H.M. Walker Trailers
Wonder Dogs! Canine Stars of the Silent Era (1898-1928) TrailerPublic Ghost # 1 TrailerThem Thar Hills Trailer
WALKER, H.M. (Harley Marquis Walker) started as a telegrapher, tapping out the descriptions of sportswriters at boxing matches and sending them to the offices of their newspapers. In 1903 he became a sportswriter himself and wrote a column, “The Wisdom of Blinkey Ben,” for the Los Angeles Examiner before joining Roach in 1917 as a part-time scenario and title writer for Harold Lloyd. In 1920, he left newspaper work and joined Roach full time as head of the editorial department. A brilliant title writer in the silent era, Walker was less skilled at dialogue; he was credited for providing these elements on more than 350 Roach comedies. He usually came up with the title for each film and also wrote fairly severe critiques after each preview. After leaving Roach in 1932 he wrote dialogue for some features, including Son of a Sailor (1933) with Joe E. Brown, W.C. Fields’ The Old Fashioned Way (1934), and the ZaSu Pitts picture Affair of Susan (1935). Walker died in the home of his good friend Leroy Shield, who had written scores at the Roach lot in 1930 and ’31. Died June 23, 1937, Chicago, Illinois, age 58; of a heart attack.
Harley M. "Beanie" Walker (June 27, 1878 – June 23, 1937) was a member of the Hal Roach movie production company from 1916 until his resignation in 1932. The title cards he wrote for Harold Lloyd, Charley Chase, Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy comedies "have entered legend, both for silent films, and as opening remarks for the earlier talkies." He was also an officer of the Roach Studio corporation.
On Roach's "Lot of Fun", script development usually started with meetings among the gag men, who would develop what was known as an "action script": the outline of the story and a description of the scenes and some of the sight gags, which generally would run three to six legal-size pages. This document would then pass to Walker, the head of the editorial department, which oversaw not only script editing, but film editing as well. Walker usually came up with the title of each film, wrote "brilliantly witty" title cards which would be produced and inserted into the film, and wrote a critique before the picture went out to the distributors, Pathé Exchange, or later, M-G-M.
Walker's writing did not transition well to talkies and by 1931 he had left Roach studio and wrote dialogue for comedies produced by ex-Roach general manager Warren Doane at Universal Pictures. Later, he worked at Paramount Pictures, where he contributed to the W. C. Fields picture The Old Fashioned Way (1934).
Most Popular H.M. Walker Trailers
Total trailers found: 194
26 November 1922
Country doctor Jack Jackson is called in to treat the Sick-Little-Well-Girl, who has been making Dr. Saulsbourg and his sanitarium very rich after years of unsuccessful treatment.
06 January 1918
A short film starring Harold Lloyd.
24 February 1918
Harold Lloyd starred in the successful Lonesome Luke series. However, he soon grew tired of the obvious Charlie Chaplin imitation.
10 December 1927
One of many LOST MGM silent films.
11 October 1929
With Wheezer's new baby brother getting all the attention, he tries to send the baby back.
25 January 1930
The gang is participating in a program sponsored by the Golden Age Dramatic League. They present their own fractured version of Quo Vadis.
18 March 1932
Thelma and Zasu go to a Turkish bath to try to get rid of a cold.
04 June 1932
Thelma and Zazu are on a leisurely excursion in a borrowed car. Thelma lets Zazu drive. When she brakes to avoid a bull pulled along by three rustics, her foot gets stuck and the car crashes through a barn.
17 August 1919
Chop Suey & Co. is a 1919 American short comedy film
26 December 1920
While at an amusement park, trying vainly to forget the girl he has lost, a young man sees the girl with her new boyfriend.
14 June 1930
The king is a juvenile dolt who tries the patience of the shrewish queen. While she's in the throne room awaiting him, he's outside playing with guns, drilling his soldiers, and dallying with the wife of a new minister.
15 January 1928
This western comedy is about rancher Finlayson's beautiful daughter, Martha Sleeper, who refuses to marry the bad guy and how Jimmy and dimwitted cowhand Stan bumble their way into a successful defense of her and the ranch.
24 August 1919
Harold and Snub, camping in the wilds, prove too much for the Indians that take them captive.
18 July 1926
The kids from Our Gang have to attend a wedding, and they bring along their flea collection--which gets loose.
31 August 1919
Harold and his rival fight over Bebe on her birthday, first at her home and then at a nearby skating rink.
14 February 1931
Miss Crabtree, the teacher Jackie has a crush on, rents a room at Jackie's house.
03 May 1930
A timid man undergoes a personality change, and turns the tables on the people who've bullied him.
22 August 1931
Zasu falls for a wrestler, drags Thelma to his next fight.
07 March 1925
The boys are showing off their dogs to each other when little rich girl Mary Kornman rides by in her pony-drawn cart.
09 September 1929
The Rascals have a boxing arena that could pack them in if they could find fighters who would actually mix it up.
03 September 1927
Charley and Edna are feeling very pleased with themselves and their new car. They decide to share their good fortune and offer to take six underprivileged children out for a fun day at the carnival.
20 August 1932
The girls and their pet monkey create havoc on board a train carrying a traveling Broadway troupe.
25 July 1926
A divorced couple try to pretend they are still happily married in order to get $100,000 from the woman's divorce-disapproving aunt.
03 January 1931
The kids' adopted grandma decides to sell her store, but can't decide whom to sell it to. The kids try to help her out.
05 January 1933
Molly Hull, a maid, and Sam Sutton, a butler, are bequeathed a million dollars, and they encounter many problems and difficulties as they try to become the newest members of the idle rich.
29 August 1931
The boyfriends rush into action when the girlfriends think there's a burglar in the house.
18 May 1929
The gang are all orphans, hoping to be adopted by nice families where "spinach is not on the menu". Wheezer, the youngest child, gets adopted by a wealthy couple, while his older sister Mary Ann does not.
28 October 1917
After finding a note in a floating bottle, our hero is off to resue the heroine. He runs into a tribe of cannibals.
02 October 1926
The crotchety dean of Pinkham University blames the "bad behavior of the school's female students on a dress shop owned by Helene, and informs her he's shutting her shop down.
02 December 1917
Luke is an inept detective who follows the wrong man to a seaside hotel.
24 September 1932
When Thelma is stopped by a cop for speeding, she tries to get out of it by telling him that she and Zasu are on their way to the hospital.
14 March 1920
After numerous failed attempts to commit suicide, our hero (Lloyd) runs into a lawyer who is looking for a stooge to stand in as a groom in order to secure an inheritance for his client (Davis).
26 September 1925
A cowboy and a wild horse find they have some things in common: both have enemies out to get them and both must save their mates from danger.
07 December 1929
The gang goes digging for treasure in an old abandoned house against Kennedy the Cop's wishes.
09 December 1923
A morals reformer returns from Hollywood to his small town, and shows his fellow citizens the results of his investigation.
13 March 1927
Ten Years Old is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 58th Our Gang short subject released.
16 May 1930
The gang decides to go camping with a little bear hunting on the side. A pair of poachers decides to try and scare them off with a gorilla suit but the gang decides to try and capture the gorilla instead.
01 July 1923
The gang wages war using old vegetables as munitions. Later, they ruin a movie in progress when they double-expose the film.
29 January 1927
Mabel plays an out-and-out crook, a "Girl Bandit," no less. And she quickly hooks up with a male partner in crime, in this case a Gentleman Crook played by perpetually grinning Creighton Hale.
04 May 1934
ZaSu Pitts and Slim Summerville meet when both are sold deeds to an abandoned ranch in the California desert.
25 May 1918
In this popular two reeler where Harold runs to the rescue of a woman on a fire engine, he is seen hanging on the moving vehicle by the released water hose that forces him closer to the ground.
06 June 1931
Zasu & Thelma go out with two idiots to a nightclub.
24 April 1931
On his way home following World War I, Charley smuggles his French sweetheart aboard ship and gets into all kinds of trouble.
23 August 1930
Charley suffers a hysterical reaction whenever a woman touches him; a psychiatrist attempts to help him overcome his panicked reflex.
07 May 1932
The gang trades places with a group of orphans about to take a train ride.
13 February 1932
The kids help capture a family of thieves.
21 February 1926
A cook for bridge constructors is told to collect food for dinner-Ritz style trout, Palmer house rabbit and a 15cm frosted cake.
10 August 1919
Harold becomes the victim of a clever bulldog pup who chases him in and out of various places.
05 April 1930
Jackie throws his schoolbook out the window in disgust, but then climbs outside to retrieve it. Finding himself locked out, he tries various means of getting back inside without his parents finding out.
30 November 1919
After a wild bachelor party, our hero finds himself aboard a sailing vessel where he encounters numerous adventures.
11 October 1930
Jackie prepares a series of elaborate jokes for his new teacher.
19 September 1926
A young man puts on the play "Romeo and Juliet" as a fundraiser, but has to keep a close eye on his dad, who's had several drinks too many, and a pesky cab driver who's determined to collect his fare.
07 February 1931
Charley is invited to a high class party, where he feels ill at ease and has no idea how to act, yet he wants to impress his young lady.
24 November 1923
During the Alaska gold rush, a miner hits the motherlode, but a corrupt sheriff jumps his claim, leading to a tremendous fight.
08 March 1930
Charlie hires three "party girls" to help him land a business deal.
17 August 1929
Harry is trapped with a blonde in a burning building.
03 March 1928
Papa, Mama, Daughter and Son Gimplewort move into their new house. Two movers are talking to each other about the murder of a saxophone player that took place in the house.
30 January 1932
A timid accountant for a California cattle ranch and a lookalike dashing bandit become rivals for the beautiful daughter of a wealthy rancher.
03 October 1930
Charley and Thelma are millionaires, each trying to elude suitors who are trying to marry them for their money.
