Film & TV
Cullen Landis
1896–1975 · silent-film actor, director of industrial films
Silent-film leading man who starred in the first all-talking feature (1928), then moved to Detroit in 1930 to direct industrial films, joining the Jam Handy studio in 1937.
- Born
Nashville, Tennessee- Died
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
aged 79- Birth name
- James Cullen Landis
- Detroit years
- 1930–1975
- Field
- Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Landis grew up in Nashville and entered the young film industry at eighteen, starting as a director and switching to acting when his lead broke a leg and the costumes fit him. He became a popular leading man of the silent era, with about a hundred films in fourteen years, and in 1928 starred in Lights of New York, the first 'all-talking' feature. Doubting that he was suited to talkies, he left Hollywood in 1930 for Detroit to produce and direct industrial films for the automobile companies. In 1937 he joined the directing staff of the Jam Handy Organization on East Grand Boulevard, then one of the largest producers of sponsored and training films in the country. During World War II he made Army Signal Corps training films in the South Pacific, rising to major, and afterward directed State Department documentaries and more Jam Handy films. He died in a nursing home in Bloomfield Hills in 1975.
Highlights
- Starred in Lights of New York (1928), the first all-talking feature film
- Moved to Detroit in 1930 to make industrial films for automakers
- Joined the Jam Handy Organization's directing staff in 1937
- Made Army Signal Corps training films in World War II
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1937–1960s
The Jam Handy (former Jam Handy Organization studio)
The studio of the Jam Handy Organization, where Landis directed industrial films; today an event and performance venue.