Rex Ingram (director)
This article is about the director. See also Rex Ingram (actor).--
Rex Ingram (
January 12,
1893 –
July 21,
1950) was a
film director, producer, writer and actor.
Born
Reginald Ingram Montgomery Hitchcock in
Dublin,
Ireland, the son of a
clergyman, his family emigrated to the
United States in 1911. Ingram studied sculpture at the
Yale University School of Art, but soon moved into film. First taking acting work from 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.
He married twice, first to actress
Doris Pawn in 1917 that ended in divorce in 1920. He then married
Alice Terry in 1921 with whom he remained for the rest of his life. In 1925 Ingram co-directed the hugely successful
Ben-Hur epic, filming parts of it in
Italy. He and his wife decided to move 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 for
MGM and others. Unimpressed with sound, he made only one
talkie,
Baroud, filmed for
Gaumont British Pictures in
Morocco. The film was a not a commercial success and Ingram left the film business, returning to
Los Angeles to work as a sculptor and writer.
Rex Ingram's films were considered by many comtempory directors to be artistic and skillful, with an imaginative and bold visual style. In 1949, the
Directors Guild of America bestowed an Honorary Life Member Award on him. For his contribution to the motion picture industry he has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1651 Vine Street.
Rex Ingram died in 1950 and was interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in
Glendale, California.
The Great Problem (1916)
Broken Fetters (1916)
Chalice of Sorrow (1916)
Black Orchids (1917)
The Reward of Life (1917)
The Flower of Doom (1917)
His Robe of Honour (1917)
Humdrum Brown (1917)
The Day She Paid (1919)
Shore Acres (1920)
Under Crimson Skies (1920)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
The Conquering Power (1921)
Hearts are Trumps (1921)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)
Trifling Women (1922)
Turn to the Right (1922)
Scaramouche (1923)
Where the Pavement Ends (1923)
The Arab (1924)
Mare Nostrum (1926)
The Magician (1926)
The Garden of Allah (1927)
The Three Passions (1929)
Baroud (1932)
