SOURCE: "The Challenge for the Motion Picture Producer," in The First Film Makers, edited by Richard Dyer MacCann, The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1989, pp. 110-14.

In the following essay, originally published in 1925, Ince expresses his desire for clarity, continuity, intensity, and above all realism in motion pictures.

We are living in an age when the white light of criticism is turned upon accepted and established standards in all phases of life. The old order of things has passed, and all over the world worn-out traditions and methods are toppling. We are in the grip of another renaissance, a revolution of ideals. Like the phoenix of mythology, the new world order is rising out of the ashes of the old.

The picture of yesterday fulfilled its mission, giving way to the newer and higher standards demanded of the picture of today. And because some of the modern productions are now...