Walter Futter

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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,[1] which combined Paul L. Hoefler's footage filmed in the field, staged scenes filmed in Los Angeles, and narration by Lowell Thomas.[2] 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.

University of Omaha.[6]

Career

Futter moved to

editor[3] in the 1920s. He worked on Janice Meredith and The Great White Way in 1924.[8] By 1926, he established the Futter Production Company and began producing films as well as buying and selling films.[7] 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".[1] Futter headed the firm Diversion Pictures, which had a library of 8mm and 16mm film and a reversible processing laboratory.[8][a] Beginning in 1925, he created more than 250 short films.[6]

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[9]

Futter made about 50 movies over the course of his career, including

Yosemite and Griffith Park in California.[11]

External videos
video icon 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,[8][12] showing unusual incidents that have occurred around the world.[13]

With Fenn Kimball, he produced

Dark Sands, also called Jericho (1937), which was made in Britain.[8][17] He also produced Fighting For the Fatherland,[6] The Black Doll (1938), White Sails (1939), and Monsieur Fabre (1951),[16] a biographical film about Jean-Henri Fabre.[18]

Personal life

Futter married actress Adele Lacey in December 1937.[19] She died in Mexico City on July 3, 1953.[20] 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,[21] and they began divorce proceedings in 1957.[22] He died on March 3, 1958, in New York,[3][4] while the couple was still separated.[23]

Notes

  1. ^ Futter's brother, Fred, later ran the organization until it closed in 1960.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4766-0491-6
    .
  2. ISBN 978-1-4616-9708-4
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7864-1059-0
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-61373-162-8
    .
  5. ^ "Walter A. Futter, Omaha, Nebraska", United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
  6. ^ a b c d Eileen S. Quigley (1957). Motion Picture Almanac. Quigley Publishing Company. p. 92.
  7. ^ a b Rogers, Will (September 2, 1926). "The Worst Story I Have Ever Heard". The Indianapolis News. p. 19. Retrieved May 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4766-1036-8
    .
  9. ^ "In the Film Houses". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 4, 1930. p. 10. Retrieved May 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ISBN 978-0-7864-5766-3
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-7864-2671-3
    .
  12. ISBN 978-1-4766-0684-2
    .
  13. ^ "Centre Theatre". The Ottawa Journal. November 10, 1930. p. 16. Retrieved May 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ISBN 978-1-4766-1036-8
    .
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4766-1036-8
    .
  16. ^ a b c "Walter Futter". BFI. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  17. ISBN 978-0-85170-179-0
    .
  18. ^ "Edith Piaf Will Star in Kirkland Film Play; Keith Andes in Debut". The Los Angeles Times. October 4, 1951. p. 45. Retrieved May 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Winchell Reports Troths and Rows". Salt Lake Telegram. December 30, 1937. p. 7. Retrieved May 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Former Movie Actress Dies". The Courier-News. July 9, 1953. p. 28. Retrieved May 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Walter Winchell Says: Broadway Spotlight". Clarion-Ledger. June 8, 1956. p. 8. Retrieved May 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Walter Winchell". The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 15, 1957. p. 25. Retrieved May 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Death in Mystery Ends Marital Row". Daily News. March 5, 1958. p. 3. Retrieved May 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

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