A Look at Satchmo - Part I

by Breumaster | created - 01 Jun 2018 | updated - 25 Jun 2018 | Public

Louis Armstrong is unquestionably the biggest icon of dixie jazz. He was the king on the trumpet and had a special distinctive voice that was unique. Duke Ellington said about him:

'He was born poor, died rich, and never hurt anyone along the way.'

Please remember Louis Armstrong lived from 1901 to 1971. That was a time when African Americans had even more significant struggles than today.

According to the choice of IMDb poll board users: If you were a producer, with a budget of $60 million or above, which director below would you choose to make a biographical drama about Louis Armstrong?

(Note: This poll is a fictional issue.)

The Live-Poll is here !

Louis Armstrong

Discuss or contribute here. :)

A big thank you to the users who suggested directors for this list. ;)

1. Steve McQueen

Director | 12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen was born on October 9, 1969 in London, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), Shame (2011) and Hunger (2008). He is married to Bianca Stigter. They have two children.

'12 Years a Slave', 'shame', 'Hunger'

2. Lee Daniels

Producer | Precious

Lee Daniels gave his parents an early Christmas present when he entered the world on December 24, 1959; unfortunately, the Philadelphia native was to have a difficult relationship with his police officer father who later reacted violently to his son's sexuality. Despite the brutality of his ...

'Precious', 'The Butler'

3. Ava DuVernay

Writer | Queen Sugar

A director, producer, writer, marketer and film distributor, Ava DuVernay made her feature film debut with the documentary This is the Life (2008), a history on hip hop movement that flourished in Los Angeles in the 1990's. This was followed by series of television music documentaries which ...

'Selma', 'Middle of Nowhere'

4. Ryan Coogler

Director | Black Panther

Ryan Kyle Coogler is an African-American filmmaker and producer who is from Oakland, California. He is known for directing the Black Panther film series, Creed, a Rocky spin-off and Fruitvale Station. He frequently casts Michael B. Jordan in his works. He produced the Creed sequels, Judas and the ...

'Fruitvale Station', 'Creed', 'Black Panther'

5. Tate Taylor

Producer | Get on Up

Tate Taylor was born on June 3, 1969 in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Get on Up (2014), The Help (2011) and The Girl on the Train (2016).

'Get on up', 'The Help', 'Girl on the Train'

6. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

'The Color Purple', 'Amistad', 'Lincoln'

7. Taylor Hackford

Producer | Ray

In addition to helming the iconic feature hits An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Against All Odds (1984), Ray (2004), and the cult thriller The Devil's Advocate (1997), Taylor Hackford has directed the films Dolores Claiborne (1995), Everybody's All-American (1988), and Proof of Life (2000). ...

'Ray'

8. Edward Zwick

Producer | The Last Samurai

Zwick moves deftly between the roles of writer, director and producer. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his direction of the 1989 critically acclaimed Civil War drama, Glory. He received his second Golden Globe nomination as a director for Legends of the Fall. Zwick received an Academy Award...

'Glory', 'Blood Diamond'

9. Clint Eastwood

Actor | Million Dollar Baby

Clinton Eastwood Jr. was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margaret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took ...

'Invictus', 'Million Dollar Baby', 'Jersey Boys', 'Bird'

10. Damien Chazelle

Writer | La La Land

Damien Sayre Chazelle is an American director and screenwriter. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His mother, Celia Sayre (Martin) Chazelle, is an American-Canadian writer and professor of history at The College of New Jersey. His father, Bernard Chazelle, is a French-American Eugene Higgins...

'La la land', 'Whiplash', 'Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench', suggested by Timothy Gray.

11. Spike Lee

Director | Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...

'Mo' Better Blues', suggested by Timothy Gray.

12. Julie Taymor

Director | Frida

Julie Taymor is an Academy Award-nominated director, known for such films as Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007).

She was born on December 15, 1952, in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Her father, Melvin Lester Taymor, was a gynecologist. Her mother, Elizabeth Bernstein, was a ...

'Frida', 'Across the universe', 'The Lion King' (Broadway version), suggested by Jen.

13. Mario Van Peebles

Actor | How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass

Mario Van Peebles is a highly regarded director, actor, producer and writer. His directorial skills can be seen in the retelling of the epic mini-series "Roots" starring Forest Whitaker and Matthew Goode. Van Peebles has directed award-winning shows such as the recent hit "Empire" and "The Last ...

'Panther', 'Black, White and Blues', 'Baadasssss!', Suggested by Jen.

14. Jordan Peele

Writer | Nope

Jordan Peele is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning director, writer, actor, producer, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions. Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," was a critically acclaimed blockbuster, recognized with four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The film would earn Peele the ...

'Get Out', suggested by Jen.

15. Martin Scorsese

Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...

'The Aviator', 'Casino', 'Hugo Cabret', suggested by Jen.

16. Dee Rees

Director | Mudbound

Writer/Director Dee Rees is an alumna of New York University's graduate film program and a Sundance Screenwriting & Directing Lab Fellow.

In 2018, Dee became the first Black woman nominated for an Oscar in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for her highly-acclaimed film Mudbound (2017). The film, ...

'Mudbound', 'Bessie', suggestion of rubyfruit76.

17. Rob Cohen

Director | DragonHeart

Rob Cohen is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. One of the 1970's "baby moguls", he built a thriving career as a producer, before concentrating full time on directing from the 1990's, with high adrenaline action blockbusters such as xXx (2002) and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (...

'The Rat Pack', 'Alex Cross'

18. Thomas Carter

Director | Coach Carter

Thomas Carter was born on July 17, 1953 in Austin, Texas, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Coach Carter (2005), Equal Justice (1990) and Save the Last Dance (2001).

'Swing Kids', 'When the Game Stands Tall', 'Save The Last Dance'

19. Baz Luhrmann

Writer | Moulin Rouge!

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian writer, director and producer with projects spanning film, television, opera, theater, music and recording industries. He is regarded by many as a contemporary example of an auteur for his distinctly recognizable style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, ...

'Moulin Rouge', "The Great Gatsby'

20. Todd Haynes

Director | Far from Heaven

Todd Haynes was always interested in art, and made amateur movies and painted while he was still a child. He attended Brown university and majored in art and semiotics. After he graduated he moved to New York City and made the controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987). ...

'Far From Heaven', 'Carol', 'I'm not There', suggested by rubyfruit76, Jen & rocky-o.

21. Sean Baker

Writer | Red Rocket

Sean Baker is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He is an award-winning writer/director/producer known for Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), and The Florida Project (2017). Sean's latest feature, Red Rocket, premiered at Cannes on July 14, 2021...

'The Florida Project', 'Tangerine', 'Starlet', Suggested by rubyfruit76, rocky-o & Jen.

22. Michael Gracey

Director | The Greatest Showman

With an exceptional background in VFX and a fluency in music production, Gracey has consistently brought a fresh - often viral - approach to his projects that seizes the audience's imagination. He credits this specific combination to an early exposure to musical theatre at home and a gap year spent...

'The Greatest Showman'



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