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After studying literature at the University of Vienna, Walter Reisch began his film career in 1918 as an extra and title writer. He soon met Stephan Lorant, a Hungarian refugee from the Horty regime who had quickly established himself in Austrian cinema as a filmmaker and cinematographer. Lorant gave Reisch his break by appointing him assistant director on Die Narrenkappe der Liebe (1921). Reisch followed Lorant to Berlin, then the artistic center of Europe, working as his assistant cameraman. He later continued in this role on documentary newsreels in Switzerland.
In 1925, Reisch returned to Austria to focus on screenwriting. His growing reputation caught the attention of producer Erich Pommer, who signed him to Germany's top film company, Ufa, where Reisch worked alongside fellow Viennese writer Billy Wilder. Much of his work during this period involved adaptations of literary classics, but he also drew from his own original stories. Starting in 1930, Reisch fulfilled his long-held ambition to write lyrics for operatic films, contributing to popular melodies featured in films such as Zwei Herzen im Dreiviertel-Takt (1930), The Theft of the Mona Lisa (1931), and A Blonde Dream (1932).
With the rise of Nazism, Reisch, like many Jewish artists, was forced to flee Germany. He briefly revived his career in Vienna, working under Willi Forst on the comedy Masquerade in Vienna (1934) and the Franz Schubert biopic Unfinished Symphony (1934), both international successes. By 1936, worsening political conditions in Austria compelled Reisch to leave. Nearly penniless, he joined his former mentor Alexander Korda in London. After writing and directing the comedy Men Are Not Gods (1936), starring Miriam Hopkins, Reisch received an unexpected offer from Louis B. Mayer during a European talent scouting tour. He soon headed to MGM, crossing the Atlantic on the cruise liner Normandie alongside ice-skating star Sonja Henie and actors Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Gertrude Lawrence.
At MGM (1938–1948), Reisch primarily contributed to story development, resolving continuity issues, shaping narratives, creating characters, and crafting believable relationships. Dialogue was usually handled by writers like Charles Brackett or Wilder. Reisch excelled at tailoring scripts to specific stars, notably Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939), Clark Gable in Comrade X (1940), and Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight (1944). He attempted directing again with Song of Scheherazade (1947), which was produced by Universal since MGM, overwhelmed with directors, preferred to keep him focused on writing. Made on a modest budget, the film centered on a fictional romance between composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and a dancer, but critics panned it, and Reisch never directed another film.
Despite this setback, Reisch returned to strong writing after joining 20th Century Fox in 1949, adapting to tighter budgets, schedules, and studio oversight under Darryl F. Zanuck. Fox favored action genres, contrasting with Reisch's previous strengths in musical comedy, romantic melodrama, and satire. Nevertheless, his tenure included two major consecutive hits. Collaborating again with Charles Brackett, he developed the original story for Niagara (1953) while Brackett managed dialogue and production. He then worked on Titanic (1953), researching contemporary newspapers to develop characters. This effort earned him a co-Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay in 1954. His final notable work was the compelling drama The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955), based on a sensational 1906 scandal. Zanuck sought a star vehicle for Joan Collins, and Reisch delivered a script on the Thaw-White murder case, with Collins portraying actress Evelyn Nesbit. The screenplay, completed in ten weeks, was meticulously researched from original transcripts and was approximately 70% factual and 30% fictionalized, as Reisch later noted.
In 1959, a Screen Writers Guild strike halted Reisch’s work for six months. Upon returning, a change in Fox’s leadership led to a general purge, and his contract was not renewed.
