Curt Siodmak (August 10, 1902 – September 2, 2000) was a German-American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He is known for his work in the horror and

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

genres, with such films as '' The Wolf Man'' and '' Donovan's Brain'' (the latter adapted from his novel of the same name). He was the younger brother of noir director

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German Jewish film director. His career spanned some 40 years, working extensively in the United States and France, as well as in his native country. Though he worked in many genres, he was ...

Life and career

Siodmak was born Kurt Siodmak in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the son of Rosa Philippine (née Blum) and Ignatz Siodmak. His parents were both from Jewish families in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. Siodmak acquired a degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

before beginning to write novels. He invested early royalties earned by his first books in the 1929 movie '' Menschen am Sonntag'', a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

-style chronicle of the lives of four Berliners on one Sunday, based on their own lives. The movie was co-directed by Curt Siodmak's brother Robert and Edgar G. Ulmer, with a script by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

in collaboration with

Fred Zinnemann Alfred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an American film director and producer. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thriller film, thrillers, western (genre), westerns, film ...

and

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

Eugen Schüfftan. Siodmak was the nephew of film producer Seymour Nebenzal, who funded ''Menschen am Sonntag'' with funds borrowed from his father, Heinrich Nebenzahl. In the following years Siodmak wrote many novels, screenplays, and short stories, including the novel '' F.P.1 antwortet nicht'' (''F.P.1 Doesn't Answer'') (1932) which was adapted into a film featuring

Hans Albers Hans Philipp August Albers (22 September 1891 – 24 July 1960), also known by his nickname “der blonde Hans” (The Blond Hans), was a German actor and singer. He was the biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1960 and one of the m ...

and

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...

. Siodmak decided to emigrate after hearing an

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

tirade by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

propaganda minister

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

, and departed for England where he made a living as a screenwriter before moving to the United States in 1937. His big break in Hollywood came with the screenplay for '' The Wolf Man'' (1941), starring Lon Chaney Jr., which established the titular fictional creature as the most popular movie monster after

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

and

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

. In the film, Siodmak created several

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

"legends" — being marked by a

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle around ...

; being practically immortal apart from being struck/shot by silver implements/bullets; and the famous verse: ::Even a man who is pure of heart, ::And says his prayers by night ::May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms ::And the autumn moon is bright (The last line was changed in the sequels to "And the moon is full and bright".) Siodmak's science-fiction novel '' Donovan's Brain'' (1942) was a bestseller that was translated into many languages and was adapted for the cinema several times, beginning in 1943 with '' The Lady and the Monster,'' then 1953's '' Donovan's Brain'' and 1962's '' The Brain.'' Other films he wrote the screenplays for include '' Earth vs. the Flying Saucers'', ''

I Walked with a Zombie ''I Walked with a Zombie'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for th ...

'' and '' The Beast with Five Fingers.'' An extensive interview with Siodmak about his career in both Germany and Hollywood is found in Eric Leif Davin's ''

Pioneers of Wonder Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

.'' In the plots of his work, Siodmak utilised the latest scientific findings, combining those with pseudo-scientific motifs like the Jekyll and Hyde complex, the Nazi trauma and the

East–West dichotomy In sociology, the East–West dichotomy is the perceived difference between the Eastern world, Eastern and the Western world, Western worlds. Culture, Cultural and religion, religious rather than geography, geographical in division, the boundar ...

. In 1998, he won the Berlinale Camera at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. Siodmak died in his sleep on September 2, 2000, at his home in Three Rivers, California.

Works

Novels

* ''F.P.1 Doesn't Answer'' (1933) * ''Black Friday'' (1939) * '' Donovan's Brain'' (1942) * ''The Beast with Five Fingers'' (1945) * ''Whomsoever I Shall Kiss'' (1952) * ''Riders to the Stars'' (1954) ( novelisation of the film '' Riders to the Stars'') * ''Skyport'' (1959) * ''For Kings Only'' (1964) * ''Hauser's Memory'' (1968) * ''The Third Ear'' (1971) * ''City in the Sky'' (1974) * ''Frankenstein Meets Wolfman'' (1981)( novelisation of the film '' Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'') * ''Gabriel's Body'' (1991)

Short stories

* ' (1926) * ''Variation of a Theme'' (1972) * ''The P Factor'' (1976) * ''Experiment with Evil'' (1985)

Non-fiction

* ''Even a Man Who Is Pure in Heart: The Life of a Writer, Not Always to His Liking'' (1997) * ''Wolf Man's Maker'' (2001) (Posthumous autobiography)

Filmography

Film adaptations

* ', directed by

Alfred Zeisler Alfred Zeisler (September 26, 1897 – March 1, 1985) was an American-born German film producer, director, actor and screenwriter. He produced 29 films between 1927 and 1936. He also directed 16 films between 1924 and 1949. Selected filmogr ...

(1930, based on the novel ''Schuß im Tonfilmatelier'') * '' F.P.1 antwortet nicht'', directed by Karl Hartl (1932, based on the novel ''F.P.1 antwortet nicht'') ** '' I.F.1 ne répond plus'', directed by Karl Hartl (1933, based on the novel ''F.P.1 antwortet nicht'') ** '' F.P.1'', directed by Karl Hartl (1933, based on the novel ''F.P.1 antwortet nicht'') * '' Girls Will Be Boys'', directed by

Marcel Varnel Marcel Varnel (16 October 1892 – 13 July 1947) was a French film director, notable for his career in the United States and England as a director of plays and films. Biography He was born Marcel Hyacinthe le Bozec in Paris, France. Varnel st ...

(1934, based on the play ''The Last Lord'') * '' The Lady and the Monster'', directed by

George Sherman George Sherman (July 14, 1908 – March 15, 1991) was an American film director and Film producer, producer of low-budget Western (genre), Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment indus ...

(1944, based on the novel '' Donovan's Brain'') * '' Donovan's Brain'', directed by Felix E. Feist (1953, based on the novel '' Donovan's Brain'') * '' Studio One: Donovan's Brain'' (1955, TV series episode, based on the novel '' Donovan's Brain'') * '' The Brain'', directed by Freddie Francis (1962, based on the novel '' Donovan's Brain'') * '' Hauser's Memory'', directed by

Boris Sagal Boris Sagal (October 18, 1923 – May 22, 1981) was an American television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather t ...

(1970, TV film, based on the novel ''Hauser's Memory'') * ''Der Heiligenschein'', directed by

Heinz Schirk The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 186 ...

(1977, TV film, based on the story ''Variation of a Theme'')

References

External links

* *
Siodmak on Siodmak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siodmak, Curt 1902 births 2000 deaths Writers from Dresden 20th-century German novelists German male screenwriters German male short story writers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish American novelists Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American short story writers Exilliteratur writers 20th-century American novelists American science fiction writers American male short story writers American male novelists American male screenwriters German male novelists Hugo Award–winning writers 20th-century German short story writers 20th-century German male writers 20th-century American male writers Film people from Dresden 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews American horror film directors