# The Greatest Director of all Time! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 3, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643 "2000-03-03T06:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2000, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/21 "2000-03-04T03:32:00Z")
I see no one has mentioned Alan Smithee. Philistines! * * * Voted as: **The poster you’d most like to meet.** I demand a recount. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/22 "2000-03-04T04:09:00Z")
Either **Alejandro Jodorowsky** or **Kenneth Anger.** Sometimes you’re just in the mood for _El Topo,_ and somtimes you’re in the mood for _The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome,_ you know what I mean * * * Uke ---
**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:** [March 4, 2000, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/23 "2000-03-04T06:10:00Z")
Greatest Director of All Time? I dunno, that’s probably too big a title for any one person to hold. How about greatest director currently working? I’d go with Terry Gilliam. His films are always, at the very least, interesting. He’s my pick for a currently active director who will someday be recognized as great in retrospect. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2000, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/24 "2000-03-04T14:08:00Z")
Realized in bed last night that I forgot John Huston, who certainly deserves a nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2000, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/25 "2000-03-05T03:55:00Z")
Ken Russell ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/26 "2000-03-05T15:27:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Sake Samurai: > \*\* > > Adam, you mentioned Eisenstien, who I happen to think was little more than a Propaganda Machine. His **Alexander Nevsky** really should be featured on MST. The scene when the soldiers fall through the ice is one of the most unintentionally hilarious scenes in any movie. Tarkovsky is by far his superior! > \*\* ## I didn’t mean to imply that Eisenstien was in consideration for the title of greatest director, just that his contribution to film-making should not be over looked. Granted, if Eisenstein had not created the “Moscow Montage” somebody else would have created the quick cut edit. But he was the first, and that should be recognized. Hell, Wells wasn’t a great director like some of the others, but his contribution to filmmaking in Citizen Kane should and will never be overlooked. Sometimes you feel like a coconut, sometime you feel like a yak. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2000, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/27 "2000-03-05T16:55:00Z")
I’ve gone over my list of my 100 favorite films (which can be found at [http://www.dcfilmsociety.org,](http://www.dcfilmsociety.org,) click on Reviews and then on Wendell’s revised thoughts) and on a mental list of runner-ups and I’ve noticed a few things. First, there’s one director who I would never have called a great director but who appears once in my list and frequently in other people’s lists - Rob Reiner. Really, think about it: _When Harry Met Sally_, _The Princess Bride_, _This is Spinal Tap_, _Stand by Me_, _The American President_, _Misery_, _A Few Good Men_, _The Sure Thing_, The Some of Us\_, _Ghosts of Mississippi_, _North_. Some hits and some misses, but overall not a bad record. He’s still not my favorite director, but he’s better than I was willing to give him credit for being. For years, I’ve disparged him as being part of a group of directors who emerged from acting in early '70’s sitcoms. The others are Penny Marshall (his ex-wife) and Ron Howard. Recently, I’ve noticed a resemblence of Nora Ephron to these people, even though she comes from a completely different background. They all tend toward blandness in their films. They mostly do comedies. They manage to hire the most popular actors and actresses, although it’s questionable if they’re actually the best ones. Now that I think of it now, Rob Reiner stands out in this group. Perhaps it’s just that he’s been lucky in his choice of material. This post is starting to get long. I’ll post later with more thoughts on my favorite directors. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2000, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/28 "2000-03-05T19:46:00Z")
I wrote: \> Now that I think of it now . . . Note to myself: PROOFREAD. Let me try that link again: [http://www.dcfilmsociety.org](http://www.dcfilmsociety.org) O.K., who else would I put on my list of great directors? Let’s eliminate some people who just haven’t done enough stuff to be up there. Quentin Tarantino, for instance. He’s only directed three films, and he acted in or wrote several others. Yeah, he made one great film, _Pulp Fiction_, and one that some people think is great, _Reservoir Dogs_, and one that doesn’t quite cut it, _Jackie Brown_. Fifteen years from now we may be able to say that he’s a great director, but not now. Although Spike Lee has made a fair amount of stuff, only _Do the Right Thing_ is a really great film. He’s done two or three other very good films, but not enough that he can as yet be considered a great director. I know that Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez have done interesting things, but it’s way too early in their careers to evaluate their abilities. I think Richard Linklater’s _Slacker_ is a great film, as is Wong Kar-Wai’s _Chungking Express_, but I can’t evaluate Linklater on just his first four films, and I haven’t had a chance to see any of the rest of Wong’s films, so I can’t put them on my list of great directors. So who can I put on the list? Well, let’s start with Michael Curtiz. You hardly ever see Michael Curtiz listed as a great director, but he directed _Casablanca_, _The Adventures of Robin Hood_, and _Yankee Doodle Dandy_, as well as a bunch of lesser but good films, and yet he’s hardly ever listed as one of the great directors. There’s also Victor Fleming, who directed _Gone with the Wind_ and _The Wizard of Oz_ and yet also doesn’t usually get mentioned as one of the great directors. Why is it that some directors get such extravagent praise, while others, like Curtiz, Fleming, and Reiner, who do consistent good work over a lifetime, don’t? But I haven’t got to the top of my list yet. More in a later post. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2000, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/29 "2000-03-06T16:29:00Z")
Wendell Wagner- I agree with you on Rob Reiner. We may only realize in hindsight what a treasure he has been. I also like Penny Marshall’s work. She can really tug at the old heart strings. “Big” and “Awakenings” are both beautiful films, in my view. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/30 "2000-03-06T23:22:00Z")
I’m with you on Rob Reiner. Of the elitist group, my vote is for Louis Malle. ---
**Author:** ![Hunsecker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Hunsecker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunsecker)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2000, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/31 "2000-03-07T05:09:00Z")
Yeah, Reiner is a good one. Kind of interesting, because unlike a lot of the other directors on the page so far, he doesn’t have as much of a recognizable style. But he does make good (and occasionally great) movies. Spinal Tap is in my top ten list somewhere around #7 (and #3 for comedies) Oh, and I can’t believe I left this one out from my original reply: Buster Keaton ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643/32 "2000-03-07T05:10:00Z")
Well, must be said, that most cinematic conventions used by the other notable directors mentioned here were invented by D.W. Griffith. However, I’d cast my vote for the director named by both Welles and Bergmann as the best: John Ford. I actually met Ford back in about 1967. And Hitchcock in 1966. BTW, just because not every film made by a great director was a masterpiece, does not discredit the director. After all, even Shakespeare has his Titus Andronicuses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-director-of-all-time/17643.md?page=1)