Stuart Walker

Educated at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, Stuart Walker was involved in many roles in the worlds of film and stage.A former stage actor before the 1930s, he began his brief film career in 1930 as a dialogue director for Walter Lang's Brothers (aka Blood Brothers) and Richard Boleslawsky's mystery Last of the Lone Wolf, both released by Columbia Pictures. In 1931, Walker began to direct films for both Paramount and Universal studios. His first film was The Secret Call, soon followed by The False Madonna (aka The False Idol) with its rather implausible story. The quality soon began to get better with Misleading Lady (1932) starring Claudette Colbert, the comedy Evenings for Sale (1932), and the film version of the Noel Coward play Tonight Is Ours (1932), also starring Colbert. The pacifist drama The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) is some of Walker's best work. Several routine assignments followed: White Woman (1933) with Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard; a comedy-romance about a tabloid newspaper-sponsored Cinderella and Prince Charming contest entitled Romance in the Rain (1934); and the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations (1934) with Henry Hull and Jane Wyatt. The next year saw the shooting of two excellent thrillers: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) with Claude Rains, and The Werewolf of London (aka Unholy Hour [1935]) with Henry Hull. Walker's last film as director was the drama Manhattan Moon (aka Sing Me a Love Song [1935]).In 1937, Walker switched roles again to act as producer for 12 films. The first three marked the beginning of the classic detective Bulldog Drummond series. These quick-paced, often humorous adventures included Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937) with Ray Milland, Bulldog Drummond's Revenge (1937) with John Howard, and Bulldog Drummond's Peril. Following this first series were three films on different subjects: Prison Farm (1938), Sons of the Legion (1938), and director Robert Florey's 1939 crime thriller Disbarred. The Bulldog Drummond series continued in 1939 with Arrest Bulldog Drummond, Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police, and Bulldog Drummond's Bride. Walker's final three films as producer were "death-dealing, thrill-chasing troubleshooters": the drama Emergency Squad (1940), the comedy-mystery Opened by Mistake, and the comedy-drama Seventeen (1940), starring Jackie Cooper, for which Walker also wrote the script based on his own stage play.