The Crack of Dawn

Volume #75

8/17/22

Newsletter75

The Crack of Dawn

It ain’t dawn yet.

If the great film pioneer, Thomas Ince, is remembered for anything, it’s for the street named after him in Culver City, and his murder.  Peter Bogdanovich made a miserable film about Ince’s demise called The Cat’s Meow (2001).  In 1924 Ince went boating with Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, and Davies’ paramour, newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst.  Although no one knows for sure, apparently Hearst believed that Chaplin was screwing Davies, then mistakenly shot Ince.  Since there was no inquest or autopsy, and Ince’s body was immediately cremated, Hearst got away with murder, which isn’t particularly surprising for one of the richest, most powerful men in the country.  Thomas Ince was 44.

I’m three degrees of separation from Thomas Ince.  I directed Anthony Quinn near the end of his life.  Anthony Quinn (real name, Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca) was born in Mexico in 1915 during the Mexican Revolution.  Quinn’s father, Frank Quinn, was an American who went to Mexico to fight with Pancho Villa.  While he was there he knocked up a Mexican gal named Manuela Oaxaca, then Frank hastily split back to his home in L.A.  Showing incredible fortitude, Manuela, with her newborn baby, traveled across war-torn Mexico, crossed into the U.S. in Texas, made her way to L.A. and surprised the hell out of Frank.  Manuela and Frank were married and raised their son in L.A.  Frank Quinn was an assistant cameraman for Thomas Ince.  So, Thomas Ince/Frank Quinn/Anthony Quinn/me.  

Thomas Ince is known (by very few) as “The Father of the Western.” In 1911 he bought a huge swath of land at Sunset Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway, known as “Inceville.”  He cranked out 800 westerns, and hired young John Ford in 1913.  I scouted the entire area and most of it is now the Maharishi Center.  I dug around in the dirt hoping to find a shell casing or something, but didn’t.

In 1915 Thomas Ince formed a partnership with D.W. Griffith and comedy producer, Mack Sennett, called Triangle Pictures.  They built a studio in Culver City, went out of business in two years, and the studio became Goldwyn Pictures.  Goldwyn was bought out in 1920 and the studio became MGM, and is now Sony Pictures. 

When Triangle folded, Ince built a studio next door.  I don’t know why I love this, but I do.  Upon Ince’s untimely demise, Thomas Ince Studio (where Ince St. is still located), became Pathé Studio (the French company), then Cecil B. DeMille Studio, then RKO-Pathé Studio (where they shot King Kong and Citizen Kane), then Selznick International (where they shot Gone With the Wind), then plain old RKO Studio (some people still called it RKO-Pathé and Anthony Quinn still called it Ince), then Desilu (where they shot Star Trek), then it was Culver City Studios, and now it’s “The Stage.”

But back to Anthony Quinn for a moment.  As we stood there waiting for a shot to be set up, I asked, “What was it like making The Savage Innocents with Peter O’Toole?”  Anthony Quinn plays an Eskimo in the film.  Quinn asked me, “What year was that picture?”  I said, “1959 (it’s listed as 1959 and 1960).”  Quinn got ridiculously mad at me and yelled, “Are you out of your fucking mind?  The Savage Innocents was like 1970 or something!”

Meanwhile, in 1967 Bob Dylan saw part of The Savage Innocents on TV and was inspired to write the song, Quinn the Eskimo (Mighty Quinn).  The song was covered in 1968 by Manfred Mann and became a number one hit.

And when I was ten I bought the song on a 45-RPM record, thus bringing it all full circle.

And yes, the dawn has cracked.