Curt Siodmak

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Curt Siodmak (* 10. August 1902 in Dresden as Kurt Siodmak ; † 2. September 2000 in Three Rivers , California ) was a German-American screenwriter , film director and writer of science fiction - novels .

Life

Siodmak's Jewish parents were the merchant Ignatz Siodmak and his wife Rosa Philippine, née Blum. Ignatz Siodmak originally came from Silesia , emigrated to America and then, as a US citizen, settled in Germany in 1899, where he married. In 1900 Curt Siodmak's older brother Robert was born here.

Kurt initially studied physics , mathematics (doctorate in 1927, master's examination in 1930 in Zurich) and engineering in Dresden , Berlin , Stuttgart and Zurich until 1930 . On the side he wrote - often under the pseudonym "Curt Baron" - fantastic stories such as Helene is about to burst . As early as 1926, when he was still active as a journalist, he had contacts with the film scene; he was interested in the development of Fritz Lang's Metropolis , in which he - like his future wife - worked as an extra . In 1928 he turned completely to film. Menschen am Sonntag , his brother's first major success, goes back to an idea by Curt Siodmak. The script came from Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann . In 1930 he addressed the emerging new genre with Der Schuss im Tonfilmatelier with Gerda Maurus and Harry Frank . The man who is looking for his murderer with Heinz Rühmann (1931) and The invisible front with Trude von Molo (1932) also belong to this period.

In Switzerland , Siodmak met the architect Baroness Henrietta Erna de Perrot, whom he married in 1931. In 1932 his science fiction novel FP1 answers not with Hans Albers , Peter Lorre and Sybille Schmitz was filmed. A year later, startled by Goebbels' speech about the future of German film, he fled first to Switzerland - which however was not ready to accept him - and then via France , where he was unable to gain a foothold due to a lack of language skills, to Great Britain , where he wrote the script for the film The Tunnel (based on the novel of the same name by Bernhard Kellermann ).

1933 son Geoffrey Curt was born in England.

Meanwhile who had Nazis in Germany confiscated his property. Since Great Britain was not ready to accept him permanently, Siodmak initially commuted for a few days on the France – England ferry , and also lived in Belgium for some time . Several scripts that he wrote during this time - including for Alfred Hitchcock  - were never made into a film.

In 1937 he emigrated to the USA and made a living there, first with Paramount , then with the Universal Film Manufacturing Company . As a science fiction and horror specialist , he created classic films such as The Invisible Man Returns , The Invisible Woman and the werewolf classic The Wolf Man (1941). Other horror films Siodmak wrote the script are Son of Dracula (Dracula's son) (1943), directed by his brother Robert, and The Beast With Five Fingers (1946).

His 1942 novel Donovan's Brain was made into films several times (including 1953) and was also adapted for radio by Orson Welles .

Now a US citizen, Siodmak trained as a secret agent and wrote leaflets against the National Socialist German Reich.

Siodmak first directed it after his brother Robert, with whom he had discussed this, returned to Europe in 1951. He shot his last film, Ski Fever (love game in the snow) , in 1966 with Vivi Bach , Dietmar Schönherr and Toni Sailer in Czechoslovakia .

Since 1957, Siodmak lived with his wife on his farm in Three Rivers , California . In the last decades of his life he was mainly concerned with his autobiography , several novels and musicals . Occasionally he lectured at Stanford University in California .

He was an honorary member of the Association of German Scriptwriters .

Curt Siodmak died of cancer on his ranch at the age of 98 .

bibliography

Novels
  • The Eggs from Lake Tanganyika (1926)
  • Helene is about to burst (1929)
  • The shot in the sound film studio (1930)
  • FP1 does not respond (1931)
  • City Behind Mists (1931)
  • Vengeance in the Ether (1932)
  • The Madonna from Markusstrasse (1932)
  • Until the End of the World (1933)
  • The Power in the Dark (1937)
  • Black Friday (1939)
  • Donovan's Brain (1942)
    • German: The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Nest, 1951. Also called: Donovan's Brain. Heyne (Heyne General Series # 66), 1960.
  • The Beast with Five Fingers (1945)
  • Whomsoever I Shall Kiss (1952)
  • Riders to the Stars (1954)
    • German: The way to the stars. Pabel (Utopia Grossband # 25), 1955.
  • Skyport (1959)
    • German: Hotel in space. Heyne (Heyne General Series # 149), 1962.
  • For Kings Only (1964)
  • Hauser's Memory (1968)
    • German: Hauser's memory. Heyne (Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3413), 1974, ISBN 3-453-30303-2 .
  • The Third Ear (1971)
  • City in the Sky (1974)
    • German: The city in space. Heyne (Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3506), 1976, ISBN 3-453-30396-2 .
  • Frankenstein Meets Wolfman (1981)
  • I, Gabriel (1986)
    • German: I Gabriel. Heyne (Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4290), 1986, ISBN 3-453-31298-8 .
  • The Witches of Paris
    • English: The Witches of Paris. Goldmann-Taschenbuch # 9475, 1991.
  • Gabriel's Body (1992)
Autobiography
  • Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart: The Life of a Writer, Not Always to His Liking (1997)
  • Wolf Man's Maker (1995 and 1997)

Filmography

Literary template

script

literature

Lexicons
interview
  • Lutz Gräfe, Olaf Möller: A conversation with Curt Siodmak. In: Wolfgang Jeschke (Ed.): The Science Fiction Year 1997 . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich, ISBN 3-453-11896-0 , pp. 710-735.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Siodmak, Curt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Siodmak, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American screenplay and science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 2000
Place of death Three Rivers (California)