Hearts in Exile - 1915

Country: USA
Language: English
Director: James Young
Writers: Owen Davis (scenario), John Oxenham (novel), James Young
Stars: Clara Kimball Young, Montagu Love and Claude Fleming
Release Date: 12 April 1915 (USA)
Also known as: Hearts Afire USA (reissue title)
Production Co: World Film
Runtime: 59 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Nihilist | Bigamy | Chase | Grave | Unrequited Love | Siberia | Flashback | Cross | Marriage Of Convenience | Gunfight | Russia | Love Triangle | Love Rectangle | Charity | Secret Police | Estranged Husband Estranged Wife Relationship | Wedding | Prison Escape | Melodrama | Self Sacrifice | Charity Worker | Presumed Dead | Adultery | Switched Identities | Based On Novel
Genres: Drama
In Czarist Russia, attractive Clara Kimball Young (as Hope aka Anna Ivanovna) has "consecrated her life to work among Russia's persecuted poor." She dispenses food, medicine, and funds to the needy, from a busy charity headquarters. Poor doctor Vernon Steele (as Paul Pavloff) helps as much as he can, and wealthy merchant Claude Fleming (as Serge) donates money. Both men are in love with Ms. Kimball Young. In fact, her "pretty face" attracts most men in Russia. Another significant suitor is married Count Montagu Love (as Nicolai), who doesn't know how to take "Nyet!" for an answer…
Although Mr. Fleming is a nice guy, Kimball Young loves Mr. Steele. However, to help with her work for the poor, she marries the wealthier Fleming. Unfortunately, both men are jailed as the revolution picks up steam. As married Fleming is sentenced to serve more time, Steele decided to trade identities with his friend, to help Kimball Young and Fleming remain together.
But, as fate would have it, a mix-up puts Kimball Young with Steele in Siberia. Since she's still married to Fleming, the two must resist their sexual urges. Then, one day they learn Fleming has died. As she is free from holy matrimony, the lovers call upon Jesus Christ to preside over a hasty wedding ceremony. The couple is happy until "you-know-who" shows up alive…
The story concludes conveniently, as you might expect from seeing this plot play out both before and after this 1915 feature, with various settings. "Hearts in Exile" was one of the last in the series of films Kimball Young made with actor-director and husband James Young. Like much of what she did around the time, it was a success. Kimball Young was, at this time, one of the most popular stars in Hollywood. "Hearts in Exile" was #22 in Motion Picture Magazine's poll for the year; Kimball Young emotes well, but readers preferred her performances in "My Official Wife" (1914) and "Trilby" (1915).

A Tour of the Thomas Ince Studio - 1924

Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Hunt Stromberg
Stars: Enid Bennett, Hobart Bosworth and Ralph Dixon
Also known as: A Tour of the Ince Studio USA (alternative title)
Production Co: Thomas H. Ince Corporation
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Behind The Scenes | Negative Footage
Genres: Documentary | Short
A behind-the-scenes look at Thomas H. Ince Studios in Culver City, California.
This short publicity film takes a look behind the scenes at producer Thomas H. Ince's studio at Culver City, California. Other studios made similar films, including MGM's '1925 Studio Tour', which has, apparently, been broadcast on the Turner Classic Movies channel. (MGM's studio had been Ince's prior studio for the Triangle Corporation.) Shown here are the technical aspects of film-making, including the making of sets, lighting practices, behind the scenes of the wardrobe department, and the negative developing room where tinting and editing practices are demonstrated. Inceville's private fire department is even acknowledged and shown performing a drill. A couple interesting scenes show sets from how they're photographed and how they appear beyond the frame. Additionally, there are some shots of cameramen filming, including the short's opening shot of seven cameramen shooting at the camera recording them. In another scene, a title card states, "How we photographed that auto chase," and then they show the filming of a trucking shot; then, another title card, "How they photographed us!," reveals a cameraman shooting the cameraman photographing the auto chase scene. Clever.
In addition to a behind-the-scenes look at film-making, including footage of the seemingly real making of films (one scene is said to be the shooting of a film starring Louise Glaum and James Kirkwood, and the only film I see that those two starred in was 'Love' (1920), which doesn't seem to be available anywhere), we are introduced to (or sold) the studio's stars. I don't know who most of the mentioned "stars" were, or at best I've seen them if not recalled them in a few films, and they seem to be mostly lost to history. Some of them, like Margaret Livingston, who would have a role in 'Sunrise' (1927), may be recognizable for their supporting work in some rather popular films.
The biggest name in this short, however, at least by today, is the producer Thomas H. Ince. Here, there is some rather odd footage of him exercising and showing off how youthful and fit he was, which I found surprising. By the end of 1924, he would be dead. The cause of death seems to be a bit of a mystery, involving murder conspiracies and media mogul William Randolph Hearst, but the official story, at least, seems to be that he died of heart failure. Ince is probably one of the most influential movie makers in the industry's history, as he introduced the classic studio system, adopting assembly-line practices and promoting the producer to the head supervisor, who through script authorizing and editing, took control from the director and cameraman over the final appearance of films--a system adopted later by David O. Selznick and others.