Terry played several different characters in the 1916 anti-war film Civilization, co-directed by Thomas H. Ince and Reginald Barker.

The two decided to move to the French Riviera, where they set up a small studio in Nice and made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy for MGM and others.

[1] Terry made her film debut in 1916 in Not My Sister, opposite Bessie Barriscale and William Desmond Taylor.

She gained recognition for her performances in "the four horsemen and the apocalypse" and "the prisoner of Zenda".She also played in other films such as "The Magic Garden", "The conquering power" and "The Blackbird".

[4] Ingram had a lot to do with her success as he altered her appearance as well as encouraged her to wear blonde wigs, get dental work and weight loss .Ingram also hired male stars who further outshone her in The Conquering Power (1921), The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) and other films.

During this time period Terry worked on five movies, but her roles particularly in Any Woman (1925) and Sackcloth and Scarlet (1925), both by Paramount Pictures, proved that she was a legitimate star away from her husband.

Terry worked with Ramón Novarro, a popular a film star from Mexico who drew in audiences as a "Latin lover", and became known as a sex symbol after the death of Rudolph Valentino.

On November 5, 1921, Terry married Ingram during production of The Prisoner of Zenda (1922),[1] which he directed and in which she appeared as Princess Flavia.

They formed a small studio in Nice and made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy for MGM and others.

[6] During the making of The Arab (1924) in Tunisia, they met a street child named Kada-Abd-el-Kader, whom they adopted upon learning that he was an orphan.

When Terry was done, she looked up and saw a property in Studio City on the Los Angeles River and decided that this was the place where her new home with Rex would be.

"[4] After Ingram's death Terry's sister Edna moved into the property on Kelsey Street and controlled Alice's life.

She loved hosting Sunday afternoon parties and going out to dinner in extravagant, floor length mink coats.