Died aged 43 under mysterious circumstances and largely forgotten today, this man still revolutionized cinema

Born in November 1882 and from a family of theater actors, Thomas H. Ince is a largely forgotten figure today. However, he is considered the father of westerns. Producer, screenwriter, director, he is one of the pioneers of American cinema, the author of more than 600 films. He also introduced mass production of films to Hollywood, which was a big innovation at the time. He also laid the foundation of film dramaturgy, created scene cutting and editing.

It revolutionized the film production process as we know it today. He changed the way he planned his films, using very detailed scenarios that contained all the information necessary for filming: who is in the scene, where interior and/or exterior details are visible; Cost control plans, optimizing the shooting schedule so that multiple scenes are shot simultaneously by assistant directors…

He notably created DW with Griffith and Mack Sennett Triangle Motion Picture Companyand built his own studio in Culver City, near Los Angeles, which later became the headquarters of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Cruise for the Corpse

Thomas H. A bright future awaited Ins. Which, however, ended abruptly in 1924. At the time, Ince was in full negotiations with William Randolph Hearst. The latter actually created Cosmopolitan Pictures and then raised hopes of setting up Cosmopolitan at the Culver City studio Ince had founded.

On November 15, 1924, press magnate Randolph Hearst’s yacht Oneida, with fifteen other people, including Charles Chaplin, set off on a cruise to San Diego. Thomas Innes will miss boarding because he has to attend the premiere of his new production, Mirage. He did not board until the next day.

Three days later, we arrived at Thomas Ince, who died on the 19th of November. The official version is “heart attack due to indigestion”. In short, he would enjoy his host’s food a little too much. It’s a cruel irony to know that Thomas Ince was the guest of honor on this crazy cruise for his forty-third birthday…

The trouble is that witnesses, including Chaplin’s own secretary, Toraichi KonoOn his way down from Oneida, Insa saw a bullet hole in his head…

Mystery romance at the center of the drama

Randolph Hearst’s mistress, actress Marion Davis, is rumored to have had an affair with Charles Chaplin. Jealous and extremely suspicious of the attention that men could show to his lady, Hearst decided to invite Chaplin to observe her behavior.

Hearst finally caught them on the lower deck of his yacht one evening after dinner. He then took a revolver to shoot Chaplin. Davies’ cries in the ensuing argument alerted Thomas Ince, who rushed out of his cabin and received a fatal bullet that was not intended for him while attempting to intervene.

Of course, stories vary by character. Chaplin says, for example, in his autobiography that he was not on Hearst’s yacht when the tragedy occurred. Davis flatly denied Chaplin was on board.

Other versions support the idea that Hearst mistook Chaplin for Thomas Ince in the dark as night fell over the ship. A third version reports an argument between strangers on the deck of a boat until a shot was fired and accidentally landed in the cabin of Thomas Ince, fatally striking him. A completely implausible hypothesis, which also has the “merit” that no one was involved in this case.

“Everything in this case is embarrassing, but Hearst is untouchable”

In any case, there was no official investigation into the death of Thomas Innes. The search ended before any of the yacht’s passengers were questioned. San Diego District Attorney certain Chester CampleyThe case was closed.

“After many rumors about this case in my department, I started an investigation and have been investigating until now to finally get rid of them. This story of drinking on board a yacht will have no basis.” he said. and add: After questioning the doctor and nurse who attended Mr. Innes, I am convinced that the causes of his death were natural. With a gaping hole in his skull, so…

Thomas Ince’s funeral took place in Hollywood on November 21 with his family, Marion Davies, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Harold Lloyd in attendance. William Randolph Hearst was conspicuous by his absence…

Ince’s body was immediately cremated at the request of her widow, effectively preventing further investigation of her late husband’s body. Filmmaker DW Griffith summed up the matter some time later: “All you have to do to make Hearst go pale is mention Ince’s name. Everything about this business is sleazy, but Hearst is untouchable.”. And he was right.