MovieChat Forums > The Conquering Power (1921) Discussion > Curious + Wrong Presumption...

Curious + Wrong Presumption...

posted 13 years ago by xerses13
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In the preamble of the film, Director/Producer Rex Ingram states that due too 'commercialism' the Public does not want costume/period pictures. Allegedly because they are not popular. Question, was Mr. Ingram just trying to justify a cheap way to make the movie or he was he divorced from reality?

Just the previous year THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920) was a tremendous success. The same year of THE CONQUERING POWER (1921) Douglas Fairbanks brought out the even more popular THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1921). He would continue to release such pictures too success for the rest of the decade. The most popular picture of the previous era BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) was set in the Civil War, seems there were a-lot of costumes there!

You wonder how much of what he stated he really believed in. After all the next year Mr. Ingram produced THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1922). Ruritania was certainly not a 20th Century Modern State!

[–] Eric-1226 13 years ago

Yeah, I really had to scratch my head as I read that opening title card. My initial reaction was "What a cop-out. Who do they think they're fooling?" It's worth noting that some of the silent era's biggest and best movies were yet to come - "Ben Hur," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Orphans of the Storm," "The Ten Commandments" - and these were costume pictures. So, yeah - that title card claiming that the public didn't want to see costume pictures is immediately suspect!

"It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I didn't even have the courtesy to thank her." — W. C. Fields

[–] xerses13 13 years ago

Eric-1226; Our only thought is that INGRAM wanted to save money on production values when adapting the story and way-lay any criticisms diverting from the Balzac novel. Maybe his paramour ALICE TERRY did not like wearing period clothing feeling it was unflattering. Of course the almost 'rags' she wore in THE CONQUERING POWER (1921) did not have much to recommend them. Or that he lacked confidence for such a production. Hard to believe when he was considered one of the most talented Directors of his time.