Nathan Juran
Born Sept. 1st, 1907 – Died Oct. 23rd, 2002
Juran’s first career was that of an architect before he got into the film business as an art director. This career choice won him an Oscar for How Green Was My Valley (1941) and another nomination for The Razor’s Edge (1946), working on several other films before he made his move into the director’s chair. His directorial debut was for The Black Castle (1952), staring Lon Chaney Jr. and Boris Karloff. He would go on to direct some great films in the sci-fi horror genre in the ’50s, such as The Deadly Mantis (1957), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). Of course, there were some films that didn’t get the praise that one would hope, like The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958). At least from the critics back then. If they weren’t entertaining, fans wouldn’t still be watching them and talking about them and keeping them alive.
After working in film, he moved to television and worked on several series, like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, and a few more.
While Juran thought of filmmaking in the sense of a business as oppose to having a passion for it, when looking at some of the great films that he help create, it didn’t matter what the reasoning behind why he was making them. We will just be forever grateful for the work that he did give us.
I know it is hard for some fans to think of Jess Franco as a highly crafted filmmaker, but there are more than a few examples in his filmography to prove that. This, however, is not one of them.
