Born in Russia to cultured Armenian parents, Mamoulian obtained a degree in criminal law from Moscow University but studied at night at the Moscow Art Theatre under Eugene Vakhtangov, a disciple of Stanislavsky. He founded a drama studio in Tiflis in 1918 and later toured England with the Russian Repertory Theatre. Mamoulian directed a hit play in London, "The Beating on the Door," which led George Eastman to invite him to Rochester, New York, in 1923 to organize and direct the new American Opera Company. In 1926 he began teaching and directing at the Theatre Guild. Mamoulian's first Broadway show was the highly successful "Porgy" in 1927, a vivid production with an all-black cast; he would later use the play's inventive opening "symphony" of street noises in his film "Love Me Tonight" (1932).
Paramount invited Mamoulian to direct the film "Applause" at its Astoria, New York, studio in 1929. In the very early, awkward days of sound films, Mamoulian managed to liberate the camera from its sound-proof booth and also introduce the use of dual mikes and soundtracks, techniques which elevated this cliched story of a fading burlesque queen (Helen Morgan) and her innocent daughter. In the gangster film, "City Streets" (1931), starring Gary Cooper, Mamoulian explored tracking shots and subjective sound. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1932) was striking in its use of subjective camera--the mystifying transformation of Fredric March was shown in one continuous shot--and its emphasis on psychological tension. The witty and inventive musical "Love Me Tonight," featuring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald and the music of Rodgers and Hart, was deliberately stylized, conceived in rhythmic terms.
Mamoulian next directed Marlene Dietrich in "Song of Songs" (1933) and Greta Garbo in "Queen Christina" (1933), the latter film particularly notable for its final, sustained close-up, where Garbo was instructed to remain expressionless so that each viewer could project onto her face whatever emotion he or she was feeling. Mamoulian's inventiveness took a new turn with his direction of the spirited Miriam Hopkins in the first three-color Technicolor feature, "Becky Sharp" (1935), in which he used color for dramatic rather than decorative effect. In "Blood and Sand" (1941), Mamoulian again used color in an original way, with images styled after paintings by the Spanish masters.
Mamoulian continued to make interesting films, but his independent nature did not always mix well with the restrictive Hollywood studio system; he was removed from several films, notably "Laura" (1944); "Porgy and Bess" (1959); and "Cleopatra" (1963). His final films included "Summer Holiday" (1948), a musical version of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" starring Mickey Rooney, and "Silk Stockings" (1957), a lesser but fairly stylish musical remake of "Ninotchka" featuring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.
In addition to his film work, Mamoulian also continued his distinguished career as a Broadway director, with such productions as "Porgy and Bess," Gershwin's 1935 musical adaptation of "Porgy;" the immensely successful "Oklahoma!" (1943), a landmark musical in extending the use of song and dance to advance or enrich the plot; "Carousel" (1945); and "Lost in the Stars" (1949). In his later years, Mamoulian occupied himself with writing; he adapted several plays, wrote a children's book, "Abigayil" (1964), and a drama textbook, "Hamlet Revised and Interpreted" (1965).
Rediscovery and new appreciation of Mamoulian's innovative work has been spurred by several retrospectives of his films, beginning in 1967 at the Museum of Modern Art, as well as the 1984 restoration of "Becky Sharp."