a small studio in Nice and made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy for MGM and other studios. Outside the view of Louis B. Mayer, the new head of MGM, and the movie moguls he created such films as Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926), The Garden of Allah (Rex Ingram, 1927) and The Three Passions (Rex Ingram, 1929).

Was Ingram indeed the dangerous maverick which Mayer saw in him? Or was he the true visionary, as Ruth Barton writes? To be honest, I personally can't judge this while I did not see enough films by Ingram yet. During the 1920s, film critics praised the pictorial qualities of his work but also commented on the lack of dramatic pacing and the unrounded characterisation. These faults were more and more apparent in his last films. Barton convinced me that Ingram was a complex figure who could not be easily categorised. His temperament was volatile and his working periods at the various studios were short. Invariably, he fell out with superiors and co-workers. Barton describes him as a charming, talented but also difficult and demanding artist. The more earth-bound Alice Terry kept the tyrannical perfectionist on track. She even co-directed his films in difficult periods.

In 1926, Ingram made The Magician, starring Paul 'Der Golem' Wegener. Although Wegener's acting was already old-fashioned, Ingram slowly builds the film to a rousing climax. Flashing lightning surrounds an old castle, where the magician battles the young hero (Ivan Petrovich). Earlier, the young heroine (Alice Terry) is transported to an underworld dreamland, complete with Pan, the Devil, and a host of partially dressed dancers. The Magician was successful, but Louis B. Mayer ended Ingram's career at MGM.

Amongst those who worked for Ingram at MGM on the Riviera during this period was the young Michael Powell, who later went on to direct (with Emeric Pressburger) The Red Shoes (1948) and other classics, and technician Leonti Planskoy. By Powell's own account, Ingram was a major influence on him, especially in its themes of illusion, dreaming, magic and the surreal. Also director David Lean said he was indebted to Ingram. MGM studio chief Dore Schary listed the top creative people in Hollywood as D. W. Griffith, Ingram, Cecil B. DeMille and Erich von Stroheim (in declining order of importance). Von Stroheim however called Ingram the "world's greatest director..." The coming of sound forced Ingram to relinquish his studios in Nice. Rather than equip them for talking pictures, he chose instead to travel and pursue a writing career. Rex Ingram made only one sound film, Baroud/Love in Morocco (Rex Ingram, Alice Terry, 1932-1933) with Pierre Batcheff, filmed for Gaumont British Pictures in Morocco. The film was not a commercial success and Ingram, only forty years old, left the film business. He returned to Los Angeles to work as a sculptor and writer.

Interested in Islam as early as 1927, Rex Ingram converted to the faith in 1933. He spent his later years travelling across the wind-swept North African desert, often alone. He also became an avid collector of ancient artefacts. In his last years, he also planned a biography on the life of Haitian leader Toussaint, but it was never filmed. Ironically, Sergei M. Eisenstein, who was planning a biopic on Toussaint, also didn't make his film. Suffering from high blood pressure, Rex Ingram died in 1950 of a cerebral hemorrhage in North Hollywood, at the age of 58. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Ingram married twice, first to actress Doris Pawn in 1917; this ended in divorce in 1920. He then married Alice Terry in 1921, with whom he remained for the rest of his life. Both marriages were childless. Terry inherited his estate of $200,000, including rare artworks, old swords, and ancient guns.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Rex Ingram has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1651 Vine Street. And there is this insightful and entertaining biography by Ruth Barton, it's a joy to read. Dangerous maverick or visionary film director? I guess he was both, with Erich von Stroheim and Orson Welles to keep him excellent company.

Alice Terry in Scaramouche (1923)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1033/2. Photo: Phoebus Film. Alice Terry in Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923).

Scene from Scaramouche (1923)
German postcard by Ross Verlag. Photo: Metro / Phoebus. A scene from Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923), depicting the French Revolution: Danton (George Siegmann) leading the mob.

Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Florence, no. 426. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn, Roma. Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum
Romanian postcard. Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Iván Petrovich in The Magician (1926)
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 132. Photo: Ivan Petrovich in The Magician (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Paul Wegener in The Magician (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2014/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) / FaNaMet. Paul Wegener in The Magician (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Paul Wegener in The Magician (1926)
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazines, no. 161. Paul Wegener in The Magician (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Alice Terry in The Garden of Allah
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 193. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alice Terry in The Garden of Allah (Rex Ingram, 1927).

Alice Terry and Ivan Petrovich in The Garden of Allah (1927)
British postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3538/1. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alice Terry and Ivan Petrovich in The Garden of Allah (Rex Ingram, 1927).

Ivan Petrovich and Alice Terry in The Three Passions (1928)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4854/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists. Ivan Petrovich and Alice Terry in The Three Passions (Rex Ingram, 1928). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Sources: Book, Brian McIlroy (Estudiosirlandeses), Stephen Totterdell (Film Ireland - Page now defunct), Rex Ingram website, Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 6 November 2024.

01 September 2020

The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)

Alice Terry and Lewis Stone were the stars of Rex Ingram's classic silent Swashbuckler The Prisoner of Zenda (1922). It is an adaptation of Anthony Hope's popular 1894 novel 'The Prisoner of Zenda' and the subsequent 1896 play by Hope and Edward Rose. Ramon Novarro had his breakthrough in the film as the roguish Rupert von Hentzau. The story was previously filmed in 1913 and 1915 and would enjoy five more remakes during the sound era.

Alice Terry and Lewis Stone in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 679/2. Photo: BAFAG (British-American-Films A.G.).. Alice Terry as Princess Flavia and Lewis Stone as King Rudolf in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Alice Terry and Lewis Stone in The Prisoner of Zenda
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 679/4. Photo: BAFAG (British-American-Films A.G.). Lewis Stone as Rudolph Rassendyll and Alice Terry as Princess Flavia in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922). The Bismarck-like guy behind Terry is the actor Robert Edeson, who plays Colonel Sapt. Behind him is actor Malcolm McGregor, who plays Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim. Both are the loyal aids of the King, defending him against his evil half-brother Michael (Stuart Holmes, who might be the man in black on the right) and his plotting cronies: his mistress Antoinette (Barbara la Marr) and Rupert von Hentzau (Ramon Novarro). Trying to stop a coup by Michael, who has abducted and imprisoned the real king, Sapt and Tarlenheim arrange a lookalike cousin of the king to be crowned (which we see on this card). The substitute king falls in love with Princess Flavia but he cannot tell the truth... Stone played both the King and his lookalike.

Ramon Novarro and Barbara la Marr in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 697/5. Photo: BAFAG (British-American-Films A.G.). Ramon Novarro and Barbara la Marr in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Trouble and Love in Ruritania


Upon the death of his father the King, Rudolph V (Lewis Stone) is set to assume the throne of Ruritania. Both he and his half-brother, the treacherous Grand Duke 'Black' Michael (Stuart Holmes), love Princess Flavia (Alice Terry), their orphaned cousin who lives in a wing of the palace located in the Ruritanian capital of Strelsau.

While half the populace favours the King and the other half the Grand Duke, the entire populace loves Flavia. She is attracted to the Grand Duke's magnetism, but she, in a sense of obligation to her country to support his reign, believes that she will marry the King despite she not being in love with him due to he indulging excessively in his vices, such as the drink, and thus often acting irresponsibly and not in the manner of a king.

The Grand Duke, with his longtime faithful companions De Gautet (Al Jennings), Bersonin (Fairfax Burger), and Rupert of Hentzau (Ramon Novarro), plan to detain the King at the Grand Duke's hunting lodge on the grounds of his castle at Zenda on the day of the coronation so that Michael can assume the throne in Strelsau in his place. Englishman Rudolf Rassendyll (also Lewis Stone) decides to pass the time by attending the coronation of his distant relation. He encounters an acquaintance on the train there, Antoinette de Mauban (Barbara La Marr), the mistress of the king's brother, Grand Duke 'Black' Michael.

The day before the coronation, Rassendyll is seen by Colonel Sapt (Robert Edeson) and Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim (Malcolm McGregor). Astounded by the uncanny resemblance between Rassendyll and their liege, they take him to meet Rudolf at a hunting lodge. The king is delighted with his double and invites him to dinner. During the meal, a servant brings in a fine bottle of wine, a present from Michael delivered by his henchman, Rupert of Hentzau. After Rudolf tastes it, he finds it so irresistible that he drinks the entire bottle by himself.

The next morning, Sapt is unable to rouse him; the wine was drugged. Sapt is afraid that if the coronation is postponed, Michael will seize the throne. The country is dangerously divided between the supporters of Rudolf and of Michael. The colonel declares that it is Fate that brought Rassendyll to Ruritania; he can take Rudolf's place with no one the wiser. The Englishman is less certain, but he tosses a coin, which lands in Rudolf's favor, and Rassendyll goes through with the ceremony. Afterwards, he is driven to the palace in the company of the universally adored Princess Flavia.

Later, when Rassendyll returns to the lodge to switch places with the king once more, he and Sapt find only the corpse of Josef (Snitz Edwards), the servant left to guard the king. Rassendyll is forced to continue the masquerade. With Rudolf guarded by a handful of trusted retainers at Zenda Castle, Michael tries unsuccessfully to bribe Rassendyll into leaving. In the days that follow, Rasssendyll becomes acquainted with Flavia, and the two fall in love. Meanwhile, Rupert tries to alienate Antoinette from Michael by telling her that Michael will marry Flavia once Rudolf is out of the way. However, it has an unintended effect; Antionette reveals Michael's plans and Rudolf's location to von Tarlenheim.

A dwarf assassin (John George) in Michael's pay tries to garrot Rassendyll, but Sapt interrupts him before he can finish the job. The would-be killer mistakenly signals to an anxiously waiting Michael that the deed is done, and the duke hastens to Zenda to quietly dispose of the real king. However, Rassendyll was only rendered unconscious. When von Tarlenheim arrives with his news, the three men chase after Michael. Sapt and von Tarlenheim split up to find a way into the castle, but when Antoinette lowers the drawbridge, Rassendyll goes inside alone. Though outnumbered, he manages to kill Michael in a sword fight. Then Sapt and von Tarlenheim come to his aid. When Rupert is cornered by the three men, he chooses death over a waterfall rather than execution for treason.

In the aftermath, Rudolf resumes his rightful position, while Rassendyll hides out at the lodge. By chance, Flavia stops there to speak with Colonel Sapt. Despite Sapt's attempt to shield the princess from heartbreak, a servant girl blurts out that the "king" is staying at the lodge. Rassendyll is forced to tell his beloved the bitter truth. When he tries to persuade her to leave with him, her sense of honour and duty to her country compel her to stay, and Rassendyll departs alone.

The film was received positively by critics. The New York Times called it "well worth seeing" though "needlessly talky", and wrote that "much of the acting is excellent", if occasionally "overdone". "It couldn't miss", wrote Variety of the film's content. "It probably would have been proof against bad direction, but done with perfect stage management and exquisite literary taste it is faultless."

Modern critic Richard Gilliam at AllMovie: "Among the silent era's most handsome motion pictures, this was the third and best filming of Anthony Hope's popular novel within a ten year period. Ramon Novarro, playing the villainous Count Rupert, gets top billing over the dual-role hero Lewis Stone and leading lady Alice Terry. All give strong performances, particularly Terry, who was married at the time to (Rex) Ingram. The film's major flaw is a lack of visual style. Nonetheless, the strength of the story and quality of production more than carry the film. "


Alice Terry in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 783/1. Photo: BAFAG (British-American-Films A.G.). Alice Terry as Princess Flavia in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Rex Ingram and Alice Terry
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 807/1, 1925-1926. Photo: BAFAG (British-American-Films A.G.). Director Rex Ingram and his wife and star Alice Terry.

Colecciones Amatller, Lewis Stone, The Prisoner of Zenda
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Amatller, Series EE, artist 41, no. 83. Lewis Stone In The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr in The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
British postcard on the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 252. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr in The Prisoner of Zenda (Richard Thorpe, 1952).

Sources: Richard Gilliam (AllMovie),  Wikipedia, and IMDb.

20 December 2019

Alice Terry

Alice Terry (1900–1987) was an American film actress and director, who appeared in almost 40 films between 1916 and 1933. Though a brunette, Terry's trademark look was her blonde hair, for which she wore wigs from 1920 onwards. Her most acclaimed role is the leading lady in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rex Ingram, 1921) starring Rudolph Valentino. Ingram, who married her in 1921, would shoot her in many of his films and often paired her to Ramon Novarro. Terry proved also in films without her husband’s direction she was a legitimate star. In 1923 the couple moved to the French Riviera, where they set up a small studio in Nice and made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy.

Alice Terry
French postcard by Europe, no. 535. Photo: Regal Film / United Artists.

Alice Terry and Lewis Stone in The Prisoner of Zenda
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 679/4. Lewis Stone as Rudolph Rassendyll and Alice Terry as Princess Flavia in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Rex Ingram and Alice Terry
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 807/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Bafag. With Rex Ingram.

Alice Terry
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 842/2, 1925-1926. Photo: British-American Film A.G. (Bafag).

Alice Terry in Lovers? (1927)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3255/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Alice Terry in Lovers? (John M. Stahl, 1927).

Rex and His Queen


Alice Terry was born as Alice Frances Taaffe in 1899 in Vincennes, Indiana, USA.

Alice started as an extra in films at age 15 to help her family financially. She made her film debut in Not My Sister (Charles Giblyn, 1916), opposite Bessie Barriscale and William Desmond Taylor. It was produced by legendary film pioneer Thomas Ince. She worked in "Inceville", Ince's studio, and would appear as an extra as several characters in his pacifist allegorical drama Civilization (Reginald Barker, Thomas H. Ince, 1916). The film was a big-budget spectacle that was compared to both The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915) and the paintings of Jean-François Millet. Civilization was a popular success and was credited by the Democratic National Committee with helping to re-elect Woodrow Wilson as the U.S. President in 1916.

She was shy and was also interested in other motion picture jobs, considering work as a script girl or a cutter behind the camera as preferable to performing in front of it. For two years Alice worked in cutting rooms at Famous-Players-Lasky. This work would help her later on when she worked with Rex Ingram on his films. It was while she was working as an extra on The Devil's Passkey (Erich von Stroheim, 1920) that Alice was first noticed, by director Erich von Stroheim. Sadly, her insecurity caused her to rapidly leave the Universal lot. She never even stopped to pick up her paycheck.

In 1917, she had met director Rex Ingram. Ingram promoted her to small parts in his early Metro Pictures films in the late teens. He also directed her physical transformation, overseeing a program of weight loss and dental repair, and creating “Alice Terry” — both the name and the image — as his protege. He gave her her first significant role in Hearts Are Trumps (Rex Ingram, 1920). It was during preparation for this role that Alice discovered what would become her trademark.

IMDb: 'She was putting on her make-up and saw a blonde wig on the table next to her. She put it on but thought it looked silly. Just then the director Rex Ingram (who was already an admirer, both personally and professionally) walked in and saw her in it. He insisted she wear it in the film. Alice wasn't convinced until she saw the rushes the next day. "When I appeared on the screen, I looked so different, and from that time I never got rid of the wig."' Wikipedia adds that she put on her first blonde wig in Hearts Are Trumps (1920) 'to look different from Francelia Billington, the other actress in the film.'

Ingram and Terry would marry in 1921. It was also in 1921 that Alice would gain acclaim as Marguerite in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), with the blonde wig. Often regarded as one of the first true anti-war films, it had a huge cultural impact and became the top-grossing film of 1921, beating out Charlie Chaplin's The Kid (1921). The film turned then-little-known actor Rudolph Valentino into a superstar and associated him with the image of the Latin Lover. The film also inspired a tango craze and such fashion fads as gaucho pants.

For her husband, she would continue to play the heroine is such masterpieces as The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922) in which she appeared as Princess Flavia opposite Lewis Stone and the upcoming Ramon Novarro as the bad guy, and Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923), now featuring Ramon Novarro. Both films were smash hits. Heidi Kenaga at Women Film Pioneer's Project: '“Rex and His Queen” were one of the more celebrated director-actress teams of the 1920s, but there are indications that performing was only one dimension of Terry’s contribution to their work together.'

In 1924 and 1925 the marriage between Terry and Ingram was in jeopardy, according to Wikipedia, and in that time period she worked under other directors. Alice worked on five films, and particularly her roles in Any Woman (Henry King, 1925) and Sackcloth and Scarlet (Henry King, 1925), both by Paramount Pictures, proved that Alice was a legitimate star away from her husband. She also would make the Western melodrama The Great Divide (Reginald Barker, 1924) with Conway Tearle and Wallace Beery.

Alice Terry in Scaramouche (1923)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1033/2. Photo: Phoebus Film. Alice Terry in Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923).

Alice Terry in Scaramouche (1923)
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 409. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn. Alice Terry in Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923).

Alice Terry
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 409. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn.

Ramon Novaro and Alice Terry in Scaramouche (1923)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 447. Ramon Novarro and Alice Terry in the Metro Pictures production Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923).

Alice Terry and Ivan Petrovich in The Magician (1926)
Italian postcard in the Serie d'Oro by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 245a. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alice Terry and Ivan Petrovich in The Magician (Rex Ingram, 1926).

The only Mrs. Rex Ingram


In 1924, Metro would merge into the new MGM and both Rex Ingram and Alice Terry would work there. She would be directed again by Ingram in The Arab (1924), which was filmed in North Africa and owed much to the influence of screen idol Valentino. When they got back together, Terry took on a more behind-the-scenes role. During the making of The Arab (Rex Ingram, 1924) in Tunisia, they met a street child named Kada-Abd-el-Kader, whom they adopted upon learning that he was an orphan. Allegedly, el-Kader misrepresented his age to make himself seem younger to his adoptive parents.

In 1925 Ingram co-directed Ben-Hur, filming parts of it in Italy. The two decided to move to the French Riviera, where they set up a small studio in Nice and started to make films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy. Alice would get her chance to play the wicked woman in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926). Filmed in Italy and Spain, this film was both a critical and financial success for the couple.

Ingram would make his third independent film in Italy when he directed Alice in The Garden of Allah (Rex Ingram, 1927). Later that year, Alice would be reunited with Ramon Novarro in Lovers? (John M. Stahl, 1927), but the film would not be as well received as their earlier films.

When sound came to the screen Alice and Rex retired. Her last film appearance was in the sound film Baroud (1933) starring Pierre Batcheff, which she also co-directed with husband. Alice helped so much that she was named co-director and she directed all the scenes Ingram himself appeared in. Wikipedia: 'Baroud (Rex Ingram, Alice Terry, 1933) highlighted Alice's ability as an all around filmmaker but she never took that further.'

Terry and Ingram retired in the 1930s and took up painting. Once Terry and Ingram moved back to the United States they started having problems with their adopted son, Kada-Abd-el-Kader. According to Wikipedia, He 'began associating with fast women and fast cars throughout the San Fernando Valley.' Terry and Ingram sent him back to Morocco 'to finish school.' Kada-Abd-el-Kader never went back to school, but he later became a tourist guide in Morocco and Algiers. El-Kader would always tell tourists that he was the adopted son of Rex Ingram and Alice Terry

In 1950, Rex Ingram passed away. Terry was open-minded and she invited four of Rex's mistresses to his funeral. Wikipedia quotes her saying: 'Who cares, I'm the only one that can call herself Mrs. Rex Ingram.' A year later, when Columbia released Valentino (Lewis Allen, 1951), featuring Eleanor Parker and Anthony Dexter, Alice Terry filed suit against Columbia and the producers because of the way the film "falsely portrayed a clandestine relationship between Valentino and Terry". Columbia settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

In 1960, she was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6628 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Terry was still active in the 1970s. She loved hosting Sunday afternoon parties and going out to dinner in extravagant, floor length mink coats. Alzheimer's put a stop to Terry's parties and fun. Following her death in 1987 in Burbank, California by pneumonia, Alice Terry was interred at Vahalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood.

Alice Terry made 29 films, not counting four appearances as an extra. Of these 29, 17 are lost films. Six exist in archives around the world and six survive on video and on television broadcast release.

About her part in Rex Ingram's films, Picture Play commented in a 1924 article, she was set apart by “her unrestrained enthusiasm for her husband, her unqualified praise for his work, with absolutely no mention of her own minor but definite achievements.” Heidi Kenaga gives her at Women Film Pioneer's Project full credit for the films she made with Ingram and cites film historian Anthony Slide: 'although Terry is only given on-screen credit for Baroud — a sound film made after Ingram’s heyday and outside the US studio system — it is possible she also co-directed some parts of Ingram’s motion pictures between 1921 and 1929.'

Alice Terry
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 19.

Alice Terry
German postcard. by Ross Verlag, no. 1449/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Angelo Photos.

Alice Terry
German postcard. by Ross Verlag, no. 1449/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Angelo Photos.

Alice Terry
Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 369/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanamet-Film.

Alice Terry in The Garden of Allah
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 193. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alice Terry in The Garden of Allah (Rex Ingram, 1927).

Ivan Petrovich and Alice Terry in The Three Passions (1928)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4854/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists. Ivan Petrovich and Alice Terry in The Three Passions (Rex Ingram, 1928). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Sources: Heidi Kenaga (Women Film Pioneer's Project), Tony Fontana (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

03 September 2019

Mare Nostrum (1926)

Alice Terry and 'Latin Lover' Antonio Moreno were the stars of Rex Ingram's Mata Hari-like drama Mare Nostrum/Our Sea (1926) based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. It is the story of a female Austrian spy who willingly sacrifices her life for her country. Long thought lost, the film has been re-discovered and restored in the 1990s.

Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum
Italian postcard, sent by mail in 1927. Photo: Ebany. Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Florence, no. 426. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Roma. Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Alice Terry amidst the French Alpine Hunters (Mare Nostrum)
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Florence, no. 673. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Roma. American silent film actress Alice Terry amidst the French Alpine Hunters, during a break in the shooting of Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926). The 'Alpins' execute her character in the film, freely inspired by the Mata Hari affair. Ingram hired the soldiers to shoot the execution of Terry's Mata Hari-like female spy Freya, on exact the same location at Vincennes where the real Mata Hari had been shot.

Head over heels in love with an Austrian Spy


In Mare Nostrum, the young Spaniard Ulysses Ferragut (Kada-Abd-el-Kader) is fascinated by his retired uncle’s stories about the sea, particularly his claim to have once seen the sea goddess Amphitrite. Against his father’s wishes, Ulysses becomes a sailor. Kada-Abd-el-Kader was the adopted son of star Alice Terry and director Rex Ingram.

The grown up Ulysses (Antonio Moreno) buys the Mare Nostrum, a fast, modern freighter. He prospers when because of the outbreak of World War One the demand for shipping ends catapults. While visiting the ruins of Pompeii, Ulysses meets the attractive Freya Talberg (Alice Terry), the spitting image of his uncle’s sea goddess, and her female companion, the stern Dr. Fedelmann (Pâquerette).

Ulysses is head over heels in love with Freya and not even the message that the two women are Austrian spies (according to IMDB, German spies) discourages him. Spain is neutral after all. He even helps transporting Count Kaledine (Fernand Mailly) to a secret rendezvous in the Mediterranean, where an U-boat surfaces, takes on fuel from Ulysses' ship, and departs with Kaledine.

Then fate hits hard, as Esteban (Mickey Brantford), Ulysses’ young son, is killed by the same U-boat when returning to Barcelona on a British ship, after trying to find his father in vain. When Ulysses hears this, he vows to avenge his boy. The ice-cold Fedelmann prevents Freya from pacifying and considers her unreliable because of her love for Ulysses. So she lures her to France and betrays her to the French.

Freya suspects the conspiracy and asks Ulysses for help, but he is hurt and refuses, so she is captured, convicted, and shot by a firing squad at dawn. Ulysses then chases and catches the culprit Count Kaledine, helped by the mob, and starts to use his ship in the service of the Allies, arming her with a deck gun, replacing his crew with French military sailors, and transporting munitions to Salonica.

Only long-time family friend and sea cook Caragol (Hughie Mack) refuses to leave him. On the voyage, they are intercepted by the same U-boat again. With the Mare Nostrum torpedoed and doomed, Ulysses mans the abandoned deck gun and sinks the U-boat. As he descends into the ocean depths, Amphitrite rises to embrace and kiss him.

Antonio Moreno in Mare Nostrum (1926)
Italian postcard, no. 422. Photo: Metro Goldwyn, Roma. Antonio Moreno in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum
French film journal Mon Ciné, 5, 204, 14 January, 1926, p. 1.

Rex Ingram and Alice Terry shoot Mare Nostrum
French film journal Mon Ciné, 5, 204, 14 January 1926, p. 6.

Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum
Romanian postcard. Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.