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, which combined

Paul L. Hoefler Paul Louis Hoefler (1893–1982) was a photographer, reporter and cinematographer who filmed wildlife and tribal scenes in Africa that were used in the popular documentary film ''Africa Speaks! ''Africa Speaks!'' is a 1930 American documentary ...

's footage filmed in the field, staged scenes filmed in Los Angeles, and narration by Lowell Thomas. 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. His parents, both born in Germany, were William and Elizabeth Futter. He had an older brother, Frederick. Futter attended University of Omaha.

Career

Futter moved to Hollywood, California and worked as a film cutter at Goldwyn Studios. He then worked for

Cosmopolitan Productions Cosmopolitan Productions, also often referred to as Cosmopolitan Pictures, was an American film company based in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United State ...

as an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, ...

in the 1920s. He worked on ''

Janice Meredith ''Janice Meredith'', also known as ''The Beautiful Rebel'', is a silent film starring Marion Davies, released in 1924 and based on the book and play of the same name written by Paul Leicester Ford and Edward Everett Rose. The play opened at the ...

'' and ''

The Great White Way Broadway () is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from State Street at Bowling Green for through the borough of Manhattan and through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional through the Westc ...

'' in 1924. By 1926, he established the Futter Production Company and began producing films as well as buying and selling films. 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". Futter headed the firm Diversion Pictures, which had a library of 8mm and 16mm film and a reversible processing laboratory. Beginning in 1925, he created more than 250 short films. Futter made about 50 movies over the course of his career, including '' Africa Speaks!'' (1930) and '' India Speaks'' (1933). Futter partnered with

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. Futter was writer, director, and editor of the film. In 1932, he released ''India Speaks'', in which many of the scenes were shot at Yosemite and

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the A ...

in California. Also in the early 1930s, he worked on two series of shorts, ''Walter Futter's Traveloques'' and ''Walter Futter's Curiosities'', showing unusual incidents that have occurred around the world. With Fenn Kimball, he produced '' Hong Kong Nights'' (1935). He produced the westerns ''The Riding Avenger'', ''Frontier Justice'', ''

Lucky Terror ''Lucky Terror'' is a 1936 American Western film directed by Alan James. Plot summary Cast * Hoot Gibson as Lucky Carson aka The Lucky Terror * Charles Hill as Doc Halliday *Lona Andre as Ann Thornton aka Madame Fatima * George Chesebr ...

'', '' Feud of the West'', ''Swifty'', and '' Cavalcade of the West'', all released in 1936 and starring Hoot Gibson. Paul Robeson, Wallace Ford, and Henry Wilcoxon starred in his film '' Dark Sands'', also called '' Jericho'' (1937), which was made in Britain. He also produced ''Fighting For the Fatherland'', ''The Black Doll'' (1938), ''White Sails'' (1939), and ''

Monsieur Fabre ''Monsieur Fabre'' (''Mr Fabre'') is a 90-minute black and white French film comedy from 1951, directed by Henri Diamant-Berger and produced by Diamant-Berger and Walter Futter. It was on 35mm film, in 1,37:1 format, with monophonic sound. It wa ...

'' (1951), a biographical film about Jean-Henri Fabre.

Personal life

Futter married actress Adele Lacey in December 1937. She died in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

on July 3, 1953. 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, and they began divorce proceedings in 1957. He died on March 3, 1958, in New York, while the couple was still separated.

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