William Berke
William Berke | |
---|---|
Born | Milwaukee, United States | October 3, 1903
Died | February 15, 1958 Los Angeles, United States | (aged 54)
Occupation(s) | Film director, film producer, actor, screenwriter |
Years active | 1922–1958 |
William A. Berke (October 3, 1903 – February 15, 1958) was an American film director, producer, actor and screenwriter.[1] He directed nearly 90 films between 1934 and 1958. He also produced nearly 80 films between 1933 and 1958. He was born in Milwaukee and died in Los Angeles.
Richard Fleischer later recalled Berke "was known as King of the B's. For years and years he had made nothing but pictures with ten or twelve day shooting schedules, minuscule budgets of about $100,000 and no stars. Without bothering with editing or any postproduction chores and with short shooting schedules, he was able to squeeze in eight or ten pictures a year. And he was going nuts".[2] According to Fleischer, Berke eventually pestered RKO executives enough to be assigned an A picture with a long shooting schedule and stars and he still shot it in twelve days.[2]
Partial filmography
- The Double O (1921)
- The Firebrand (1922)
- The Crow's Nest (1922)
- Barb Wire (1922)
- Back Fire (1922)
- The Forbidden Trail (1923)
- Gallopin' Through (1923)
- Wolf Tracks (1923)
- Gentle Julia (1923) (actor)
- Flashing Spurs (1924)
- Trigger Fingers (1924)
- The Hellion (1924) (actor)
- Galloping Vengeance (1925) (writer)
- Hard Fists (1927) (writer)
- Rough and Ready (1927) (writer)
- Desert Dust (1927) (writer)
- The Fighting Three (1927) (writer)
- The Golden Stallion (1927) (story by)
- Straight Shootin' (1927) (story by)
- The Flaming Signal (1933) (producer)
- The Woman Who Dared (1933) (produced by)
- Social Error (1935) (producer)
- Aces Wild (1936) (producer)
- Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941) (producer)
- The Lone Prairie (1942) (director)
- Frontier Fury (1943) (director)
- Tornado (1943) (director)
- The Fighting Buckaroo (1943) (director)
- Minesweeper (1943) (director)
- Hail to the Rangers (1943) (director)
- Dangerous Passage (1944) (director)
- Riding West (1944) (director)
- Sailor's Holiday (1944) (director)
- Betrayal from the East (1945) (director)
- High Powered (1945) (director)
- Dick Tracy (1945) (director)
- The Falcon's Alibi (1946) (producer)
- Shoot to Kill (1947) (director and producer)
- Jungle Jim (1949)
- On the Isle of Samoa (1950) (director)
- The Bandit Queen (1950) (director and producer)
- I Shot Billy the Kid (1950) (director)
- Law of the Northwest (1951)
- FBI Girl (1951) (director and producer)
- Kaadu (The Jungle) (1952) (director and producer)
- Four Boys and a Gun (1957)
- Street of Sinners (1957)
- Island Women (1958)
- Cop Hater (1958) (director and producer)
- The Mugger (1958) (director and producer)
References
- ^ "William Berke". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ^ a b Fleischer, Richard (1993). Just Tell Me When to Cry: A Memoir. Carroll and Graf. p. 47. ISBN 9780881849448.
External links
- 1903 births
- 1958 deaths
- Film directors from Wisconsin
- American male screenwriters
- Male actors from Milwaukee
- American male film actors
- American male silent film actors
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- Screenwriters from Wisconsin
- Film producers from Wisconsin
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American screenwriters
- 20th-century American male actors