Hans Dreier (August 21, 1885 – October 24, 1966) was a German motion picture art director. He was Paramount Pictures' supervising art director from 1927 until his retirement in 1950, when he was succeeded by Hal Pereira.
Hans Dreier was born in Bremen, Germany in 1885. After studying architecture in Munich, Germany, Dreier worked as imperial supervising architect of the German Cameroon.
He began his career in German films in 1919 as an assistant designer at UFA Studios. At the urging of German director Ernst Lubitsch, Dreier relocated to Hollywood in 1923 to work for Paramount. His first Hollywood film was Forbidden Paradise, directed by Lubitsch and starring Pola Negri. He was nominated for Academy Awards for his art direction on 23 occasions. He won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction (Color) for Frenchman's Creek (1944) and Samson and Delilah (1950). He also won the award for Art Direction (Black and White) for Sunset Boulevard (1950).
Selected filmography
- The Devil and the Madonna (1919)
- Figures of the Night (1920)
- Mary Magdalene (1920)
- Napoleon and the Little Washerwoman (1920)
- Kurfürstendamm (1920)
- Lady Godiva (1921)
- The Riddle of the Sphinx (1921)
- The Adventuress of Monte Carlo (1921)
- The Last Witness (1921)
- Fridericus Rex (1922)
- The Vice of Gambling (1923)
- La Boheme (1923)
- The Great Unknown (1924)
- Forbidden Paradise (1924, art director)
- Underworld (1927, set design)