Biography

Towards the end of his career, Mann directed two major epics: El Cid (1961)--which was his last major success--and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), shot with an international cast at a cost of $18.4 million. Poorly received, the film bankrupted producer Samuel Bronston. Mann only directed two more films and died during shooting of A Dandy in Aspic (1968), which was completed by its star Laurence Harvey.

A major disagreement with producer/star Kirk Douglas led to him being fired from Spartacus (1960) and replaced by Stanley Kubrick. However, this did not prevent them from working together again five years later in the World War II drama The Heroes of Telemark (1965).

From age 18, Mann worked on the Broadway stage as an actor, production manager and set designer, later progressing to directing. In 1938, he joined David O. Selznick as a casting director and talent scout, supervising screen tests for Gone with the Wind (1939), Rebecca (1940) and Intermezzo (1939).

In Hollywood from 1939, Mann began as an assistant director at Paramount. Promoted to director, he began by turning out low-budget thrillers and films noir for studios like Republic, Eagle-Lion (formerly PRC) and RKO (1945-46). He was at MGM from 1949-51, but eventually made his breakthrough at Universal with a series of uncompromisingly tough, psychological Westerns starring James Stewart. These films featured a recurrent theme of revenge, obsession and rage. They were superbly photographed on location, amidst spectacular, rugged scenery, providing an effective backdrop for the narrative and a counterpoint to the leading protagonist's psyche. In stark contrast, Mann also directed a nostalgic and popular (though inaccurate) biopic of bandleader Glenn Miller, The Glenn Miller Story (1954), again featuring Stewart.

He has directed two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Winchester '73 (1950) and The Naked Spur (1953).