Person Biography:
Harry Jack Revier was born in Philadelphia, PA, in 1890. He began his career in the film industry in 1914, producing and directing The Imp Abroad, a short film released by Universal Film Mfg. Co.
Revier went on to produce and direct numerous films, mostly for independent companies, often releasing them through low-rent distributors. Despite this, he had several successful films, including The Son of Tarzan, a Tarzan serial co-directed with Arthur J. Flaven, and The Broadway Madonna, which launched the career of his wife, Doris Velagra, whom he later changed her name to Dorothy Revier.
Revier's most notorious film was Child Bride, a 1938 film that dealt with the controversial topic of older men marrying young girls, which was still a common practice in the rural South at the time. The film was technically inept, but its subject matter and explicit content made it a hit in the exploitation market.
When "talkies" came around, Revier moved to England to make "quota quickies" and later returned to the US to produce low-budget westerns. He also worked on the serial The Lost City, which is often considered one of the worst serials ever made.
In the 1930s, Revier got involved in making a film called Lash of the Penitentes, which was based on documentary footage of flagellant monks in New Mexico. The film was a commercial success, despite its controversy.
Revier's last film as a director was Child Bride, but he later edited footage from the 1939 serial Buck Rogers to create the "cold war" film Planet Outlaws in 1953.
Harry Revier died in Winter Park, FL, in 1957 at the age of 67.
