Harold D. Schuster

Director & actor · born 1 August 1902 · Cherokee, Iowa, USA

A highly regarded editor (he cut the classic Sunrise (1927) ), Harold D. Schuster started out in films as an actor. It didn't take him long to abandon that career, and he turned to the production side of the business, working his way up to editor and eventually taking the reins as a director. While much of his directorial output is routine, there are some real gems scattered throughout. My Friend Flicka (1943) is a beautiful, serene tale of a boy and a spectacular horse and was a major success in its day. Although typed as an "outdoors" director, Schuster could turn out tough, gritty little thrillers when he wanted to, such as Loophole (1954), about a bank teller who gets framed for an embezzlement; it ranks right up there with the edgy crime dramas of Don Siegel and Phil Karlson. Schuster's western Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957), despite its potboiler title, is a sharp, well-paced effort about two disparate groups of travelers who must band together to fight off rampaging Indians. Good writing, a rousing score and Schuster's tight direction raise this several notches above the product normally churned out by its studio, the usually low-grade Allied Artists. Schuster eventually turned to series television, and finished out his career there.

Where to start: The Power of the Resurrection (1958).