Robert Siodmak (August 8, 1900 - March 10, 1973) was a film director born in Memphis, Tennessee (sometimes his birthplace is stated as Dresden, Germany). He emigrated, with his family, to Germany at age one. He worked as a stage director and a banker before becoming editor and scenarist for Kurt Bernhardt in 1925. With the rise of Nazism he left Germany for Paris and in 1940 Paris for Hollywood. In Hollywood he was always an assignment director, but managed to bring the positive aspects of German cinema to his projects and direct some great film noir. He returned to Germany in the 1950s.