---
name: "Alexandre Trauner"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/alexandre-trauner"
fi1m_id: "alexandre-trauner"
imdb_id: "nm0871202"
tmdb_id: 4103
wikidata_id: "Q599840"
roles: ["Production designer"]
born: "3 August 1906"
died: "5 December 1993"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 77
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-04T17:04:26.330847+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Alexandre Trauner

## Identity

Alexandre Trauner

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/alexandre-trauner
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** alexandre-trauner
- **IMDb ID:** nm0871202
- **TMDB ID:** 4103
- **Wikidata ID:** Q599840
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Trauner, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q599840, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871202/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4103

Production designer. Born 3 August 1906 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. Died 5 December 1993.

## Details

- **Work:** Production designer
- **Born:** 3 August 1906, Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]
- **Died:** 5 December 1993
- **Active:** 1930–1980
- **Also known as:** Alexander Trauner , Trauner, Alex Trauner
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 78 (2), 1950s 84 (3), 1960s 91 (1), 1980s 38 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 86 to 82 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 5 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 6, Comedy 3, Crime 3, Romance 2, Horror 1, Mystery 1
- **Screen time:** 13 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $58m across 5 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Trauner, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q599840, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871202/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4103

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*Witness for the Prosecution*](https://film.one/film/witness-for-the-prosecution.md) (87)
- **The Criterion Channel:** [*Othello*](https://film.one/film/othello.md) (80)
- **The Roku Channel:** [*L'Âge d'or*](https://film.one/film/lage-dor.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Alexandre Trauner (born Sándor Trau) was a Hungarian film production designer who worked extensively in France and Hollywood. He studied painting at the Hungarian Royal Drawing School in Budapest before leaving the country in 1929.

In Paris he became assistant to set designer Lazare Meerson and later a chief set designer. He collaborated with director Marcel Carné on films including *Port of Shadows* (1938), *Le Jour se lève* (1939) and *Children of Paradise* (1945), working in hiding on the latter during the Nazi occupation of France.

From the late 1950s he worked on international productions, notably eight films with Billy Wilder between 1958 and 1978, including *Witness for the Prosecution* (1957) and *The Apartment* (1960), for which he received an Academy Award. Other credits include *The Man Who Would Be King* (1975) and *Subway* (1985). In 1980 he served on the jury of the Berlin International Film Festival.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com, tcm.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

- *The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu* (1980), Fi1m 38, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/the-fiendish-plot-of-dr-fu-manchu.md)
- *The Apartment* (1960), Fi1m 91, Art Direction — [page](https://film.one/film/the-apartment.md)
- *The Nun's Story* (1959), Fi1m 84, Art Direction — [page](https://film.one/film/the-nuns-story.md)
- *Witness for the Prosecution* (1957), Fi1m 87, Art Direction, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/witness-for-the-prosecution.md)
- *Othello* (1951), Fi1m 80, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/othello.md)
- *Daybreak* (1939), Fi1m 82, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/daybreak.md)
- *L'Âge d'or* (1930), Fi1m 74, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/lage-dor.md)

## Complete filmography (62)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Rainbow Thief* (1994), Production Design
- *Love Comedy* (1989), Production Design
- *Reunion* (1989), as Caretaker · Production Design
- *The Bengali Night* (1988), as Art Direction
- *'Round Midnight* (1986), Production Design
- *Subway* (1985), as Art Direction · Production Design
- *So Long, Stooge* (1983), Production Design
- *The Train Killer* (1983), Production Design
- *The Trout* (1982), Production Design
- *Coup de Torchon* (1981), Production Design
- *Le Roi des cons* (1981), as Le vieux monsieur au petit chien
- *The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu* (1980), Production Design — Fi1m 38, [page](https://film.one/film/the-fiendish-plot-of-dr-fu-manchu.md)
- *Don Giovanni* (1979), Production Design, Art Direction
- *Fedora* (1978), Production Design
- *Roads to the South* (1978), Production Design
- *Mr. Klein* (1976), as Art Direction
- *The Man Who Would Be King* (1975), Production Design
- *Impossible Object* (1973), Production Design
- *Promise at Dawn* (1970), Production Design
- *The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes* (1970), Production Design
- *Uptight* (1968), Production Design
- *A Flea in Her Ear* (1968), Production Design
- *The Night of the Generals* (1967), Production Design
- *How to Steal a Million* (1966), Production Design
- *Kiss Me, Stupid* (1964), Production Design
- *Behold a Pale Horse* (1964), Production Design, Associate Producer
- *Irma la Douce* (1963), Producer, Art Direction, Production Design
- *Five Miles to Midnight* (1962), Production Design, Art Direction
- *One, Two, Three* (1961), as Art Direction
- *Paris Blues* (1961), as Art Direction
- *Goodbye Again* (1961), Production Design, Art Direction
- *The Apartment* (1960), as Art Direction — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/the-apartment.md)
- *Once More, with Feeling!* (1960), Production Design
- *The Great Deception* (1959), Production Design
- *The Nun's Story* (1959), as Art Direction — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-nuns-story.md)
- *Be Beautiful and Shut Up* (1958), Production Design
- *Witness for the Prosecution* (1957), Production Design, Art Direction — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/witness-for-the-prosecution.md)
- *The Happy Road* (1957), as Art Direction
- *Love in the Afternoon* (1957), as Artist (uncredited), Art Direction · Production Design
- *Plucking the Daisy* (1956), Production Design
- *Land of the Pharaohs* (1955), Production Design
- *Rififi* (1955), Production Design
- *Torticola versus Frankensberg* (1952), as Art Direction
- *The Seven Deadly Sins* (1952), Production Design
- *The Green Glove* (1952), as Art Direction
- *Othello* (1951), Production Design — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/othello.md)
- *Chicago Digest* (1951), as Art Direction · Production Design
- *Juliette, or Key of Dreams* (1951), Production Design
- *Mystery Tour* (1947), Production Design
- *Gates of the Night* (1946), Production Design
- *Sophie's Misfortune* (1946), Production Design
- *Children of Paradise* (1945), Production Design
- *Summer Light* (1943), Production Design
- *Stormy Waters* (1941), Production Design
- *Daybreak* (1939), Production Design — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/daybreak.md)
- *Hôtel du Nord* (1938), as Art Direction · Production Design
- *The Curtain Rises* (1938), as Head Decorator
- *Port of Shadows* (1938), Production Design
- *Hatred* (1938), as Art Direction · Production Design
- *Bizarre, Bizarre* (1937), Production Design
- *Zouzou* (1934), Production Design
- *L'Âge d'or* (1930), Production Design — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/lage-dor.md)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 1976: Best Production Design (nominated), for *The Man Who Would Be King*
- 1961: Best Art Direction, Black and White (won), for *The Apartment*

### Other awards — 1 won

- European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award 1991: European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alexandre-trauner