Weitere Namen
Curt Siodmak (Weiterer Name) Curtis Siodmak (Weiterer Name)
Cast, Director, Screenplay, Producer
Dresden Three Rivers, Kalifornien, USA

Biography

Kurt Siodmak was born August 10, 1902, in Dresden. He studied mathematics and began to publish stories from the mid-1920s on. In 1928, Siodmak started to write screenplays and developed the documentary feature film "Menschen am Sonntag" (People on Sunday) which eventually became the first success for his brother, director Robert Siodmak. The film version of Siodmak's novel "F.P. 1 antwortet nicht" (F.P.1 Doesn't Answer) about the construction of an aeroplane platform in the middle of the ocean was Siodmak's last film in Germany before he left for Tessin in 1933 and later went to France to escape the Nazi regime.

 

In France, Siodmak wrote the script for "La crise est finie" (The Depression Is Over), an optimistic evocation of the crisis, directed by his brother Robert. But due to his insufficient command of the French language, Siodmak had to leave for England. In London, Siodmak finally enjoyed his international break-through with the adaptation of Bernhard Kellermann's novel "Der Tunnel" (The Tunnel), directed by Maurice Elvey.

In 1937, Siodmak emigrated to the USA where he was already known for his science fiction stories. He started to work for Paramount and was repeatedly employed as a "script doctor". In 1938, Siodmak and Billy Wilder participated in the foundation of the "Screenwriters Guild of America". At Universal, Siodmak made his name as science fiction and horror movie specialist with the screenplay to the eminently successful "The Invisible Man Returns". Furthermore, he became an international star with the novel "Donovan's Brain" he wrote in the summer of 1942. In 1943, Curt (by now spelled with a "C") Siodmak obtained American citizenship and reported to the "Office of Strategic Services". After an initial operative's training in San Diego, he worked in a propaganda department in Washington and wrote leaflets against Nazi Germany.

Due to an agreement with his brother Robert not to work in the other one's field of director and screenplay writer, respectively, Curt Siodmak did not direct another movie until 1951, after his brother had returned to Europe.

In 1998, Curt Siodmak came to Berlin for the extensive retrospective of the Siodmak brothers' work at the Berlinale. On September 2, 2000, Curt Siodmak died of cancer at his ranch in Three Rivers, California.

Filmography

2009/2010
  • Screenplay
2002
  • Screenplay
1998
  • Participation
1970
  • based on
1966
  • Director
  • Screenplay
1962/1963
  • Screenplay
1962
  • based on
1961
  • Director
  • Screenplay
1957
  • Director
  • Screenplay
  • Producer
1956
  • Director
  • Screenplay
1955
  • Screenplay
  • based on
1953/1954
  • Screenplay
1953
  • based on
1953
  • Director
  • Screenplay
1951
  • Director
  • Screenplay
1948
  • based on
  • Original story
1945
  • Screenplay
1944/1945
  • Screenplay
1944
  • Screenplay
  • Adaptation
1943
  • based on
1943
  • Screenplay
1943
  • Screenplay
1942/1943
  • Screenplay
1942/1943
  • Screenplay
1942
  • Screenplay
1941
  • based on
1941
  • Screenplay
1940
  • Screenplay
  • Adaptation
1939/1940
  • Screenplay
1939/1940
  • Screenplay
  • based on
1938
  • based on
1937
  • Screenplay
1935
  • Screenplay
1935
  • Adaptation
1935
  • Screenplay
1935
  • Screenplay
1935
  • Screenplay
1934
  • based on
1934
  • Screenplay
  • based on
1932
  • Screenplay
1932
  • Screenplay
  • based on
1932
  • Screenplay
1932/1933
  • Screenplay
1931
  • Screenplay
1931
  • Screenplay
1930
  • Screenplay
  • Story
1929/1930
  • Co-author
  • based on
1928/1929
  • Screenplay