Directing

William Berke

Born — Died

1903-10-03 — 1958-02-15

Place of birth

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

50 titles

William A. Berke (3 October 1903 – 15 February 1958) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed nearly 90 films between 1934 and 1958. He also produced nearly 80 films between 1933 and 1958. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and died in Los Angeles, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article William A. Berke,licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

The Steel Helmet poster
7.0

A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.

The Steel Helmet

1951

Treasure of Monte Cristo poster
5.2

A San Francisco lawyer uses a woman to lure a merchant seaman worth a legendary fortune.

Treasure of Monte Cristo

1949

Captive Girl poster
4.5

Jungle Jim is out to save Joan from an evil witch doctor whilst simultaneously fighting evil treasure hunter Barton.

Captive Girl

1950

Three Texas Steers poster
5.0

Nancy Evans, lovely circus owner, has a ranch that she's never visited, but for sentimental reasons won't sell to Mike Abbott. Her partners, secretly in league with Abbott, sabotage the circus to force Nancy to sell the ranch; instead, she goes there to live. Will her neighbors, the Three Mesquiteers, be a match for the secret swindlers? And what's so valuable about that run-down ranch anyway?

Three Texas Steers

1939

Code of the West poster
7.7

Knowing the railroad is coming, Carter is after the rancher's land. Bob and Chito return just in time to save Banker Stockton and his money from Carter's men. When Stockton then lends the ranchers money, Carter has them burned out. Bob knows Carter is responsible and when Carter's henchman Saunders is recognized, Bob goes into action.

Code of the West

1947

The Marshal's Daughter poster
4.3

To fully appreciate the western comedy The Marshal's Daughter, one must be aware that its star, a zaftig, wide-eyed lass named Laurie Anders, was in 1953 a popular TV personality. A regular on The Ken Murray Show, Anders had risen to fame with the Southern-fried catchphrase "Ah love the wi-i-i-ide open spaces!" Striking while the iron was hot, the entrepreneurial Murray produced this inexpensive oater, which cast Anders as Laurie Dawson, the singing daughter of a U.S. marshal (Hoot Gibson). Teaming with her dad to capture outlaw Trigger Gans (Bob Duncan), Laurie briefly disguises herself as a masked bandit. Amidst much stock footage from earlier westerns and a plethora of lame jokes and dreadful puns, The Marshal's Daughter is a treat for trivia buffs, featuring such virile actors as Preston S. Foster, Johnny Mack Brown, Jimmy Wakely and Buddy Baer as "themselves."

The Marshal's Daughter

1953

Film credits

1920s · 10 titles

The Back Trail poster
9.0

Jeff Prouty loses his memory as a result of war injuries and is made to believe he has committed past crimes.

The Back Trail

1924

Wolf Tracks poster
10.0

Poverty-row Western story of two young strangers -- Jack Hastings and Jean Meredith -- inheriting one-half of a map to a hidden gold mine. A villain, Wolf Santell, steals Jack's half of the map, which is enclosed in a locket, only to lose it again in the river.

Wolf Tracks

1923

The Crow's Nest poster
8.0

Esteban, a white boy, is raised by an Indian squaw, who believes she is his mother and from whom Beaugard steals the papers documenting Esteban's birth and his right to inherit a ranch. When he grows up, Esteban falls in love with Patricia Benton, Beaugard "exposes" Esteban to Patricia, and the villain taunts the boy, telling him that he has no right to a white woman.

The Crow's Nest

1922

The Hellion poster
8.0

Ranch hand Tex Gardy comes to the aid of the father of the girl he loves, whose ranch is being threatened by a gang of criminals led by a woman known as The Hellion.

The Hellion

1924

The Marshal of Moneymint poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Marshal of Moneymint

1922

No artwork available
7.0

Rancher Bill Holt has a small homestead and insists on holding onto his land, much to the chagrin of crotchety old Judd Acker, a neighboring rancher who would like to see him vacate.

The Firebrand

1922

Slow as Lightning poster
6.5

Our hero Jimmie March works for stockbroker E.J. Philips and daydreams of romance with Eleanor, the boss's lovely daughter. Unfortunately, Eleanor is dating Mortimer Fenton, a wealthy cad who used to push Jimmie around in college. To add insult to injury, Jimmie gets fired. All seems lost until a gypsy fortune teller foretells that he'll make a bundle playing hunches in the stock market. So, he convinces his buddies to lend him some money and invests in stocks that then start to skyrocket. However, Fenton isn't about to take that lying down and subsequently hatches a plan to wipe his rival out for good... Will Jimmie's fortune come true? Will he be able to defeat Fenton and win the heart of the girl? Watch and find out!

Slow as Lightning

1923

The Forbidden Trail poster
6.5

When Red Hawk Dugan and his men attack a small wagon train, Colonel Merriwell is killed and the young girl Isobel taken and raised thinking Dugan is her father. Fifteen years later the Colonel's son Jack arrives looking for Dugan whom he learned killed his father. As he hunts for Dugan he meets and falls in love with Isobel only to then learn Dugan is her father.

The Forbidden Trail

1923

Barb Wire poster
9.8

A miner fences his claim with barbed wire to keep out a gang of claim jumpers.

Barb Wire

1922

The Double O poster
8.0

Happy Hanes, a ranch hand, comes between a crooked foreman and the new ranch owner Frances Powell. The foreman and his "half-breed" accomplice Cholo kidnap Frances.

The Double O

1921

Behind the camera

The Steel Helmet poster
7.0

A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.

The Steel Helmet

1951

Treasure of Monte Cristo poster
5.2

A San Francisco lawyer uses a woman to lure a merchant seaman worth a legendary fortune.

Treasure of Monte Cristo

1949

Captive Girl poster
4.5

Jungle Jim is out to save Joan from an evil witch doctor whilst simultaneously fighting evil treasure hunter Barton.

Captive Girl

1950

Three Texas Steers poster
5.0

Nancy Evans, lovely circus owner, has a ranch that she's never visited, but for sentimental reasons won't sell to Mike Abbott. Her partners, secretly in league with Abbott, sabotage the circus to force Nancy to sell the ranch; instead, she goes there to live. Will her neighbors, the Three Mesquiteers, be a match for the secret swindlers? And what's so valuable about that run-down ranch anyway?

Three Texas Steers

1939

Code of the West poster
7.7

Knowing the railroad is coming, Carter is after the rancher's land. Bob and Chito return just in time to save Banker Stockton and his money from Carter's men. When Stockton then lends the ranchers money, Carter has them burned out. Bob knows Carter is responsible and when Carter's henchman Saunders is recognized, Bob goes into action.

Code of the West

1947

The Marshal's Daughter poster
4.3

To fully appreciate the western comedy The Marshal's Daughter, one must be aware that its star, a zaftig, wide-eyed lass named Laurie Anders, was in 1953 a popular TV personality. A regular on The Ken Murray Show, Anders had risen to fame with the Southern-fried catchphrase "Ah love the wi-i-i-ide open spaces!" Striking while the iron was hot, the entrepreneurial Murray produced this inexpensive oater, which cast Anders as Laurie Dawson, the singing daughter of a U.S. marshal (Hoot Gibson). Teaming with her dad to capture outlaw Trigger Gans (Bob Duncan), Laurie briefly disguises herself as a masked bandit. Amidst much stock footage from earlier westerns and a plethora of lame jokes and dreadful puns, The Marshal's Daughter is a treat for trivia buffs, featuring such virile actors as Preston S. Foster, Johnny Mack Brown, Jimmy Wakely and Buddy Baer as "themselves."

The Marshal's Daughter

1953

The Lost Tribe poster
5.8

Jungle Jim fights a lion and sharks trying to save an African village from those who would despoil it.

The Lost Tribe

1949

Why Girls Leave Home poster
5.7

In this crime drama, a young woman leaves her unhappy life at home to become a sophisticated night club singer. Her first job is nearly fatal when she entangles herself with the mobsters who own the joint and learns too much about their operation. Her boss decides to kill her and make it look like suicide. An intrepid reporter disbelieves the report and exposes the truth to the public.

Why Girls Leave Home

1945

Call The Mesquiteers poster
6.5

The Three Mesquiteers are forced to track down a train robbery ring after some of the gang hijack their truck for a getaway and the police conclude they are part of the gang, an identification which is just fine with the gang's nameless chief.

Call The Mesquiteers

1938

Dick Tracy poster
5.2

Dick is faced with a series of brutal murders in which the victims, all from different social and economic backgrounds, are viciously slashed to pieces. Suspects abound but Tracy, getting a clue that there will be 15 murders in all, must find the common thread among the victims before more are killed.

Dick Tracy

1945

Zamba poster
5.0

Jenny and her six-year-old son, Tommy, are flying over the Belgian Congo when they are forced to bail out and become separated. Jenny lands in a dense jungle and is rescued by a safari headed by two wild-animal collectors, but Tommy is not found. He has amnesia and is lost, but is adopted by Zamba, a huge gorilla. He lives happily with his new family. Jenny comes back with a searching party, and Zamba, the gorilla mother, is determined to protect Tommy from his real mother.

Zamba

1949

The Mugger poster
6.0

A police shrink tries to identify and capture an elusive mugger that scars his female victims before stealing their purse.

The Mugger

1958

The Mugger poster
6.0

A police shrink tries to identify and capture an elusive mugger that scars his female victims before stealing their purse.

The Mugger

1958

Pals of the Saddle poster
5.7

The first of eight "Three Mesquiteers" Westerns to star John Wayne.

Pals of the Saddle

1938

The Falcon's Adventure poster
6.7

A society sleuth rescues a kidnapped woman, then is framed for murder.

The Falcon's Adventure

1946

Shoot to Kill poster
4.9

A gritty crime story involving a newspaper man and crooked politicians.

Shoot to Kill

1947

Shoot to Kill poster
4.9

A gritty crime story involving a newspaper man and crooked politicians.

Shoot to Kill

1947

On the Isle of Samoa poster
7.3

After committing a robbery, a man is inspired to confess by a lovely native girl he meets on a small island.

On the Isle of Samoa

1950

Savage Drums poster
7.0

There is this little small-island kingdom located off the South China coast and the United States offers a pact of economic aid and military assistance if needed.

Savage Drums

1951

Savage Drums poster
7.0

There is this little small-island kingdom located off the South China coast and the United States offers a pact of economic aid and military assistance if needed.

Savage Drums

1951

Lawless Plainsmen poster
7.0

In this western, a ranch foreman and the bosses son go to a saloon to slake their thirst and find themselves in the midst of a battle started by the feisty saloon owner's wicked ex-husband who loots the safe in the ensuing scuffle.

Lawless Plainsmen

1942

Caged Fury poster
6.0

Big cats are killing people... after being trained by a twisted lion tamer.

Caged Fury

1948

Robin Hood of the Range poster
6.5

Inasmuch as western star Charles Starrett gained screen fame as the Robin Hood-like "Durango Kid", it stands to reason that Starrett would head the cast of Robin Hood of the Range. The star plays Steve Marlowe, the foster son of railroad manager Henry Marlowe (Kenneth McDonald). When it becomes apparent that the railroad is using underhanded methods to drive local homesteaders off their land, Steve adopts the guise of "The Vulcan", a legendary champion of justice.

Robin Hood of the Range

1943

Ding Dong Williams poster
7.5

Ding Dong Williams, a clarinet player who can neither read nor write music is employed at a motion picture studio. The studio plans to use him and his six-piece band but his musical deficiencies are discovered and the plan scrapped. But the secretary of the head of the music department intercedes on his behalf and he is given a chance in the film.

Ding Dong Williams

1946

Fury of the Congo poster
5.7

Jungle Jim must protect rare pony-like animals whose glands produce a powerful narcotic. On the way, he fights a giant spider.

Fury of the Congo

1951

The Falcon in Mexico poster
5.7

The Falcon travels to Mexico where he gets involved with murder and a mysterious painting.

The Falcon in Mexico

1944

Renegade Girl poster
4.2

A special agent hunts a female outlaw out West.

Renegade Girl

1946

Renegade Girl poster
4.2

A special agent hunts a female outlaw out West.

Renegade Girl

1946

Operation Haylift poster
5.0

A pilot devises a plan to airlift hay to thousands of ranch cattle stranded and dying due to severe winter weather.

Operation Haylift

1950

Down Rio Grande Way poster
10.0

Slightly more elaborate than most Charles Starrett westerns, Down Rio Grande Way is set in the mid-19th century, when the Republic of Texas was poised to join the Union. Starrett plays Texas Ranger Steve Martin, who is dispatched to a "renegade" Texas country that refuses to become part of the good old USA. He discovers that the crux of the problem is a local tax collector who, with the help of a crooked newspaper editor, is systematically robbing the citizens of their hard-earned cash, all the while fomenting anti-American sentiments.

Down Rio Grande Way

1942

Pier 23 poster
5.5

Pier 23 was one of three hour-long mysteries produced by Lippert Productions for both TV and theatrical release. Each of the three films was evenly divided into two half-hour "episodes," and each starred Hugh Beaumont as San Francisco-based amateur sleuth Dennis O'Brien. In Pier 23, O'Brien first tackles the case of a wrestler who has died of a suspicious heart attack after refusing to lose a match. He then agrees to help a priest talk an escaped criminal into returning to prison.

Pier 23

1951

Pier 23 poster
5.5

Pier 23 was one of three hour-long mysteries produced by Lippert Productions for both TV and theatrical release. Each of the three films was evenly divided into two half-hour "episodes," and each starred Hugh Beaumont as San Francisco-based amateur sleuth Dennis O'Brien. In Pier 23, O'Brien first tackles the case of a wrestler who has died of a suspicious heart attack after refusing to lose a match. He then agrees to help a priest talk an escaped criminal into returning to prison.

Pier 23

1951

Overland Stage Raiders poster
5.2

After gold shipments from a mining town have been hijacked, the three Mesquiteers buy a plane to fly the gold out. The owner of the shipping line brings in Eastern gangsters to thwart them.

Overland Stage Raiders

1938

Four Boys and a Gun poster
6.6

The moving story of four young men struggling against overwhelming odds to remain honest. When their crooked employer shorts their earnings; they turn to crime, their first theft ending in tragedy.

Four Boys and a Gun

1957

Speed to Spare poster
6.7

Stunt driver Cliff Jordan takes a job with his old pal Jerry McGee, branch manager of an express trucking firm. Jerry is married to Mary, Cliff's former girl friend. Also working for Jerry is Pete Simmons, son of the owner Al Simmons, and office secretary Jane Chandler, who is Pete's sweetheart. Before long, Cliff has made enemies of Pusher Wilks, a trucker whose run he takes over, and also Pete, whose girl he is trying to take over. Pusher sabotages Cliff's rig at every opportunity causing several near-fatal accidents.

Speed to Spare

1948

Confessions of Boston Blackie poster
6.3

A murder is committed during the auction of a valuable statue. The prime suspect is Boston Blackie, whose reputation for living on the edge of the law makes him an easy target for the police. When the body disappears, Blackie must find it to prove his innocence.

Confessions of Boston Blackie

1941

The Navy Way poster
6.2

The experiences of a disparate group of young men as they make their way through Navy boot camp.

The Navy Way

1944

Overland to Deadwood poster
9.0

Cash Quinlan, owner of the Hauling Company, is the leader behind a gang of raiders who have been robbing stagecoaches between Mesquite and Deadwood. He hopes by doing so to drive his competitors out of business so that he can get the railroad franchise for himself.....

Overland to Deadwood

1942

Riders of the Northland poster
9.0

In this western, three Texas Rangers decide to do their part to save the world and join the Army, but before they can, they are sent to Alaska to destroy a secret Nazi operation involving a submarine refueling station. The outpost is located behind an impenetrable tangle of barbed wire. The rangers get a little help, and discover a traitor. Then to get through the wire, they start a cattle stampede and save the day.

Riders of the Northland

1942

The Lost Missile poster
4.8

A missile from parts unknown enters an orbit only 5 miles above Earth's surface and, due to friction from its intense speed through our atmosphere, proceeds to incinerate everything in its immediate wake.

The Lost Missile

1958