Born in Memphis, Tennessee, where his German banker father and his wife were travelling, Robert Siodmak — the older brother of Curt Siodmak — was raised and educated in Germany and became an actor after graduating from the University of Marburg. His lack of success on stage forced him into business, but in 1926 he entered the movie business as a translator of inter-titles on American films. Siodmak became an editor in 1926 and three years later, on Menshen am Sontag (People on Sunday), he made his directorial debut in asociation with Edgar G. Ulmer, with future director Fred Zinnemann as the co-cinematographer, and Curt Siodmak and Billy Wilder as screenwriters. He was established as a director in Germany, but the rise of the Nazi Party forced him into exile in Paris, where he continued making movies. He barely made it out of France ahead of the German occupation in 1940.
After arriving in Hollywood, Siodmak was put to work in B-movies such as West Point Widow. In 1943, he directed Son of Dracula, the best of the later Universal horror films, and its success moved him up to better pictures — the results were immediately evident in dark drama like Phantom Lady…  » Read more