Curt Siodmak

German-born scenarist Curt Siodmak, who also directed several minor movies, distinguished himself writing scripts for imaginative horror pics, as well as visionary science fiction films. The young man from Dresden, with a doctorate in mathematics, came to Berlin, found work as a reporter and, as an extra, became the only journalist with access to Fritz Lang's closed of "Metropolis" (1927). His story (expanded by friend Billy Wilder) was the inspiration for "People on Sunday" (1929), one of the last notable German silents. The film, directed by brother Robert (in association with Edgar Ulmer), became a landmark in the development of the docudrama, using a neo-realistic documentary technique, authentic locations and amateur actors to tell a simple story about a day in the life of two German couples. The hand-held camerawork of cinematographer Eugene Schuftan (assisted by Fred Zinnemann) prefigured both the Italian neorealism of the 1940s and the French New Wave of the 50s.