# Directors that are underappreciated **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555 "2012-12-30T06:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/1 "2012-12-30T06:56:11Z")
Or that only you seem to like. I nominate Mario Bava, possibly best known for Danger Diabolik which is also unappreciated. He has an amazing stylistic style, an incredible attention to lighting and color and shadow, he produces films that look LIKE comic books, just simply beautiful visually and a joy to look at. His films end up looking very undated because they are so stylistic, and he manages it even in a low budget movie like Planet Of The Vampires. Example: [http://image.toutlecine.com/photos/d/a/n/danger-diabolik-1968-04-g.jpg](http://image.toutlecine.com/photos/d/a/n/danger-diabolik-1968-04-g.jpg) I wish this guy could have directed a superhero adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/2 "2012-12-30T07:40:29Z")
Davis Guggenheim He’s got a wonderfully diverse list of credits from TV to documentaries. He also directed some of the best episodes of Deadwood as well as shooting the opening sequence. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/3 "2012-12-30T15:13:27Z")
Frank Oz. He’s not been to successful recently, but his filmography includes: Death at a Funeral (the British version, not the crappy US one). Bowfinger In & Out The Indian in the Cupboard HouseSitter What About Bob? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Little Shop of Horrors (musical remake) The Muppets Take Manhattan The Dark Crystal ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/4 "2012-12-30T15:55:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Frank Oz. He’s not been to successful recently, but his filmography includes: > > Death at a Funeral (the British version, not the crappy US one). > Bowfinger > In & Out > The Indian in the Cupboard > HouseSitter > What About Bob? > Dirty Rotten Scoundrels > Little Shop of Horrors (musical remake) > The Muppets Take Manhattan > The Dark Crystal I don’t get this list. You’ve left off films such as _The Stepford Wives_, so you’re not including all his duds, but _Bowfinger_, _In & Out_, _HouseSitter_ and _Dirty Rotten Scoundrels_ are just as awful. Plus _Little Shop of Horrors_ was only a middling film. That doesn’t leave much. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/5 "2012-12-30T17:05:00Z")
Sorry, but I found **Bowfinger, In and Out** (especially good), and **HouseSitter** to be excellent, and **Dirty Rotten Scoundrels** to be above average. **The Indian in the Cupboard** was also excellent, as was the original **Death at a Funeral** and **What About Bob?**. He may not have made any blockbusters, but the the quality of his work has bee high throughout his career. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/6 "2012-12-30T17:13:25Z")
I’d suggest Michael Powell. He has a good reputation among film lovers but not as high as I think he deserves among the general public. I think what’s hurt his reputation was that he was a British director - he didn’t get the publicity he would have received for working in Hollywood. Yet film fans looking for movies outside the Hollywood mainstream often went directly to foreign language filmmakers like Bergman or Fellini or Kurosawa and passed over British filmmakers. Powell also made many of his best movies in partnership with Emeric Pressburger, which meant his own contribution didn’t stand out as much. And Powell’s career faded out in the early sixties so he wasn’t active during the film renaissance of the late sixties and seventies. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/7 "2012-12-30T17:51:11Z")
Victor Fleming. He directed Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz but he’s nothing more than a trivia answer. ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/8 "2012-12-30T20:46:34Z")
I can think of a few who had a good run of hits and then fell into obscurity. Peter Bogdanovich and Michael Cimino are _remembered_ for having it and then losing it, but there are some directors who had it, lost it, and no-one remembers them at all. John Schlesinger, who made a successful transition from the UK to Hollywood, and ended up directing _Midnight Cowboy_, _Day of the Locust_ - which has [a memorably demented final sequence](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pp14CdBci0) - and _Marathon Man_, before coming a cropper in the 1980s. Died in 2003. The Criterion Collection put out two of his films, but there’s a sense that his oeuvre no longer speaks to us nowadays, and so he’s going to sink beneath the waves. George Roy Hill, who had a solid run from 1969 to 1982 - _Butch Cassidy_ through to _The World According to Garp_ via _The Sting_. Okay, it’s not as if those are forgotten, obscure films, but who talks of George Roy Hill nowadays? When people think of his films they think of Robert Redford, not him. John Badham, Peter Hyams, pioneers of the techno-thriller, who both came to ignominious ends in the early 1990s. Richard Lester, who will always be remembered and spat upon as the man who turned Superman into a cartoon. _Hard Day’s Night_ has kept him in the limelight but there will always be a perception that he was a shallow stylist with nothing to say… which is probably true, but he’s still underappreciated. No-one will ever speak of The Great Richard Lester. Franklin J Schaffner, who spent decades doing television before punting out _Planet of the Apes_, _Patton_, _Nicholas and Alexandra_, and _Papillon_ in the space of five years. He could have ended _Apes_ with a big surprise burst of music but instead he just had the sound of the waves coming up the beach. That deserves _something_. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/9 "2012-12-31T00:18:08Z")
Frank Perry. His filmography includes _David and Lisa_, _The Swimmer_, _Last Summer_, _Play It As It Lays_ (especially good), and _Mommie Dearest_. The last one nearly put an end to his career (I think it’s legitimately good, if flawed), and no one but fans really know his name, but he had a distinctive and intriguing sensibility and should get more attention. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/10 "2012-12-31T00:20:10Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Victor Fleming. He directed Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz but he’s nothing more than a trivia answer. On a similar note, Michael Curtiz - for having made _Casablanca_ and _Mildred Pierce_, among other classics, he doesn’t have quite the name recognition of other directors. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/11 "2012-12-31T00:56:55Z")
> [@jordanr2](#): > > On a similar note, Michael Curtiz - for having made _Casablanca_ and _Mildred Pierce_, among other classics, he doesn’t have quite the name recognition of other directors. That’s exactly who I came in to mention - maybe his reputation is ticking upward? When I first started getting into classic cinema and watched “Casablanca” I remember reading that the director was considered pretty workmanlike and basically lucked into making a classic. But then I kept seeing good movies with his name attached…“Mildred Pierce,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “White Christmas,” “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “Captain Blood”… That’s not luck - that’s talent. Another is Anatole Litvak. I’ve only seen “All This and Heaven, Too” and “The Snake Pit” among his works, but was very impressed by his direction in both. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/12 "2012-12-31T01:09:02Z")
Nicholas Roeg 3 great films: Walkabout Don’t Look Now The Man Who Fell to Earth Plus some really good ones: Performance Bad Timing ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/13 "2012-12-31T01:41:50Z")
**David Twohy** The Arrival Pitch Black Chronicles of Riddick Perfect Getaway All movies I enjoy quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/14 "2012-12-31T03:04:15Z")
I submit for your consideration [William Friedkin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001243/). Yes, he had some very successful films in 70’s and 80’s (e.g. The French Connection, The Exorcist). That said, some of his best work did not receive much attention at all, and certainly did not enjoy much commercial success (e.g. [Sorcerer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/), [To Live and Die in LA](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090180/)). But the main reason I am bringing him up here is for the terrific [Killer Joe](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1726669/) (2011), admittedly not everyone’s cup of tea (or piece of fried chicken!). I think it is remarkable that he made the film at all, let alone at age 76 and after an over 25-year hiatus since his last major work! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/15 "2012-12-31T03:56:35Z")
I’m going with my answer from an [earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=623811): > [@](#): > > Warren Beatty only directed four movies, each of which was nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globes: **Heaven Can Wait** (which won, and got him an Oscar nomination for acting and one for writing and one for producing along with the one for directing), **Reds** (which likewise got him Oscar nominations for acting and writing and producing, but this time got him the win for directing) **Dick Tracy** (which did exactly what he produced it to do, grossing a ton of money as a fun popcorn movie that looked like a comic book come to life – promptly winning the Oscar for Best Art Direction) and **Bulworth** (which got him yet another Oscar nomination, because, hey, that’s what he does). ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/16 "2012-12-31T07:09:15Z")
Between 1964 and 1977 Don Siegel directed Dirty Harry Charley Varrick Two Mules For Sister Sara Telefon The Shootist Coogan’s Bluff Madigan The Killers (1964) Yes he also directed a lot of crap, but I am reasonably certain Victor Fleming did not start out with GWTW. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/17 "2012-12-31T13:36:22Z")
Byron Haskin The man directed the George Pal **War of the Worlds** , **The Naked Jungle** , the 1950 **Treasure Island** , **Conquest of Space** , **The Power** , **Captain Sindbad** (the only non-Harryhausen Sinbad movie worth watching), **Rovinson Crusoe on Mars** and a stack of _Outer Limits_ episodes, including Harlan Ellison’s **Demon with a Glass Hand** (my all-time favorite SF TV episode) and three others that I really liked. He also worked on special effects, production, and as an advisor (for the Star Trek pilot, among others) His science fiction credentials are tops, but he also did plenty of work on mainstream features, like **Arsenic and Old Lace.** ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/18 "2012-12-31T14:23:09Z")
> [@denquixote](#): > > Between 1964 and 1977 Don Siegel directed > > Dirty Harry > Charley Varrick > Two Mules For Sister Sara > Telefon > The Shootist > Coogan’s Bluff > Madigan > The Killers (1964) > > Yes he also directed a lot of crap, but I am reasonably certain Victor Fleming did not start out with GWTW. Siegel is a good one. I would also mention Walter Hill as an under appreciated director. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/19 "2012-12-31T15:18:33Z")
Robert Florey He directed the first Marx Brother movie, **The Cocoanuts** \*. He rewrote _Frankenstein_ into close to what we have today\*\*, and directed Bela Lugosi in test footage, but was pulled from the project and James Whale went on to rewrite and direct it. He and Bela made **Murders in the Rue Morgue** instead. He was Chaplin’s AD on **Monsieur Verdoux** , and directed a lot of relatively forgotten films. He directed a lot on 1950s and early 1960s TV, including stuff for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone, and Outer Limits. The French made him a member of the Legion of Honor, and one of his films, **Daughter of Shanghai** , is in the National Film Registry in the US. - I don’t consider _Humor Risk_. Heck, the Marx Brothers didn’t \*\* I’m not sure Florey’s version would have been the iconic vision Whale’;s was. His Dr. Frankenstein was a bit of a sadist, like Peter Cushing’s in the first Hammer film. His interpretation of the Monster wasn’t the fiasco some have made it out to be, but I suspect it wouldn’t have been as sympathetic and layered as Whale and Karloff made it. But he’s the one who structured the film so that it played out the way we have it, rather than along the lines of Shelley’s novel, or Peggy Webling’s stage version. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555/20 "2012-12-31T16:26:26Z")
> [@denquixote](#): > > Between 1964 and 1977 Don Siegel directed > > Dirty Harry > Charley Varrick > Two Mules For Sister Sara > Telefon > The Shootist > Coogan’s Bluff > Madigan > The Killers (1964) > > Yes he also directed a lot of crap, but I am reasonably certain Victor Fleming did not start out with GWTW. You can go back to 1962 and include the very underrated “Hell is for Heroes.” Going forward from '74, he did “The Shootist” ('76) and “Escape From Alcatraz” ('79). Siegel is one of my favorites.! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-that-are-underappreciated/645555.md?page=2)