Rouben Zachary Mamoulian (October 8, 1897 – December 4, 1987) was an Armenian-American film and theater director.^[1]

Rouben Mamoulian
Ռուբեն Մամուլյան
Born	Rouben Zachary Mamoulian (1897-10-08)October 8, 1897 Tiflis,Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia)
Died	December 4, 1987(1987-12-04) (aged 90) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Citizenship	United States
Occupation(s)	Film and stage director
Years active	1927-1963
Spouse	Azadia Newman ​ (m. 1945)​

Mamoulian's oeuvre includes sixteen films (four of which aremusicals) and seventeenBroadway productions, six of which aremusicals. He was responsible for the acclaimed original stagings ofOklahoma! (1943) andCarousel (1945), as well as the first production ofGeorge Gershwin'sPorgy and Bess (1935).^[2][3]

His output in the early film sound era demonstrated his talent for deploying cinematic innovations that were startling in their day. He restored mobility to the camera, and developed his own signature use ofmontage,close-ups,split-screens anddissolves.^[4][5] Mamoulian's films garnered more in the way of critical acclaim than box office receipts: only six of his films earned a profit at their initial release:City Streets (1931),Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931),Love Me Tonight (1932),Queen Christina (1934),The Mark of Zorro (1940) andBlood and Sand (1941).^[6][7]

Mamoulian was born inTiflis,Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia), to a family ofArmenian descent.^[8][9][10] His mother, Virginie (née Kalantarian), from a family of wealthy landowners and financiers, served as a director of the Armenian theatre. His father, Zachary Mamoulian, was a bank president.^{[11]: 8 [12][13][14]} They raised Mamoulian and his younger sister, Svetlana, in theArmenian Apostolic faith.^[15] By the time he was six, Mamoulian spoke three languages with equal fluency: Russian at home, Armenian at one grandmother’s, and Georgian at the other’s.^[16]

In the aftermath of theRussian Revolution of 1905, ethnic violence arose in Tiflis, and the family moved to Paris for three years, where Mamoulian became fluent in French.^[17][18] In 1915, his father enrolled him at theImperial Moscow University to study law, but Mamoulian turned to literary pursuits and student stage productions.^[19][20][21] The Mamoulian family, sympathetic to the Czarist regime, fled Russia during the turmoil of the1917 revolution and the ensuing civil war.^[22]

In 1923,^[23] Mamoulian accepted an invitation from George Eastman^{[11]: 17–28} to become co-director of the American Opera Company inRochester, New York,^[24] and taught at theEastman School of Music.^[25] Mamoulian producedCarmen,Faust,Boris Godunov, as well asGilbert and Sullivan andViennese operettas.^[26][27][28]

In 1925, Mamoulian was head of the Eastman School's School of Dance and Dramatic Action, whereMartha Graham taught for one year (1925–26).^[25] Among other performances, together they produced a short, two-color film titledThe Flute of Krishna, featuring Eastman students. Mamoulian left Eastman shortly after (1926),^[25][29][30] Mamoulian recalled:

I was already seeking a truly dramatic theater, a theater that would combine all the elements of movement, dancing, acting, music, singing, decor, lighting and colour and so on."^[31]

In 1930, Mamoulian became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Mamoulian began his Broadway director career with a production ofDuBose Heyward'sPorgy, which opened on October 10, 1927.^[32][33][34] He also directedWings Over Europe from late 1928 to 1929.^[34] He directed the revival ofPorgy in 1929 along withGeorge Gershwin's operatic treatmentPorgy and Bess, which opened on October 10, 1935.^[34] Mamoulian was also the first to stage such notable Broadway works asOklahoma! (1943),Carousel (1945), andLost in the Stars (1949).^[34]

Mamoulian directedApplause, his first feature film in 1929, which was one of the early efforts in"talkies". It was a landmark film owing to Mamoulian's innovative use of camera movement and sound.^[35][36][37]

His talents as a director were carried to his other films released in the 1930s.Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) is widely considered the best version ofRobert Louis Stevenson's tale.^[38][39][40]Queen Christina (1933) was the last filmGreta Garbo made withJohn Gilbert; both benefit from being madebefore theHays Code came into full force.^[41] The musical filmLove Me Tonight was released in 1932.^[42]

He directed the first three-stripTechnicolor filmBecky Sharp (1935), based onThackeray'sVanity Fair^[43][44] as well as the 1937 musicalHigh, Wide and Handsome. His next two films earned him wide admiration,The Mark of Zorro (1940) andBlood and Sand (1941), both remakes ofsilent films.^[45]

Blood and Sand, aboutbullfighting, was filmed inTechnicolor, and usedcolor schemes based on the work of Spanish artists such asDiego Velázquez andEl Greco.^[46][47] His foray intoscrewball comedy in 1942 was a success withRings on Her Fingers starringHenry Fonda andGene Tierney.^[48]

Mamoulian's last completed musical film wasMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer's1957 film version of theCole Porter musicalSilk Stockings. This was one of Porter's less successful stage musicals and was based on the 1939Ninotchka. The filmSilk Stockings starredFred Astaire andCyd Charisse, withJanis Paige andPeter Lorre in supporting roles.^[49]

Mamoulian's film directing career came to an end when he was fired or resigned from two consecutive films:Porgy and Bess (1959),^[50] for which Mamoulian had written a complete shooting script when the Goldwyn studios set burned to the ground. When production resumed, director Mamoulian had disagreements with producerSamuel Goldwyn, and was "fired".^[51][52] The second wasCleopatra (1963).^[53][54]

He previously had been fired as director ofLaura (1944).^[55][56][57]

After directing the highly successful original stage productions ofOklahoma! andCarousel, he worked on only a few other theatrical productions, such asSt. Louis Woman, which introducedPearl Bailey to Broadway audiences.^[58][59]

He personally was recruited byDirectors Guild of America (DGA) co-founderKing Vidor in 1936 to help unionize fellow movie directors.^[60][61] Mamoulian's lifelong allegiance to the DGA, and more so his general unwillingness to compromise, contributed to his being targeted in the Hollywoodblacklisting of the 1950s.^[62] From 1961, at age 64, until his death in 1987 at age 90, Mamoulian did not work professionally.^[63]

Mamoulian died on December 4, 1987, at theMotion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital of natural causes at age 90 in Woodland Hills, California.^[12][64][62]

On February 8, 1960, for his contribution to the motion picture industry, he received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street.^[65][66]

He was inducted into theAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.^[67][68] In 1982 Mamoulian received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America.^[69]

In 2019, Mamoulian's filmBecky Sharp was selected by theLibrary of Congress for preservation in theNational Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[70]

TheRouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director is given to an Australian short film at theSydney Film Festival each year. The award was first presented by Mamoulian in 1974. As of 2025^[update] the prize, sponsored byDendy Cinemas, is worthA$7,000 in cash, and winners are eligible for Academy Award eligible.^[71]

As director

Other film work

• Jensen, Kurt (2024).Peerless – Rouben Mamoulian, Hollywood, and Broadway. Wisconsin Film Studies. University of Wisconsin Press.ISBN 978-0-299-34820-5.
• Milne, Tom. 1969.Rouben Mamoulian. The Cinema One Series,Thames & Hudson, London. Catalog No. 500-47012 X
• Spergel, Mark. 1993.Reinventing Reality: The Art and Life of Rouben Mamoulian.The Scarecrow Press, Filmmakers series No. 57,Anthony Slide, editor.ISBN 0-8108-2721-2

• Anobile, Richard J. (1975).Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Universe Books.
• Becvar, William J. (1975).The Stage and Film Career of Rouben Mamoulian.University of Kansas, Speech and Drama.
• Callahan, Dan. 2007."The Strange Case of Rouben Mamoulian",Slant Magazine, September 4, 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
• Danks, Adrian. 2007."Rouben Mamoulian",Senses of Cinema, February, 2007. Great Directors issue 42. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
• Horowitz, Joseph (July 29, 2013).'On My Way': The Untold Story of Rouben Mamoulian, George Gershwin, and Porgy and Bess. W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN 978-0-393-24013-9.
• Milne, Tom (1970).Rouben Mamoulian.Indiana University Press.ISBN 978-0-253-15015-8.
• Oberstein, Bennett (1977).The Broadway Directing Career of Rouben Mamoulian.Indiana University.
• Rohauer, Raymond (1967).A 40th Anniversary Tribute to Rouben Mamoulian, 1927–1967.Gallery of Modern Art Including the Huntington Hartford Collection.
• Spergel, Mark (1990).Rouben Mamoulian: Reinventing Reality – His life and His Art (doctoral dissertation).City University of New York.
• "Rouben Mamoulian: 'style is the man'".Discussion (2).American Film Institute, Center for Advanced Studies. 1971.

• Rouben Mamoulian at theInternet Broadway Database 
• "Rouben Mamoulian",Turner Classic Movies
• Rouben Mamoulian atFind a Grave
• Rouben Mamoulian Collection at theLibrary of Congress, theater programs, playbills and miscellany
• Rouben Mamoulian atIMDb