War on the Plains explained

War on the Plains (aka Across the Plains)
Director:	Thomas H. Ince
Producer:	Bison Motion Pictures, New York Motion Picture Company
Starring:	Francis Ford Ethel Grandin
Distributor:	Motion Picture Distributors and Sales Company Cosmopolitan Films (UK)
Runtime:	2 reels (20 minutes)^[1]
Country:	United States
Language:	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.

Notes and References

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.
http://silentera.com/PSFL/data/W/WarOnThePlains1912.html War on the Plains at silentera.com
Pictorial History of Silent Films, p.21 c.1953 by Daniel Blum