{{short description|American film director}} {{Infobox person | name = Walter Futter | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|01|02|df=y}} | birth_place = Omaha, Nebraska | death_date = {{Death date and age|1958|03|03|1900|01|02|df=y}} | death_place = New York City, New York | occupation = Film director, producer | yearsactive = }} '''Walter Futter''' (January 2, 1900 – March 3, 1958) was a film producer and director in the United States. After an initial career cutting and editing films, Futter began writing and producing his own shorts and movies, often using footage he acquired. He had success with ''Africa Speaks!'', a popular movie,<ref name="Rhodes p. 83" /> which combined Paul L. Hoefler's footage filmed in the field, staged scenes filmed in Los Angeles, and narration by Lowell Thomas.<ref name="Bernds p. 138">{{cite book|author=Edward Bernds|title=Mr. Bernds Goes to Hollywood: My Early Life and Career in Sound Recording at Columbia with Frank Capra and Others|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGQYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA138|date=April 29, 1999|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-1-4616-9708-4|pages=137–138}}</ref> He produced more than 250 short films, including series of shorts entitled ''Walter Futter's Traveloques'' and ''Walter Futter's Curiosities''. Hoot Gibson starred in a number of his western films. Another of his more than 50 longer films was ''Jericho'', also called ''Dark Sands''.
==Early life== Walter Futter was born January 2, 1900, in Omaha, Nebraska.<ref name="Vazzana">{{cite book|author=Eugene Michael Vazzana|title=Silent Film Necrology|year=2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-1059-0|page=185}}</ref><ref name="Prince">{{cite book|author=Cathryn Prince|title=American Daredevil: The Extraordinary Life of Richard Halliburton, the World's First Celebrity Travel Writer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mwfDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT124|date=1 June 2016|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-61373-162-8|page=PT124}}</ref> His parents, both born in Germany, were William and Elizabeth Futter. He had an older brother, Frederick.<ref>{{citation|title=Walter A. Futter, Omaha, Nebraska|work=United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900 |location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration.}}</ref> Futter attended University of Omaha.<ref name="Quigley">{{cite book|author=Eileen S. Quigley|title=Motion Picture Almanac|year=1957|publisher=Quigley Publishing Company|page=92}}</ref>
==Career== Futter moved to Hollywood, California and worked as a film cutter<ref name="Vazzana" /> at Goldwyn Studios.<ref name="Rogers" /> He then worked for Cosmopolitan Productions as an editor<ref name="Vazzana" /> in the 1920s. He worked on ''Janice Meredith'' and ''The Great White Way'' in 1924.<ref name="Pitts p. 142">{{cite book|author=Michael R. Pitts|title=Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8OSCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA142|date=25 July 2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-1036-8|page=142}}</ref> By 1926, he established the Futter Production Company and began producing films as well as buying and selling films.<ref name="Rogers">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/37411192/?terms=%2522Walter+Futter%2522 |title=The Worst Story I Have Ever Heard|first=Will|last=Rogers |date= September 2, 1926 |page=19 |newspaper= The Indianapolis News |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> His brother, Fred, joined him in creating a stock footage library called "Wafilms". They bought up bankrupt stock and film made by amateurs and the venture proved successful, earning them the nickname "the junk-men of filmdom".<ref name="Rhodes p. 83">{{cite book|author=Gary D. Rhodes|title=White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHApAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|date=1 March 2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0491-6|page=83}}</ref> Futter headed the firm Diversion Pictures, which had a library of 8mm and 16mm film and a reversible processing laboratory.<ref name="Pitts p. 142" />{{efn|Futter's brother, Fred, later ran the organization until it closed in 1960.<ref name="Pitts p. 142" />}} Beginning in 1925, he created more than 250 short films.<ref name="Quigley" />
{{quote box|align=right|width=33%|In ''Africa Speaks'' is to be found the all-talking celluloid record of the Colorado expedition's trip across the Congo. It is said to differ from all other films of its type inasmuch as it is not only a stirring jungle adventure but also an emotional romance of the lives, loves and hates between man and beast in a primitive land. The story stretches across the heart of the Congo, picturing weird customs, wild dances, age-old rituals to heathen gods and a panorama of heretofore hidden secrets of the dark continent.|—"In the Film Houses", ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', October 4, 1930<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88831989 |title=In the Film Houses|date= October 4, 1930|page=10|newspaper= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 25, 2018}}</ref>}}Futter made about 50 movies over the course of his career, including ''Africa Speaks!'' (1930) and ''India Speaks'' (1933).<ref name="Prince" /> Futter partnered with Paul L. Hoefler of the Colorado African Expedition to create ''Africa Speaks!'', a documentary film using footage from a 14 month expedition across Africa that covered 14,000 miles. It captured scenes and sounds of wildlife and religious rites and cultural practices of various peoples, like the Maasai and Iti tribes. Among the many animals captured in the documentary, Hoefler filmed lions hunting for food.<ref name="Pitts">{{cite book|author=Michael R. Pitts|title=Columbia Pictures Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928–1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKxN1as8XOMC&pg=PA3|date=13 September 2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5766-3|page=3}}</ref> Futter was writer, director, and editor of the film. In 1932, he released ''India Speaks'',<ref name="Pitts p. 142" /> starring world traveler and adventurer Richard Halliburton in which many of the scenes were shot at Yosemite and Griffith Park in California.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gerry Max|title=Horizon Chasers: The Lives and Adventures of Richard Halliburton and Paul Mooney|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8GE5v5jPtEC&pg=PA97|date=February 21, 2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2671-3|pages=97, 99–100}}</ref> {{external media | float = right | width = 36% | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezrYkjKY8Ps ''Walter Futter's Curiosities #1'' (1930)] }} Also in the early 1930s, he worked on two series of shorts, ''Walter Futter's Traveloques'' and ''Walter Futter's Curiosities'',<ref name="Pitts p. 142" /><ref name="Bradley2009">{{cite book|author=Edwin M. Bradley|title=The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926–1931|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7vwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|date=27 April 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0684-2|pages=146–}}</ref> showing unusual incidents that have occurred around the world.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/46261697/?terms=%2522Walter%252BFutter%2522 |title=Centre Theatre|date=November 10, 1930|page=16 |newspaper=The Ottawa Journal|via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 24, 2018}}</ref>
With Fenn Kimball, he produced ''Hong Kong Nights'' (1935).<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael R. Pitts|title=Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8OSCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA145|date=July 25, 2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-1036-8|page=157}}</ref> He produced the westerns ''The Riding Avenger'', ''Frontier Justice'',<ref name="Pitts pp. 144, 145">{{cite book|author=Michael R. Pitts|title=Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8OSCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA145|date=July 25, 2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-1036-8|pages=144, 145}}</ref> ''Lucky Terror'', ''Feud of the West'', ''Swifty'',<ref name=BFI>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1f1d398|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170530205033/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1f1d398|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 30, 2017|title=Walter Futter|website=BFI|accessdate=May 25, 2018}}</ref> and ''Cavalcade of the West'', all released in 1936 and starring Hoot Gibson.<ref name="Pitts pp. 144, 145" /><ref name=BFI /><ref name="Quigley" /> Paul Robeson, Wallace Ford, and Henry Wilcoxon starred in his film ''Dark Sands'', also called ''Jericho'' (1937), which was made in Britain.<ref name="Pitts p. 142" /><ref>{{cite book|author1=Charles Barr|author2=British Film Institute|title=All our yesterdays: 90 years of British cinéma|date=February 26, 1986|publisher=BFI Pub.|isbn=978-0-85170-179-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/allouryesterdays0000unse/page/401 401]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/allouryesterdays0000unse/page/401}}</ref> He also produced ''Fighting For the Fatherland'',<ref name="Quigley" /> ''The Black Doll'' (1938), ''White Sails'' (1939), and ''Monsieur Fabre'' (1951),<ref name=BFI /> a biographical film about Jean-Henri Fabre.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/381332298/?terms=%2522Walter%252BFutter%2522 |title=Edith Piaf Will Star in Kirkland Film Play; Keith Andes in Debut |date= October 4, 1951|page= 45 |newspaper= The Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 25, 2018}}</ref>
==Personal life== Futter married actress Adele Lacey in December 1937.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/289209865/?terms=%2522Walter%252BFutter%2522%252BAdele |title=Winchell Reports Troths and Rows|date=December 30, 1937|page= 7 |newspaper=Salt Lake Telegram |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> She died in Mexico City on July 3, 1953.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/221465906/?terms=%2522Adele%252BLacey%2522%252Bactress |title=Former Movie Actress Dies |date=July 9, 1953 |page=28 |newspaper= The Courier-News |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 24, 2018}}</ref> He married actress Betty Bartley in 1955. The following year, Bartley gave birth to a baby who lived only eight hours. Their marriage ended in 1956,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/179764502/?terms=Betty%252BBartley%252BFutter |title=Walter Winchell Says: Broadway Spotlight|date=June 8, 1956|page= 8 |newspaper= Clarion-Ledger |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> and they began divorce proceedings in 1957.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101071787/?terms=Betty%252BBartley%252BFutter |title=Walter Winchell|date=May 15, 1957| page= 25 | newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 23, 2018 }}</ref> He died on March 3, 1958, in New York,<ref name="Vazzana" /><ref name="Prince" /> while the couple was still separated.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/392266892/?terms=Betty%252BBartley%252BFutter |title=Death in Mystery Ends Marital Row|date=March 5, 1958|page= 3 |newspaper= Daily News |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==See also== *Goona-goona epic *Exploitation films
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Walter Futter}} *{{IMDb name|0299426}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Futter, Walter}} Category:1900 births Category:1958 deaths Category:Mass media people from Omaha, Nebraska Category:Film producers from Nebraska Category:American people of German descent Category:20th-century American writers Category:Film directors from Nebraska