Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. He came to prominence as a skilled director of film noir and Westerns, and for his historical epics.

Mann started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where he worked as a talent scout and casting director. He then became an assistant director, most notably working for Preston Sturges. His directorial debut was Dr. Broadway (1942). He directed several feature films for numerous production companies, including RKO Pictures, Eagle-Lion Films, Universal Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). His first major success was T-Men (1947), garnering notable recognition for producing several films in the film noir genre through modest budgets and short shooting schedules. As a director, he often collaborated with cinematographer John Alton.

During the 1950s, Mann shifted to directing Western films starring several major stars of the era, including James Stewart. He directed Stewart in eight films, including Winchester '73 (1950), The Naked Spur (1953), and The Man from Laramie (1955). While successful in the United States, these films became appreciated and studied among French film critics, several of whom would become influential with the French New Wave. In 1955, Jacques Rivette hailed Mann as "one of the four great directors of postwar Hollywood". The other three were Nicholas Ray, Richard Brooks, and Robert Aldrich.

By the 1960s, Mann turned to large-scale filmmaking, directing the medieval epic El Cid (1961), starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964). Both films were produced by Samuel Bronston. Mann then directed the war film The Heroes of Telemark (1965) and the spy thriller A Dandy in Aspic (1968). In 1967, Mann died from a heart attack in Berlin before he had finished the latter film; its star Laurence Harvey completed the film, albeit uncredited.

Early life

Mann was born Emil Anton Bundsmann in San Diego, California. His father, Emile Theodore Bundsmann, an academic, was born in the village of Rosice, Chrudim, Bohemia to a Sudeten-German Catholic family. His mother, Bertha (née Waxelbaum/Weichselbaum), a drama teacher from Macon, Georgia, was an American of Bavarian Jewish descent. At the time of his birth, Mann's parents were members of the Theosophical Society community of Lomaland in San Diego County.

When Mann was three, his parents moved to Austria to seek treatment for his father's ill health, leaving Mann behind in Lomaland. Mann's mother did not return for him until he was fourteen, and only then at the urging of a cousin who had paid him a visit and was worried about his treatment and situation at Lomaland. In 1917, Mann's family relocated to New York where he developed a penchant for acting. This was reinforced with Mann's participation in the Young Men's Hebrew Association. He continued to act in school productions, studying at East Orange Grammar and Newark's Central High School. At the latter school, he portrayed the title role in Alcestis; one of his friends and classmates was future Hollywood studio executive Dore Schary. After his father's death in 1923, Mann dropped out during his senior year to help with the family's finances. In a 1965 interview, Mann expressed his preference for location filming, stating: "Well, the use of the location is to enhance the characters who are involved in it, because somebody who is really minor in feelings and minor as an actor can become tremendous once he's set against a tremendously pictorial background. The great value of using locations is that it enhances everything: it enhances the story; it enhances the very action and the acting. I'll never show a piece of scenery, a gorge, a chasm, without an actor in it."

Coursodon and Sauvage noted Mann incorporates landscapes as part of the narrative, writing "His camera is never too close to isolate, never too far to dwarf. He is not interested in beauty per se, neither does he care much for symbolism. He had an unfailing flair for selecting exteriors that were not only adapted to the requirements of the script but came across as the embodiment of the psychological and moral tensions in it." During filming for Cimarron (1960), Mann's preference for location shooting ran into conflict with MGM producer Sol Lesser, who relocated the production indoors, which forced Mann's departure from the film.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" style="font-size:90%;"

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Genre

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Studio

|-

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1942 || Dr. Broadway || Mystery comedy || Paramount Pictures

|-

| Moonlight in Havana || Romantic comedy || Universal Pictures

|-

| 1943 || Nobody's Darling || Musical || rowspan="4"|Republic Pictures

|-

| 1944 || My Best Gal || Comedy

|-

| rowspan="4"| 1945 || Strangers in the Night || rowspan="2"| Film noir

|-

| The Great Flamarion

|-

| Sing Your Way Home || Musical film || rowspan="2"|RKO Radio Pictures

|-

| Two O'Clock Courage || rowspan="2"|Film noir

|-

| rowspan="2"|1946 || Strange Impersonation || Republic Pictures

|-

| The Bamboo Blonde || Romantic comedy || RKO Radio Pictures

|-

| rowspan="3"| 1947 || T-Men || rowspan="4"|Film noir || rowspan="2"|Eagle-Lion Films

|-

| Railroaded!

|-

| Desperate || RKO Radio Pictures

|-

| 1948 || Raw Deal || rowspan="2"|Eagle-Lion Films

|-

| rowspan="3"| 1949 || Reign of Terror || Historical thriller

|-

| Border Incident ||rowspan="2"|Film noir || rowspan="2"|Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

|-

| Side Street

|-

| rowspan="3" |1950 || The Furies || rowspan="4"|Western || Paramount Pictures

|-

| Winchester '73 || Universal Pictures

|-

| Devil's Doorway || rowspan="2"|Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

|-

| 1951 || The Tall Target

|-

| 1952 || Bend of the River || rowspan="2"|Western || Universal-International

|-

| rowspan="2" |1953 || The Naked Spur || Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

|-

| Thunder Bay || Adventure || rowspan="2"|Universal-International

|-

| rowspan="2"|1954 || The Glenn Miller Story || Biographical drama

|-

| The Far Country || Western || Universal Pictures

|-

| rowspan="3"|1955 || Strategic Air Command || War drama || Paramount Pictures

|-

| The Man from Laramie || rowspan="2"|Western || rowspan="2"|Columbia Pictures

|-

| The Last Frontier

|-

| 1956 || Serenade || Musical || Warner Bros.

|-

| rowspan="2"|1957 || The Tin Star || Western || Paramount Pictures

|-

| Men in War || War || rowspan="2"| Security Pictures/United Artists

|-

| rowspan="2"|1958 || God's Little Acre || Drama

|-

| Man of the West || rowspan="2"|Western || United Artists

|-

| 1960 || Cimarron || Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

|-

| 1961 || El Cid || rowspan="2"|Historical epic || Samuel Bronston Productions/Allied Artists

|-

| 1964 || The Fall of the Roman Empire || Samuel Bronston Productions/Paramount Pictures

|-

| 1965 || The Heroes of Telemark || War || The Rank Organisation

|-

| 1968 || A Dandy in Aspic || Spy thriller || Columbia Pictures

|}

Notes

Sources

Works cited

Biographies (chronological)

Miscellaneous

  • (as Anton Bundsmann)
  • Anthony Mann Profile at Allmovie by Rovi
  • Anthony Mann Profile at Turner Classic Movies