Robert M. Haas

Trained for a career in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Robert M. Haas was thriving in that field of endeavor when he accepted a managerial position at the Lasky Studios in the mid-teens. By the time of the talking-picture revolution,... more

Trained for a career in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Robert M. Haas was thriving in that field of endeavor when he accepted a managerial position at the Lasky Studios in the mid-teens. By the time of the talking-picture revolution, Haas was a well-established Hollywood art director. His longest professional association was with Warner Bros., where he remained until his retirement in 1950. Haas is largely responsible for the aura of "realistic unreality" in Warners' glossy Bette Davis vehicles: among these were Dark Victory (1939), Now Voyager (1941), Devotion (1946), A Stolen Life (1946) and Beyond the Forest (1949). Though he never won an Academy Award, Robert M. Haas shared Oscar nominations for his work on Life with Father (1947) and Johnny Belinda (1948). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide less