Robert Hill began helming serials in 1919 with The Great Radium Mystery (co-directed with Robert Roadwell). He made numerous serials in the '20s, including The Adventures of Tarzan with Elmo Lincoln (the first filming of Edgar Rice Burroughs' durable character), The Wild West, and Blake of Scotland Yard. Hill also co-scripted Paul Leni's first and last Hollywood films, The Cat and the Canary and The Last Warning. His '30s serials include Shadow of Chinatown with Bela Lugosi and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (co-directed with Ford Beebe) with Buster Crabbe; he also directed Crabbe in the title role in Tarzan the Fearless. Hill's westerns of the '30s include The Cheyenne Kid, The Painted Trail, and Wild Horse Canyon.