Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2006 Sommario / Contents

to get, and the number of films bearing the Ince name dwindled: in 1922,
only three films came from the Ince studio, and one of them – Lorna
Doone – was a Maurice Tourneur production. Having left Paramount, and
with the demise of Associated Producers (a short-lived attempt at selfdistribution
with such other filmmakers as Tourneur, Allan Dwan, King
Vidor, and Mack Sennett), Ince used several independent outlets to
market his films.
He took more chances in production, varying his featured players and
seeking out more interesting dramatic properties for filming (e.g., Anna
Christie and Human Wreckage). Studio operations were scaled down to
more realistically reflect a less ambitious production schedule, and space
was leased to independent producers during idle times. Finally, John
Griffith Wray was appointed production manager of the studio, as Ince
reorganized his staff and at last gave up the absolute control for which
he had become notorious among his contemporaries (e.g., Buster Keaton’s
The Playhouse). At the time of his death,Thomas Ince was in the midst
of filming The Last Frontier, a return to the epic Western themes of his
101 Bison films, and was rumored to be in negotiations with William
Randolph Hearst for management of, or a merger with, Cosmopolitan
Pictures.
When Thomas H. Ince died in November 1924, after a party aboard
Hearst’s yacht, a pall of innuendo was cast over his entire career. Rumors
of foul play immediately began to circulate around what was to have been
a birthday celebration for the 44-year-old producer, and questions about
the “mysterious” nature of his death – which was tragically premature, but
natural nonetheless – haunt his memory to this day. – STEVEN HIGGINS
Prog. 1
THE DESERTER (Bison 101, US 1912)
Re./dir: Thomas H. Ince; cast: Francis Ford, Ethel Grandin; data
uscita/released: 15.3.1912; 35mm, 804 ft.,* 12´ (18 fps),The Museum of
Modern Art.
Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.
*Film non completo: dei due rulli originali, solo il secondo è stato
preservato a partire da un nitrato positivo imbibito. / Incomplete: reel
2 only of a 2-reel film. Preserved from an original tinted print, with funding
from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Una carovana di pionieri è assalita dagli Indiani. Un uomo riece a
fuggire e ad andare in cerca d’aiuto, facendosi passare per un pellerossa.
Raggiunge un forte militare dove viene accusato di diserzione,
tuttavia egli riesce a portare i cavalleggeri in soccorso dei suoi
compagni. Viene ucciso durante il combattimento e sepolto con gli
onori militari. / A wagon train is attacked by Indians, and a man escapes
by disguising himself as one of the attackers, so that he can get help. He
rides to an Army fort where he is recognized as a deserter, but brings the
cavalry to the rescue. He is killed in action, and is given a burial with full
military honors. – STEVEN HIGGINS
74
THE COWARD (Triangle/Kay-Bee, US 1915)
Prod., scen: Thomas H. Ince; regia/dir: Reginald Barker; f./ph: Robert S.
Newhard; cast: Frank Keenan (Colonel Jefferson Beverly Winslow),
Charles Ray (Frank Winslow), Gertrude Claire (Mrs. Winslow),
Margaret Gibson (Amy), Nick Cogley (domestico di colore/black
servant), Charles K. French (comandante sudista/Confederate
Commander); data uscita/released: 14.11.1915; 35mm, 5077 ft., 75’ (18
fps),The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Restauro finanziato da /
Restored with funding from The National Film Preservation Foundation /
National Endowment for the Arts Millennium Grant.
Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.
Luogo:Virginia. Epoca: 1861. La febbre della guerra ha contagiato una
cittadina del Sud. Frank Winslow, sensibile e spaventato figlio del
colonnello Winslow, vecchio e severo militare, non trova il coraggio di
arruolarsi nell’esercito confederato. Sconvolto dalla vigliaccheria del
figlio, il vecchio lo trascina all’ufficio reclutamento, minacciandolo di
morte. Il giovane si arruola. La prima notte in cui è di picchetto, Frank,
vicino alle linee nemiche, getta il fucile e fugge, tornandosene a casa. Il
padre lo scopre acquattato in cucina. Il colonnello decide così di
prendere il posto del figlio al fronte, trasformandosi nel soldato
semplice Winslow. Frank si nasconde in soffitta e ascolta un gruppo di
ufficiali unionisti che, dopo aver preso possesso della casa, discutono i
piani di battaglia.Vinta la paura, Frank sorprende gli ufficiali disarmati
e ruba le loro carte. Cavalca poi verso il quartier generale dei
confederati con indosso l’uniforme di una sentinella unionista da lui
tramortita durante la fuga. Il colonnello Winslow, di sentinella al posto
del figlio, spara al cavallo ed al cavaliere in avvicinamento, senza capire
di chi si tratti. Frank, pur ferito gravemente, riesce a consegnare i piani
del nemico. L’esercito confederato organizza un attacco e mette in
fuga le forze unioniste. Dopo il combattimento, padre e figlio si
ritrovano tra le lacrime.– STEVEN HIGGINS
Virginia, 1861. War fever has gripped a small Southern town. Frank
Winslow, the sensitive and frightened son of Colonel Winslow, an old and
forbidding military man, cannot bring himself to enlist in the Confederate
army.Appalled at his son’s apparent cowardice, the old man drags the boy
by force to the recruiting office, where he joins under his father’s threat of
death. His first night on picket duty finds Frank near enemy lines, where he
throws down his rifle and flees. Frank arrives back home, where his father
discovers him cowering in the kitchen. The Colonel determines to take
Frank’s place at the front, becoming Private Winslow. Frank hides in the
family attic, and listens in as a group of Union officers take over his house
and discuss their battle plans. He casts away his fears, surprises the
unarmed officers, and steals their plans. He rides off to Confederate
headquarters, wearing the uniform of a Union sentry he has knocked
unconscious during his escape. Colonel Winslow, on his son’s picket duty,
shoots the approaching horse and rider, not realizing it is his own son. Frank
is severely wounded, but manages to deliver the enemy plans. The
Confederate army mounts an attack, and the Union forces are routed.After
the fight, father and son are tearfully reunited. – STEVEN HIGGINS