Rouben Zachary Mamoulian (October 8, 1897 – December 4, 1987) was an Armenian-American film and theatre director. In the interview compilation book Directing the Film (Acrobat Books), Mamoulian declared a strong preference for a stylized look to his scenes, stating that he was more interested in creating a poetic look to his films than in showing ordinary realism. Parts of Becky Sharp, and almost the whole of Blood and Sand, with their heightened and artificial use of Technicolor, demonstrate what Mamoulian meant by this. He also wrote a book called Applause.