罗伯特·弗洛里
(1900)
Robert Florey
导演
编剧
副导演
演员
服装
Robert Florey became infatuated with Hollywood while in his teens. By
the time he set off for America in the early 1920s he had written
articles on film for Cinemagazine, La Cinematographie Francaise and Le
Technicien du Film, acted and directed one-reel shorts in Switzerland
and worked as an assistant for
Louis Feuillade at his studio in Nice.
Sent to Hollywood as a correspondent for one of his French
publications, he decided to settle down and learn the film business
"from the bottom up", first as a gag writer, then as director of foreign publicity for Douglas Fairbanks,
Mary Pickford and
Rudolph Valentino. In 1924 he was
signed by MGM as assistant director on a two-year contract, moving on
to Paramount as full director in 1928. During this period of
apprenticeship he learned the tricks of his trade under such
experienced craftsmen as King Vidor and
Josef von Sternberg. His first claim
to directing fame were two highly acclaimed avant-garde short films,
The Life and Death of 9413, a Hollywood Extra (1928),
and
Skyscraper Symphony (1929) --
both heavily influenced by German expressionist cinema. Florey was also
tasked with co-directing (alongside
Joseph Santley) the first wacky comedy
with The Marx Brothers,
The Cocoanuts (1929), shot at
Paramount's Astoria studio, near Broadway (Groucho Marx was not impressed with either director; he once said about them that "one of them didn't understand Harpo [Harpo Marx] and the other one didn't understand English").
After a spell at the German studio UFA in 1929, Florey joined Universal in 1931. His request to write and direct Frankenstein (1931) with Bela Lugosi was initially accepted. However, producer Carl Laemmle Jr. ultimately disliked Lugosi 's make-up for the monster, and Lugosi himself resented not having a speaking part. Much of Florey's script also ended up on the cutting room floor, except for several key ingredients, such as the ending in the windmill. As consolation for missing out on the prestigious assignment (which went to James Whale), Florey was given a lesser project, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), with Lugosi as Dr. Mirakle, a demented Darwinian scientist who crossbreeds humans with apes. The stylized, distorted buildings of Florey's Parisian sets were once again reminiscent of German expressionism, notably Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920). Florey, from then on, was set on a career of helming second features for Warner Brothers (1933-35), Paramount (1935-40), Columbia (1941), Warner Brothers again (1942-46) and United Artists (1948-50). As a result of his affinity with horror and science-fiction, he did his best work in these genres. The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) has become something of a cult classic and is notable for some clever montage and animation effects, as well as an effectively eerie atmosphere. Unfortunately, the anti-climactic downbeat ending (a result of studio interference) rather lessened the picture's overall impact.
In 1951, Florey stopped making features and became prodigiously active as a director of television episodes. In 1953 he won the first Directors Guild of America Award bestowed for TV direction, for The Last Voyage (1953). He also wrote eight influential books on the history of cinema.
After a spell at the German studio UFA in 1929, Florey joined Universal in 1931. His request to write and direct Frankenstein (1931) with Bela Lugosi was initially accepted. However, producer Carl Laemmle Jr. ultimately disliked Lugosi 's make-up for the monster, and Lugosi himself resented not having a speaking part. Much of Florey's script also ended up on the cutting room floor, except for several key ingredients, such as the ending in the windmill. As consolation for missing out on the prestigious assignment (which went to James Whale), Florey was given a lesser project, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), with Lugosi as Dr. Mirakle, a demented Darwinian scientist who crossbreeds humans with apes. The stylized, distorted buildings of Florey's Parisian sets were once again reminiscent of German expressionism, notably Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920). Florey, from then on, was set on a career of helming second features for Warner Brothers (1933-35), Paramount (1935-40), Columbia (1941), Warner Brothers again (1942-46) and United Artists (1948-50). As a result of his affinity with horror and science-fiction, he did his best work in these genres. The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) has become something of a cult classic and is notable for some clever montage and animation effects, as well as an effectively eerie atmosphere. Unfortunately, the anti-climactic downbeat ending (a result of studio interference) rather lessened the picture's overall impact.
In 1951, Florey stopped making features and became prodigiously active as a director of television episodes. In 1953 he won the first Directors Guild of America Award bestowed for TV direction, for The Last Voyage (1953). He also wrote eight influential books on the history of cinema.
