Walter Forde (born Thomas Seymour Woolford, 21 April 1898 – 7 January 1984) was a British

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. Born in Lambeth, south London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

through to 1949 in the

sound era A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

. He died in Los Angeles, California in 1984. Forde was the son of the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

comedian Tom Seymour. During the 1920s, he was a silent film comedian, acting in a series of shorts before shifting into directing feature films. Emerging as an established film director in the 1930s, he directed films for

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

and

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

Filmography

Actor

*''Walter Finds a Father'', extant *''Walter Wants Work'', extant in the Huntley Archives *''Walter's Day Out''

Actor

*''Walter The Sleuth 1926'',

Director

* ''

What Next? ''What Next?'' is a 1928 British silent comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Forde, Pauline Johnson and Frank Stanmore. It was made at Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames. There is a copy held at the BFI archive. Premise A ma ...

'' (1928) * '' Wait and See'' (1929) * '' The Silent House'' (1929) * '' Would You Believe It?'' (1929) * ''

Red Pearls ''Red Pearls'' is a 1930 British silent crime film directed by Walter Forde and starring Lillian Rich, Frank Perfitt and Arthur Pusey. It was made at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton. It was based on the novel ''Nearer! Nearer! '' by J. Rando ...

'' (1930) * ''

Bed and Breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

'' (1930) * ''

Lord Richard in the Pantry ''Lord Richard in the Pantry '' is a 1930 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Richard Cooper, Dorothy Seacombe and Marjorie Hume. No print of the film is known to exist, and it is included on the British Film Institute's ...

'' (1930) * '' The Last Hour'' (1930) * '' You'd Be Surprised!'' (1930) * '' Third Time Lucky'' (1931) * '' The Ringer'' (1931) * ''

Splinters in the Navy ''Splinters in the Navy'' is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Sydney Howard, Alf Goddard, and Helena Pickard. The film was made at Twickenham Studios, and is a sequel to the film '' Splinters'' (1929), about an a ...

'' (1931) * '' The Ghost Train'' (1931) * ''

Condemned to Death ''Condemned to Death'' is a 1932 British crime film directed by Walter Forde and starring Arthur Wontner, Gillian Lind and Gordon Harker. It was adapted from the play ''Jack O'Lantern'' by James Dawson which was itself based on a 1929 novel by ...

'' (1932) * ''

Lord Babs ''Lord Babs'' is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Bobby Howes, Jean Colin and Pat Paterson. It was based on the 1925 play of the same title by Keble Howard. It was once believed to be a lost film, but was redis ...

'' (1932) * ''

Jack's the Boy ''Jack's the Boy'' is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, Francis Lister and Peter Gawthorne. It became well known for its song "The Flies Crawled Up the Window", sung by Hulbert, wh ...

'' (1932) * ''

Rome Express ''Rome Express'' is a 1932 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Esther Ralston and Conrad Veidt. Based on a story by Clifford Grey, with a screenplay by Sidney Gilliat, the film is a tale about a European express train ...

'' (1932) * ''

Orders Is Orders ''Orders Is Orders'' is a 1933 British comedy film starring Charlotte Greenwood, James Gleason and Cyril Maude about an American film crew who move into a British army barracks to start making a film, much to the commander's horror. Much of the ...

'' (1933) * ''

Jack Ahoy ''Jack Ahoy'' is a 1934 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Jack Hulbert, Nancy O'Neil, Alfred Drayton and Sam Wilkinson. Its plot follows a humble seaman falls in love with an Admiral's daughter, whilst trying to battle Ch ...

'' (1934) * ''

Chu Chin Chow ''Chu Chin Chow'' is a musical comedy written, produced and directed by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, based (with minor embellishments) on the story of ''Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves''. Gänzl, Kurt"''Chu Chin Chow'' Musical Tale of ...

'' (1934) * ''

Bulldog Jack ''Bulldog Jack'' (released as ''Alias Bulldog Drummond'' in the USA) is a 1935 British film produced by Gaumont British, directed by Walter Forde, and starring Jack Hulbert, Fay Wray, Ralph Richardson and Atholl Fleming. The film was followed b ...

'' (1935) * ''

Forever England ''Brown on Resolution'' (US title: ''Born for Glory''; UK re-issue title: ''Forever England'') is a 1935 film adaptation of the 1929 C. S. Forester novel '' Brown on Resolution'', with John Mills in his first lead role playing the title role. ...

'' (1935) * ''

King of the Damned ''King of the Damned'' is a 1935 British prison film directed by Walter Forde and starring Conrad Veidt, Helen Vinson, Noah Beery and Cecil Ramage. Plot summary Convict 83 is a prisoner on an island, where the harsh regime of the Governor push ...

'' (1935) * ''

Land Without Music ''Land Without Music'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Richard Tauber, Diana Napier and Jimmy Durante. It was made at Denham Studios. The film was one of a number of operetta films made in Britain during the ...

'' (1936) * ''

Kicking the Moon Around ''Kicking the Moon Around'' is a 1938 British musical comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Bert Ambrose, Evelyn Dall and Harry Richman. The film marked Maureen O'Hara's screen debut; she appeared very briefly, speaking one line. ...

'' (1938) * ''

The Gaunt Stranger ''The Gaunt Stranger'' (released as ''The Phantom Strikes'' in the US) is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Walter Forde. It stars Sonnie Hale, Wilfrid Lawson and Alexander Knox. Plot A notorious killer, long believed to have ...

'' (1938) * ''

Let's Be Famous ''Let's Be Famous'' is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Jimmy O'Dea, Betty Driver and Sonnie Hale. It was made by Associated Talking Pictures, with shooting beginning in November 1938.Wood p. 98 The film's art dir ...

'' (1939) * '' The Four Just Men'' (1939) * ''

Cheer Boys Cheer ''Cheer Boys Cheer'' is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Nova Pilbeam, Edmund Gwenn, Jimmy O'Dea, Graham Moffatt, Moore Marriott and Peter Coke. Plot Edward Ironside (Edmund Gwenn), the head of Ironside Brewer ...

'' (1939) * ''

Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday ''Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday'' is a 1939 British detective film directed by Walter Forde and starring Gordon Harker, Alastair Sim and Linden Travers. It is the sequel to the 1938 film ''Inspector Hornleigh'', and both films are based on the ...

'' (1939) * ''

Saloon Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

'' (1940) * ''

Sailors Three ''Sailors Three'' (released in the US as ''Three Cockeyed Sailors'') is a 1940 British war comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Tommy Trinder, Claude Hulbert and Carla Lehmann. This was cockney music hall comedian Trinder's debut ...

'' (1940) * ''

Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt ''Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt'' is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde, starring Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch as Oxford 'scholars'. The film is one of many to be based on the 1892 Victorian farce ''Charley's Aunt'' by Brando ...

'' (1940) * ''

Atlantic Ferry ''Atlantic Ferry'' (alternate U.S. title: ''Sons of the Sea'') is a 1941 British film directed by Walter Forde and starring Michael Redgrave and Valerie Hobson. It was made at Teddington Studios. Plot In 1837 Liverpool, brothers Charles and ...

'' (1941) * '' The Ghost Train'' (1941) * '' Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It'' (1941) * '' Go to Blazes'' (1942, short) * ''

The Peterville Diamond ''The Peterville Diamond'' is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Anne Crawford, Donald Stewart and Renee Houston. It is also known by the alternative title ''Jewel Robbery''. - from the 1931 play of the same title; ...

'' (1942) * ''

Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

'' (1942) * ''

It's That Man Again ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other cha ...

'' (1943) * ''

Time Flies Time Flies may refer to: * '' Tempus fugit'', a Latin phrase usually translated as "time flies"; an admonition against procrastination Film * ''Time Flies'' (1944 film), a British comedy directed by Walter Forde * ''Time Flies'' (2013 film), a ...

'' (1944) * '' One Exciting Night'' (1944) * ''

Master of Bankdam ''Master of Bankdam'' (called ''The Master of Bankdam'' in its own credits) is a 1947 British historical film directed by Walter Forde and based on the 1940 novel ''The Crowthers of Bankdam'' by Thomas Armstrong. It stars Anne Crawford, Dennis ...

'' (1947) * ''

Cardboard Cavalier ''Cardboard Cavalier'' is a 1948 British historical comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Sid Field, Margaret Lockwood and Jerry Desmonde. It was the last film for Forde and Field. Field died of a heart attack shortly after the f ...

'' (1949)

References

Bibliography

* Hunter, I.Q. & Porter, Laraine. ''British Comedy Cinema''. Routledge, 2012.

External links

*
''Walter Forde'' at BFI Screenonline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forde, Walter 1898 births 1984 deaths English film directors English male silent film actors Male actors from Bradford English male film actors 20th-century English male actors Film people from Yorkshire