History Creator / RobertSiodmak

He started out in the 1920s making silent movies in his native country, including the landmark 1930 film ''People On Sunday'' (on which he worked with such other later-famous directors as Edgar G. Ulmer, Creator/BillyWilder, Fred Zinnemann, and his own brother Curt), and transitioned easily to sound films. When [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] came to power in 1933, Siodmak fled to Paris, where he directed a variety of films (and worked with such talents as Creator/MauriceChevalier and Creator/ErichVonStroheim) until being forced to flee to the United States after the Nazis invaded France.

He started out in the 1920s making silent movies in his native country, including the landmark 1930 film ''People On Sunday'' (on which he worked with such other later-famous directors as Edgar G. Ulmer, Creator/BillyWilder, Fred Zinnemann, and Siodmak's brother Curt), and transitioned easily to sound films. When [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] came to power in 1933, Siodmak fled to Paris, where he directed a variety of films (and worked with such talents as Creator/MauriceChevalier and Creator/ErichVonStroheim) until being forced to flee to the United States after the Nazis invaded France.

Once in Hollywood, Siodmak eventually became a contract director with Creator/{{Universal}}, where he specialized in FilmNoir, using the same Expressionist techniques he had used in Germany (and that other filmmakers from Germany, such as Wilder and Creator/FritzLang, would use in their own noir work). However, while those movies were popular with both audiences and critics, and he enjoyed working with the actors on them (Creator/CharlesLaughton and Creator/GeorgeSanders gave what they believed were among their best performances for Siodmak, in ''The Suspect'' and ''The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry'', respectively), Siodmak became tired of being [[{{Typecasting}} typecast]] as a director of thrillers, longing to do something different. Unfortunately, most of the movies where he attempted to do something different, such as an adaptation of Creator/FyodorDostoevsky's "The Gambler" (''The Great Sinner'', with Creator/GregoryPeck and Creator/AvaGardner) were flops, and the one non-thriller he directed that was a hit, ''Film/TheCrimsonPirate'', was a TroubledProduction.

He started out making silent movies in the 1920s, including ''People On Sunday'' (among the other later-famous directors who worked on the movie were Edgar G. Ulmer, Creator/BillyWilder, Fred Zinnemann, and Siodmak's brother Curt), and transitioned easily to sound films. When [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] came to power in 1933, Siodmak fled to Paris, where he directed a variety of films (and worked with such talents as Creator/MauriceChevalier and Creator/ErichVonStroheim) until being forced to flee to the United States after the Nazis invaded France.

He started out making silent movies in the 1920's, including ''People On Sunday'' (among the other later-famous directors who worked on the movie were Edgar G. Ulmer, Creator/BillyWilder, Fred Zinnemann, and Siodmak's brother Curt), and transitioned easily to sound films. When [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] came to power in 1933, Siodmak fled to Paris, where he directed a variety of films (and worked with such talents as Creator/MauriceChevalier and Creator/ErichVonStroheim) until being forced to flee to the United States after the Nazis invaded France.

Robert Siodmak (6 August 1900 - 10 March 1973) was a German-born director. He started out making silent movies in the 1920's, including ''People On Sunday'' (among the other later-famous directors who worked on the movie were Edgar G. Ulmer, Creator/BillyWilder, Fred Zinnemann, and Siodmak's brother Curt), and transitioned easily to sound films. When [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] came to power in 1933, Siodmak fled to Paris, where he directed a variety of films (and worked with such talents as Creator/MauriceChevalier and Creator/ErichVonStroheim) until he was forced to flee to the United States after the Nazis invaded France. Once in Hollywood, Siodmak eventually became a contract director with Creator/{{Universal}}, where he specialized in FilmNoir, using the same Expressionist techniques he had used in Germany (and that other filmmakers from Germany, such as Wilder and Creator/FritzLang, would use in their own noir work). However, while those movies were popular with both audiences and critics, and he enjoyed working with the actors on them (Creator/CharlesLaughton and Creator/GeorgeSanders gave what they believed were among their best performances for Siodmak, in ''The Suspect'' and ''The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry'', respectively), Siodmak became tired of being [[{{Typecasting}} typecast]] as a director of thrillers, longing to do something different. Unfortunately, most of the movies where he attempted to do something different, such as an adaptation of Creator/FyodorDostoevsky's "The Gambler" (''The Great Sinner'', with Creator/GregoryPeck and Creator/AvaGardner) were flops, and the one non-thriller he directed that was a hit, ''Film/TheCrimsonPirate'', was a TroubledProduction. Siodmak eventually returned to Germany in the 1950's, where he mostly stayed for the rest of his career. He died seven weeks after the death of his wife, Bertha Odenheimer, whom he had been married to for 40 years.

* ''Film/TheDevilStrikesAtNight'' (1957) - nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars

Robert Siodmak (6 August 1900 - 10 March 1973) was a German-born director. He started out making silent movies in the 1920's, including ''People On Sunday'' (among the other later-famous directors who worked on the movie were Edgar G. Ulmer, Creator/BillyWilder, Fred Zinnemann, and Siodmak's brother Curt), and transitioned easily to sound films. When [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] came to power in 1933, Siodmak fled to Paris, where he directed a variety of films (and worked with such talents as Creator/MauriceChevalier and Creator/ErichVonStroheim) until he was forced to flee to the United States after the Nazis invaded France. Once in Hollywood, Siodmak eventually became a contract director with Creator/{{Universal}}, where he specialized in FilmNoir. However, while those movies were popular with both audiences and critics, and he enjoyed working with the actors on them (Creator/CharlesLaughton and Creator/GeorgeSanders gave what they believed were among their best performances for Siodmak, in ''The Suspect'' and ''The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry'', respectively), Siodmak became tired of being [[{{Typecasting}} typecast]] as a director of thrillers, longing to do something different. Unfortunately, most of the movies where he attempted to do something different, such as an adaptation of Creator/FyodorDostoevsky's "The Gambler" (''The Great Sinner'', with Creator/GregoryPeck and Creator/AvaGardner) were flops, and the one non-thriller he directed that was a hit, ''Film/TheCrimsonPirate'', was a TroubledProduction. Siodmak eventually returned to Germany in the 1950's,