Probably Thomas Ince's masterpiece of these years was the six reel The Italian, released by Paramount at the beginning of 1915. It was hardly alone in protesting social conditions, as I outline in my Ince biography. Not only was the story an arresting one, but Reginald Barker's direction was the most advanced of the films made at the studio at the time. His belief that characterization on the screen grew out of the actor's rehearsals and complete embodiment of the role down to the smallest detail had found a perfect vehicle. The camera-work and angles are far more varied than usual, with a number of subjective shots, as well as shadows that heighten the sense of the protagonist's entrapment in events beyond his control.
Originally titled The Dago, The Italian was conceived as a vehicle for George Beban, a noted specialist in such portrayals, and the story was the result of a collaboration with the star, Barker, scenarist C. Gardner Sullivan, and producer Ince. The film opens with a reader picking up a volume of the same title, by T.H. Ince and C.G. Sullivan, providing a reflexive framing device commenting on authorship. The camera tracks in closer as he reclines on a divan and begins the book. Beppo Donetti (Beban), a gondolier, and Annette Ancello (Williams) are in love, but the aged but rich merchant Gallia is also a suitor. Annette's father Trudo (Burke) disdains the young man, forcing him to go away for a year to make his fortune before marrying Annette.
Immigrating to the United States, he sets up a boot black stand and becomes a friend of Big Bill Corrigan, the slum boss. Beppo sends for Annette, and Alderman Casey, part of the political machine, performs the wedding. However, when a heat wave strikes the city, and Beppo and Annette's child Tony needs pasteurized milk, Corrigan refuses to help. Later, learning that Corrigan's own child is near death, Beppo plans to kill her for revenge, but finds she reminds him of his own lost child.
The movie closes with Beppo in the graveyard by Tony's grave, "At the eternal bedside of his baby, where hate, revenge and bitterness melt to nothing in the crucible of sorrow." The close returns to the reader from the beginning, shaking his head in sadness, as a curtain closes. The themes are handled with subtlety, concentrating on the story of the characters and the personal tragedy that poverty creates, in a manner relevant to any ethnicity, while touching incidentally on the larger themes of class difference, immigration, and political bosses.
Originally titled The Dago, The Italian was conceived as a vehicle for George Beban, a noted specialist in such portrayals, and the story was the result of a collaboration with the star, Barker, scenarist C. Gardner Sullivan, and producer Ince. The film opens with a reader picking up a volume of the same title, by T.H. Ince and C.G. Sullivan, providing a reflexive framing device commenting on authorship. The camera tracks in closer as he reclines on a divan and begins the book. Beppo Donetti (Beban), a gondolier, and Annette Ancello (Williams) are in love, but the aged but rich merchant Gallia is also a suitor. Annette's father Trudo (Burke) disdains the young man, forcing him to go away for a year to make his fortune before marrying Annette.
Immigrating to the United States, he sets up a boot black stand and becomes a friend of Big Bill Corrigan, the slum boss. Beppo sends for Annette, and Alderman Casey, part of the political machine, performs the wedding. However, when a heat wave strikes the city, and Beppo and Annette's child Tony needs pasteurized milk, Corrigan refuses to help. Later, learning that Corrigan's own child is near death, Beppo plans to kill her for revenge, but finds she reminds him of his own lost child.
The movie closes with Beppo in the graveyard by Tony's grave, "At the eternal bedside of his baby, where hate, revenge and bitterness melt to nothing in the crucible of sorrow." The close returns to the reader from the beginning, shaking his head in sadness, as a curtain closes. The themes are handled with subtlety, concentrating on the story of the characters and the personal tragedy that poverty creates, in a manner relevant to any ethnicity, while touching incidentally on the larger themes of class difference, immigration, and political bosses.