James W. Horne, Buster Keaton

James Wesley Horne (December 14, 1881 – June 29, 1942) was a prolific American actor, screenwriter, and film director whose career spanned the silent film era and the golden age of Hollywood talkies. Horne entered the film industry in 1913 as an actor at Kalem Studios under the mentorship of director Sidney Olcott. He quickly transitioned behind the camera, directing his first film for Kalem two years later. During World War I, Horne emerged as a prominent director of "chapter plays" and multi-chapter serials, such as The Mysteries of the Grand Hotel (1915), which were highly lucrative at the time. In 1927, he directed one of Buster Keaton's major silent feature comedies, College. Horne achieved widespread acclaim after joining Hal Roach Studios. He directed more than 30 shorts and features for the studio, establishing a masterful collaborative relationship with comedy legends Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase. In the late 1930s, Horne moved to Columbia Pictures, where he returned to his roots by producing and directing cliffhanger serials. He injected these action-heavy projects with his trademark mock-serious, tongue-in-cheek humor. Some of his well-known Columbia serials include The Spider's Web (1938), The Green Archer (1940), and Holt of the Secret Service (1941).