Kurt Neumann
Kurt Neumann (5 April 1908, Nuremberg, Germany - 21 August 1958, Los Angeles) was a german Hollywood film director who specialized in science fiction movies in his later career. Neumann came to the US in the early talkie era, hired to direct German language versions of Hollywood films. Once he mastered English and established himself as technically proficient in filmmaking, Neumann directed such low-budget programmers as The Big Cage (1932), Secret of the Blue Room (1933) with Paul Lukas and Gloria Stuart, Hold 'Em Navy (1936), It Happened in New Orleans (1936) with child star Bobby Breen, Wide Open Faces (1937) with Joe E. Brown, and Ellery Queen: Master Detective (1939). Neumann was signed by producer Hal Roach in 1941 to direct a series of "streamliners", 45-minute features designed to fill out short double bills. Among these 4-reel comedies were About Face (1942), Brooklyn Orchid (1942), Taxi, Mister? (1943) and Yanks Ahoy (1943). In 1945, he joined the company of producer Sol Lesser, who engaged Neumann as coproducer and principal director of the Tarzan series produced by Lesser 1945-1954. The Tarzan films were produced for RKO and starred Johnny Weissmuller and later Gordon Scott. Neumann became known as a specialist in science fiction movies due to his producing and directing such productions as Rocketship X-M (1950) and The Fly (1958). Neumann directed other sci-fi and horror films such as Kronos (1957) and She-Devil (1957), and directed non-scifi films such as The Ring (1952) an independent feature co-starring Rita Moreno, Carnival Story (1954), Mohawk (1956), and The Deerslayer (1957) Contrary to some published reports, Neumann did not die as a result of suicide, but, rather, from natural causes in Los Angeles on 21 August 1958, shortly after a preview screening of The Fly but before the official premiere. Thus, Neumann never knew what a boxoffice hit The Fly was. He was entombed at Utter McKinley Cemetery in Los Angeles. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kurt Neumann (director), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Dracula's Daughter
(treatment)
The Fly
(Director)
The Fly
(Producer)
The Return of the Vampire
(Story)
Kronos
(Director)
Carnival Story
(Director)
They Were So Young
(Producer)
They Were So Young
(Screenplay)
They Were So Young
(Director)
The Ring
(Director)
Rocketship X-M
(Writer)
Rocketship X-M
(Director)
Rocketship X-M
(Producer)
The Kid from Texas
(Director)
The Stranger Who Looks Like Me
(Production Manager)
Tarzan and the Huntress
(Director)
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
(Director)
Tarzan and the She-Devil
(Director)
The Deerslayer
(Screenplay)
The Deerslayer
(Producer)
Machete
(Director)
Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
(Director)
Tarzan and the Amazons
(Director)
Brooklyn Orchid
(Director)
The Deerslayer
(Director)
The Unknown Guest
(Director)
About Face
(Director)
Cattle Drive
(Director)
She Devil
(Screenplay)
She Devil
(Producer)
She Devil
(Director)
Secret of the Blue Room
(Director)
Watusi
(Director)
Let's Sing Again
(Director)
Taxi, Mister
(Director)
The McGuerins from Brooklyn
(Director)
Island of Lost Men
(Director)
Counterplot
(Director)
Espionage
(Director)
Bad Men of Tombstone
(Director)
Trapped
(Director)
Sealed Lips
(Director)
Trapped
(Writer)
The Red Shadow
(Director)
Fall In
(Director)
Hiawatha
(Director)
Make a Wish
(Director)
Wide Open Faces
(Director)
Circus of Love
(Director)
The Dude Goes West
(Director)
Wake Up and Dream
(Director)
House of Mystery
(Director)
Touchdown, Army
(Director)
The Affair of Susan
(Director)
Yanks Ahoy
(Director)
My Pal, the King
(Director)
Three from Variety
(Director)
Bad Boy
(Director)
Enter Laughing
(Assistant Director)
Adventure in Rio
(Director)
Mohawk
(Director)
Alias Mary Dow
(Director)
King for a Night
(Director)
Tarzan's Desert Mystery
(Associate Producer)
Tarzan and the Amazons
(Associate Producer)
Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
(Associate Producer)
The President's Analyst
(Assistant Director)
Kronos
(Producer)
Rainbow on the River
(Director)
Machete
(Screenplay)
Machete
(Producer)
Unmarried
(Director)
Carnival Story
(Screenplay)
Ambush
(Director)
Hold 'Em Navy
(Director)
The Big Cage
(Director)
Circus of Love
(Writer)
99 and 44/100% Dead
(Assistant Director)
All Women Have Secrets
(Director)
Apache Warrior
(Story)
Apache Warrior
(Screenplay)
The Desperados Are in Town
(Screenplay)
The Desperados Are in Town
(Director)
Son of Ali Baba
(Director)
The Desperados Are in Town
(Producer)
Fast Companions
(Director)
Tarzan and the Huntress
(Associate Producer)
Regina Amstetten
(Director)
Violets in Spring
(Director)
Reunion in Reno
(Director)
Let's Talk It Over
(Director)
Half a Sinner
(Director)
A Night at Earl Carroll's
(Director)
The Brotherhood of the Bell
(Assistant Director)
Fear on Trial
(Production Manager)