Kurt Neumann was a German film director born in Nuremberg in Bavaria on April 5th, 1908. With a career dating back to 1931, he has a total of sixty-eight feature films and shorts that he has directed. Though he has directed many crime and aventure films, Kurt's first work in science fiction was not until 1950 when he directed the adventure film Rocketship X-M starring Lloyd Bridges. Kurt was known mostly for "quota quickie" films that were produced on a meager budget and pushed into production. Kurt's biggest contribution to the science fiction genre was not until the end of his career when he directed The Fly in 1958 starring Al Hedison, Patricia Owens and Vincent Price. Kurt directed only three more films after that, all of which were released posthumously. Kurt Neumann passed away in Hollywood, California on August 21st, 1958 at the age of 50, just nine days before the US premiere of The Fly.
Kurt Neumann directed three of the classic Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films of the 1940s. He directed Tarzan and the Amazons in 1945, Tarzan and the Leopard Woman in 1946 and Tarzan and the Huntress in 1947. In 1953 he did Tarzan and the She-Devil starring Les Baxter as Tarzan.