Walter Summers
Encyclopedia
Walter Summers was a British
film director
and screenwriter
.
In 1929, BIF reorganized as British International Pictures or BIP. Summers went into the era of the talkies continuing his string of successes, including Chamber of Horrors (1929, the last British silent), Lost Patrol (1929, later remade by John Ford), Raise the Roof (1930, starring Betty Blythe and regarded as the first British movie musical), The Flame of Love (1930) starring Anna May Wong and Suspense (1930), an outstanding psychological thriller set in the trenches of World War I. In time, however, BIP began to persuade Summers towards more workaday, banal material in keeping with their usual product stream. Presented with much the same option, Summers’ colleague Alfred Hitchcock simply walked out and went to British Gaumont, but Summers decided to stay. As reward for his loyalty, BIP brought along a number of projects that were neither suitable to nor worthy of Summers’ talents. Burned out, he left BIP in 1936 and worked for a time with a small, formerly BIP-owned unit, Welwyn Studios. When BIP reorganized again as Associated British, Summers seemed to gain a second wind in making his last films, which number among his best – Premiere (1938), Traitor Spy (1938), At the Villa Rose (1939) and the film for which he is best known outside of England, Dark Eyes of London (1939) with Bela Lugosi. Although all were Associated British productions, the last three titles were filmed at Welwyn.
When World War II broke out, Summers enlisted again. After the war he dutifully returned to work at Associated British, but made no more films. Summers seems to have lost interest in making motion pictures and merely drifted away from the industry, dying forgotten decades later at the age of 77. While the majority of Walter Summers’ considerable output remains obscure, his cycle of silent war films and such titles as Suspense and Dark Eyes of London attest to his extraordinary talents.
Writer
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film director
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 screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Biography
Born in Barnstaple to a family of actors, British motion picture director Walter Summers began his career in the family trade; his first contact with filmmaking was as an assistant to American director George Loane Tucker, who worked for the English London Films unit from 1914 to 1916. With the outbreak of war, Summers mobilized into the British Army, gaining experiences that would serve him well later as a filmmaker. At war’s end, Summers worked briefly for Cecil Hepworth, and then the Territorial Unit in India before making contact with producer/director George B. Samuelson. Samuelson hired Summers as a writer, primarily on films starring the popular actress Lillian Hall-Davis such as Maisie’s Marriage (1923). Summers co-directed a couple of pictures with Samuelson before flying solo for the first time with a comedy, A Couple of Down and Outs (1923). Tiring of Samuelson’s on again, off again production schedule, Summers left and worked on a couple of features for even smaller concerns before landing at British Instructional Films, or BIF. There he directed historical battle recreations that within Britain are regarded as his greatest and most consequential films: Ypres (1925), Mons (1926), Nelson (1926), The Battles of the Coronel and the Falkland Islands (1928) and Bolibar (1928). The Battles of the Coronel and the Falkland Islands was so popular that it was reissued in a sound version under the title The Deeds Men Do (1932), and while the tone of these films (save Bolibar) are heavily patriotic they continue to hold up well.In 1929, BIF reorganized as British International Pictures or BIP. Summers went into the era of the talkies continuing his string of successes, including Chamber of Horrors (1929, the last British silent), Lost Patrol (1929, later remade by John Ford), Raise the Roof (1930, starring Betty Blythe and regarded as the first British movie musical), The Flame of Love (1930) starring Anna May Wong and Suspense (1930), an outstanding psychological thriller set in the trenches of World War I. In time, however, BIP began to persuade Summers towards more workaday, banal material in keeping with their usual product stream. Presented with much the same option, Summers’ colleague Alfred Hitchcock simply walked out and went to British Gaumont, but Summers decided to stay. As reward for his loyalty, BIP brought along a number of projects that were neither suitable to nor worthy of Summers’ talents. Burned out, he left BIP in 1936 and worked for a time with a small, formerly BIP-owned unit, Welwyn Studios. When BIP reorganized again as Associated British, Summers seemed to gain a second wind in making his last films, which number among his best – Premiere (1938), Traitor Spy (1938), At the Villa Rose (1939) and the film for which he is best known outside of England, Dark Eyes of London (1939) with Bela Lugosi. Although all were Associated British productions, the last three titles were filmed at Welwyn.
When World War II broke out, Summers enlisted again. After the war he dutifully returned to work at Associated British, but made no more films. Summers seems to have lost interest in making motion pictures and merely drifted away from the industry, dying forgotten decades later at the age of 77. While the majority of Walter Summers’ considerable output remains obscure, his cycle of silent war films and such titles as Suspense and Dark Eyes of London attest to his extraordinary talents.
Selected filmography
Director- Who Is the Man?Who Is the Man?Who Is The Man? is a 1924 British silent film drama directed by Walter Summers. The film was based on the successful French play Daniel by Louis Verneuil and is notable as the first screen appearance of John Gielgud.-Plot:...
(1924) - NelsonNelson (1926 film)Nelson is a 1926 British historical film directed by Walter Summers and starring Cedric Hardwicke, Gertrude McCoy and Frank Perfitt. A biopic of Admiral Horatio Nelson, it is based on the biography by Robert Southey.-Partial cast:...
(1926) - Lost PatrolLost Patrol (1929 film)Lost Patrol is a 1929 British war film directed by Walter Summers and starring Cyril McLaglen, Sam Wilkinson and Terence Collier. It was remade in 1934 by John Ford.-Cast:* Cyril McLaglen - The Sergeant* Sam Wilkinson - Sanders...
(1929) - Raise the Roof (1930)
- The Flame of Love (1930)
- SuspenseSuspense (1930 film)Suspense is a 1930 British war film directed by Walter Summers and starring Mickey Brantford, Cyril McLaglen and Jack Raine. During the First World War a British unit take up a new position in a trench unaware that the Germans are laying a mine underneath it.-Cast:* Mickey Brantford – Private...
(1930) - The Man from ChicagoThe Man from ChicagoThe Man from Chicago is a 1930 British crime film directed by Walter Summers and starring Bernard Nedell, Dodo Watts, Joyce Kennedy and Austin Trevor. An American gangster moves to Britain and begins to take on the British criminal underworld....
(1930) - Men Like TheseMen Like TheseMen Like These is a 1931 British drama film directed by Walter Summers and starring John Batten, Sydney Seaward, Syd Crossley, James Enstone and Lesley Wareing. A number of men are trapped underwater in the L56 submarine and through their comradeship and devotion to duty finally manage to escape....
(1931) - The House OppositeThe House Opposite (1931 film)The House Opposite is a 1931 British crime film directed by Walter Summers and starring Henry Kendall, Frank Stanmore and Celia Glyn. It was based on the novel The House Opposite by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon...
(1931) - The Flying FoolThe Flying FoolThe Flying Fool is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Walter Summers and starring Henry Kendall, Benita Hume and Wallace Geoffrey.-Cast:* Henry Kendall - Vincent Floyd* Benita Hume - Marion Lee* Wallace Geoffrey - Michael Marlowe...
(1931) - Dual Control (1932)
- The Butterfly Affair (1933)
- TimbuctooTimbuctoo (film)Timbuctoo is a 1933 British comedy film, co-directed by Walter Summers and Arthur B. Woods for British International Pictures, and starring Henry Kendall and Margot Grahame...
(1933) - The Return of Bulldog DrummondThe Return of Bulldog DrummondThe Return of Bulldog Drummond is a 1934 British thriller film directed by Walter Summers and starring Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd and Claud Allister. It was based on the 1932 novel The Return of Bulldog Drummond by H.C. McNeile.-Cast:...
(1934) - The Warren Case (1934)
- What Happened Then? (1934)
- McGlusky the Sea RoverMcGlusky the Sea RoverMcGlusky the Sea Rover is a 1935 British comedy action film directed by Walter Summers and starring Jack Doyle, Tamara Desni and Henry Mollison. It was based on a novel by A.G. Hales. A stowaway becomes mixed up with gunrunners...
(1935) - Royal CavalcadeRoyal CavalcadeRoyal Cavalcade is a 1935 British, black-and-white, drama film directed by six separate directors: Thomas Bentley , Herbert Brenon, Norman Lee, Walter Summers, Will Kellino and Marcel Varnel. The film features Marie Lohr, Hermione Baddeley, Owen Nares, Robert Hale, Austin Trevor, James Carew,...
(1935) - Music Hath CharmsMusic Hath CharmsMusic Hath Charms is a 1935 British musical film directed by Thomas Bentley. Walter Summers, Arthur B. Woods and Alexander Esway, and starring Henry Hall, Carol Goodner and Arthur Margetson.-Cast:* Henry Hall - Himself* W.H. Berry - Basil Turner...
(1935) - The Limping Man (1936)
- The Price of FollyThe Price of FollyThe Price of Folly is a 1937 British drama film directed by Walter Summers and starring Leonora Corbett, Colin Keith-Johnston and Judy Kelly. After a failed attempt to kill a woman, a man finds himself blackmailed over the incident...
(1937) - Lucky JadeLucky JadeLucky Jade is a 1937 British comedy crime film directed by Walter Summers and starring Betty Ann Davies, John Warwick and Claire Arnold. A collector of jade has an accident leading to the theft of his valuable collection.-Cast:...
(1937) - PremierePremiere (film)Premiere is a 1938 British mystery film directed by Walter Summers and starring John Lodge, Judy Kelly, Joan Marion, Hugh Williams and Edward Chapman...
(1938) - Traitor SpyTraitor SpyTraitor Spy is a 1939 British mystery film directed by Walter Summers and starring Bruce Cabot, Marta Labarr, Tamara Desni and Edward Lexy. -Cast:* Bruce Cabot - Ted Healey* Marta Labarr - Freyda Healey* Tamara Desni - Marie Dufreyene...
(1939) - The Dark Eyes of London (1940)
- At the Villa RoseAt the Villa Rose (1940 film)At the Villa Rose is a 1940 British detective film directed by Walter Summers and based on the novel At the Villa Rose by A.E.W. Mason featuring the French detective Inspector Hanaud. The film is also known as House of Mystery...
(1940)
Writer
- If Four Walls ToldIf Four Walls ToldIf Four Walls Told is a 1922 British silent drama film directed by Fred Paul and starring Lillian Hall-Davis, Fred Paul and Campbell Gullan...
(1922) - The Right to StrikeThe Right to StrikeThe Right to Strike is a 1923 British silent drama film directed by Fred Paul and starring Lillian Hall-Davis, Fred Paul and Campbell Gullan. It was based on a play by Ernest Hutchinson.-Cast:* Lillian Hall-Davis - Mrs. Ormerod* Fred Paul - Dr. Wrigley...
(1923)