The 100 Greatest Directors of All-Time

whammon
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:19 am

I have been lax, to say the least. Then again, this is why I at least determined the list long before I started posting it, just in case I got majorly sidetracked. I've got a lot of writing for RNO to do over the next few days, but I'll certainly try to get it started again by the end of the week.

whammon
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:17 pm

Whaaaaaaaaaa? It can't be!

Yup, I'm actually posting something here.

44. Victor Fleming
Although his most famous work as a filmmaker came in the Technicolor age, his first breaks came in the silent era. Originally a professional race car driver, Victor Fleming’s first film credits were as an on-camera stuntman, usually driving. When he decided to embrace the production side of film, he worked closely with another film icon, Douglas Fairbanks. He began directing silent films in 1919 with “When the Clouds Roll By,” and continued in that realm for more than a decade. He finally hit it big in 1929 with “The Virginian,” most notable as the star-turning film for a young actor named Gary Cooper. Fleming’s geniality on set became legendary, and in time he came to work with some of Hollywood’s most famous stars, including directing Spencer Tracy’s Oscar-winning performance in “Captain’s Courageous” in 1937. His career peaked in 1939 when he helmed two of the most significant films ever made, “The Wizard of Oz,” and the Civil War epic, “Gone With the Wind,” which took home eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (Fleming’s only nomination), and Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDowell, the first black person to win.
Noteworthy Films: When the Clouds Go By, Lord Jim, The Awakening, The Virginian, Bombshell, Treasure Island, Captain’s Courageous, The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

jbcoops
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:19 pm

Welcome back Wham!

Captain’s Courageous is a *great* flick!

I don't know how the fuck he directed GWTW and WoZ the same year... though I guess that explains why the Tin Man marched on Atlanta.

Sassenach
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:32 pm

Post like this make me miss our movie club. There are soooo many classic films I've never seen.

whammon
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:41 pm

jbcoops wrote:

I don't know how the fuck he directed GWTW and WoZ the same year...

Ironically, he wasn't slated to direct either film. He took over for other directors who dropped out. The studios brought him in because of his ability to manage a set and calm down all the egos amongst the cast.

whammon
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:49 pm

43. Luis Buñuel
One of the pioneers of surrealist filmmaking, Luis Buñuel’s life began in a strictly Jesuit setting in Spain. After his expulsion from religious school, he attended secular university in Madrid, where he became good friends with surrealist painter Salvador Dali. Together, they moved to France, where they wrote and made a 16-minute short film in 1929 called “Un Chien Andalou.” The film is considered one of the most important visual pieces of all time, particularly for its graphic and sometimes horrifying Freudian imagery (including what appears to be a woman’s eyeball being sliced with a razor blade). This surrealism would continue throughout his career, with films containing such odd imagery as nightmares involving chickens, bearded women, and aspiring saints falling prey to seduction. He followed that up with “L’Age D’Or” (The Golden Age), which he did without Dali’s help after they had a falling out. The film was seen as a blanket criticism of Catholicism, and was thus banned for 50 years by the French government. As the Spanish Civil War raged, he moved to the United States, but found little success there, as his perceived atheism and communism garnered many enemies in New York and Hollywood. He then moved to Mexico and gained citizenship. It was there that he created his most well-known works. “Los Olvidados” (The Forgotten) earned him the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and was named by the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being part of the world’s cultural heritage. His films became a mainstay at Cannes, and in 1961, “Viridiana” won the Golden Palm. He moved back to France in the late 1960s, and continued to make films that garnered high festival praise, particularly in Venice and Berlin. In 1972, one of his last films, “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. He retired from filmmaking in 1977 and wrote his autobiography, “My Last Sigh,” explaining his artistic style and clarifying his stances on government, faith, and the organization of the Church itself. The book was published in 1982, a year before his death in 1983.
Noteworthy Films: Un Chien Andalou, L’Age D’Or, Los Olvidados, Subida Al Cielo (Mexican Bus Ride), El, Nazarin, The Young One, Viridiana, El Angel Exterminador, Simon del Desierto, Belle de Jour, La Voie Lactee, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

narrator
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:54 am

Hoping you resurrect this, wham... I gotta admit, I'm curious as to where (if at all) Howard Hawks is on this list.

whammon
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:49 pm

Slowly but surely, I will finish this.

42. William Wyler
William Wyler is one of the most recognized and awarded directors of all time. Over the course of his career, which spanned four decades, he received 12 Oscar nominations for Best Director, winning three times (“Mrs. Miniver,” “The Best Years of Our Lives,” and “Ben-Hur,” all of which won Best Picture as well). So, one may ask, why is he barely in the top half of the list? There are three reasons. One, although his career stretches from the 20s to the late 60s, the bulk of his work, and the majority of his great work, occurred in and around World War II, to the point that it became a thematic motif for him. It makes sense, as he was born in German-occupied France shortly before World War I. After the war ended, however, his influence waned, and his list of great works (in abundance in the war era) dwindled to a handful of classics, such as “Roman Holiday” or “Friendly Persuasion,” which won him the Golden Palm. Two, apart from the wartime motif, he had no real directorial style. Most major directors of his time, or of any time, have some trademark that you can identify point blank as their signature. Whether it’s John Woo’s doves, Hitchcock’s cameos, Capra’s stable of actors, or even Shyamalan’s twist endings, there’s some identifiable characteristic. With Wyler, it doesn’t exist. Finally, though he started his career with almost no work ethic, he evolved into such a busy body that he became notorious for being very demanding of his actors, shooting numerous retakes of nearly every scene. While the meticulousness is to his credit, it is also his downfall, as he was able to elicit some of the greatest performances from nearly every well known actor of his age. As such, his movies have become more recognizable for the performances within them, rather than for his particular style or touch. Over the course of his career, Wyler helmed his actors to dozens of nominations and awards from the Academy, including Lawrence Olivier (two nominations), Bette Davis (three nominations, one win – “Jezebel”), Charleton Heston (win for “Ben-Hur”), and Audrey Hepburn (first nomination and only win for “Roman Holiday”). Wyler is one of the most recognizable names in directing history, but his merciless work ethic in the prime of his career, coupled with a lack of auteurist style, led to his films being more about the performers than the man behind the lens. This might explain why he was nominated for Best Director 12 times, but only had three wins.
Noteworthy Films: The Good Fairy, Dodsworth, These Three, Dead End, Jezebel, Wuthering Heights, The Westerner, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Mrs. Minver, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Heiress, Detective Story, Roman Holiday, Friendly Persuasion, The Big Country, Ben-Hur, The Children’s Hour, The Collector, Funny Girl

whammon
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:53 pm

Have another one cause I got nothing better to do.

41. Milos Forman
Milos Forman is one of the best character directors in history, with an adept skill at finding undiscovered truth and beauty, even while telling the stories of people already in the public eye. He also has an acute ability to convey tragic heroes to an audience like few others. Born in what is now the Czech Republic, he was orphaned in World War II when his parents were arrested and killed in Nazi concentration camps. After the war, he fled his homeland for the USA after Czechoslovakia fell to the USSR. Using skills learned during his short career in Prague making comedies (many containing Czech phrases that have been adapted into their cultural lexicon), he became a professor of film at Columbia University, where he had influence over future filmmakers like James Mangold. In the 1970s, his career in the States took off after he helmed the adaptation of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” earning him his first Oscar for Best Director. His films carry a theme of personal triumph and tragedy, exploring the struggle of brilliant minds in situations where they are not able, or allowed, to succeed. This is no better illustrated than in 1984’s “Amadeus,” which among its eight Oscars (including Best Picture and Director) is also noted by AFI as one of the 100 best films of all time. After his portrayal of Mozart’s life, he continued directing biographical films, with modern artists like Larry Flynt and Andy Kaufman as his subjects.
Noteworthy Films: The Fireman’s Ball, Visions of Eight, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Hari, Ragtime, Amadeus, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon

narrator
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:00 am

Sad to say, I haven't seen any of the noteworthy films listed for either of those two directors. Still, I am enjoying this.