Silent Film Star: Alice Terry.

Alice Terry (July 29, 1899 – December 22, 1987), began her career during the silent film era, performing in thirty-nine films between 1916 and 1933. Born Alice Frances Taaffe in Vincennes, Indiana, she made her film debut in, Not My Sister(1916). Which is now considered lost.

In 1921 she played several different characters in the 1916 anti-war film Civilization, co-directed by Thomas H. Ince and Reginald Barker. A kind hearted submarine commander, refuses to torpedo a passenger ship and his submarine is sunk and the captain drowns. In the spirit world, Christ returns the captain to earth. There he takes the warrior king on a tour of the horrors of war, which causes the end of war.

One of her well known performances was as "Marguerite" in 1921's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino. The story is about Madariaga, a wealthy old cattle owner of Argentina who does not care for his German son-in-law and spends all his time with, Julio

After Madariaga's death, the estate is divided and the family moves to Europe: the von Hartrotts to Germany and the Desnoyers to Paris. Julio buys a castle on the Marne and opens a studio, where he entertains, paints pictures, and soon falls in love with Marguerite Laurier, who is married to jurist.

After the War begins, Marguerite joins the Red Cross and her husband enlists. After he is blinded, she tries to avoid the attentions of Julio. A stranger's words, inspires the Four Horsemen: War, Conquest, Famine, and Death. Julio enlists and is killed shortly after.

In 1921, she married director Rex Ingram during production of The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), which he directed and in which she appeared as Princess Flavia. A silent adventure film, one of the many adaptations of Anthony Hope's popular 1894 novel of the same name. The couple sneaked away over one weekend, were married in Pasadena, and returned to work promptly the following Monday.

The Conquering Power(1921). Spirited Charles Grandet, is sent to live with his uncle after his father loses his fortune. He falls in love with his cousin Eugenie, but his uncle sends him away and tries to arrange a more suitable marriage for his daughter.

Video: full movie.

The Arab (1924). Jamil, son of a Bedouin tribe leader, is disowned by his father for a desert raid at the time of the Feast of Ramadan. He becomes a guide in a Turkish city, where he falls in love with Mary, the daughter of a Christian missionary.

The governor's attempt to massacre the Christians is foiled by Jamil when he calls the Bedouins to his aid. Following the death of his father, he is made leader of his tribe, and he accepts the girl's promise to return to him as she departs for America

During the making of The Arab (1924) in Tunisia, they met a street child named Kada-Abd-el-Kader, who they adopted upon learning that he was an orphan. El-Kader misrepresented his age to make himself seem younger and after 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."

In 1925 her husband 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 made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy for MGM and others.

Childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults,  Roman is now an officer, while Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, Israelite.

An accident during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned.

Years later, his determination to stay alive, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.

In 1933, Terry made her last film appearance in Baroud, which she also co-directed with husband Rex Ingram.

Terry and Ingram retired together in the 1930's and they remained together until his death in 1950.

After his death, Terry became romantically involved with actor Gerald Fielding, who bore a strong physical resemblance to her late husband. They were lovers until his death, at the age of forty-six, in 1956. Terry died on December 22, 1987 of natural causes.

Alice Terry- Silent Film Star.

You can watch the silent movie, Conquering Power(1921) on youtube, in 8 parts. I posted part 1 to get you started, enjoy.:)

“The Conquering Power” (1921) Rudolph Valentino

“The Conquering Power” (1921) is a silent romantic drama starring Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry, and Ralph Lewis. Directed by Rex Ingram and adapted from Honore de Balzac’s “Eugenie Grandet,” this film is about the power of love over insurmountable obstacles. The story begins with Charles Grandet, played by Rudolph Valentino, living the life of a pampered young man in Paris while his father is facing financial ruin. Instead of telling his son of his financial woes, Victor Grandet, played by Eric Mayne, sends Charles to visit his uncle, Pere Grandet, played by Ralph Lewis. It is while Charles is visiting his uncle that his father commits suicide due to his heavy debts. Pere, who has no love for his nephew, convinces Charles to sign over all of his father’s estate. Thinking the estate is worthless, Charles does this readily. Although Pere is a very rich man, he is a miser and frugal to the extreme. There is a stone-walled room in his home where he keeps all his gold locked away. Pere has a wife, Mere, played by Edna Demaurey, and a beautiful daughter, Eugenie, played by Alice Terry. Each birthday, Pere gives Eugenie one gold coin which he is trying to teach her to hoard like him. Eugenie has two suitors, Bonfons Cruchot, played by George Atkinson, and Adolphe de Grassins, played by Ward Wing. However, she shows no interest in either of them. When Charles arrives from Paris at her home, Eugenie shows an immediate interest and they fall quickly in love. Pere arranges for Charles to go to the West Indies to get him away from Eugenie; he wants his daughter to marry a rich man to increase the family fortune. Just before Charles’ departure to the West Indies, Eugenie and him vow their everlasting love for each other. At this point, Eugenie convinces Charles to take all of the gold coins she has been hoarding. Even though Charles writes regularly to Eugenie, Pere intercepts the letters, and she never sees them. Charles eventually receives a letter from Pere telling him that he has made arrangements for Eugenie’s marriage and to never communicate with his daughter again. A year has passed and it is Eugenie’s birthday. Pere, like usual, asks Eugenie to bring the gold from its hiding place while he presents her with a new coin. When Eugenie panics, Pere realizes she gave them away. When Eugenie’s mother, Mere, tries to intercede, Pere strikes her and locks Eugenie in her room. Mere dies as a result of the incident. One day Notary Cruchot, played by Edward Connelly, comes to see Pere and reminds him that he is the only one in the village who knows Eugenie is not his biological daughter, but the product of her mother’s first marriage. He also informs Pere that Eugenie could demand a portion of her mother’s fortune. Pere and Notary Cruchot have Eugenie sign a document which will assure Pere that she cannot touch his estate during his lifetime. When Eugenie discovers several letters addressed to her from Charles in Pere’s room, she goes to the garden to read her letters. At this point, Pere goes through the room like a madman to see if any of his possessions have been stolen. In his madness, Pere pulls a large chest filled with gold on top of him which ends up killing him. Many years pass by, and Eugenie is told that Charles has returned to Paris and has married a wealthy young lady. At this point, Eugenie announces that she will marry Bonfons Cruchot.

Trying to recapture the success of “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (1921), Metro reteamed costars Rudolph Valentino and Alice Terry with writer June Mathis and director Rex Ingram, Terry’s husband, for “The Conquering Power” (1921). It is obvious that the script had been designed with Valentino’s new stardom in mind. He plays a pampered twenty-seven-year-old playboy who, at the start of the film, is celebrating his birthday with a somewhat risqué party. The camera lingers on him in this opening sequence, allowing the audience to appreciate his looks and his tuxedo. Later, when his character arrives at the little French village of the Grandet family, the entire sequence is about him rather than the girl he will meet and fall in love with, played by Alice Terry. Valentino arrives in an expensive automobile, which is driven by a chauffeur. When he goes to the humble cottage of the Grandets, he is allowed yet a third dramatic entrance. As the family sits inside in their peasant clothes, their door swings suddenly open, and there stands Valentino wearing a well-cut suit and a hat and, he carries a magnificent cane. It is clear that in “The Conquering Power” (1921) time is provided so that the audience can stare at him head to toe and appreciate his clothes and his stance. Even though the official leading role is played by the character actor Ralph Lewis as the old Grandet who goes mad with desire for gold, Valentino is the effective center of the film and the most interesting thing in it.

The problem Alice Terry had at the height of her career was that she was the wife of Rex Ingram, and she was doomed to be his leading lady in films that were dominated by their male stars. She held her own opposite Rudolph Valentino in “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (1921), but not in their second film together, “The Conquering Power” (1921). Ramon Novarro was, of course, Rex Ingram’s successor to Rudolph Valentino, and he starred opposite Alice Terry in “The Prisoner of Zenda “ (1922), “Scaramouche” (1923), “Where the Pavement Ends” (1923), and “The Arab” (1924). They made a beautiful onscreen couple, but Alice Terry was seen as a passive film star subjugated to the will of her husband-director. When Terry was separated from Ingram, as she was in 1924 and 1925, at a time when the marriage was in jeopardy, MGM cast her in “The Great Divide” (1925), “Confessions of a Queen” (1925), and loaned her out to Paramount for “Any Woman” (1925), and “Sackcloth and Scarlet” (1925). Away from Rex Ingram, Alice Terry was the legitimate star, and, particularly in the two Paramount releases, minus a recognizable leading man, she affirmed her box office popularity.

"The Conquering Power" (1921) is a small-scale story that is moving and filled with human emotions. Even though Valentino is not given the opportunity for the range of acting that is given to Alice Terry, he gives an exceptional restrained performance. "The Conquering Power" is one example of what an accomplished actor he was under the right direction. It's a shame that professional and personal differences between Ingram and Valentino led to the latter's departure from Metro shortly afterwards. Valentino never got another director that offered him quality scripts like Rex Ingram.