Biography
A former stage actor and director, Tim Whelan entered the movie business as a screenwriter in 1920, specializing in comedy with
Harold Lloyd. He became a director in the late '20s in England, and continued in this capacity, in a less distinguished manner, in Hollywood after the outbreak of World War II. His best films were all made under the auspices of Sir Alexander Korda's London Films, including the romantic comedy
The Divorce of Lady X (1938) with
Laurence Olivier and
Merle Oberon, the drama St. Martin's Lane (1938) with
Vivien Leigh,
Rex Harrison, and
Charles Laughton, the spy thriller Q Planes (1939) with
Laurence Olivier,
Ralph Richardson, and
Valerie Hobson, and the Arabian Nights fantasy
The Thief of Bagdad (1940) with
Sabu and
Conrad Veidt (co-directed with
Michael Powell and
Ludwig Berger). Whelan's most notable American film was the musical comedy
Higher and Higher (1943), which marked
Frank Sinatra's screen debut. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide