Robert Siodmak facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Robert Siodmak
Born	(1900-08-08)8 August 1900 Dresden, German Empire (now Germany)
Died	10 March 1973(1973-03-10) (aged 72) Ascona, Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1927–1969
Spouse(s)	Bertha Odenheimer (1933–1973; her death)
Family	Curt Siodmak (brother)

Robert Siodmak (born August 8, 1900 – died March 10, 1973) was a famous German film director. He also worked in the United States. He is best known for directing thrilling movies and a type of film called "film noir" in the 1940s. Film noir movies are usually dark crime stories with mysterious characters. One of his most famous films was The Killers (1946).

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Robert Siodmak was born in Dresden, Germany. His parents were Rosa and Ignatz Siodmak. He had three brothers: Curt, Werner, and Roland. His family was Jewish. (A story was made up that he was born in Memphis, Tennessee, which helped him get a visa during World War II).

Before becoming a director, Siodmak worked as a stage director and even a banker. In 1925, he started working as an editor and scriptwriter for Curtis Bernhardt. Later, his cousin, producer Seymour Nebenzal, hired him to create silent movies from old film clips.

After two years, Siodmak convinced Nebenzal to fund his first full-length movie. This was the silent film Menschen am Sonntag (People on Sunday) in 1929. The script was co-written by Billy Wilder and Robert's brother, Curt Siodmak. This was one of the last silent films made in Germany.

His next film was Abschied (1930), which was one of the first sound films made at the UFA studio in Germany. He then directed a crime thriller called Stürme der Leidenschaft. In this movie, Siodmak found the unique style that would become his trademark.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany, Siodmak faced problems. After a Nazi official criticized his film Brennendes Geheimnis (The Burning Secret), Siodmak left Germany for Paris in 1933. For the next six years, he made many different types of films in France. These included comedies, musicals, and dramas.

However, World War II forced him to leave Europe again. Siodmak moved to California in 1939. In Hollywood, he directed 23 movies. Many of these were popular thrillers and crime dramas, which are now seen as classic "film noir" movies.

Hollywood Success

When Siodmak first arrived in Hollywood in 1941, he made several lower-budget films for different studios. In 1943, he signed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios. Some of his best early films were the thriller Fly by Night (1942) and Someone to Remember (1943).

At Universal, Siodmak was often asked to help fix movies that were having problems. He also directed Son of Dracula (1943), which was based on a story by his brother Curt. He also made Cobra Woman (1944), a colorful adventure film.

His first true film noir was Phantom Lady (1944). This movie showed off Siodmak's amazing skills with the camera and editing. He was especially good at using light and shadows to create a moody atmosphere.

After Phantom Lady, Siodmak directed Christmas Holiday (1944). This film helped define his Hollywood style. He often used black-and-white filming and city scenes, along with strong light and shadow designs. This style is a key part of classic film noir. He worked with talented cinematographers (camera experts) to create an "Expressionist" look, which means the visuals showed strong feelings and moods.

During his time at Universal, Siodmak directed many important film noirs, including The Suspect and The Dark Mirror. But his most famous film from this period was The Killers (1946). This movie was the film debut for Burt Lancaster and a major role for Ava Gardner. It was a big hit and earned Siodmak an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Siodmak also worked for other studios. He directed the suspenseful film The Spiral Staircase (1945) for RKO. For 20th Century Fox, he made the crime noir Cry of the City (1948). He also directed The File on Thelma Jordon (1949) for Paramount.

Perhaps his best American film noir was Criss Cross (1949). This movie reunited him with Burt Lancaster. It tells a dark story of a dangerous love triangle, a common theme in Siodmak's film noirs.

Siodmak was known as a "director's director" because he loved working with actors. He helped many future stars, including Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, and Barbara Stanwyck, give great performances. He even helped Gene Kelly deliver a believable dramatic role.

Return to Europe

After making 12 film noirs in Hollywood, Robert Siodmak returned to Europe in 1952. He wanted to make different kinds of movies. He ended his Universal contract with one last film noir, Deported (1951), which he filmed partly overseas. He was one of the first refugee directors to return to Europe after working in America.

In 1954, Siodmak returned to Germany. In 1955, he directed Die Ratten, which won the Golden Berlin Bear award at the 1955 Berlin Film Festival. This was the first of several films he made that looked at Germany during and after the Nazi era. These included Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam (1957), a thriller about Nazi Germany, and Mein Schulfreund (1960), a strange comedy.

He also directed other films in Europe, like the melodrama Dorothea Angermann (1959) and the darker film noir The Rough and the Smooth (1959) in Great Britain. In 1961, he made L'affaire Nina B, a spy thriller. In 1962, he directed Escape from East Berlin, a thriller about escaping from East Berlin.

From 1964 to 1965, he made a series of adventure films with actor Lex Barker. These movies, like The Shoot, were based on popular western novels.

Later Career and Legacy

Siodmak returned to Hollywood in 1967 for the western Custer of the West, but it was not very successful. He ended his career with a long historical epic called Kampf um Rom (1968). He also worked on a TV series in Great Britain called O.S.S. (1957–58).

Robert Siodmak died in 1973 in Locarno, Switzerland, from a heart attack. He passed away just seven weeks after his wife.

In 2015, the British Film Institute held a special event to celebrate his film career.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Robert Siodmak para niños