The best Ralph Ince’s drama movies

A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?

A prosecutor quits his job and becomes a defense attorney when he finds out that a man he got convicted and executed was actually innocent.

A tough District Attorney goes after a murderous crime gang, only to find that his witnesses, an innocent family, have clammed up in fear of reprisals.

A very topical early talkie from low-budget company Columbia Pictures, Wall Street starred Ralph Ince, brother of producer Thomas H. Ince, as Roller McCray, a steelworker turned ruthless tycoon whose tough business methods leads a rival (Philip Strange) to commit suicide. The widow (Aileen Pringle), believing she can ruin Ince by using his own methods, conspires with her husband's former partner (Sam De Grasse), but a strong friendship between Ince and Pringle's young son (Freddie Burke Frederick) changes things dramatically. According to future Three Stooges director Edward Bernds, who worked as a sound mixer on Wall Street, Ince's reaction to his rival's suicidal jump from a window ledge was changed from a sneering "I didn't think he had the guts" to the more respectful "I didn't think he'd do it" due to derisive laughter from the film's crew.

Lane and Diane are a young married couple living in a coastal town whose lives are about to be torn apart by an old book of magic.

Prison drama from 1930.

Corrupt alcoholic attorney Tom Cardigan is one of the best lawyers around, commanding the courtroom like a stage and often winning his cases. Mobster Valentine Powers, who employs Cardigan and put him through school, asks him to represent a woman, June Perry, accused of prostitution. Cardigan agrees. But he never expected to fall for her, which is problematic since he's angling to become governor and will need the right kind of wife.

When World War I comes to an end, three pilots find themselves on hard times. They wind up in Hollywood, where they work as stunt fliers for a sadistic director.

Bank robbers and killers cause mayhem in a small western town.

After suffering a traumatic injury, a policeman (Victor Jory) resigns from the force and, after he's saved from a suicide attempt, goes to work at a cafe frequented by gangsters.

A bootlegger falls apart when his wife leaves him.

Girl of the Rio finds the gorgeous Dolores del Rio as a cabaret dancer in the employment of slick gambler, Leo Carrillo, who has his eye on the beauty. When she falls for Norman Foster, Carrillo has him locked away. Del Rio must use her smarts to ensure her man is safely freed.

Chicago After Midnight (1928)