KN
Photo of Kurt Neumann

Kurt Neumann

Director, Producer, Actor, Writer, Additional Credits
Born April 5, 1908Died August 21, 1958 (50 years)
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
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • Carnival Story
  • Mohawk
  • Brooklyn Orchid
  • The McGuerins from Brooklyn
  • Yanks Ahoy
  • Fall In
Known For
  • The Fly
  • The Return of the Vampire
  • Tarzan and the Amazons
  • Rocketship X-M
  • Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
  • Tarzan and the Huntress
  • Kronos
  • The President's Analyst
  • Secret of the Blue Room
  • Tarzan's Desert Mystery
  • Son of Ali Baba
  • The Ring
  • The Kid from Texas
  • Carnival Story
  • Mohawk
  • Tarzan and the She-Devil
  • The Deerslayer
  • Bad Boy
  • Enter Laughing
  • The Dude Goes West
  • Make a Wish
  • Counterplot

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices