Biography
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. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Movie Guide