Curt Siodmak (August 10, 1902 – September 2, 2000) was a German-American novelist, screenwriter and director. He is known for his work in the horror and science fiction film 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.
Life and career
Siodmak was born Kurt Siodmak in Dresden, Germany, the son of Rosa Philippine (née Blum) and Ignatz Siodmak. His parents were both from Jewish families in Leipzig. Siodmak acquired a degree in mathematics before beginning to write novels. He invested early royalties earned by his first books in the 1929 movie Menschen am Sonntag, a documentary-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 in collaboration with Fred Zinnemann and cameraman Eugen Schüfftan.
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) (novelization 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
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! width="12%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Title !! width="4%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Year!! colspan="4" scope="col" | Credited as !! width="5%" rowspan="3" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes !! width="1%" rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable" |
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! width=6% |Director!! width=6%|Screenwriter!! width=6% | Screen story writer!! width=6% |Other
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!scope="row"|Mascots
|1929
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!scope="row"|Escape to the Foreign Legion
|1929
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!scope="row"|People on Sunday
|1930
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!scope="row"| The Shot in the Sound Film Studio
|1930
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|1930
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|1932
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|1932
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|1932
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|1933
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!scope="row"|Girls Will Be Boys
|1934
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|1934
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!scope="row"|It's a Bet
|1935
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!scope="row"|Abdul the Damned
|1935
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|1935
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|1935
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!scope="row"|Non-Stop New York
|1937
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!scope="row"|Her Jungle Love
|1938
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|1940
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!scope="row"|Black Friday
|1940
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|1940
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|1940
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!scope="row"|Aloma of the South Seas
|1941
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!scope="row"|Pacific Blackout
|1941
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|1941
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!scope="row"|Invisible Agent
|1942
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!scope="row"|London Blackout Murders
|1943
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!scope="row"|Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
|1943
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|1943
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!scope="row"|False Faces
|1943
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!scope="row"|I Walked with a Zombie
|1943
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|1943
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!scope="row"|Son of Dracula
|1943
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|1944
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!scope="row"|House of Frankenstein
|1945
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!scope="row"|Frisco Sal
|1945
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!scope="row"|Shady Lady
|1945
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|1945
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|1946
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!scope="row"|Berlin Express
|1946
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!scope="row"|Tarzan's Magic Fountain
|1949
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!scope="row"|Bride of the Gorilla
|1951
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|1953
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!scope="row"|Riders to the Stars
|1954
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!scope="row"|Creature with the Atom Brain
|1955
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!scope="row"|Curucu, Beast of the Amazon
|1956
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!scope="row"|Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
|1956
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!scope="row"|Love Slaves of the Amazons
|1957
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|1962
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!scope="row"|The Brain
|1962
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!scope="row"|Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
|1962
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|1963
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!scope="row"|Ski Fever
|1966
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!scope="row"|Ritual
|2002
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| Based on I Walked With a Zombie
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!scope="row"|The Wolfman
|2010
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| Based on The Wolf Man (1941)
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!scope="row"|Model Wanted
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Film adaptations
- The Shot in the Sound Film Studio, directed by Alfred Zeisler (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)<!--French-language version of "F.P.1 antwortet nicht"-->
- F.P.1, directed by Karl Hartl (1933, based on the novel F.P.1 antwortet nicht)<!--English-language version of "F.P.1 antwortet nicht"-->
- Girls Will Be Boys, directed by Marcel Varnel (1934, based on the play The Last Lord)
- The Lady and the Monster, directed by George Sherman (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 (1970, TV film, based on the novel Hauser's Memory)
- Der Heiligenschein, directed by Heinz Schirk (1977, TV film, based on the story Variation of a Theme)
References
External links
- Siodmak on Siodmak