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Actor and director John Ince was born in 1878 in New York City to vaudeville performers. His younger brothers, Ralph Ince and Thomas H. Ince, were also involved in show business. Thomas, the most renowned of the three, was a pioneering producer and director who established Inceville, the first fully equipped movie studio featuring sound stages, processing labs, and permanent sets. Ralph pursued a career as an actor and director, with many critics of the time considering him a better director than Thomas and a superior actor to John, though his personal reputation often overshadowed his professional achievements.
John not only acted but also directed numerous two-reel films for Thomas' studio, as well as a smaller number of feature films, often starring in his own productions. One of his more unusual projects was the drama Thomas H. Ince, based on a real-life murder case, in which the actual perpetrator, Clara Smith Hamon, portrayed herself.
Thomas died in 1924 under somewhat mysterious circumstances during a yacht party hosted by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The story goes that Hearst discovered his mistress, Marion Davies, with actor Charlie Chaplin, and in a fit of rage, fired a gun at Chaplin, missing him but accidentally killing Thomas Ince. Following this, John established his own studio, which operated until 1929. That year brought a series of setbacks—including his divorce, the Wall Street crash that wiped out his finances, and a fire that destroyed his studio—effectively ending his career. He managed a few supporting roles in low-budget "B" movies, but by the mid-1930s, his work was limited to brief speaking parts and uncredited background roles. He had a minor role as a guard in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and made his final uncredited film appearance in 1947, the year he passed away. Although Gun Cargo was released posthumously in 1949, it had been filmed in the late 1930s.
