Matinee Classics - Anthony Mann Biography & Filmography

Anthony Mann DIRECTOR

PHOTOS

ANTHONY MANN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Anthony Mann was born June 30, 1906, in San Diego, California, as Emil Anton Bundesmann. He and his family relocated to New York when he was ten. In 1923, due to the death of his father, he dropped out of high school and started acting. He began performing as a walk-on on Broadway, and eventually played larger roles and worked as a stage manager, production manager, and set designer. By the 1930's, however, Mann discovered that his true passion was directing. His productions such as "Thunder on the Left" (1933) and "So "Proudly We Hail" (1936) attracted the attention of David O. Selznick, who hired him to be a talent scout and casting director for screen tests on pictures like "Gone With the Wind" (1939) and "Intermezzo" (1939).

In 1939, Mann changed his name and left for Paramount, where he worked as an assistant director to people like Preston Surges. For a few years he served in movies like "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), although none of the films he worked on gave him any credit. He finally got his first directing credit in 1942 for the low budget "Dr. Broadway". He continued to turn out enjoyable and skillfully made B-movies, although he switched between Universal, RKO, and Republic studios. Mann became excellent at manipulating the lights and cameras to fill out the rather thin scripts he was given. Some of his more masterful early work includes "Strangers in the Night" (1944), "The Great Flamarion" (1945), and "Strange Impersonation" (1946). They were melodramatic thrillers in which the solution was either stay trapped in a hostile world or lash out in violence and incivility. However, it wasn't until Mann delved into film noirs that he found a spot in Hollywood.

Beginning in 1947 with "Desperate" and "Railroaded!", the director began a three year stint where he worked for the low budget Eagle-Lion studio, making the classic crime dramas. Others of this type include "T-Men" (1947) and "Raw Deal" (1948). Mann's chief collaborator was Eagle-Lion films' cinematographer John Alton. Soon after their work was seen, MGM asked them to direct some films with larger budgets. They agreed and turned out several film noir pictures, the last being “Border Incident” (1949). Their split signaled the start of Mann’s western film genre career, of which he is most celebrated.

Some of his first, like “The Furies” (1950) and “Devil’s Doorway” (1950), were duds, but he elevated his image as a director when he began to collaborate with actor James Stewart. The first picture of their eight film partnership was “Winchester ‘73” (1950). Most of the productions that followed became successes, and the majority of them were also westerners. Some of their most famous west ones are “Bend of the River” (1952) and “Naked Spur” (1952). They managed to turn the genre into an extremely violent and psychological genre, carefully hinted with a bit of film noir. While Mann directed some pictures in other genres – “The Glenn Miller Story” (1954), “Strategic Air Command” (1955), and “God’s Little Acre” (1958) – it was the westerners that made him an A-level star in the fifties.

Into the 1960's, the director turned to the epics. He constructed such movies as producer Samuel Bronson’s “El Cid” (1961) and “The Fall of the Roman Empire” (1964), which demonstrated Mann’s keen ability to integrate intelligence and drama into his architecture and landscape. He filmed one more picture, “The Heroes of Telemark” (1965), before working on his final production, “A Dandy in Aspic” (1968). Unfortunately, during production of the latter in Berlin, Germany, the director passed away from a heart attack. He never got to experience the critical praise that it later received. For his contributions to the motion picture industry, he has multiple award nominations, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Filmography

1968 A Dandy in Aspic

1965 The Heroes of Telemark

1964 The Fall of the Roman Empire

1961 El Cid

1960 Cimarron

1960 Spartacus

1958 Man of the West

1958 God's Little Acre

1957 The Tin Star

1957 Men in War

1956 Serenade

1955 The Last Frontier