Rouben Mamoulian Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Rouben Mamoulian was born on October 8, 1897 in Tiflis, Russian Empire as Rouben Zachary Mamoulian. He was a director and writer, known for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Mark of Zorro (1940) and Queen Christina (1933). He was married to Azadia Newman. He died on December 4, 1987 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]
Height
6' 0½" (1.84 m)
Profession
Director, Writer, Editor
Spouse
Azadia Newman
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Trademark
1
Master of the tracking shot: is partial to p.o.v shots such as the original opening of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2
Always included a cat in his films as a good luck token
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Quote
1
[interviewed in 1966]: The screen is the most powerful, exciting and contemporary medium. One of these days, we will learn to do it full justice.
2
[on the improvisations George Gershwin brought to music] George at the piano was George happy. He would draw a lovely melody out of the keyboard like a golden thread, then he would play with it and juggle it, twist it and toss it around mischievously, weave it into unexpected patterns, tie it in knots and untie it and hurl it into a cascade of ever-changing rhythms and counterpoints. George at the piano was like a gay sorcerer celebrating his Sabbath.
3
It was touching to see how Ira Gershwin, while singing, would become so overwhelmed with admiration for his brother [George Gershwin] that he would look from him to me with half-open eyes and pantomime with a soft gesture of his hand, as if saying,"He did it. Isn't it wonderful? Isn't HE wonderful?".
4
[on casting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)] I don't want Hyde to be a monster, Hyde is not evil, he is the primitive, the animal in us, whereas Jekyll is a cultured man, representing the intellect. Hyde is the Neanderthal man and [Fredric March's] makeup was designed as such.
5
I consider that color on the screen must be used as an emotion.
6
Improvisation is for the birds and the amateurs.
7
Realism and naturalism are not for me. I think it's too feeble an instrument.
8
I think that anybody - and I'm not exaggerating - is capable of giving one hell of a good performance.
9
I visualize a whole film before I come to the set and then I try to match it.
10
[on CinemaScope] The worst shape ever devised.
11
You can have all the philosophy you like: if a film doesn't come across in graphic terms, it falls short.
12
The most important critic is time.
13
We have forsaken the magic of the cinema. We have gotten too far away from the cinematic effects achievable by camera angles and creative editing.
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Fact
1
From 1926, taught and directed for the Theater Guild, before making a major impact on Broadway with "Porgy" the following year.
2
An expert at integrating style and content.
3
Under contract to Paramount Pictures from 1929-33. Noted for his use of the subjective, 360-degree revolving camera for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932). At 20th Century-Fox from 1940-42, he excelled at costume dramas, such as The Mark of Zorro (1940) and Blood and Sand (1941).
4
Directed the first three-strip Technicolor film, Becky Sharp (1935). Despite the breakthrough technical innovations, it performed poorly at the box office.
5
Noted as a producer of operas and stage musicals in the 1920's. Appointed director of operas and operettas at the George Eastman Theatre in Rochester.
6
Earned a law degree from the University of Moscow and studied acting, as well as writing and directing for the stage at the Moscow Art Theatre.
7
Made just 16 films in 29 years.
8
His father, Zachary, was a bank president.
9
His creative influence was so great that his films sometimes carried the credit 'A Rouben Mamoulian Production', even though he never produced any films.
Attended Nersesian School in Tiflis, Georgia. His school friend was the Armenian poet and actor Pahare. Pahare later studied acting with Vergine Kalantarian, who was Rouben's mother. Joseph Stalin also was a graduate of Nersesian School.
12
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 594-595. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
13
Vice president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1963
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His mother, Vergine Kalantarian, was an Armenian theater actress in Tiflis, Georgia.
15
Although he was born in Tiflis, Georgia, he was an ethnic Armenian, as was filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, also born in Tiflis.
16
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 710-714. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
17
His career as a director came to an end when he was fired from his last two films, Porgy and Bess (1959) and Cleopatra (1963) (which was started in 1959).
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The opening moments in Love Me Tonight (1932), in which street sounds and the sound of snoring all blend into a jazzy, syncopated rhythm, was his own idea, and was based on a similar idea that he used in the 1927 non-musical version of "Porgy". The same idea was re-used in Samuel Goldwyn's film version of George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" (Porgy and Bess (1959)), as a lead-in into the song "Good Morning, Sistuh".
19
In the late 1920s when sound was introduced into motion pictures, beginning with The Jazz Singer (1927), many directors were left stranded, as they could no longer move the camera. The sound of the dolly or the camera itself was recorded on the soundtrack and sounded awful and distracting. Mamoulian was one of the first to introduce the blimp, a box that encased the camera and isolated the sound the camera made. He also refused to let the sound of the dolly or of the camera operators stand in his way and quite often moved the camera regardless. This was rare in the 1930s and made Mamoulian unique. He'd move the camera even if the audience would hear it on the soundtrack, arguing that they would be so engrossed in the scene they were watching that they would not notice. He was right.
20
Producers were so terrified that the opening sequence to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) would turn out badly - Mamoulian shot it all from the perspective of the protagonist - that the re-release of the film omitted the first few minutes of the film. It wasn't until the 1970s that this was added on again and Mamoulian's brilliance returned to one of his greatest films.
21
Innovative director who was both partial to expressionism and realism in his films. He found new and interesting ways of moving the camera, not only with a dolly but also using simple pans that were not "functional" at the time - such as "space pans" - and seldom used, an industry "no, no". In the contemporary film world these kinds of pans are not only accepted but the norm.
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Cleopatra
1963
: uncredited; fired, replaced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz - uncredited
Porgy and Bess
1959
: uncredited, fired, footage unused except for song "Good Morning, Sistuh", replaced by Otto Preminger - uncredited
Silk Stockings
1957
The Wild Heart
1952
US version
Summer Holiday
1948
Rings on Her Fingers
1942
Blood and Sand
1941
The Mark of Zorro
1940
Golden Boy
1939
High, Wide, and Handsome
1937
The Gay Desperado
1936
Becky Sharp
1935
We Live Again
1934
Queen Christina
1933
The Song of Songs
1933
Love Me Tonight
1932
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1931
City Streets
1931
Applause
1929
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Never Steal Anything Small
1959
play
The Wild Heart
1952
additional scenes
Queen Christina
1933
uncredited
The Song of Songs
1933
uncredited
Editor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Love Me Tonight
1932
uncredited
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Love Me Tonight
1932
producer - uncredited
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Porgy and Bess
1959
"Morning Sounds"
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Dreamers
2003
acknowledgment: director of Queen Christina 1933
Zorro: The Gay Blade
1981
this film is dedicated to: and the other great filmmakers whose past gives us our future
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
Documentary acknowledgement: the special style and content of the musical sequences were created by
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of American Music
1985
TV Movie documentary
Himself
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
1984
Documentary
Himself
The Horror of It All
1983
TV Movie documentary
Himself
All You Need Is Love
1977
TV Series documentary
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Satin and Silk
2003
Video short
Himself
He Walks in Beauty: The George Stevens Production 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'
2001
Video documentary short
Himself - Director
American Masters
2001
TV Series documentary
Himself
George Stevens: The Filmmakers Who Knew Him
2001
Video documentary
Himself
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
2001
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Universal Horror
1998
TV Movie documentary
Himself
20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years
1997
TV Movie documentary
Himself (uncredited)
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1985
Luchino Visconti Award
David di Donatello Awards
Special award on occasion of the 10th anniversary of the award.
$400,000
