View source for Kurt Neumann (director)



{{More citations needed|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Kurt Neumann
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| birthname          = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1908|4|5|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Nuremberg]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1958|8|21|1908|4|5|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| occupation         = Film director, screenwriter, film producer
| footnotes          = 
}}
'''Kurt Neumann''' (5 April 1908 – 21 August 1958) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer who spent much of his career in the United States. He was a prolific director of [[B movies|genre films]] from the 1930s through the 1950s, totaling over 60 feature film credits during that time. He was the principal director of the [[Tarzan in film, television and other non-print media|Tarzan]] films for many years, and specialized in [[science fiction]] films in his later career.<ref>[http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:104310 Allmovie entry]</ref>

==Early life==
Born in Nuremberg, he was the son of a manufacturer of tin stamps, and he studied music in several German cities, including Berlin. In 1926, he directed his first short film.

== Career ==
Neumann came to the United States in the early sound era, hired to direct [[Multiple-language version|German-language versions]] of Hollywood films. Once he mastered English and established himself as technically proficient in filmmaking, Neumann directed movies such 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 film)|It Happened in New Orleans]]'' (1936) with child star [[Bobby Breen]], ''Wide Open Faces'' (1937) with [[Joe E. Brown]], ''[[Island of Lost Men]]'' and ''Ellery Queen: Master Detective'' in 1939.

Neumann was signed by producer [[Hal Roach]] in 1941 to direct a series of "[[Hal Roach's Streamliners|streamliners]]", 45-minute features designed to fill out short double bills. Among these four-reel comedies were ''About Face'' (1942), ''Brooklyn Orchid'' (1942), ''Taxi, Mister?'' (1943) and ''Yanks Ahoy'' (1943). ''[[Two Knights from Brooklyn]]'' (1949) is compiled from two of those streamliners: ''The McGuerins from Brooklyn'' and ''Taxi, Mister''.

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 from 1945 to 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 ''[[Rocketship X-M]]'' (1950, about an expedition to the Moon and Mars) and ''[[The Fly (1958 film)|The Fly]]'' (1958, about a scientist's teleportation experiment that transforms him into a fly creature). Neumann directed other sci-fi and horror films such as ''[[Kronos (film)|Kronos]]'' (1957) and ''[[She Devil (1957 film)|She Devil]]'' (1957), and directed other films such as ''The Ring'' (1952) an independent feature co-starring [[Rita Moreno]], ''[[Carnival Story]]'' (1954), ''Mohawk'' (1956), and ''The Deerslayer'' (1957).

During that decade, Neumann also returned to his native Germany to direct several films, including ''[[Circus of Love]]'' (1954) with [[Eva Bartok]] and [[Curd Jürgens]]. He directed ''[[They Were So Young]]'' (also 1954), a West German and US co-production. 

== Death ==
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, five weeks after filming of ''The Fly'' concluded. He was inurned at the [[Chapel of the Pines Crematory]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|167255402}}|title=Kurt neumann, director, dies in mystery|date=Aug 22, 1958|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

==Partial filmography==
(Neumann credited as director unless otherwise noted)
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[The Big Cage]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Secret of the Blue Room]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Let's Sing Again]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Espionage (1937 film)|Espionage]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Make a Wish (1937 film)|Make a Wish]]'' (1937)
* ''[[That Navy Spirit]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Touchdown, Army]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Island of Lost Men]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Unmarried (film)|Unmarried]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Brooklyn Orchid]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Tarzan and the Amazons]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Tarzan and the Leopard Woman]]'' (1946)
* ''[[Tarzan and the Huntress]]'' (1947)
* ''[[The Dude Goes West]]'' (1948)
* ''[[Bad Men of Tombstone]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Bad Boy (1949 film)|Bad Boy]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Two Knights from Brooklyn]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Rocketship X-M]]'' (1950)
* ''[[The Kid from Texas]]'' (1950)
* ''[[Cattle Drive]]'' (1951)
* ''[[The Ring (1952 film)|The Ring]]'' (1952)
* ''[[Son of Ali Baba]]'' (1952)
* ''[[Hiawatha (1952 film)|Hiawatha]]'' (1952)
* ''[[Tarzan and the She-Devil]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Regina Amstetten]]'' (West Germany, 1954)
* ''[[Three from Variety]]'' (West Germany, 1954)
* ''[[Carnival Story]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Circus of Love]]'' (West Germany, 1954)
* ''[[They Were So Young]]'' (USA/West Germany, 1954)
* ''[[The Star of Rio (1955 film)|The Star of Rio]]'' (West Germany, 1955)
* ''[[Mohawk (1956 film)|Mohawk]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Kronos (film)|Kronos]]'' (1957)
* ''[[She Devil (1957 film)|She Devil]]'' (1957)
* ''[[The Fly (1958 film)|The Fly]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Machete (1958 film)|Machete]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Watusi (film)|Watusi]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Counterplot (film)|Counterplot]]'' (1959)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Kurt Neumann (director)}}
* {{IMDb name|0627087}}
* {{tcmdb name|140229}}

{{Kurt Neumann}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Kurt}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1958 deaths]]
[[Category:Film directors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Burials at Chapel of the Pines Crematory]]
[[Category:Film people from Nuremberg]]
[[Category:German emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:German science fiction film directors]]
[[Category:German comedy film directors]]
[[Category:German horror film directors]]
[[Category:German expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Science fiction film directors]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Kurt Neumann (director)|access_date=2026-03-04}}