Joseph Losey, born to a family whose American roots predated the American Revolution, has been called the "most European of American directors." His influences include Bertolt Brecht and Harold Pinter as well as Italian neo-realism and German expressionism. In 1935, he even studied under Sergei Eisenstein in Moscow, where he also met Brecht. It was his blacklisting in 1951, however, that forced Losey to make Europe his home.

In 1930, after receiving his M.A. from Harvard, Losey moved to New York City to work in the theater; he directed his first play, "Little Ol' Boy", three years later.