Walter Lang
Encyclopedia
Walter Lang was an American
film director
.
. As a young man he went to New York City
where he found clerical work at a film production company
. The business piqued his artistic instincts and he began learning the various facets of filmmaking
and eventually worked as an assistant director. However, Lang also had ambitions to be a painter
and left the United States for a time to join the great gathering of artist
s and writers in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Things did not work out as Lang hoped and he eventually returned home and to the film business.
, The Red Kimona
. In the mid 1930s, he was hired by 20th Century Fox
where, as a director, he "painted" a number of the spectacular colorful musicals for which Fox Studios became famous for producing during the 1940s. One of Lang's most recognized films is his 1956 epic The King and I
for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Directing
.
when they were employed as Sennett Bathing Beauties in the late 1920s. Field's film career ended with the demise of Sennett's studio. However, she maintained her friendship with Lombard, and acted as Lombard's secretary until her marriage. She met Lang when he directed Lombard in Love Before Breakfast (1936).
and was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery
in Inglewood, California
.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Walter Lang has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6520 Hollywood Blvd.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Early life
Walter Lang was born in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. As a young man he went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he found clerical work at a film production company
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
. The business piqued his artistic instincts and he began learning the various facets of filmmaking
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
and eventually worked as an assistant director. However, Lang also had ambitions to be a painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and left the United States for a time to join the great gathering of artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s and writers in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Things did not work out as Lang hoped and he eventually returned home and to the film business.
Career
In 1926, Walter Lang directed his first silent filmSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
, The Red Kimona
The Red Kimona
The Red Kimona is a 1925 silent film drama about prostitution produced by Dorothy Davenport and starring Priscilla Bonner. The film is notable today for being one of the few independent productions produced and written by women. The film is based on a real case of prostitution that took place in...
. In the mid 1930s, he was hired by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
where, as a director, he "painted" a number of the spectacular colorful musicals for which Fox Studios became famous for producing during the 1940s. One of Lang's most recognized films is his 1956 epic The King and I
The King and I (1956 film)
The King and I is a 1956 musical film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Walter Lang and produced by Charles Brackett and Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I, based in turn on the book Anna and the King...
for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Directing
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
.
Personal life
Lang was married to Madalynne Field (1907–1974) from 1937 until his death. Field, a former actress, had met and befriended Carole LombardCarole Lombard
Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...
when they were employed as Sennett Bathing Beauties in the late 1920s. Field's film career ended with the demise of Sennett's studio. However, she maintained her friendship with Lombard, and acted as Lombard's secretary until her marriage. She met Lang when he directed Lombard in Love Before Breakfast (1936).
Death
Walter Lang died in 1972 in Palm Springs, CaliforniaPalm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
and was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery was founded in 1905 in Inglewood, California. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed here.-List of notable and celebrity interments at Inglewood Park:...
in Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Walter Lang has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6520 Hollywood Blvd.
Partial filmography
- The Red KimonaThe Red KimonaThe Red Kimona is a 1925 silent film drama about prostitution produced by Dorothy Davenport and starring Priscilla Bonner. The film is notable today for being one of the few independent productions produced and written by women. The film is based on a real case of prostitution that took place in...
(1925) - The Golden WebThe Golden WebThe Golden Web is a 1926 drama film directed by Walter Lang and featuring Boris Karloff.-Cast:* Lillian Rich - Ruth Rowan* Huntley Gordon - Roland Deane* Jay Hunt - John Rowan* Lawford Davidson - George Sisk* Boris Karloff - Dave Sinclair...
(1926) - The LadybirdThe LadybirdThe Ladybird is a long tale or novella by D. H. Lawrence.It was first drafted in 1915 as a short story entitled The Thimble. Lawrence rewrote and extended it under a new title in December 1921 and sent the final version to his English agent on 9 January 1922...
(1927) - The Night Flyer (1928)
- No More OrchidsNo More OrchidsNo More Orchids is a 1932 drama film starring Carole Lombard and Lyle Talbot as mismatched lovers, based on the novel of the same name by Grace Perkins.-Plot:...
(1932) - Meet the BaronMeet the BaronMeet the Baron is a comedy film starring Jack Pearl, Jimmy Durante, Edna May Oliver, Zasu Pitts, Ted Healy and the Three Stooges.-Plot:...
(1933) - The Mighty BarnumThe Mighty BarnumThe Mighty Barnum is a 1934 film starring Wallace Beery as P.T. Barnum. The movie was written by Gene Fowler and Bess Meredyth, and directed by Walter Lang. Beery had played Barnum four years earlier in A Lady's Morals, a highly fictionalized biography of singer Jenny Lind.-Cast:*Wallace Beery as...
(1934) - CarnivalCarnival (1935 film)Carnival is a 1935 American film directed by Walter Lang and starring Jimmy Durante, Lee Tracy, and Sally Eilers.The film also includes a young Lucille Ball in a small uncredited role as a nurse....
(1935) - Love Before BreakfastLove Before BreakfastLove Before Breakfast is a 1936 romantic comedy film starring Carole Lombard, Preston Foster, and Cesar Romero, based on Faith Baldwin's short story Spinster Dinner, published in International-Cosmopolitan in July 1934...
(1936) - Second HoneymoonSecond Honeymoon (film)Second Honeymoon is a 1937 romantic comedy film starring Tyrone Power and Loretta Young....
(1937) - The Little Princess (1939)
- Susannah of the MountiesSusannah of the MountiesSusannah of the Mounties is a novel written by Muriel Denison in 1936. In the book Susannah is sent to Regina, Saskatchewan to spend the summer with her uncle who is a Mountie...
(1939) - The Blue BirdThe Blue Bird (1940 film)The Blue Bird is a 1940 American fantasy film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Walter Bullock was adapted from the 1908 play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck...
(1940) - Tin Pan AlleyTin Pan Alley (film)Tin Pan Alley is a 1940 musical film starring Alice Faye and Betty Grable as vaudeville singers/sisters and John Payne and Jack Oakie as songwriters in the years before World War I.Alfred Newman received the 1940 Academy Award for his work on the film...
(1940) - Week-End in HavanaWeek-End in HavanaWeek-End in Havana is a 1941 Fox musical film directed by Walter Lang. The movie stars Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda. It was the second of three pictures the two stars made together and the second Faye film to have a Latin-American theme, typical for Fox musicals of the early 1940s...
(1941) - Moon Over MiamiMoon Over Miami (film)Moon Over Miami is a 1941 Technicolor musical film directed by Walter Lang, with Betty Grable and Don Ameche in leading roles and co-starring Robert Cummings, Carole Landis, Jack Haley, and Charlotte Greenwood. It was one of Haley's last appearances in a major, large-budgeted film; after 1943 he...
(1941) - Song of the IslandsSong of the IslandsSong of the Islands is a 1942 musical comedy film starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature. It was directed by Walter Lang and released through 20th Century Fox.-Plot:...
(1942) - Coney IslandConey Island (1943 film)Coney Island is a 1943 American Technicolor musical film released by Twentieth Century Fox and starring Betty Grable in one of her biggest hits. A "gay nineties" musical it also featured George Montgomery, Cesar Romero, and Phil Silvers, was choreographed by Hermes Pan, and was directed by Walter...
(1943) - State FairState Fair (1945 film)State Fair is a 1945 film directed by Walter Lang. The film a musical adaptation of the 1933 film of the same name, with original music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The film starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter and Charles Winninger...
(1945) - Sentimental JourneySentimental Journey (film)Sentimental Journey is a 1946 film directed by Walter Lang. It stars John Payne and Maureen O'Hara.-Cast:*John Payne as William O. Weatherly*Maureen O'Hara as Julie Beck / Weatherly*William Bendix as Donnelly aka Uncle Don...
(1946) - Mother Wore TightsMother Wore TightsMother Wore Tights is a 1947 musical film starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey as married vaudeville performers. This was Grable and Dailey's first film together, based on a book of the same name by Miriam Young. It was the highest grossing film of Grable's career up to that time, earning more...
(1947) - When My Baby Smiles at MeWhen My Baby Smiles at Me- Song :"When My Baby Smiles at Me", music by Bill Munro with words by Andrew B. Sterling and Ted Lewis, was published by Von Tilzer Publishing in 1920. It was the first big hit for clarinettist, vocalist and comedian Ted Lewis . Ted Lewis's jazz band recording in 1920, became his signature tune,...
(1948) - Sitting Pretty (1948)
- Cheaper by the DozenCheaper by the Dozen (1950 film)Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1950 film based upon the 1948 book Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. The film and book describe growing up in a family with twelve children in Montclair, New Jersey. It was made in Technicolor with Leon Shamroy as cinematographer...
(1950) - The JackpotThe JackpotThe Jackpot is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Walter Lang with James Stewart and Barbara Hale in the lead roles. It features a young Natalie Wood....
(1950) - On the RivieraOn the RivieraOn the Riviera is a 1951 musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Walter Lang, produced by Sol C. Siegel from a screenplay by Valentine Davies and Phoebe and Henry Ephron, based on the play The Red Cat by Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler, with dance sequences choreographed and...
(1951) - With a Song in My HeartWith a Song in My Heart (film)With a Song in My Heart is a 1952 biographical film which tells the story of actress and singer Jane Froman, who was crippled by an airplane crash on February 22, 1943, when the Boeing 314 Pan American Clipper flying boat she was on suffered a crash landing in the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal....
(1952) - Call Me MadamCall Me Madam (film)Call Me Madam is a 1953 musical film directed by Walter Lang, with songs by Irving Berlin, based on the stage musical of the same name.The film, with a screenplay by Arthur Sheekman, starred Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen, Billy DeWolfe, George Sanders, and Walter Slezak...
(1953) - There's No Business Like Show BusinessThere's No Business Like Show Business (film)There's No Business Like Show Business is a 20th Century Fox musical film that was released on December 16, 1954. The title is borrowed from the famous song in the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun....
(1954) - The King and IThe King and I (1956 film)The King and I is a 1956 musical film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Walter Lang and produced by Charles Brackett and Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I, based in turn on the book Anna and the King...
(1956) - Desk SetDesk SetDesk Set is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn...
(1957) - But Not for MeBut Not for Me (film)But Not for Me is a 1959 Paramount Pictures comedy film starring Clark Gable and Carroll Baker. It is based on the play Accent on Youth written by Samson Raphaelson.-Cast:*Clark Gable ... Russell 'Russ' Ward*Carroll Baker ... Ellie Brown / Borden...
(1959) - Can-CanCan-Can (film)Can-Can is a 1960 musical film made by Suffolk-Cummings productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Walter Lang, produced by Jack Cummings and Saul Chaplin, from a screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley and Charles Lederer, loosely based on the musical play by Abe Burrows with music...
(1960) - The Marriage-Go-RoundThe Marriage-Go-RoundThe Marriage-Go-Round is a 1958 play written by Leslie Stevens and a 1961 film adaptation also written and produced by Stevens. It was inspired by a suggestion that dancer Isadora Duncan supposedly made to playwright George Bernard Shaw: the two of them should have a child because "with your mind...
(1961) - Snow White and the Three StoogesSnow White and the Three StoogesSnow White and the Three Stooges is the second feature film to star the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita . Released by 20th Century Fox, this was the trio's take on the classic fairy tale Snow White...
(1961)