Lambert Hillyer

Lambert Harwood Hillyer was born July 8, 1893, in Tyner, Indiana. His mother was character actress Lydia Knott. A graduate of Drake College, he worked as a newspaper reporter and an actor in vaudeville and stock theater. During World War I he began working in motion pictures and became a prolific director and screenwriter, working on many silent-era Westerns by William S. Hart, Buck Jones, Tom Mix and others.

Often associated with producer Thomas H. Ince, Hillyer expanded into romantic melodramas and crime films in the 1920s. In 1936 he directed two chillers for Universal, the science-fiction film The Invisible Ray and the cult horror film Dracula's Daughter. He directed the first screen depiction of Batman, a 15-part serial produced in 1943 that was re-released as a theatrical feature in 1965.

He directed many B movies for Columbia Pictures in the 1930s and early 1940s, including the Westerns that were his specialty. Hillyer finished his career directing low-budget dramas and Westerns for Monogram Pictures. In the early days of television, Hillyer also directed episodes of the syndicated Western, The Cisco Kid. Hillyer directed at least one episode of Highway Patrol, which starred Broderick Crawford.

Hillyer died July 5, 1969, in Los Angeles, California.

Director

 

Poster for An Even Break (1917)

 

Poster for Riddle Gawne (1918)

Online film of Wagon Tracks (1919)

 

Poster for O'Malley of the Mounted (1921)

 

Lobby card for Eyes of the Forest (1923)

 

Poster for Idle Tongues (1924)

 

Lobby card for Beau Bandit (1930)

 

Poster for South of the Rio Grande (1932)

 

Nat Pendleton, Jean Arthur and Jack Holt in The Defense Rests (1934)

 

Poster for The Invisible Ray (1936)

 

Poster for Convict's Code (1939)

Screenwriter

 

In addition to writing screenplays for many of the films he directed, as noted above, Hillyer wrote or contributed to the screenplays for these motion pictures.