Hans Dreier


Hans Dreier was a German motion picture art director. He was Paramount Pictures' supervising art director from 1927 until his retirement in 1950, when he was succeeded by Hal Pereira.
Hans Dreier was born in Bremen, Germany in 1885. After studying architecture in Munich, Germany, Dreier worked as imperial supervising architect of the German Cameroon. During World War I, he served in the German Lancers.
He began his career in German films in 1919 as an assistant designer at UFA Studios. At the urging of German director Ernst Lubitsch, Dreier relocated to Hollywood in 1923 to work for Paramount. His first Hollywood film was Forbidden Paradise, directed by Lubitsch and starring Pola Negri. Dreier worked as Paramount's supervising art director from 1927 until his retirement in 1950.
He made contributions to nearly 500 films during his career, including many films directed by Josef von Sternberg and Ernst Lubitsch, as well as the film It's a Gift starring W. C. Fields. He was nominated for Academy Awards for his art direction on 23 occasions. He won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction for Frenchman's Creek and Samson and Delilah. He also won the award for Art Direction for Sunset Boulevard.

Selected filmography

The Devil and the Madonna Figures of the Night Mary Magdalene Napoleon and the Little Washerwoman Kurfürstendamm Lady Godiva The [Riddle of the Sphinx (film)|The Riddle of the Sphinx] The Adventuress of Monte Carlo The Last Witness Fridericus Rex The Vice of Gambling La Boheme The [Great Unknown (1924 film)|The Great Unknown] Forbidden Paradise Underworld The Docks of New York The Last Command The Patriot Morocco The Love Parade The [Vagabond King (1930 film)|The Vagabond King] A [Farewell to Arms (1932 film)|A Farewell to Arms] One Hour with You Trouble in Paradise Shanghai Express Cleopatra The [Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)|The Lives of a Bengal Lancer] If I Were King Arise, My Love North West [Mounted Police (film)|North West Mounted Police] The Lady Eve Holiday Inn Road to Morocco Take a Letter, Darling Five Graves to Cairo For Whom the Bell Tolls Double Indemnity Going My Way Frenchman's Creek Kitty The Lost Weekend Love Letters A Foreign Affair Samson and Delilah Sunset Boulevard