Walter Lang

Director
Walter Lang

About

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Birth Place
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Born
August 10, 1898
Died
February 07, 1972
Cause of Death
Kidney Ailment

Biography

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While many artists develop passion for their craft following years of work and dedication, influential director Walter Lang discovered filmmaking almost on a whim. After moving from his hometown of Memphis to New York City, he found a temporary office position in a film production company and became fascinated by the creative energy surrounding him. Lang learned all aspects of filmmaking...

Filmography

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Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961)
Director
The Marriage-Go-Round (1960)
Director
Can-Can (1960)
Director
But Not for Me (1959)
Director
Desk Set (1957)
Director
The King and I (1956)
Director

Photos & Videos

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No More Orchids - Behind-the-Scenes Photo
1 Photo
Blue Bird, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) It's Against The Law!
0 Photos
0 Photos
Blue Bird, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) I Always Knew You Were A Fool!

Family & Companions

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Madelayne Fields
Wife
Actor, private secretary to Carole Lombard. Married 1937; met Lombard when both worked at Mack Sennett's comedy studio c. 1926.

Biography

While many artists develop passion for their craft following years of work and dedication, influential director Walter Lang discovered filmmaking almost on a whim. After moving from his hometown of Memphis to New York City, he found a temporary office position in a film production company and became fascinated by the creative energy surrounding him. Lang learned all aspects of filmmaking by immersing himself in conversations with talented producers, writers and directors until he landed his first assistant directing job. Despite a quick career shift--he moved to Paris to try his hand at painting--Lang returned to the film industry and directed several silent films before being discovered by 20th Century Fox. Before becoming one of Hollywood's go-to directors for musicals, Lang directed pop-culture icon Shirley Temple in the 1939 boarding school drama "The Little Princess." His artistic eye helped him visualize elaborate sets and sequences for his large-scale directorial projects, including the acclaimed musicals "Tin Pan Alley" and "Coney Island" starring Betty Grable, who went on record calling Lang a true gentleman. Perhaps Lang's best-known film was the sweeping 1956 musical "The King and I," starring Yul Brynner in an Oscar-winning role and earning Lang his first and only Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961)
Director
The Marriage-Go-Round (1960)
Director
Can-Can (1960)
Director
But Not for Me (1959)
Director
Desk Set (1957)
Director
The King and I (1956)
Director
There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
Director
Call Me Madam (1953)
Director
With a Song in My Heart (1952)
Director
On the Riviera (1951)
Director
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
Director
The Jackpot (1950)
Director
You're My Everything (1949)
Director
Sitting Pretty (1948)
Director
When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948)
Director
Mother Wore Tights (1947)
Director
Sentimental Journey (1946)
Director
Claudia and David (1946)
Director
State Fair (1945)
Director
Greenwich Village (1944)
Director
Coney Island (1943)
Director
The Magnificent Dope (1942)
Director
Song of the Islands (1942)
Director
Moon Over Miami (1941)
Director
Week-End in Havana (1941)
Director
The Great Profile (1940)
Director
Tin Pan Alley (1940)
Director
Star Dust (1940)
Director
The Blue Bird (1940)
Director
Susannah of the Mounties (1939)
Director
The Little Princess (1939)
Director
I'll Give a Million (1938)
Director
The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
Director
Top of the Town (1937)
Director
Wife, Doctor and Nurse (1937)
Director
Second Honeymoon (1937)
Director
Love Before Breakfast (1936)
Director
Hooray for Love (1935)
Director
Carnival (1935)
Director
Whom the Gods Destroy (1934)
Director
The Mighty Barnum (1934)
Director
The Party's Over (1934)
Director
The Warrior's Husband (1933)
Director
Meet the Baron (1933)
Director
No More Orchids (1932)
Director
Women Go on Forever (1931)
Director
Command Performance (1931)
Director
Hell Bound (1931)
Director
Cock o' the Walk (1930)
Director
The Costello Case (1930)
Director
The Big Fight (1930)
Director
Hello Sister (1930)
Director
Brothers (1930)
Director
The Spirit of Youth (1929)
Director
The Desert Bride (1928)
Director
The Night Flyer (1928)
Director
The Ladybird (1927)
Director
The College Hero (1927)
Director
The Satin Woman (1927)
Director
By Whose Hand? (1927)
Director
Sally in Our Alley (1927)
Director
Money To Burn (1926)
Director
The Golden Web (1926)
Director
The Earth Woman (1926)
Director
Red Kimono (1925)
Director
As a Man Lives (1923)
Assistant Director

Cast (Feature Film)

Auntie Lee's Meat Pies (1992)
Rich Girl (1991)
The Big Show (1957)
Lady Tubbs (1935)
George
A Romance of the Redwoods (1917)
The sheriff

Cinematography (Feature Film)

Amor in montagna (1932)
Photography

Writer (Feature Film)

Racetrack (1933)
Adaptation
The Satin Woman (1927)
Scen
The Satin Woman (1927)
Story

Art Director (Feature Film)

The Carnival Girl (1926)
Tech Director

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

False Identity (1990)
Stand-In
Tap (1989)
Other

Cast (Special)

Chimp Lips Theater (1997)
Voice

Life Events

Photo Collections

 
1 Photo
No More Orchids - Behind-the-Scenes Photo
No More Orchids - Behind-the-Scenes Photo

Videos

Movie Clip

Blue Bird, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) It's Against The Law! Opening in black & white from a Maurice Maeterlinck fantasy (thus seen as similar to the previous year’s The Wizard Of Oz), Shirley Temple and little bro Johnny Russell are woodcutters’ kids seeking a precious bird, Sybil Jason their bothersome friend, in 20th Century-Fox’s The Blue Bird, 1940.
Blue Bird, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) I Always Knew You Were A Fool! Just now transformed from the family cat and dog, Gale Sondergaard and Eddie Collins don’t agree on whether to aid the children (Shirley Temple as Mytyl, Johnny Russell as Tyltyl), guided by the spirit “Light” (Helen Ericson), in their search, in The Blue Bird, 1940, from a Maurice Maeterlinck story.
Blue Bird, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) Lay-Dee-O Now in a dream in Technicolor having found their deceased grandparents (Cecilia Loftus, Al Shean) in their search for a certain bird of happiness, Shirley Temple as Mytyl (Johnny Russell as littler Tyltyl) offers her only song in the picture, a traditional, in 20th Century-Fox’s The Blue Bird, 1940.
Moon Over Miami (1941) -- (Movie Clip) You Started Something A duet with Robert Cummings to You Started Something by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger sets up a Betty Grable tap number with the brilliant Condos Brothers, in Moon Over Miami, 1941, from 20th Century Fox.
Moon Over Miami (1941) -- (Movie Clip) What Can I Do For You? Cute car-hops in buckskin, sisters Kay (Betty Grable) and Barbara (Carole Landis) are expecting a letter about an inheritance, in the opening scene from Moon Over Miami, 1941.
Moon Over Miami (1941) -- (Movie Clip) Is That Good? Dismissing the principals (Betty Grable, Robert Cummings, Carole Landis, Don Ameche), supporting players Jack Haley and Charlotte Greenwood perform Is That Good?, by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger in Moon Over Miami, 1941.
Cheaper By The Dozen (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Family Council At the new Gilbreth family home in New Jersey, father Frank (Clifton Webb) chairs a meeting, wife Lillian (Myrna Loy) in support, eldest Ann (Jeanne Crain) and young Frank (Norman Ollestad) particularly interested, in 20th Century Fox's Cheaper By The Dozen, 1950.
Cheaper By The Dozen (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Local Anesthetic Montclair, NJ, 1921, efficiency expert and father of 12 Frank (Clifton Webb) overseeing tonsil removal at home for the whole family, filming for training purposes, wife Lillian (Myrna Loy) and doc (Edgar Buchanan) not quite on board, daughter (Jeanne Crain) narrating, in Cheaper By The Dozen, 1950.
Cheaper By The Dozen (1950) -- (Movie Clip) This Is Providence Jeanne Crain narrating in the voice of the original co-author Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, introducing first her father (and co-author) Frank (Clifton Webb) then the whole brood especially Myrna Loy as mother Lillian, in the 20th Century Fox hit Cheaper By The Dozen, 1950.
Love Before Breakfast (1936) -- (Movie Clip) She Ran After An Old Airedale Engaged New Yorkers Kay (Carole Lombard) and Bill (Cesar Romero), introduced here, have no idea that zillionaire Scott (Preston Foster) is behind the job offer that’s got him rushing for the boat to Japan, all meeting with the kooky countess (Betty Lawford) at the pier, early in Love Before Breakfast, 1936.
Love Before Breakfast (1936) -- (Movie Clip) Where'd You Get This Blue Eye? Carole Lombard as socialite Kay was accidentally clobbered by her rich suitor Scott (Preston Foster) the night before, so she visits Charles (George Andre Beranger) at the salon, only to find he?s not given up, in Universal?s Love Before Breakfast, 1936.
Love Before Breakfast (1936) -- (Movie Clip) Is That A Name Or A Condition? Another big outfit for Carole Lomard, as society gal Kay, with her mother (Janet Beecher), who is sort of supporting Scott (Preston Foster), her rich and rejected would-be boyfriend, who has already intercepted her date Stu (Don Briggs), in Love Before Breakfast, 1936.

Trailer

Cheaper By The Dozen - (Black-and-white trailer) Clifton Webb stars as a pioneering efficiency expert who tests his theories on his large family in Cheaper By The Dozen (1950).

Family

W Richard Lang Jr
Son
Director.

Companions

Madelayne Fields
Wife
Actor, private secretary to Carole Lombard. Married 1937; met Lombard when both worked at Mack Sennett's comedy studio c. 1926.

Bibliography

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