Kurt Neumann (5 April 1908 – 21 August 1958) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer who spent much of his career in the United States. He was a prolific director of genre films from the 1930s through the 1950s, totaling over 60 feature film credits during that time. He was the principal director of the Tarzan films for many years, and specialized in science fiction films in his later career.
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Early life
Born in Nuremberg, he was the son of a manufacturer of tin stamps, and he studied music in several German cities, including Berlin. In 1926, he directed his first short film.
Career
Neumann came to the United States in the early sound era, hired to direct German-language versions of Hollywood films. Once he mastered English and established himself as technically proficient in filmmaking, Neumann directed movies such as The Big Cage (1932), Secret of the Blue Room (1933) with Paul Lukas and Gloria Stuart, Hold 'Em Navy (1936), It Happened in New Orleans (1936) with child star Bobby Breen, Wide Open Faces (1937) with Joe E. Brown, Island of Lost Men and Ellery Queen: Master Detective in 1939.
Neumann was signed by producer Hal Roach in 1941 to direct a series of "streamliners", 45-minute features designed to fill out short double bills. Among these four-reel comedies were About Face (1942), Brooklyn Orchid (1942), Taxi, Mister? (1943) and Yanks Ahoy (1943). Two Knights from Brooklyn (1949) is compiled from two of those streamliners: The McGuerins from Brooklyn and Taxi, Mister.
