Lew Landers
Encyclopedia
Lew Landers was a prolific American
film
and television director
.
, he began his movie career as an actor. In 1914 he appeared in two features, D. W. Griffith
's The Escape
and the comedy short Admission -- Two Pins, opposite Glen White
, under his birth name. He began making films in the 1930s, one of his first being the Boris Karloff
/Bela Lugosi
thriller The Raven
(1935). After directing a few more features, he changed his name to Lew Landers and went on to direct more than 100 films in a variety of genres, including westerns
, comedy
and horror film
s. He worked for every major film studio--and many minor ones--during his career. In the 1950s he began to alternate his film work with directing television series, including two episodes of Adventures of Superman
that were shot in black and white in under a week.
On December 16, 1962, Landers died of a heart attack
. His grave is located at Chapel of the Pines Crematory
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
.
Biography
Born Louis Friedlander in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he began his movie career as an actor. In 1914 he appeared in two features, D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
's The Escape
The Escape (1914 film)
The Escape is a 1914 silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Donald Crisp. It is now considered to be a lost film.-Cast:* Donald Crisp as 'Bull' McGee* Edna Foster as Crippled girl* Earle Foxe* Robert Harron as Larry Joyce...
and the comedy short Admission -- Two Pins, opposite Glen White
Glen White
Glen White was an American actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1912 and 1921. Glen White is a radio programmer/personality, club DJ, and remixer...
, under his birth name. He began making films in the 1930s, one of his first being the Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
/Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
thriller The Raven
The Raven (1935 film)
The Raven is a horror film starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi, and directed by Lew Landers. It revolves around Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, featuring Lugosi as a Poe-obsessed mad surgeon with a torture chamber in his basement and Karloff as a fugitive murderer desperately on the run from the...
(1935). After directing a few more features, he changed his name to Lew Landers and went on to direct more than 100 films in a variety of genres, including westerns
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
and horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s. He worked for every major film studio--and many minor ones--during his career. In the 1950s he began to alternate his film work with directing television series, including two episodes of Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
that were shot in black and white in under a week.
On December 16, 1962, Landers died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. His grave is located at Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street Los Angeles, California, in the historic West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown...
.
Director
- The Vanishing ShadowThe Vanishing ShadowThe Vanishing Shadow is a Universal film serial.-Plot:Stanley Stanfield is the inventor of the Vanishing Ray, a wearable device which, when active, leaves only the user's shadow still visible. After meeting with a fellow eccentric scientist, Carl Van Dorn, a prototype is built. Stanley intends...
(1934) - The Call of the SavageThe Call of the SavageThe Call of the Savage is a Universal movie serial based on the story Jan of the Jungle by Otis Adelbert Kline.-Production:Call of the Savage features "Jan, the Jungle Boy" and was based on "Jan of the Jungle" by Otis Adelbert Kline, a successful pulp story which rivalled the Tarzan series.In 1956...
(1935) - The RavenThe Raven (1935 film)The Raven is a horror film starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi, and directed by Lew Landers. It revolves around Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, featuring Lugosi as a Poe-obsessed mad surgeon with a torture chamber in his basement and Karloff as a fugitive murderer desperately on the run from the...
(1935) - Without Orders (1936)
- Flight From GloryFlight From GloryFlight From Glory is a 1937 B movie about a run-down air cargo company in South America in the early days of aviation.-Plot:Ellis runs an air service transporting supplies from a tiny, remote outpost over the Andes Mountains to some mines, using worn-out planes and pilots no one else will employ...
(1937) - The Affairs of AnnabelThe Affairs of AnnabelThe Affairs of Annabel is a 1938 comedy starring Lucille Ball and Jack Oakie. Oakie plays Lannie Morgan, Wonder Pictures publicity man working with film star Annabel Allison , her first starring comedy role.-Plot:...
(1938) - Fixer DuganFixer DuganFixer Dugan is a 1939 drama film starring Lee Tracy as a circus promoter who decides to help out an orphaned girl, played by Virginia Weidler. The film was directed by Lew Landers and is based on the play What's a Fixer For? by H.C...
(1939) - La Conga Nights (1940)
- Harvard, Here I Come! (1941)
- The Boogie Man Will Get YouThe Boogie Man Will Get YouThe Boogie Man Will Get You is a 1942 comedy horror film, directed by Lew Landers and starring Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. One of six pictures Karloff made with Columbia...
(1942) - Doughboys in Ireland (1943)
- The Return of the VampireThe Return of the VampireThe Return of the Vampire is a horror film released in 1944 by Columbia Pictures. It is in black and white, and describes an Englishwoman's two encounters with a vampire...
(1944) - Crime, Inc.Crime, Inc. (1945 film)Crime, Inc. is a 1945 black-and-white American crime thriller film directed by Lew Landers.-Plot summary:The film, based on a story by former crime reporter Martin Mooney, is about a newspaper journalist who faces prison time because he refuses to name his sources...
(1945) - The Mask of DiijonThe Mask of DiijonThe Mask of Diijon is a 1946 black-and-white suspense film. The film, considered film noir, was directed by Lew Landers.- Plot :A tired magician gives up his act to study the power of the mind. His wife, once supportive, now is struggling to pay bills. She urges her stubborn and older husband to...
(1946) - Devil Ship (1947)
- Adventures of Gallant Bess (1948)
- Stagecoach Kid (1949)
- Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950)
- State Penitentiary (1950)
- Jungle ManhuntJungle ManhuntJungle Manhunt is a 1951 science fiction/adventure film written by Samuel Newman and directed by Lew Landers. It is an entry in the "Jungle Jim" series of films starring Johnny Weissmuller. In the story, football player Bob Miller gets lost in a jungle....
(1951) - California ConquestCalifornia ConquestCalifornia Conquest is a 1952 American film, directed by Lew Landers, and starring Cornel Wilde and Teresa Wright. The film is set in the early 1840s, and deals with a conspiracy by native Spanish Hidalgos to deliver the then-Mexican territory of California to the Russian Empire.-Plot:Don Arturo...
(1952) - Jungle Jim in the Forbidden LandJungle Jim in the Forbidden LandJungle Jim in the Forbidden Land is a black and white 1952 Adventure film directed by Lew Landers and written by Samuel Newman.-Main cast:* Johnny Weissmuller - Jungle Jim* Angela Greene - Dr. Linda Roberts* Jean Willes - Denise...
(1952) - Terry and the PiratesTerry and the Pirates (TV series)Terry and the Pirates is a short-lived American adventure series based on Milton Caniff's popular comic strip, was telecast from June 26, 1953 to November 21, 1953. The syndicated series ran for 18 episodes and was produced by Don Sharpe Enterprises...
(9 episodes, 1953) - Captain John Smith and PocahontasCaptain John Smith and PocahontasCaptain John Smith and Pocahontas is a 1953 American historical film directed by Lew Landers. The distributor was United Artists. It stars Anthony Dexter, Jody Lawrance and Alan Hale. It depicts the foundation of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia by English settlers and the relationship between...
(1953) - Meet Corliss Archer (1 episode, 1954)
- Science Fiction TheatreScience Fiction TheatreScience Fiction Theatre is an American science fiction anthology series that aired in syndication from April 1955 to April 1957. It was produced by Ivan Tors and Maurice Ziv.-Overview:...
(1 episode, 1955) - Tales of the Texas RangersTales of the Texas RangersTales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952...
(10 episodes, 1955–1957) - Casey JonesCasey Jones (TV series)Casey Jones is an American children's Western series that ran during the '58-'59 television season, based around the pioneering western railroads. The series aired in syndication in the United States...
(4 episodes, 1957–1958) - Highway PatrolHighway Patrol (TV series)Highway Patrol is a syndicated action crime drama series produced 1955-1959.-Overview:Highway Patrol stars Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews, the gruff and dedicated head of a police force in an unidentified Western state...
(10 episodes, 1955–1959) - Mackenzie's RaidersMackenzie's RaidersMackenzie's Raiders is an American Western television series starring Richard Carlson that aired in syndication from 1958 until 1959. The series was narrated by Art Gilmore.-Synopsis:...
(9 episodes, 1958–1959) - Tombstone TerritoryTombstone TerritoryTombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...
(2 episodes, 1959–1960) - The AlaskansThe AlaskansThe Alaskans is a 1959 television series set in the port of Skagway, Alaska during the 1890s. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers intent on swindling travelers bound for the Yukon Territories during the height of the Klondike Gold...
(1 episode, 1960) - SugarfootSugarfootSugarfoot is the title of a TV western that aired from 1957 to 1961. The series featured Will Hutchins as fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster and Jack Elam as sidekick Toothy Thompson...
(2 episodes, 1961) - Bat MastersonBat Masterson (TV series)Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961...
(4 episodes, 1959–1961) - Terrified (1963)