Nathan Juran

Naftuli "Nathan" Hertz Juran (September 1, 1907, Gura Humorului - October 23, 2002, Palos Verdes Estates, California, USA) was an American film art director, and later film director. As an art director, he won the Academy Award in 1942 for How Green Was My Valley, along with Richard Day and Thomas Little. His work on The Razor's Edge in 1946 also received an Academy nomination. In the 1950s, he began to direct, and was known for science fiction and fantasy films such as Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. He was also the brother of quality guru Joseph M. Juran.

Life and career

Early Life

Juran was born to a Jewish family in Gura Humorului, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Romania).

In 1912, he emigrated to America with his family, settling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He earned a bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University of Minnesota. He also spent a summer studying at the École des Beaux-Arts before earning a master's degree in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Art Department

With the construction industry at a standstill due to the Great Depression, Juran moved to Los Angeles, where he landed a job as a draftsman in the art department at RKO Radio Pictures. He later moved to 20th Century Fox, where he became art director.

His early credits as art director included Charley's American Aunt (1941), Belle Starr (1941), and How Green Was My Valley (1941), which won him an Oscar.

Juran also worked on I Wake Up Screaming (1941), A Gentleman at Heart (1942), Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942), The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942), Dr. Renault's Secret (1942), It's Everybody's War (1942, a short), and That Other Woman (1942).

Juran enlisted in the Navy during the Second World War and was assigned to first the Office of Strategic Services and then to the Royal Air Force Intelligence Center.

After the war, Juran returned to work at Fox, winning an Oscar nomination for his work on The Razor's Edge (1946).

Juran went over to Enterprise Productions to work on The Other Love (1947) and Body and Soul (1947). He did Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) for Harold Hecht and Tulsa (1948) for Walter Wanger.

Universal

Juran then signed a long term contract with Universal, where he was the art director on Free for All (1949), Undertow (1949), Winchester '73 (1950), Deported (1950), Harvey (1950), Bright Victory (1951), Thunder on the Hill (1951), Reunion in Reno (1951), Cave of Outlaws (1951), The Strange Door (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1951), Bend of the River (1952) and Untamed Frontier (1952).

Director

Juran made his directorial debut with The Black Castle (1952). He followed it with an Audie Murphy Western Gunsmoke (1952), and a Ronald Reagan Western Law and Order (1953).

Jurdan did The Golden Blade (1953), an "Eastern" with Rock Hudson and Tumbleweed (1953) with Murphy.

Juran directed an independent film, Highway Dragnet (1954) based on a story by Roger Corman. After The Big Moment (1954) at Paramount he went back to Universal to do Drums Across the River (1954) with Murphy.

Juran directed episodes of Fury (1954), The Three Musketeers, Crossoads and My Friend Flicka on TV, and The Crooked Web for Sam Katzman.

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Juran's first science fiction film was The Deadly Mantis (1957) at Universal. He followed this with Hellcats of the Navy (1957) starring Ronald Regan and his wife Nancy. It was his first film for producer Charles H. Schneer. Schneer hired Juran for 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) with special effects by Ray Harryhausen. This film established Juran in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Juran directed The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) then Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1957) which became a cult classic. Schneer hired him to do another movie with Harryhausen, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1957).

Juran did a Western for Schneer, Good Day for a Hanging (1958) and, for TV, episodes of Frances Langford Presents, World of Giants, and Men Into Space (1960).

Juran got back into features with a movie he wrote himself, Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961), an adventure heavily influenced by Jules Verne. He also co-wrote and directed Jack the Giant Killer (1962). Around this time he provided the stories for, but did not direct, Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961) and Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961).

Schneer hired Juran to direct Siege of the Saxons (1963) and First Men in the Moon (1964) (based on the novel by H.G. Wells with effects by Harryhausen). He did an imperial adventure for Schneer, East of Sudan (1964) and directed second unit on Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1964).

Television

Juran focused on television in the late 1960s, doing episodes of A Man Called Shenandoah , Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, and, notably Daniel Boone. He did a feature for Schneer, a Western, Land Raiders (1969), and The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973) with his old Sinbad star, Kerwin Matthews.

In 1999, he was honored with the Lifetime Career Award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA.

He died at the age of 95 in Palos Verdes, California.

Partial Filmography

As art director

• How Green Was My Valley (1942)
• The Razor's Edge (1946)

As director

• The Black Castle (1952)
• Law and Order (1953)
• Drums Across the River (1954)
• The Deadly Mantis (1957)
• 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
• Good Day for a Hanging (1958)
• The Brain from Planet Arous (1958)
• Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
• Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961)
• Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
• Boy Who Caught a Crook (1962)
• Siege of the Saxons (1963)
• First Men in the Moon (1964)
• Land Raiders (1969)
• The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)

External links

• Nathan Juran at IMDb