Horne was among the most talented American directors of serials during years encompassing World War I, a period in which these cinematic “chapter plays’ were both critically acclaimed and lucrative.

[2] James Horne began his career as an actor under director Sidney Olcott at Kalem Studios in 1913 and directed his first film for the company two years later.

While the director is watching the action, the cameraman has a hundred technical details to observe.” —Director James Horne in Photoplay magazine, February 1916.

When Universal closed its comedy unit, Horne worked briefly at Columbia Pictures[11] and went back to Roach in 1935.

Former serial specialist James Horne co-directed The Spider's Web, starring Warren Hull as a masked crimefighter.

It surpassed such well-received serials as Buck Rogers and Dick Tracy Returns by a wide margin, according to a tally published in The Motion Picture Herald and The Film Daily.

His first two Columbia serials, directed in partnership with action specialist Ray Taylor, were straightforward adventure stories.

Latter-day serial fans and authors marveled at Horne's devil-may-care style, with tongue-in-cheek dialogue, quietly comic incongruities in the background, and six-against-one brawls photographed slightly faster than normal.

The death of Horne's producer Larry Darmour in March 1942 presaged the end of Columbia's irreverent serials.

Horne was featured briefly in the 2018 Laurel and Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie, depicted directing Way Out West, portrayed by Joseph Balderrama.