Editing Rex Ingram (director)

{{Short description|Irish film director}}
{{About|the Irish-born film director|the actor of the same name|Rex Ingram (actor)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Rex Ingram
| image       = Rex Ingram in Who's Who on the Screen.jpg
| image_size  = 
| caption     = Ingram, c. 1920
| birth_name  = Reginald Ingram Montgomery Hitchcock
| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=y|1893|1|15}}
| birth_place = [[Dublin]], Ireland
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=y|1950|7|21|1893|1|15}}
| death_place = [[North Hollywood, California]], U.S.
| other_names  = Rex Hitchcock
| years_active = 1913–1933
| known_for   = ''[[Broken Fetters]]'' (1916)<br>''[[The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)|The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]'' (1921)<br>''[[Scaramouche (1923 film)|Scaramouche]]'' (1923)<br>''[[The Magician (1926 film)|The Magician]]'' (1926)<br>''[[The Three Passions]]'' (1929)
| education   = [[Yale University]]
| employer    = [[Edison Studios]]<br>[[Fox Film Corporation]]<br>[[Vitagraph Studios]]<br>[[MGM]]<br>[[Metro Pictures]]<br>[[Gaumont British]]
| occupation  = Film director, producer, writer and actor
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Doris Pawn]]|1917|1920|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Alice Terry]]|1921}}
}}
| partner     =
| relatives   = [[Francis Clere Hitchcock]] (brother)
| honors      = Star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1651 Vine Street}}
'''Rex Ingram''' (born '''Reginald Ingram Montgomery Hitchcock'''; 15 January 1893 – 21 July 1950) was an Irish film director, producer, writer, and actor.<ref name=obit/> Director [[Erich von Stroheim]] once called him "the world's greatest director".<ref name="Soares">Soares, André. ''Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro'', New York: Macmillan, 2002, p. 27; {{ISBN|0-312-28231-1}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born 15 January 1893<ref>{{cite book|last1=McCaffrey|first1=Donald W.|last2=Jacobs|first2=Christopher P.|title=Guide to the Silent Years of American Cinema|location=Westport, Conn.|publisher=Greenwood Press|date=1999|isbn=9780313303456|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHvDEAAAQBAJ|page=154}}</ref> in 58 [[Grosvenor Square, Dublin|Grosvenor Square]], Rathmines, [[Dublin]], Ireland, (where a plaque commemorates his birth), Ingram was educated at [[Saint Columba's College]], near [[Rathfarnham]], [[County Dublin]]. He spent much of his adolescence living in the Old Rectory, [[Kinnitty]], [[Birr, County Offaly]], where his father, Reverend Francis Hitchcock, was the [[Church of Ireland]] rector. Ingram emigrated to the United States in 1911.<ref name="Soares"/>

His brother [[Francis Clere Hitchcock|Francis]] joined the [[British Army]] and fought during World War I, during which he was awarded the [[Military Cross]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barton |first1=Ruth |last2=Ford |first2=Michael James |title=Irish brothers in arms: the soldier and the film director |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/irish-brothers-in-arms-the-soldier-and-the-film-director-1.1991074 |access-date=2021-10-07 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=2014-11-08}}</ref>

==Career==
Ingram studied sculpture at the [[Yale University]] School of Art, where he contributed to campus humour magazine ''[[The Yale Record]]''.<ref>Gmur, Leonhard (14 November 2013). ''Rex Ingram: Hollywood Rebel of the Silver Screen''. Germany: epubli GmbH. p. 473.</ref> He soon moved into film, first taking acting work in 1913 and then writing, producing and directing. His first work as producer-director was in 1916 on the romantic drama ''[[The Great Problem]]''. He worked for [[Edison Studios]], [[Fox Film Corporation]], [[Vitagraph Studios]], and then [[MGM]], directing mainly action or supernatural films.<ref name="Soares"/>

He moved to Metro in 1920, where he was under the supervision of executive [[June Mathis]]. Mathis and Ingram would go on to make four films together: ''[[Hearts Are Trumps (1920 American film)|Hearts Are Trumps]]'', ''[[The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)|The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]'', ''[[The Conquering Power]]'', and ''[[Turn to the Right]]''. It is believed the two were romantically involved. Ingram and Mathis had begun to grow distant when her new find, [[Rudolph Valentino]], began to overshadow Ingram's own fame. Their relationship ended when Ingram eloped with [[Alice Terry]] in 1921.

[[File:The Conquering Power (1921) - 10.jpg|thumb|Ingram at work with [[Ralph Lewis (actor)|Ralph Lewis]], [[Rudolph Valentino]], and his wife, [[Alice Terry]], on the set of ''[[The Conquering Power]]'']]

Ingram married twice, first to actress [[Doris Pawn]] in 1917; this ended in divorce in 1920.<ref name="Soares"/> He then married Alice Terry in 1921, with whom he remained for the rest of his life. Both marriages were childless. He and Terry relocated to the [[French Riviera]] in 1923. They formed a [[Victorine Studios|small studio]] in [[Nice]] and made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy, for MGM and others.<ref>"New British Film Company; Alastair Mackintosh Leads London Firm – Rex Ingram Is Director", ''The New York Times'', 8 May 1928.</ref>

Among those who worked for Ingram at MGM on the Riviera during this period was the young [[Michael Powell]], who later directed (with [[Emeric Pressburger]]) ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' and other classics, and technician [[Leonti Planskoy]]. By Powell's own account, Ingram was a major influence on him, especially in regard to the themes of illusion, dreaming, magic and the surreal. [[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).<ref name="Soares"/>

[[File:The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) - Ingram.jpg|thumb|Ingram working on the set of [[The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)|''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'']]]]

[[Carlos Clarens]] writes: "As Rex Ingram's films became more esoteric, his career declined. The coming of sound forced him to relinquish his studios in Nice. Rather than equip them for talking pictures, he chose instead to travel and pursue a writing career."<ref name="autogenerated73">Carlos Clarens. ''Horror Movies: An Illustrated Survey''. London: [[Secker & Warburg]], 1968 (revised and enlarged from the 1967 Putnam's edition published under the title ''An Illustrated History of the Horror Film''), p. 73.</ref>

Ingram made only one sound film: ''[[Baroud]]'', filmed for [[Gaumont British]] Pictures in Morocco. The film was not a commercial success; he then left the movie business, returning to Los Angeles to work as a sculptor and writer.

Ingram converted to Islam in 1933, having held an interested in the religion as early as 1927.<ref>"Rex Ingram Embracing Mohammedan Faith; Announces Abandoning Motion-Picture Field", ''The New York Times'', 2 July 1933. Retrieved 13 March 2015.</ref>

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, he has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1651 Vine Street.

==Death==
Ingram died of a [[cerebral hemorrhage]] in [[North Hollywood]] on 21 July 1950, aged 58.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Rex Ingram Dead, Film Director, 58. Screen Leader of Silent Era Credited With Discovery of Rudolph Valentino. Directed 'Four Horsemen' Handled Own Stories Scored Many Successes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/07/23/archives/rex-ingram-dead-film-director-58-screen-leader-of-silent-era.html |quote=Rex Ingram, film director of the silent era, who was credited with the discovery of Rudolph Valentino, died last night of a cerebral hemorrhage after a brief illness. He was 58 years old. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=23 July 1950 |access-date=13 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/694/000205079 |title=NNDb profile|publisher=nndb.com |access-date=13 March 2015}}</ref> He was interred in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]].

==Legacy==
Critic Carlos Clarens wrote of Ingram: "A full-blown Irishman fascinated by the bizarre and the grotesque (he once employed a dwarf as a valet), Ingram was also a writer of some talent. Frequently pedestrian and pretentious, Ingram's films nevertheless 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''. His more or less mystical bent was apparent in ''[[Mare Nostrum (1926 film)|Mare Nostrum]]'' and ''[[The Garden of Allah (1927 film)|The Garden of Allah]]'', which he filmed in the Mediterranean and North Africa, respectively."<ref name="autogenerated73"/>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Films
! class="unsortable" | Credit
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1914
| ''The Symphony of Souls''
| Director
| Survival status unknown,<br/>one-reel Short film
|-
| 1915
| ''[[The Song of Hate]]''
| Scenario
| [[Lost Film]]
|-
| 1916
| ''[[The Great Problem]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Extant at [[The Museum of Modern Art | MoMA]]
|-
| 1916
| ''[[Broken Fetters]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Lost Film
|-
| 1916
| ''[[The Chalice of Sorrow]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Extant at [[UCLA Film & Television Archive | UCLA]] and [[Filmarchiv Austria]]
|-
| 1917
| ''[[Black Orchids (film)|Black Orchids]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Lost Film
|-
| 1917
| ''[[The Little Terror]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Lost Film
|-
| 1917
| ''[[The Reward of the Faithless]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario (with [[E. Magnus Ingleton]])
| Survival status unknown
|-
| 1917
| ''[[The Pulse of Life]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario (with [[E. Magnus Ingleton]])
| Lost Film
|-
| 1917
| ''[[The Flower of Doom]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Extant at [[UCLA Film & Television Archive | UCLA]] and [[George Eastman Museum | Eastman House]]
|-
| 1918
| ''[[His Robe of Honor]]''
| Director
| Lost Film
|-
| 1918
| ''[[Humdrum Brown]]''
| Director
| Extant in part (more than one reel) at [[George Eastman Museum | Eastman House]]
|-
| 1919
| ''[[The Day She Paid]]''
| Director
| Lost Film
|-
| 1920
| ''[[Shore Acres (1920 film)|Shore Acres]]''
| Director
| Lost Film
|-
| 1920
| ''[[Under Crimson Skies]]''
| Director
| Lost Film
|-
| 1920
| ''[[Hearts Are Trumps (1920 American film)|Hearts Are Trumps]]''
| Director
| Lost Film
|-
| 1921
| ''[[The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)|The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]''
| Director,<br/>Producer
| Extant, preserved by the [[Library of Congress]]
|-
| 1921
| ''[[The Conquering Power]]''
| Director,<br/>Producer
| Extant
|-
| 1922
| ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1922 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]''
| Director,<br/>Producer
| Extant
|-
| 1922
| ''[[Trifling Women]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario,<br/>Producer
| Lost Film
|-
| 1922
| ''[[Turn to the Right]]''
| Director
| Extant at [[George Eastman Museum | Eastman House]]
|-
| 1923
| ''[[Scaramouche (1923 film)|Scaramouche]]''
| Director,<br/>Producer
| Extant 
|-
| 1923
| ''[[Where the Pavement Ends (1923 film)|Where the Pavement Ends]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Lost Film
|-
| 1924
| ''[[The Arab (1924 film)|The Arab]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario
| Extant at [[Gosfilmofond]] and at [[Cinematek]]
|-
| 1926
| ''[[Mare Nostrum (1926 film)|Mare Nostrum]]''
| Director,<br/>Producer
| Extant 
|-
| 1926
| ''[[The Magician (1926 film)|The Magician]]''
| Director,<br/>Scenario,<br/>Producer
| Extant 
|-
| 1927
| ''[[The Garden of Allah (1927 film)|The Garden of Allah]]''
| Director,<br/>Producer
| Extant in part
|-
| 1928
| ''[[The Three Passions]]''
| Director,<br/>Screenwriter,<br/>Producer
| Extant,<br/>First Sound Film
|-
| 1932
| ''[[Baroud]]''
| Director,<br/>Screenwriter (with Peter Spencer,[[Benno Vigny]], and André Jaeger-Schmidt,<br/>Producer,<br/>Actor
| Extant,<br/>Final Film
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Rex Ingram (director)|Rex Ingram}}
* [http://www.rexingram.ie Rex Ingram official website] 
* {{IMDb name|id= 0002271|name= Rex Ingram}}
* [http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/7142/rex-ingram Rex Ingram profile at Virtual History]

{{Rex Ingram}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Rex}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish sculptors]]
[[Category:Irish male sculptors]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish male artists]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam from Protestantism]]
[[Category:Irish expatriate male actors in the United States]]
[[Category:Irish film directors]]
[[Category:Irish Muslims]]
[[Category:People educated at St Columba's College, Dublin]]
[[Category:Mass media people from County Offaly]]
[[Category:Irish former Christians]]
[[Category:The Yale Record alumni]]
[[Category:People from Rathmines]]