Walter Summers is one of the most unjustly forgotten directors in British cinema. Much of his obscurity is due to his best years being in the silent era and also to most of his best films taking World War One as their unfashionable subject matter. With the centenary of the war reviving people's interest and the restoration of one of his best films, The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands, Summers looks like getting his long-overdue reassessment.
He was born into a theatrical family and entered films in 1912 as an assistant. He served in WWI with distinction winning an MC, a DCM and an MM. After the war he had a brief stint with Cecil Hepworth before going to India with the Territorials, then becoming a screenwriter for GB Samuelson. He made his full directorial debut with A Couple of Down and Outs, a charming tale of a returning soldier trying to keep his warhorse from the knacker's yard.
He hit his stride with his trilogy of World War One reconstructions. Ypres, Mons and The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands. By then he was working for British Instructional Films and sailed through the transition to sound with them. BIF was bought out by British International Pictures in the early 30s and Summers went along with the deal. Budgets at BIP were less generous than at BIF and Summers' output appears to have declined. His most revived film is the Bela Lugosi horror The Dark Eyes of London which rattles along enjoyably.
Summers directing career ended when he rejoined the army in World War Two. After the war he joined Associated British but filmed no more. His son Jeremy Summers also had a directing career including The Punch and Judy Man and Ferry Cross the Mersey.
| 1923 | I Pagliacci (Co dir) |
| 1923 | Afterglow (Co dir) |
| 1923 | A Couple of Down and Outs |
| 1924 | The Unwanted |
| 1924 | The Cost of Beauty |
| 1924 | Who is the Man? |
| 1925 | The Perfect Crime |
| 1925 | Ypres |
| 1926 | Mons |
| 1926 | Nelson |
| 1927 | The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands |
| 1928 | Bolibar |
| 1929 | Lost Patrol |
| 1929 | Chamber of Horrors |
| 1929 | The Battle of Mons |
| 1930 | Raise the Roof |
| 1930 | Road to Dishonour |
| 1930 | Suspense |
| 1930 | The Man from Chicago |
| 1931 | The House Opposite |
| 1931 | The Flying Fool |
| 1932 | Men Like These |
| 1932 | Dual Control |
| 1933 | Timbuctoo |
| 1933 | The Butterfly Affair |
| 1934 | The Warren Case |
| 1934 | The Return of Bulldog Drummond |
| 1934 | What Happened Then? |
| 1935 | Royal Cavalcade (Co dir) |
| 1935 | McGlusky the Sea Rover |
| 1935 | Music Hath Charms (Co dir) |
| 1936 | Ourselves Alone |
| 1936 | The Limping Man |
| 1937 | Lucky Jade |
| 1937 | The Price of Folly |
| 1938 | Premiere |
| 1939 | The Dark Eyes of London |
| 1939 | Traitor Spy |
| 1940 | At the Villa Rose |
