War on the Plains

War on the Plains (aka Across the Plains)
Film still, 1912
Directed by	Thomas H. Ince
Written by	William Eagle Shirt Thomas H. Ince Ray Myers
Produced by	Bison Motion Pictures, New York Motion Picture Company
Starring	Francis Ford Ethel Grandin
Distributed by	Motion Picture Distributors and Sales Company Cosmopolitan Films (UK)
Release date	February 23, 1912 (1912-02-23)
Running time	2 reels (20 minutes)[1]
Country	United States
Languages	Silent English intertitles

War on the Plains, also called Across the Plains, is a 1912 American silent short Western film directed by Thomas H. Ince and starring Francis Ford, Ethel Grandin and Ray Myers. It was produced by Bison Motion Pictures, a subsidiary of the New York Motion Picture Company. The film was made at Inceville, Santa Ynez, California.[2]

This short is referred to as Across the Plains in Daniel Blum's Pictorial History of Silent Films.[3] Several other films with this title were released before and after this short was initially distributed.

Cast

• Francis Ford as Drake, a Treacherous Prospector
• Ethel Grandin as Ethel, the Wagon Captain's Daughter
• Ray Myers as A Young Emigrant
• Howard Davies as A Prospector
• William Eagle Shirt as Indian
• J. Barney Sherry as Frontiersman
• Art Acord as Frontiersman
• Clayton Monroe Teters as Indian (unbilled)

Preservation status

This film is preserved in the UCLA Film & TV archive.

References

1. Kawin, Bruce F. How Movies Work. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987, pp. 46–47. According to this reference, a 1000-foot theatrical reel of film in the silent era was projected at a "standard" speed of 16 frames per second, considerably slower than the 24 frames in the sound era. A full silent reel therefore had a maximum running time of 15 minutes. Most reels, however, were not filled to their maximum capacity.
2. War on the Plains at silentera.com
3. Pictorial History of Silent Films, p.21 c.1953 by Daniel Blum ISBN 0-399-50667-5

External links

• War on the Plains at IMDb