Arthur B. Woods on AllMovie

The shipping magnate father of British director Arthur Woods had hoped that his son would enter the medical profession. Instead, Woods chucked his education for the catch-as-catch-can life of a regional actor. At the age of 22, Woods secured work in the editing department of a film documentary unit, working his way up the professional ladder to director of 1933's On Secret Service. Specializing in mysteries and actioners, Woods' best-known film was Clouds Over Europe (aka Z Planes), which he co-directed with Tim Whelan. On his own, Woods helmed the pioneering film noir They Drive by Night (1940), which was rediscovered in the '80s and given an extensive laudatory appraisal in author William K. Everson's 1986 book More Classics of the Horror Film. After completing the 1940 British/American co-production Busman's Honeymoon, which starred Robert Montgomery as Lord Peter Wimsey, Arthur Woods entered the armed services; he was killed in action at age 39.