Great movie directors and their best movies.
by jpstewart-02578 | created - 24 Feb 2020 | updated - 27 Jun 2022 | Public1. John Ford
Director | The Quiet Man
John Ford came to Hollywood following one of his brothers, an actor. Asked what brought him to Hollywood, he replied "the train". He became one of the most respected directors in the business, in spite of being known for his westerns, which were not considered "serious" film. He won six Oscars, ...
The Informer, STAGECOACH, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, They Were Expendable, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, FORT APACHE, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Long Gray Line, The Searchers.
2. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
The 39 Steps, THE LADY VANISHES, Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, Saboteur, DIAL M FOR MURDER, REAR WINDOW, The Man Who Knew Too Much, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, PSYCHO, Marnie, Frenzy.
3. 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, ...
JAWS, Raiders of The Lost Ark, E.T., Always, Hook, Amistad, Catch Me If You Can, Lincoln.
4. John Huston
Director | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
An eccentric rebel of epic proportions, this Hollywood titan reigned supreme as director, screenwriter and character actor in a career that endured over five decades. The ten-time Oscar-nominated legend was born John Marcellus Huston in Nevada, Missouri, on August 5, 1906. His ancestry was English,...
THE MALTESE FALCON, KEY LARGO, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, Beat the Devil, Moby Dick, Freud, THE DEAD.
5. Stanley Donen
Director | Charade
Inspired by Fred Astaire's dancing in Flying Down to Rio (1933), Stanley Donen (pronounced 'Dawn-en') attended dance classes from the age of ten. He later recalled that the only thing he wanted to be was a tap dancer.
He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to Helen Pauline (Cohen) and Mordecai ...
ON THE TOWN, Royal Wedding, SINGING IN THE RAIN, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, FUNNY FACE, Indiscreet, CHARADE.
6. Ridley Scott
Producer | The Martian
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...
ALIEN, Someone To Watch Over Me, Black Rain, Gladiator, All The Money In The World.
7. 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 ...
HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, White Hunter Black Heart, Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges of Madison County, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, CHANGELING, Gran Torino, J Edgar, RICHARD JEWELL
8. Ida Lupino
Actress | High Sierra
Ida was born in London to a show business family. In 1932, her mother took Ida with her to an audition and Ida got the part her mother wanted. The picture was Her First Affaire (1932). Ida, a bleached blonde, went to Hollywood in 1934 playing small, insignificant parts. Peter Ibbetson (1935) was ...
Outrage, Never Fear, Hard Fast and Beautiful, The Hitchhiker, THE BIGAMIST, THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS.
9. Nancy Meyers
Writer | It's Complicated
Nancy Jane Meyers is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically and commercially successful films including Private Benjamin (1980), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Parent ...
THE PARENT TRAP, SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, The Holiday, It's Complicated.
10. Francis Ford Coppola
Producer | Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...
THE GODFATHER, The Conversation, THE GODFATHER PART II, Apocalypse Now, The Cotton Club, Jack.
11. Howard Hawks
Director | Red River
What do the classic films Scarface (1932), Twentieth Century (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), Sergeant York (1941), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Red River (1948) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and Rio Bravo (1959) have in...
Scarface, Twentieth Century, BRINGING UP BABY, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, SERGEANT YORK, TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, RIO BRAVO, El Dorado.
12. Joel Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...
Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, FARGO, O Brother Where Art Thou, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Inside Llewyn Davis.
13. Sam Mendes
Producer | 1917
Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...
American Beauty, Road tn Perdition, 1917.
14. 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
15. 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 ...
DO THE RIGHT THING, Malcolm X, Inside Man.
16. David Lean
Director | Lawrence of Arabia
An important British filmmaker, David Lean was born in Croydon on March 25, 1908 and brought up in a strict Quaker family (ironically, as a child he wasn't allowed to go to the movies). During the 1920s, he briefly considered the possibility of becoming an accountant like his father before finding ...
BRIEF ENCOUNTER, Oliver Twist, The Passionate Friends, HOBSON'S CHOICE, The Bridge on The River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter.
17. Neil Jordan
Writer | The Crying Game
Neil Jordan was born on February 25, 1950 in Sligo, Ireland. He is a writer and producer, known for The Crying Game (1992), Greta (2018) and Breakfast on Pluto (2005). He has been married to Brenda Rawn since June 30, 2004. They have two children. He was previously married to Vivienne Shields.
MONA LISA, THECRYING GAME, Michael Collins, THE BUTCHER BOY, Breakfast on Pluto.
18. Rob Reiner
Actor | All in the Family
Robert Reiner was born in New York City, to Estelle Reiner (née Lebost) and Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer, and producer Carl Reiner.
As a child, his father was his role model, as Carl Reiner created and starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Estelle was also an inspiration for him to become a ...
This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, Misery, A FEW GOOD MEN, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, Ghosts of Mississippi.
19. Jim Sheridan
Producer | In America
Following a distinguished career in the theatre between the 1960s and the 1980s, Jim Sheridan wrote and directed his first critically acclaimed feature My Left Foot in 1989. The film was nominated for two European Film Awards. He followed this in 1990 with The Field which he also wrote and directed...
MY LEFT FOOT, THE FIELD, In The Name of The Father, The Boxer, In America.
20. William Wyler
Director | The Best Years of Our Lives
William Wyler was an American filmmaker who, at the time of his death in 1981, was considered by his peers as second only to John Ford as a master craftsman of cinema. The winner of three Best Director Academy Awards, second again only to Ford's four, Wyler's reputation has unfairly suffered as the...
THE GOOD FAIRY, Dodsworth, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, The Best Years of Our Lives, FRIENDLY PERSUASION, THE BIG COUNTRY, Ben-hur.
21. George Cukor
Director | My Fair Lady
George Cukor was an American film director of Hungarian-Jewish descent, better known for directing comedies and literary adaptations. He once won the Academy Award for Best Director, and was nominated other four times for the same Award.
In 1899, George Dewey Cukor was born on the Lower East Side of...
Little Women, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, GASLIGHT, Born Yesterday, LOVE AMONG THE RUINS.
22. Karel Reisz
Director | The French Lieutenant's Woman
Karel Reisz was born on July 21, 1926 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a director and producer, known for The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and Morgan! (1966). He was married to Betsy Blair and Julia Coppard. He died on November 25...
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING, The Gambler, The French Lieutenant's Woman, SWEET DREAMS.
23. Barry Levinson
Director | Rain Man
Barry Lee Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Violet (Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in furniture and appliance. He is of Russian Jewish descent. Levinson graduated from high school in 1960, attended college at American University in Washington, DC. He did well, but decided he ...
The Natural, Tin Men, Good Morning Vietnam, BUGSY.
24. Mel Gibson
Actor | Braveheart
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...
BRAVEHEART, APOCALYPTO, The Passion of the Christ, Hacksaw Ridge.
25. Mike Nichols
Director | The Graduate
He, along with the other members of the "Compass Players" including Elaine May, Paul Sills, Byrne Piven, Joyce Hiller Piven and Edward Asner helped start the famed "Second City Improv" company. They used the games taught to them by fellow cast mate, Paul Sills 's mother, Viola Spolin. He later ...
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, THE GRADUATE, The Birdcage.
26. Elaine May
Actress | Small Time Crooks
Elaine May (born under the name Elaine Iva Berlin) is an American actress, comedian, film director, playwright, and screenwriter from Philadelphia. Her professional career started in the 1950s and is still ongoing. She has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She ...
A NEW LEAF, THE HEARTBREAK KID.
27. Frank Capra
Director | It's a Wonderful Life
One of seven children, Frank Capra was born on May 18, 1897, in Bisacquino, Sicily. On May 10, 1903, his family left for America aboard the ship Germania, arriving in New York on May 23rd. "There's no ventilation, and it stinks like hell. They're all miserable. It's the most degrading place you ...
THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, MEET JOHN DOE, Arsenic and Old Lace, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, A Hole in The Head, A Pocketful of Miracles.
28. Ernst Lubitsch
Director | To Be or Not to Be
From Ernst Lubitsch's experiences in Sophien Gymnasium (high school) theater, he decided to leave school at the age of 16 and pursue a career on the stage. He had to compromise with his father and keep the account books for the family tailor business while he acted in cabarets and music halls at ...
Trouble in Paradise, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, The Shop Around The Corner, Heaven Can Wait, TO BE OR NOT TO BE, Cluny Brown.
29. Anthony Asquith
Director | The Browning Version
British film director Anthony Asquith was born on November 9, 1902, to H.H. Asquith, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and his second wife. A former home secretary and the future leader of the Liberal Party, H.H. Asquith served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1908-1916 and was ...
PYGMALION, The Way to The Stars, THE WINSLOW BOY, The Browning Version.
30. Billy Wilder
Writer | The Apartment
Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city's largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929 and wrote scripts for many ...
A Foreign Affair, Stalag 17, Sabrina, Love in The Afternoon, SOME LIKE IT HOT, ONE, TWO, THREE, Kiss Me Stupid, Avanti.
31. Michael Powell
Director | Peeping Tom
The son of Thomas William Powell and Mabel (nee Corbett). Michael Powell was always a self-confessed movie addict. He was brought up partly in Canterbury ("The Garden of England") and partly in the south of France (where his parents ran a hotel). Educated at Kings School, Canterbury and Dulwich ...
The Edge of the World, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, THE RED SHOES.
32. John Sturges
Director | The Great Escape
John Sturges was an American film director, mostly remembered for his outstanding Western films. In 1992, Sturges was awarded a Golden Boot Award for his lifelong contribution to the Western genre.
Sturges was born in the village of Oak Park, Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area. By 1930, ...
Jeopardy, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, The Magnificent Seven, THE GREAT ESCAPE, The Satan Bug.
33. Sidney Lumet
Director | 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...
TWELVE ANGRY MEN, LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, THE PAWNBROKER, The Deadly Affair, THE OFFENCE, Network, THE VERDICT, RUNNING ON EMPTY.
34. Sergio Leone
Writer | Once Upon a Time in America
Sergio Leone was virtually born into the cinema - he was the son of Roberto Roberti (A.K.A. Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and actress Bice Valerian. Leone entered films in his late teens, working as an assistant director to both Italian directors and U.S. directors working in ...
A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good , The Bad and The Ugly, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, A Fistful of Dynamite, Once Upon a Time in America
35. Nicolas Roeg
Director | Don't Look Now
When he made his directorial debut in 1970, Nicolas Roeg was already a 23-year veteran of the British film industry, starting out in 1947 as an editing apprentice and working his way up to cinematographer twelve years later. He first came to attention as part of the second unit on David Lean's ...
Performance, WALKABOUT, DON'T LOOK NOW, BAD TIMING, The Witches.
36. John Carney
Director | Sing Street
John Carney was born in 1972 in Dublin, Ireland. He is a director and producer, known for Sing Street (2016), Once (2007) and Flora and Son (2023).
Once, Zonad, Begin Again, SING ST.
37. William A. Wellman
Director | A Star Is Born
William Wellman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter-director of the original A Star Is Born (1937), was called "Wild Bill" during his World War I service as an aviator, a nickname that persisted in Hollywood due to his larger-than-life personality and lifestyle.
A leap-year baby born in 1896 on the 29th...
The Public Enemy, Night Nurse, A Star is Born, Nothing Sacred, BEAU GESTE, The Ox Bow Incident, BATTLEGROUND.
38. Raoul Walsh
Editor | The Birth of a Nation
Raoul Walsh's 52-year directorial career made him a Hollywood legend. Walsh was also an actor: He appeared in the first version of W. Somerset Maugham's "Rain" renamed Sadie Thompson (1928) opposite Gloria Swanson in the title role. He would have played the Cisco Kid in his own film In Old Arizona ...
THE BIG TRAIL, The Bowery, The Roaring Twenties, Dark Command, They Drive By Night, HIGH SIERRA, Gentleman Jim, The Man I Love, Pursued, WHITE HEAT, The Sherrif of Fractured Jaw.
39. Michael Curtiz
Director | Casablanca
Curtiz began acting in and then directing films in his native Hungary in 1912. After WWI, he continued his filmmaking career in Austria and Germany and into the early 1920s when he directed films in other countries in Europe. Moving to the US in 1926, he started making films in Hollywood for Warner...
Jimmy The Gent, CAPTAIN BLOOD, Dodge City, THE SEA WOLF, CASABLANCA, Mildred Pierce, Life With Father, Force of Arms, The Breaking Point, King Creole.
40. Joe Wright
Director | Pride & Prejudice
Joe Wright is an English film director. He is best known for Pride & Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), Anna Karenina (2012), and Darkest Hour (2017).
Wright always had an interest in the arts, especially painting. He would also make films on his Super 8 camera as well as spend time in the evenings...
Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, DARKEST HOUR
41. John Crowley
Director | Brooklyn
John Crowley was born on August 19, 1969 in Cork, Ireland. He is a director and producer, known for Brooklyn (2015), Boy A (2007) and Intermission (2003). He is married to Fiona Weir. They have one child.
Boy A, BROOKLYN
42. Vincente Minnelli
Director | An American in Paris
Born Lester Anthony Minnelli in Chicago on February 28 1903, his father Vincent was a musical conductor of the Minnelli Brothers' Tent Theater. Wanting to pursue an artistic career, Minelli worked in the costume department of the Chicago Theater, then on Broadway during the depression as a set ...
Cabin in The Sky, Meet Me In St. Louis, Father of The Bride, THE BAND WAGON, Brigadoon, Bells Are Ringing, The Courtship Of Eddie's Father.
43. Alfonso Cuarón
Producer | Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then ...
A LITTLE PRINCESS, Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, Gravity, Roma.
44. Roy Ward Baker
Director | A Night to Remember
Roy Ward Baker's first job in films was as a teaboy at the Gainsborough Studios in London, England, but within three years he was working as an assistant director. During World War II, he worked in the Army Kinematograph Unit under Eric Ambler, a writer and film producer, who, after the war, gave ...
MORNING DEPARTURE, The One That Got Away, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, The Singer Not The Song, Quatermass and The Pit, The Anniversary.
45. Oliver Stone
Director | JFK
Oliver Stone has become known as a master of controversial subjects and a legendary film maker. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles, he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success.
William Oliver Stone was ...
PLATOON, SALVADOR, Born On The 4th of July, JFK, NIXON, U Turn, Any Given Sunday, W, Snowden.
46. Nancy Savoca
Director | True Love
Director Nancy Savoca was born in the Bronx, New York of Argentine and Sicilian immigrant parents, She graduated from New York University's film school where she was awarded for her short films. Savoca and her husband, producer Richard Guay, raised private funds to shoot their first film, "True ...
DOGFIGHT, HOUSEHOLD SAINTS.
47. Robert Redford
Actor | The Natural
Born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, to Charles Robert Redford, an accountant for Standard Oil, and Martha Redford, Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was a scrappy kid who stole hubcaps in high school and lost his college baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado because of ...
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