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Film director Edgar G. Ulmer (1904-1972) is mostly remembered for the movies The Black Cat (1934) and Detour (1945). These stylish and eccentric works have achieved cult status, but Ulmer's other films remain relatively unknown. As a young man Ulmer lived in Vienna, Austria where he worked as a stage actor and set designer while studying architecture and philosophy. He set designed for Max Reinhardt's theater, served his apprenticeship with F. W. Murnau, and worked with collaborators including Robert Siodmak, Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann, and Eugen Schüftan. Ulmer came to Hollywood with Murnau in the 20s to assist with the art direction on Sunrise (1927). In an interview with Peter Bogdanovich he also recalled making two-reel westerns in Hollywood around this time. The Black Cat (1934), starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, is an early example of Ulmer's striking visual style. Ulmer's career was spent mostly in Poverty Row cinema: after an early success at Universal with The Black Cat, Ulmer, for both personal reasons and a desire for creative independence, left the major studios behind. He specialized first in “ethnic films,” notably four in Yiddish. The best-known of the Yiddish films is Green Fields (1937), co-directed with Jacob Ben-Ami. Ulmer then found a niche making melodramas on tiny budgets and with often unpromising scripts and actors for PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). Through the rest of his career, Ulmer worked mostly on low-budget films in America and Europe. In the 40s he did get a chance to direct two films with larger budgets, Ruthless (1948) and The Strange Woman (1946). The latter is an example of Ulmer at his best, featuring a strong performance by Hedy Lamarr. Detour (1945) has achieved considerable acclaim as a seminal example of film noir, and was picked by the Library of Congress as one of the first group of 100 films worthy of special preservation efforts. Wife Shirley Ulmer acted as script supervisor on nearly all of her director-husband films from 1934 on. He directed his last film, The Cavern, in Italy in 1964; several years later, he suffered a crippling stroke, and died September 30, 1972. 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Black Cat can mean: Black cat, a symbol historically associated with witchcraft and evil. ... Detour is a 1945 film noir film about a young man who takes the identity of a dead gambler, and plunges into danger. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ... F W Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (December 28, 1888 - March 11, 1931) was one of the most influential directors of the silent film era. ... Robert Siodmak (August 8, 1900 - March 10, 1973) was a film director born in Memphis, Tennessee (sometimes his birthplace is stated as Dresden, Germany). ... Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906–March 27, 2002) had a career as a screenwriter, film director and producer that spanned more than 50 years and more than 60 films. ... Fred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 - March 14, 1997) was a noted movie director. ... The Black Cat is a 1934 horror film that became Universal Pictures biggest box office hit of the year. ... 1931 film poster, promoting Bela Lugosis genre-defining turn as Dracula. ... Boris Karloff (November 23, 1887 - February 2, 1969), born William Henry Pratt, was a famous actor in horror films. ... PRCs logo 1945 Part of the 1930s and 1940s Hollywood studios Poverty Row (along with Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures), PRC made only small-budget B-movies. ... Film noir is a stylistic approach to genre films forged in depression-era detective and gangster movies and hard-boiled detective stories which were a staple of pulp fiction. ... Library of Congress, Jefferson building The Library of Congress is the unofficial national library of the United States. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 92 days remaining, as the final day of September. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

Bibliography Bogdanovich, Peter, Who the Devil Made It, Knopf, 1997

Selected film works

• Ruthless (1947)
• The Strange Woman (1947)
• Strange Illusion (1945)
• The Black Cat (1934)
• Detour (1945)
• Moon over Harlem
• Bluebeard (1944)
• The Man From Planet X (1951)

The Black Cat is a 1934 horror film that became Universal Pictures biggest box office hit of the year. ... Detour is a 1945 film noir cult classic that stars Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake and Edmund MacDonald. ...

External Links

• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database