A well researched and very readable account of Ireland's first great film director, who until the arrival of this book was almost completely forgotten. O'Leary traces Ingram's movement from the obscurity of his early life as the son of rural Protestant minister to the glamour of his great Hollywood successes, all the time keeping him in the context of his age, contrasting him with his contemporaries and offering intelligent critical insight into his talents and weaknesses as a director. The pity is that despite O'Leary having shed light on his career Ingram's films remain in obscurity and are difficult to get hold of. He is completely unkown in those places he once lived in Ireland, and because his full name was Rex Ingram Hitchcock his identity has always been confused with that of Alfred Hitchcock, many a small Irish town today being rumoured to be the unacknowledged birth place of that director. O'Leary's sources include Ingram's wife, silent film star, Alice Terry and he manages to maintain a closeness and sympathy with his subject that is rarely found in this sort of biography. Like any good biography this is not only a record of the man but also of the age and industry in which he lived and worked. O'Leary's use of photographs is extensive and covers his professional career, personal life and stills from his films providing an appropriately visual documentary to compliment the text. To be highly recommended to anyway interested in early cinema or the period covered.