#16 - Stanley Kramer - 54/9/10

Notable films: The Defiant Ones (1958), Judgment at Nurenberg (1961), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Ship of Fools (1965), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

In a film career spanning almost 40 years, Stanley Kramer, known in the industry as "Hollywood's Conscience", produced and directed nearly three dozen movies that tackled important moral and timely issues. With 54 nominations and 9 Oscars, covering just 10 movies, Stanley Kramer is ranked #16 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born on September 19, 1913, in New York City, Stanley Earl Kramer's early years were anything but easy. After his father abandoned the family, Stanley was raised by his mother and grandmother in a cold-water flat in Hell's Kitchen, a rough part of mid-town Manhattan. Taking part-time jobs while excelling at school, Stanley graduated high school at the age of 15. He entered New York University in the fall of 1929, and graduated when he was 19. With his mother being a clerical worker at Paramount Studios in New York, the film industry was in his system, and when he won a writing contest in 1933, he earned an internship at 20th-Century Fox, in Hollywood. He worked as a production assistant, and also continued writing, working on several screenplays. He was a skilled carpenter, and he landed a job at MGM, where he built sets. He also learned film editing, as he built up his knowledge of the industry. He earned his first screen credit, as Associate Producer, in 1942. The film was A Moon and Sixpence. Later that year, Kramer was drafted into the Armed Forces, and assigned to the U. S. Signal Corps. He was stationed stateside, and commissioned to direct training films, and "industrials", gaining valuable filmmaking experience behind the camera. After returning to Hollywood at war's end, he realized the industry was flooded with veterans, all seeking studio work. Kramer decided his future lay in film production, and raised enough money to open his own independent film production company, producing So This is New York, in 1948. It was not a financial success, but his next feature, 1949's Champion, gave Stanley Kramer Productions a major boost, earning 6 Oscar nominations. From 1949 to 1954, Kramer produced films that would earn more than 30 Oscar nominations, including Home of the Brave, The Men (Marlon Brando's screen debut), Cyrano de Bergerac, The Member of the Wedding, High Noon, The Wild One and The Caine Mutiny. Home of the Brave, in 1949, dealt with ethnic bias in the military, a timely topic, and the lasting effects of war on the men who fought it was explored in 1950's The Men. High Noon (1952), examined one man standing up for his beliefs, in the face of overwhelming odds. The Wild One, in 1953, depicted social rejects returning to attack those who denied them ("What are you rebelling against, Johnny?" "Whatdya got?").

In 1955, Kramer stepped behind a camera to direct Not As a Stranger, which earned an Oscar nomination for its Sound Recording. In 1958, he directed the inter-racial prison drama, The Defiant Ones. The film garnered 9 nominations, including acting nods for Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier (Best Actor), Theodore Bikel (Supp. Actor) and Cara Williams (Supp. Actress). These were the first of 14 performers nominated for Kramer-directed films. Two of them would win the Oscar: Maximillian Schell (Best Actor in Judgment at Nurenberg) and Katharine Hepburn (Best Actress in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner). Kramer also received the first of his three Best Director nominations (Judgment at Nurenberg and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner were the other). Here is a list of Kramer's nominated films, with the number of nominations and Oscars won:

Not As a Stranger (1955) 1/-
The Defiant Ones (1958) 9/2
On the Beach (1959) 2/-
Inherit the Wind (1960) 4/-
Judgment at Nurenberg (1961) 11/2
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) 6/1
Ship of Fools (1965) 8/2
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) 10/2
The Secret of Santa Vittorio (1969) 2/-
Bless the Beasts and Children (1971) 1/-

Stanley Kramer's films broached strong 'moralistic' topics, including On the Beach, which dealt with nuclear war, Inherit the Wind, about the famed evolution-themed 'Monkey Trials', Judgment at Nurenberg, concerning the Nazi war criminals, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which delved into inter-racial marriage. His subject matter was often controversial, and audiences usually had plenty to talk about after viewing a Stanley Kramer production.

Kramer retired from filmmaking at the end of the '70's. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America in 1991, and a special NAACP honor in 1998, acknowledging his effort to highlight and counteract racism in film.

Some of Stanley Kramer's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: The Pride and the Passion, R.P.M., Oklahoma Crude, The Domino Principle and The Runner Stumbles.

Stanley Kramer died on February 19, 2001, of pneumonia, in Los Angeles, California. He was 87 years old.

#73 - Delbert Mann - 26/6/10

Notable films: Marty (1955), The Bachelor Party (1957), Separate Tables (1958), Lover Come Back (1961), That Touch of Mink (1962).

Delbert Mann, one of the most prolific directors during the "Golden Age of Television", died on November 11, of pneumonia, in Los Angeles, California. The Oscar winning director of Marty, was 87 years old.

Born on January 30, 1920, in Lawrence, Kansas, his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where his father taught at Scarritt College. Mann received his first dramatic training in a Nashville community theater group, while attending Vanderbilt University. He developed a life-long friendship with Fred Coe, who was a director at the theater. After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1941, Mann served as a bomber pilot during World War II. When the war ended, he attended the Yale School of Drama, which led to stage managing and directing jobs in community theaters in Tennessee and South Carolina. He succeeded his friend Coe as director/producer at the Town Theater in Columbia, S. C. Coe had left for a position with NBC Studios in New York City. In 1949, Mann followed him to New York, where he started off as a floor manager at NBC, then became an assistant director. In the next half-dozen years, Mann would direct more than 100 television productions for the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, with Fred Coe as the producer. One of the productions, in 1953, was a drama by a young playwright named Paddy Chayefsky. It was called Marty, and it starred Rod Steiger as a lonely butcher. The show was a hit. Steiger, however, refused to play the role in a feature film version, as he did not want to be tied to a contract with the producers. Ernest Borgnine replaced him, with Delbert Mann making his feature film directing debut. The results: Oscars for Mann, Borgnine, Chayefsky and the film was awarded Best Picture of 1955. Mann's accomplishment, directing a Best Picture winner on his feature film debut, would not be repeated until 1999, when Sam Mendes won for directing American Beauty.

Ernest Borgnine's nomination (and win), along with Supporting nominations for Joe Mantell and Betsy Blair, were the first of 8 nominated performances by actors in Mann-directed films. Borgnine, David Niven (Best Actor for Separate Tables) and Wendy Hiller (Best Supporting Actress for Separate Tables) all took home the golden statue. Here is a list of Mann's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

Marty (1955) 8/4
Bachelor Party (1957) 1/-
Desire Under the Elms (1958) 1/-
Separate Tables (1958) 7/2
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) 1/-
Lover Come Back (1961) 1/-
That Touch of Mink (1962) 3/-
A Gathering of Eagles (1963) 1/-
Dear Heart (1964) 1/-
Mr. Buddwing (1966) 2/-

Delbert Mann specialized in character-driven dramas, featuring everyday people with deep-rooted problems. He ventured into comedy on occasion, but only the two vehicles with Doris Day (Lover Come Back and That Touch of Mink) proved successful. In 1968, he directed one of the most controversial TV-movies of all time, although he wasn't responsible for the controversy. The movie was Heidi, a retelling of the classic Johanna Spyri tale. The film was scheduled for a showing at 7PM on a Sunday night in November. Prior to that, a football game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders was being aired. With under two minutes to play, and the Jets leading by three points, NBC cut away at seven o'clock to show the film. Oakland scored 14 points in the remaining time to win the game, prompting numerous protesting calls to the network for their decision. The game forever became known as "The Heidi Bowl", and forced all networks televising football to ensure that all games would be shown in their entirety after that season.

With few exceptions, Delbert Mann returned to his TV roots throughout the rest of his career. His last effort came in 1994.

Some of Delbert Mann's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Middle of the Night, Quick Before It Melts, The Outsider, Fitzwilly, The Pink Jungle, Kidnapped and Birch Interval.

#15 - Francis Ford Coppola - 56/14/12

Most notable films: The Godfather (1972), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather, Part II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Godfather, Part III (1990)

Although he will always be best known for his direction of the 'Godfather' films, Francis Ford Coppola has excelled as a writer and producer, in addition to his accomplishments behind the camera. He became the first major American film director to emerge from a university degree program in filmmaking.

With 56 nominations and 14 Oscars, covering 12 films, Francis Ford Coppola is ranked #15 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 7, 1939, his father Carmine was 'first flautist' for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. When Francis was two years old, Carmine accepted a similar position with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York. The family moved to Long Island, where Francis spent the rest of his childhood. At the age of nine, he contracted polio, and was bedridden for long stretches of time. His active imagination led him into homemade puppet theater productions, and eventually he began using his father's 8mm movie camera, making home movies at the age of 10. Inheriting his father's musical inclination, young Francis was a talented tuba player, and earned a scholarship to the New York Military Academy when he was 15. After a year and a half, he left the academy, but he eventually earned a scholarship to Hofstra University, where he majored in theater arts. He became president of both the drama group and the musical comedy club, and merged them into The Spectrum Players. His writing ability and leadership resulted in new productions being staged each week. Coppola graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959, and enrolled in the UCLA film school in 1960. He began an apprenticeship with 'B'-movie impressarioRoger Corman in 1962, working as an all-purpose assistant, a dialogue director, and sound man. Corman had purchased the rights to a 1959 Russian space movie, called Nebo Zovyot, and had Coppola shoot new footage, while editing out some of the original footage, converting the 'space film' into a 'space horror film', called Battle Beyond the Sun. Coppola also directed a pair of titillation films that were barely noticed, before helming Dementia 13 in 1963, with a budget of $20,000. He continued his studies at UCLA through all this, while working on screenplays for This Property is Condemned and Is Paris Burning?

In 1966, Coppola directed his second film, an off-beat comedy called You're a Big Boy Now. Geraldine Page received an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actress, becoming the first of a dozen actors to receive recognition for their performances in a Francis Ford Coppola-directed film. Two of those performers won the coveted Oscar: Marlon Brando (Best Actor in The Godfather) and Robert DeNiro (Supporting Actor in The Godfather, Part II). Both actors played the role of Vito Corleone. Here is a list of Coppola's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

You're a Big Boy Now (1966) 1/-
Finian's Rainbow (1968) 2/-
The Godfather (1972) 11/3
The Conversation (1974) 3/-
The Godfather, Part II (1974) 11/6
Apocalypse Now (1979) 8/2
One From the Heart (1982) 1/-
The Cotton Club (1984) 2/-
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) 3/-
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) 3/-
The Godfather, Part III (1990) 7/-
Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (1992) 4/3

After submitting You're a Big Boy Now to the UCLA Film School, Coppola earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cinema in 1968. The late '60's were a busy time for Coppola, directing two films (Finian's Rainbow and The Rain People), co-writing the story and screenplay for Patton (which won him an Oscar in 1970), and co-founding (with George Lucas) the American Zoetrope production organization, in order to create a liberating environment for filmmakers to direct outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywood studio system. He produced, with Lucas directing, THX1138, a sci-fi film that failed financially. All of this was just a lead in to bigger and better things to come in 1972.

Paramount Pictures was looking for a director of Italian heritage to film its adaptation of The Godfather, a novel they helped develop with author Mario Puzo. After being rejected by Sergio Leone (among others), they approached Francis Ford Coppola. Needing a paycheck after the failure of THX1138, he agreed to direct the film, with the stipulation that the movie would stress the importance of the family's growth throughout the years, and downplay being a showcase for Italian organized crime. The combination of near-perfect casting, a riveting screenplay, haunting music, and brilliant direction, led the production to become one of filmdom's classic movie experiences. The Godfather was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture of 1972, and its sequel, The Godfather, Part II, was awarded the same honor in 1974. Coppola was awarded the Best Director award for the sequel. The same year, Coppola had the rare distinction of directing a second film nominated for Best Picture, The Conversation. During this span of time, Coppola also found time to produce George Lucas' second film, American Graffiti, which received a Best Picture nomination in 1973. In his career, Coppola would be nominated four times as Best Director, winning for The Godfather, Part II, and losing for The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and The Godfather, Part III.

Apocalypse Now, released in 1979, was plagued with problems. Poor weather conditions, monetary difficulties, health problems, a 16-month shoot, and nearly three years in the editing, but Coppola pulled it all together and had another major hit. After that, he concentrated on smaller films throughout the '80's, such as The Cotton Club, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Tucker: A Man and His Dream.

In 1990, Coppola revisited his biggest triumph, directing the long-awaited Godfather, Part III. Much was expected, but a confusing script, some ineffective casting, and too lengthy a gap since the previous segments made for lackluster box office, and mixed reviews. Although nominated for seven Oscars, it would win none. Coppola continued directing in the '90's, but has never regained the stature and success he enjoyed decades earlier.

Some of Francis Ford Coppola's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: The Rain People, The Outsiders, Rumblefish, Gardens of Stone, Jack, and The Rain Maker.

Fans of Coppola will not have long to wait for the director's next film. Scheduled to be released in December of this year, Youth Without Youth will be eagerly anticipated, and, perhaps, if successful, will help him move upward on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

End of Summer musings

I've been extremely lax in my duties here on the 'Oscar Director-y'. It's been nearly six weeks since my last posting, so it's time to get back into the swing of things. There were three deaths of Oscar-nominated directors since my last article. Two of them were among the best known foreign film directors, the third an American whose films delighted audiences in the '50's and '60's.

Ingmar Bergman - 21/7/8

Check my posting from 5/20/07, "Fellini & Bergman - the best of the foreign directors". Bergman died on July 30th, in Sweden. He was 89 years old. His most notable films: Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), The Virgin Spring (1961), Cries and Whispers (1973), Fanny and Alexander (1983).


Michelangelo Antonioni - 2/0/1

Most notable films: L'Avventura (1960), The Red Desert (1964), Blow-Up (1966), Zabriskie Point (1970), The Passenger (1975).

A force in Italian cinema, he directed films for almost 60 years, remaining active until 2004, directing a segment of Eros. Although his films were largely overlooked by Academy Award voters, he received an honarary Oscar in 1995. The only film for which he achieved academy consideration was Blow-Up, for which he was nominated for Best Director, and shared Best Writing - Story & Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, with Tonino Guerra and Edward Bond.

Antonioni died on July 30th, in Rome, the same day as Ingmar Bergman. He was 94 years old.


Melville Shavelson - 11/0/6

Most notable films: Houseboat (1958), The Five Pennies (1959), A New Kind of Love (1963), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), Yours, Mine and Ours (1968).

Primarily known as a top comedy writer, he worked on films featuring Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Phil Silvers, Milton Berle, Groucho Marx, Lucille Ball, Martin & Lewis and Cary Grant. He received a pair of Screenwriting Oscar nominations, for The Seven Little Foys and Houseboat. Here is the list of Shavelson's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

The Seven Little Foys (1955) 1/-
Houseboat (1958) 2/-
The Five Pennies (1959) 4/-
It Started in Naples (1960) 1/-
The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962) 1/-
A New Kind of Love (1963) 2/-

Shavelson died on August 8th, in Studio City, California, of natural causes. He was 90 years old.

#14 - David Lean - 58/27/11

Most notable films: Brief Encounter (1945), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), A Passage to India (1984).

Whether he was directing sophisticated British comedies, or dramas of epic proportion, David Lean was one of the best known English directors for over 40 years.

With 58 nominations and 27 wins over 11 films, David Lean is ranked #14 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born March 25, 1908, in Croyden, Surrey, England, into a strict Quaker family, young David was not allowed to attend a movie until he was 12 years old and away at school. His love of films was formed by conversations with the family charwoman. She would describe her trips to the cinema in great detail, filling the youngster's head with images of Charlie Chaplin, whose comic walk she would mimic for him. Educated at Leighton Park, a Quaker school in Reading, he developed an interest in photography and film. After graduation, Lean worked for a year in his father's accounting firm, but, after encouragement from an aunt, he applied to the Gaumont British Picture Corporation, saying, "I'll do anything - carry tea, anything". He was hired, on a trial basis, as a tea boy, then progressed to a clapper boy, messenger, and newsreel cutter. He moved up to an assistant director, and then began editing films in 1930. His first credit was The Night Porter, a comedy. He developed a solid reputation, working with top directors Anthony Asquith and Michael Powell. In 1942, renowned playwright Noel Coward, never having directed a film, asked Lean to collaborate with him on In Which We Serve. The film received two Oscar nominations, for Best Picture and Original Screenplay. It was Lean's first directing credit. He worked on three more film adaptations of Coward plays over the next few years: This Happy Breed, Blithe Spirit and Brief Encounter. The latter film earned Lean his first Best Director nomination, and Celia Johnson became the first of 11 performers nominated in Lean-helmed films. Three took home the golden statue: Alec Guinness (The Bridge on the River Kwai), John Mills (Ryan's Daughter) and Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India). Here is a list of Lean's nominated films, with the number of nominations and Oscars won:

In Which We Serve (1942) 2/-
Blithe Spirit (1945) 1/1
Brief Encounter (1945) 3/-
Great Expectations (1947) 5/2
Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952) 2/1
Summertime (1955) 2/-
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 8/7
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 10/7
Doctor Zhivago (1965) 10/5
Ryan's Daughter (1970) 4/2
A Passage to India (1984) 11/2

David Lean's next two films were adaptations of Charles Dickens novels, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. Although respected for his extreme perfectionism, his autocratic behavior could sometimes alienate his cast and crew. He continued directing modestly budgeted films until 1957, when The Bridge on the River Kwai would elevate him to the top of the filmmaking community. A major success, the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Lean received his first Best Director Oscar. He would win another in 1962, with his next blockbuster epic, Lawrence of Arabia, also a Best Picture winner. In all, Lean was nominated seven times for Best Director (Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, Summertime, Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India were his others). His third successive large-scope drama was made in 1965, when Lean shifted his cameras from Arabia's sandy vistas to the snowy expanses of Russia, in Doctor Zhivago. His films show a meticulous attention to detail in the careful composition of each frame, in the precise and expressive use of sound and music, the stunning photography and dynamic performances of his actors.

In 1970, Lean tried again to depict another epic struggle, this time in Ireland, during the First World War. Ryan's Daughter was filmed in harsh conditions with award-winning cinematography, but critics did not respond warmly to the movie. Embittered, Lean would not return to directing until 1984, when his final film, A Passage to India was released. Hailed by many as a return to good form by its director, it received 11 Oscar nominations, including Picture and Director. It allowed David Lean to end his career on a positive note.

Some of David Lean's films that did not recieve Oscar consideration: This Happy Breed, Oliver Twist, Madeleine, Hobson's Choice and The Passionate Friends.

David Lean died on April 16, 1991, in London, England, of throat cancer. He was 83 years old. On the recent American Film Institute ranking of The 100 Greatest Movies, Lawrence of Arabia ranked #7, while The Bridge on the River Kwai ranked #36.

#13 - Mervyn LeRoy - 59/9/19

Most notable films: Little Caesar (1931), Anthony Adverse (1936), Random Harvest (1942), Madame Curie (1943), Quo Vadis (1951), Mister Roberts (1955)

Some great Hollywood directors started at the bottom of the studio job ladder and worked their way up. Some had a relative get them their first break. Mervyn LeRoy combined the two elements and embarked on a near-40 year career as one of the most successful filmmakers of all time.

With 59 nominations and 9 wins over 19 films, Mervyn LeRoy ranks #13 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born on October 15, 1900, in San Francisco, California, he was just five years old when the great earthquake of 1906 ruined his family financially. To help out, he sold newspapers and entered talent shows as a singer. This would lead him into vaudeville, where he was part of a two-man musical act. Some years later, the act broke up, and LeRoy found himself in New York. His cousin, Jesse Lasky, a producer and one of the founders of Paramount Studios, was also in New York. LeRoy sought him out, looking for a job. Lasky gave him train fare to Calfornia, and a note to the studio to give young LeRoy a position. He also told LeRoy not to mention they were related, "because that will hurt you more than anything else". The first job LeRoy was given upon reporting to the studio was folding clothes in the wardrobe department. The year was 1923. He continued working in wardrobe, and began to get some small acting roles in the silent films the studio produced. In 1925, he moved over to First National Pictures as a gag writer on comedy films. In 1927, he directed his first film, a silent romantic-comedy called No Place to Go. It was the first of 20 films he directed before moving on to MGM, where he would become the busiest director at Hollywood's busiest dream factory. One of his earliest films at First National was 1928's Oh Kay! It received an Academy Award nomination, for Title Writing, in the very first year of Academy honors. It lost out to the MGM entry, Telling the World. The category was dropped after that year. In 1931, LeRoy had a major hit with Little Caesar, one of the first great gangster pictures. That same year, he directed Five Star Final, his first film to receive a Best Picture nomination. The following year, another LeRoy film was nominated for Best Picture. I Was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang starred Paul Muni, and his nomination for Best Actor made him the first of 13 different performers to be Oscar-nominated for a LeRoy-helmed vehicle. Three would take home the big prize: Gale Sondergaard (Anthony Adverse), Van Heflin (Johnny Eager), and Jack Lemmon (Mister Roberts ). Here is a list of LeRoy's nominated films, with the number of nominations and Oscars won:

Oh Kay! (1928) 1/-
Little Caesar (1931) 1/-
Five Star Final (1931) 1/-
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) 3/-
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) 1/-
Anthony Adverse (1936) 7/4
Waterloo Bridge (1940) 2/-
Blossoms in the Dust (1941) 4/1
Johnny Eager (1942) 1/1
Random Harvest (1942) 7/-
Madame Curie (1943) 7/-
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) 2/1
Little Women (1949) 2/1
Quo Vadis (1951) 8/-
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) 1/-
Mister Roberts (1955) 3/1
The Bad Seed (1956) 4/-
A Majority of One (1961) 1/-
Gypsy (1962) 3/-

Mervyn LeRoy had an uncanny ability to recognize box-office potential, and directed over 70 films in his 40-plus years in the business. He blended creativity with technical skill to consistently turn out films of high quality at a reasonable cost. He was equally adept at directing musicals (Gold Diggers of 1933, Gypsy), romantic dramas (Waterloo Bridge, Random Harvest), gangster films (Little Caesar, Johnny Eager), biographies (Madame Curie, Million Dollar Mermaid), war films (Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Mister Roberts), and even a religious epic (Quo Vadis). In 1936, after the death of Irving Thalberg, LeRoy was named head of production at MGM Studios. His biggest success was 1939's The Wizard of Oz. Although LeRoy had hoped to direct the film, studio head Louis B. Mayer convinced him it would be too difficult to both produce and direct. Several directors would eventually be involved, with Victor Fleming receiving the screen credit. LeRoy cast little known Judy Garland in the lead role, despite the studio wanting Shirley Temple. When the studio wanted to cut a song performed in a barnyard, LeRoy fought for it to be retained in the final version. The song was "Over the Rainbow".

Mervyn LeRoy received an Academy Award nomination as Producer for The Wizard of Oz. He was nominated only once for Best Director, for Random Harvest, although eight of his films were nominated for Best Picture: Five Star Final, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Anthony Adverse, Blossoms in the Dust, Random Harvest, Madame Curie, Quo Vadis and Mister Roberts. In 1976, LeRoy was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award by the Motion Picture Academy.

Some of LeRoy's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Little Johnny Jones, Three on a Match, Without Reservations, East Side West Side, Rose Marie, No Time for Sergeants, The FBI Story, The Devil at Four O'Clock and Mary Mary.

Mervyn LeRoy died on September 13, 1987, in Los Angeles, California, of Alzheimer's Disease. He was 86 years old.

The AFI Top 100 Films - Part 2

In analyzing 'The AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition', that was recently announced, I've taken a look at how my 'Oscar Director-y' Top 25 fared, and found that 45 % of the Top 100 were directed by filmmakers on my list. Here's a look at how my Top 12 did:

1. William Wyler - #37 - The Best Years of Our Lives; #100 - Ben-Hur. Wyler lost Wuthering Heights (previously #73)

2. Steven Spielberg - #8 - Schindler's List; #24 - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial; #56 - Jaws; #66 - Raiders of the Lost Ark; #71 - Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg had more films on the new AFI list - five - than any other director. Saving Private Ryan was new to his total, and he lost Close Encounters of the Third Kind (#64).

3. John Ford - #12 - The Searchers; #23 - The Grapes of Wrath. Ford lost Stagecoach (#63).

4. George Cukor - #44 - The Philadelphia Story. He lost My Fair Lady (#91).

5. Billy Wilder - #16 - Sunset Boulevard; #22 - Some Like it Hot; #29 - Double Indemnity; #80 - The Apartment.

6. George Stevens - #45 - Shane; #90 - Swing Time. Swing Time was new to his total, but he lost Giant (#82) and A Place in the Sun (#92).

7. Henry King - no films.

8. Michael Curtiz - #3 - Casablanca; #98 - Yankee Doodle Dandy.

9. Fred Zinnemann - #27 - High Noon. He lost From Here to Eternity (#52).

10. Martin Scorsese - #4 - Raging Bull; #52 - Taxi Driver; #92 - Goodfellas.

11. Robert Wise - #40 - The Sound of Music; #51 - West Side Story.

12. Elia Kazan - #19 - On the Waterfront; #47 - A Streetcar Named Desire.

The rest of the 'Oscar-Director-y' Top 25 has not been published yet, but, alphabetically, here is how they did with the new AFI listing:

Woody Allen - #35 - Annie Hall.

Frank Capra - #20 - It's a Wonderful Life; #26 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; #46 - It Happened One Night.

Francis Ford Coppola - #2 - The Godfather; #30 - Apocalypse Now; #32 - The Godfather II.

Alfred Hitchcock - #9 - Vertigo; #14 - Psycho; #48 - Rear Window; #55 - North by Northwest.

John Huston - #31 - The Maltese Falcon; #38 - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; #65 - The African Queen.

Henry Koster - no films.

Stanley Kramer - lost his only film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (#99).

David Lean - #7 - Lawrence of Arabia; #36 - Bridge on the River Kwai. He lost Doctor Zhivago (39).

Mervyn Leroy - no films.

Joseph Mankiewicz - #28 - All About Eve.

Vincente Minnelli - no films.

Sydney Pollack - #69 - Tootsie.

Sam Wood - #85 - A Night at the Opera.

Steven Spielberg led the new AFI list, with 5 films mentioned. Three directors each had 4 films named: Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick, currently ranked 66th on the 'Oscar Director-y', was represented by 2001: A Space Odyssey (#15), Dr. Strangelove (#39), A Clockwork Orange (#70), and Spartacus (#81).

The AFI Top 100 Films - Part 1

On June 20, the American Film Institute presented their annual Top 100 list. This one was called '100 Years...100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition'. It was an updating of the list originally compiled in 1997, with the inclusion of movies made in the last decade. Well, the new films didn't fare very well, as only four made the new list: Titanic (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). What was interesting was the inclusion of 19 other films that hadn't made the cut the first time around. The recognition of Buster Keaton's masterpiece, The General (1927) in the 18th spot, was, to me, a bit curious. Not good enough ten years ago to make the Top 100, now it's better than such films as On the Waterfront, It's a Wonderful Life, Some Like it Hot, The Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird (all ranked between 19th and 25th). Two other silent-era films joined the elite list, Intolerance (#49), and Sunrise (#82). Other films surprisingly omitted previously, but now finding their way into the new list: Nashville (#59), Sullivan's Travels (#61), Cabaret (#63), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (#67), The Shawshank Redemption (#72), In the Heat of the Night (#75), All the President's Men (#77), Spartacus (#81), A Night at the Opera (#85), 12 Angry Men (#87), Swing Time (#90), Sophie's Choice (#91), The Last Picture Show (#95), Do the Right Thing (#96), Blade Runner (#97) and Toy Story (#99).

In order for these 23 films to have been injected into the current Top 100, a like amount of pretty decent movies had to bite the dust. Here is the list of former 1997 favorites, now left on the outskirts of popularity:

#39 Doctor Zhivago
#44 The Birth of a Nation
#52 From Here to Eternity
#53 Amadeus
#54 All Quiet on the Western Front
#57 The Third Man
#58 Fantasia
#59 Rebel Without a Cause
#63 Stagecoach
#64 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
#67 The Manchurian Candidate
#68 An American in Paris
#73 Wuthering Heights
#75 Dances with Wolves
#82 Giant
#84 Fargo
#86 Mutiny on the Bounty
#87 Frankenstein
#89 Patton
#90 The Jazz Singer
#91 My Fair Lady
#92 A Place in the Sun
#99 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Now, from that list, we have eight Oscar-winning Best Pictures(From Here to Eternity, Amadeus, All Quiet on the Western Front, An American in Paris, Dances with Wolves, Mutiny on the Bounty, Patton and My Fair Lady), the first 'talkie'(The Jazz Singer), one of the first classic horror films (Frankenstein), a classic western (Stagecoach), and one of the great love stories ever (Wuthering Heights).

There's a lot of room for discussion here, don't you think, and that is basically what these AFI Top 100 lists are all about. For film afficionados, why one film makes the list, while another one doesn't, is enough to drive some of us up the proverbial wall. The benificiaries of these surveys are the casual film watchers, the ones who say, "hey, I should check out these films that I've missed, and see what all the fuss is about". Something like that. Fortunately, just about everything these days is available on DVD, so there are no excuses for missing some of the great films of all-time.

For a complete list of the newest AFI Top 100 list, go to AFI.com, where the films are listed, along with all the other AFI Top 100 lists of the past ten years.

In Part 2, I'll examine how the 'Oscar Director-y' list relates to this AFI reshuffling of its top films.

A little tweaking

I've done a little tweaking on the 'Oscar Director-y' of late. I've added 'Most notable films' at the beginning of each post, listing, in my opinion, the five best known films of each director profiled. This will help to identify the filmmaker quickly to the casual visitor to this blogsite. For example, the last posting was on June 12th, "#12 - Elia Kazan - 59/21/13", to which I've now added: Most notable films: Gentleman's Agreement, A Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata!, On the Waterfront, East of Eden.



In just over three months, the 'Oscar Director-y' has now been viewed on all six continents. I just hope that whomever is reading it can understand English. I would also love to have someone comment on what they're reading, pro or con. It might make for a better blogsite if I can get a little bit of feedback.

After counting down the Top 10, I've been currently counting 'up': #11 - Robert Wise, #12 - Elia Kazan. Coming up next week will be #13. Check back to the post from May 13th, "Just the beginning", to see the director's still available to choose from. RayB

#12 - Elia Kazan - 59/21/13

Most notable films: Gentleman's Agreement (1947), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata!(1952), On the Waterfront (1954), East of Eden (1955)

One of the most acclaimed, yet controversial directors ever, Elia Kazan has made his mark on stage and in film for over 40 years. His career is notable for the many classic plays and films he directed, and for his decision to testify during the Hollywood blacklisting scandal of the early 1950's.

With 59 nominations and 21 wins over 13 films, Elia Kazan ranks #12 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born on September 7, 1909, in what is now Istanbul, Turkey, Elias Kazanjoglou was the son of Greek parents. They emigrated to New York in 1913, and Elias would eventually graduate from New Rochelle High School. He attended Williams College in Massachusetts, graduating with a Bachelors Degree in 1930, then went to the Yale School of Drama, from 1930 to 1932. He landed a job as an apprentice at the Group Theater in New York, which had been formed by Lee Strasberg, Cheryl Crawford and Harold Clurman. The name came from the idea of the actors as a pure ensemble, without any 'stars', although many of the group did go on to become stars, including Lee J. Cobb, John Garfield, Howard Da Silva, Luther Adler, Franchot Tone and Will Geer. Also in the group was playwright Clifford Odets, and future acting instructors Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner. Kazan worked as an actor and stage manager, and began directing plays in the mid-1930's. He acted in a couple of films in Hollywood (City for Conquest, Blues in the Night) in the early '40's, then returned to New York to direct his first hit play, the Group Theater's production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth. With this success, Hollywood called again, this time with directorial offers. In 1945, Kazan's film of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was nominated for two Academy Awards, failing to win for Adapted Screenplay, but winning a Supporting Actor Oscar for James Dunn. Dunn became the first of 21 actors to be nominated in Kazan-helmed films, with 9 (including Dunn) taking home the golden statuette: Celeste Holm (Gentleman's Agreement), Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden, Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire), Anthony Quinn (Viva Zapata!), Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront), and Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden). Only William Wyler (#1 on the Oscar Director-y) directed more Oscar winning performances (13). Here is a list of Kazan's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) 2/1
Boomerang (1947) 1/-
Gentleman's Agreement (1947) 8/3
Pinky (1949) 3/-
Panic in the Streets (1950) 1/1
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) 12/4
Viva Zapata! (1952) 5/1
On the Waterfront (1954) 12/8
East of Eden (1955) 4/1
Baby Doll (1956) 4/-
Splendor in the Grass (1961) 2/1
America, America (1963) 4/1
The Last Tycoon (1976) 1/-

Over a period of 16 years, from 1945 through 1960, he amassed a body of work that might never be equaled by any other director. He directed 10 different films that received Oscar nominations, including four films for which he received Best Director nominations. He also directed six Broadway plays, and was Tony nominated for all. In 1947, he managed to find time to co-found The Actors Studio (with Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis), where the concept of "Method Acting" was pioneered. His theater successes included Arthur Miller's All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, William Inge's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Sweet Bird of Youth. He won the Tony Award for Best Director three times. He also won two Best Director Oscars, for Gentleman's Agreement and On the Waterfront. He was nominated for A Streetcar Named Desire, Baby Doll, and, in the early '60's, America, America.


Elia Kazan's films were all rooted in great scripts, as 11 of the 13 films listed in this Director-y received screenplay nominations. Only Pinky and The Last Tycoon missed out. He directed socially conscious films, addressing such issues as Anti-Semitism, racism, public corruption and alcoholism. His psychological and emotional inner-realism, developed for the stage, translated well onto the big screen, with brooding, sensitive and sometimes volatile performances being given by Marlon Brando, James Dean, Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger, Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb, among others.


While with the Group Theater back in 1934, Kazan had been a member of the Communist Party for 18 months. He then had a change of heart, renouncing their philosophies "in disgust". In 1952, he was called to testify before the House Committee on un-American Activities (HUAC). He refused to say that the Group Theater was a "front" for the Communist Party, and would not incriminate anyone. Unfortunately, strong pressure from the head of 20th Century-Fox, Spyros Skouras, made him change his position. Threatened with never working in pictures again, Kazan finally acquiesced and gave the Committee names of several individuals who had been Party members, including Clifford Odets, Lee Strasberg, Lillian Hellman, and John Garfield, all of whom had already been named by other people. Kazan was scorned by many in the Hollywood community, but continued to direct powerful and important works, both on stage and screen.


In 1999, Elia Kazan was awarded an Honorary Oscar Statuette, "In appreciation of a long, distinguished and unparalleled career during which he has influenced the very nature of filmmaking through his creation of cinematic masterpieces". Nearly 50 years had passed since the "blacklist scandal", but memories were long and unforgiving. The Executive Council of the Eastern unit of the Writers Guild of America voted to protest the giving of the honor, and many people in the audience at the Oscar Awards ceremony remained seated and refused to applaud when Kazan appeared on stage. It was a controversial ending to a controversial career.


Some of Elia Kazan's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Sea of Grass, Man on a Tightrope, A Face in the Crowd, Wild River, The Arrangement and The Visitors.


Elia Kazan died on September 28, 2003, of natural causes, in Manhattan, New York, a short distance from where he had achieved his greatest stage successes. He was 94 years old.

#11 - Robert Wise - 61/18/13

Most notable films: Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), I Want to Live! (1958), West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music (1965), The Sand Pebbles (1966)

In a career that touched eight decades, Robert Wise worked his way up the creative ladder, from sound effects to editing to directing. He also produced two Oscar-winning Best Pictures.

With 61 nominations and 18 Oscars, covering 13 films, Robert Wise is ranked #11 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Robert Earl Wise was born on September 10, 1914, in Winchester, Indiana. He graduated high school in nearby Connersville, but after a failed attempt at college, he sought work in Hollywood, where an older brother was employed at RKO Studios. His first job was as a messenger in the cutting department. He was 19 years old. When veteran sound effects editor T. K. Wood was looking for an apprentice, Wise volunteered. His first film was Of Human Bondage, in 1934. Soon, he would be working as a sound effects editor himself, contributing to the hit musicals The Gay Divorcee and Top Hat. Wise wasn't content to stay in sound effects, so he ingratiated himself in with the film editors, and, by 1939, he was getting co-editing credits on such films as Bachelor Mother, Fifth Avenue Girl and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The director of Bachelor Mother was Garson Kanin, a stage director with little movie-making experience, and Wise was frequently assigned by RKO to help fledgling directors. In 1940, Kanin directed My Favorite Wife, and Wise received his first solo editing credit. The next year saw another novice film director come to RKO. His name was Orson Welles, and his film was Citizen Kane. Although Welles chose to predominantly use stage actors with little or no film experience, RKO insisted on his using an experienced crew on set. Wise, with almost eight years of film background, was just a few months older than Welles, but their styles meshed, and a cinematic masterpiece was created. Wise received an Oscar nomination for Film Editing, one of nine received by Citizen Kane.

Over the next couple of years, Wise continued as an editor, and occasionally directed added-on scenes for films he was involved with. Then, in 1944, when the filming of The Curse of the Cat People fell way behind schedule, Wise was asked to step in and replace Val Lewton. Wise was now a director, a long way up from his first position at the studio. Ten films later, Wise directed The House on Telegraph Hill (1951), and received his first Oscar nomination, for Art Direction-Set Decoration (B&W). In 1954, Nina Foch would become the first performer to receive an Oscar nomination for a Robert Wise film, as Best Supporting Actress in Executive Suite. Eight others would receive Oscar recognition, with Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!), George Chakiris and Rita Moreno (West Side Story) all receiving the golden statuette. Here is a list of Wise's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) 1/-
The Desert Rats (1953) 1/-
Executive Suite (1954) 4/-
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) 3/2
I Want to Live! (1958) 6/1
West Side Story (1961) 11/10
Two for the Seesaw (1962) 2/-
The Sound of Music (1965) 10/5
The Sand Pebbles (1966) 8/-
Star! (1968) 7/-
The Andromeda Strain (1971) 2/-
The Hindenburg (1975) 3/-
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) 3/-

Robert Wise was adept at just about every film genre there was, from horror (The Curse of the Cat People, The Body Snatcher, The Haunting, Audrey Rose), to science-fiction (The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Andromeda Strain, Star Trek), musicals (West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Star!), westerns (Two Flags West, Tribute to a Bad Man), war dramas (Run Silent Run Deep, The Desert Rats, The Sand Pebbles), hard-hitting dramas (I Want to Live!, Until They Sail, Odds Against Tomorrow), and he even tossed in a couple of comedies (This Could Be the Night and Something for the Birds). His versatility and professionalism led to a degree of preparedness which greatly advanced his moviemaking art.

In 1961, Robert Wise produced and co-directed West Side Story, the hit Broadway musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. His co-director was Jerome Robbins, the shows director and choreographer. Robbins staged the musical numbers for the films, Wise helmed the 'book' aspects of the script. In case of an impasse, Wise, as producer, had the final say. The movie received 10 Academy Awards, with Wise winning his first Best Director Oscar (shared with Robbins) and his first Best Picture award. He would duplicate the feat four years later (albeit without a co-director) with another Broadway musical turned feature film, The Sound of Music. Wise was approaced by 20th Century-Fox to take over the direction from William Wyler, who had changed his mind after scouting locations for the film. Wise agreed to direct the film, but only if Fox would finance his next project, The Sand Pebbles. The studio agreed, and the rest, as they say, is history. The Sound of Music went on to become, at that time, the highest grossing film ever made. Wise received his third directing nomination (his first had come in 1958, for I Want to Live!), and his second Best Director Oscar. The Sand Pebbles would receive a Best Picture nomination the following year.

Robert Wise would try once more in the '60's to direct a hit musical, but Star!, the story of actress Gertrude Lawrence, fell flat, despite the performance of Julie Andrews. Although the film received seven nominations, it was a box-office flop. The '70's were not very kind to Wise, with only 1971's The Andromeda Strain a critical success. That was followed by a string of high-budget special effects films (The Hindenburg, Audrey Rose, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) that tarnished the director's reputation. He would direct only one more feature film, 1989's Rooftops, and finish his stellar career with a Made-for-TV film in 2000, the well received A Storm in Summer.

Some of Robert Wise's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Born to Kill, Blood on the Moon, The Set-Up, Destination Gobi, So Big, Helen of Troy and Two People.

Robert Wise died on September 14, 2005, of heart failure, in Los Angeles, California. He had celebrated his 91st birthday just four days previously.

Fellini & Bergman - The Best of the Foreign Directors

Federico Fellini - Most notable films: La Strada (1956), La Dolce Vita (1961), 8 1/2 (1963), Juliet of the Spirits (1966), Amarcord (1974)

Ingmar Bergman - Most notable films: Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), The Virgin Spring (1961), Cries and Whispers (1973), Fanny and Alexander (1983)

Among Cinema's best known directors, the names of John Ford, William Wyler, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra and David Lean will be mentioned, along with more recent directors such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen. Another handful of names should then appear: Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Vittorio De Sica and Francois Truffaut. This last group has earned a place in the pantheon of great film makers, alongside America's finest.

Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman lead the way, with careers that closely parallel each other. Fellini has directed 9 films that were nominated for Academy Awards, Bergman is next with 8 films. Both have received a total of 21 nominations, and both have won 7 Oscars. In the 'Oscar Director-y', Fellini is in 90th place, with Bergman ranking 91st. They were born within two years of each other, started their careers as screenwriters within two years of each other, and had directing careers that lasted almost forty years apiece. Fellini's films have won 4 Oscars for Foreign Film, while Bergman's films have won 3 Oscars.

Federico Fellini was born in Rimini, Italy, on January 20, 1920. Educated in Catholic schools until 1938, he found work as a writer and caricature artist in magazines, first in Florence, then in Rome. Through a friend, he met Roberto Rossellini, and co-wrote the script for Open City in 1945, a Rossellini-directed film. Fellini continued as a screenwriter and co-director until 1950, when he directed Variety Lights, his first solo success. He directed two more films before 1954's La Strada was a hit at the Venice Film Festival. Released in the United States in 1956, it was the first film to win an Oscar in a new competitive category, Best Foreign Film. It was also nominated for Fellini's Original Screenplay. His success continued with I Vitelloni and Nights of Cabiria, both released in 1957. Cabiria would make it successive Foreign Film Oscars for Fellini. His films would win twice more, in 1963 (8 1/2), and in 1974 (Amarcord). Many of Fellini's films were partly autobiographical, dealing with his childhood, and also his adult experiences as a writer, and later, as a director. His films often contained fantastical, dreamlike sequences, using flamboyant imagery and colorful characters to advance the story. Here is a list of Federico Fellini's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

La Strada (1956 - U.S. release) 2/1
I Vitelloni (1957) 1/-
Nights of Cabiria (1957) 1/1
La Dolce Vita (1961) 4/1
8 1/2 (1963) 5/2
Juliet of the Spirits (1966) 2/-
Fellini's Satyricon (1970) 1/-
Amarcord (1974) 3/1
Fellini's Casanova (1976) 2/1

Federico Fellini would receive four Best Director Oscar nominations in his career, for La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Fellini's Satyricon, and Amarcord.

Some of Fellini's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: The Clowns, Fellini's Roma, Orchestra Rehearsal, City of Women and Fred and Ginger.

Federico Fellini died in Rome, Italy, of a heart attack, on October 31, 1993. He was 73 years old.

Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born in Uppsala, Sweden, on July 14, 1918. Educated in Stockholm, he began working as a scriptwriter in 1943, and as a theater director the following year. In 1946, he directed his first film, Kris. He had several successful films in the '50's, including Smiles of a Summer Night, and The Seventh Seal. His first Oscar nomination came in 1959, for his original screenplay, Wild Strawberries. Two of his films, The Virgin Spring and Through a Glass Darkly won successive Best Foreign Film Oscars in 1961 and 1962. He would win a third Foreign Film award for Fanny and Alexander, in 1983. Much of Bergman's work had deep psychological themes, with religious disillusionment, alienation and fear of death among the issues he delved into. Like John Ford, Bergman had a core of actors he would use repeatedly: Erland Josephson (14 appearances), Bibi Andersson (13), Max Von Sydow (13), Liv Ullmann (10) and Ingrid Thulin (10). Here is a list of Ingmar Bergman's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

Wild Strawberries (1957) 1/-
The Virgin Spring (1961) 2/1
Through a Glass Darkly (1962) 2/1
Cries and Whispers (1973) 5/1
The Magic Flute (1975) 1/-
Face to Face (1976) 2/-
Autumn Sonata (1978) 2/-
Fanny and Alexander (1983) 6/4

Ingmar Bergman was Oscar-nominated for Best Director three times: Cries and Whispers, Face to Face, and Fanny and Alexander.

Some of Bergman's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Summer Interlude, Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, The Magician, Winter Light, The Silence, Persona, Shame, The Passion of Anna and Scenes from a Marriage.

The other foreign filmmakers mentioned earlier, Akira Kurosawa, Vittorio De Sica and Francois Truffaut, all have their legions of admirers, and each will be examined some time in the future.

#1 - William Wyler - 127/39/22

Most notable films: Wuthering Heights (1939), Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Ben-Hur (1959), Funny Girl (1968)

When it came to making movies that received Oscar nominations and wins, there was no other director in a class with William Wyler. His accumulation of 127 nominations, in comparison to runner-up Steven Spielberg's 103, would be equivalent to a baseball player hitting 931 home runs, besting current all-time leader Hank Aaron's total of 755. That is how far ahead of the field Wyler was. His total almost doubles #10 Martin Scorsese's 64 nominations.

With 127 nominations and 39 Oscar wins, covering 22 films, William Wyler ranks 1st on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born on July 1, 1902, in Alsace, Germany (which is now a part of France), he was named Wilhelm, but called 'Willi'. He attended the Ecole Superieure de Commerce, in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the National Conservatory of Music, in Paris. Unlike European-born directors Billy Wilder, Michael Curtiz and Fred Zinnemann, who started their film careers overseas, young Willi got his job from a relative 'in the business'. Carl Laemlle was Wyler's mother's first cousin, and just happened to be head of Universal Pictures. 'Uncle Carl' arranged for the 18-year old to emigrate to America, and started him as an office boy at Universal's New York City office. Within two years, he would be helping to direct foreign publicity. In 1922, he headed out to California and continued to learn the business. He had jobs at Universal Pictures as an office boy, property boy, script clerk, assistant casting director and assistant director. In 1925, he directed his first film, a 20-minute, two-reel western, called Crook Buster. He became the youngest director on the Universal lot, and used the name William Wyler for the first time. He continued making two-reel silent dramas (more than 30 of them) until the end of the decade. His first full-length 'talkie' was Hell's Heroes, which was a critical success. In 1933, he directed John Barrymore in Counselor at Law, managing to restrain Barrymore's 'histrionics', so that many consider this to be one of Barrymore's finest performances. By 1935, a William Wyler-helmed film had received an Oscar nomination for the first time. The film was The Gay Deception, nominated for Writing - Original Story. The following year, These Three began a collaboration with Samuel Goldwyn, who would produce most of Wyler's best films for the next decade. Bonita Granville (Supporting Actress nomination) would be the first of 31 different performers to nominated for their work in Wyler's films. Thirteen of them would take home the golden statue: Walter Brennan (Come and Get It and The Westerner), Bette Davis and Fay Bainter (Jezebel), Greer Garson and Teresa Wright (Mrs. Miniver), Fredric March and Harold Russell (The Best Years of Our Lives), Olivia de Haviland (The Heiress), Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday), Burl Ives (The Big Country), Charlton Heston and Hugh Griffith (Ben-Hur), and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl). Here is a list of Wyler's nominated films, with the number of nominations and Oscars won:

The Gay Deception (1935) 1/-
These Three (1936) 1/-
Dodsworth (1936) 7/1
Come and Get It (1936) 2/1
Dead End (1937) 4/-
Jezebel (1938) 5/2
Wuthering Heights (1939) 8/1
The Westerner (1940) 3/1
The Letter (1940) 7/-
The Little Foxes (1941) 9/-
Mrs. Miniver (1942) 12/6
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 8/7
The Heiress (1949) 8/4
Detective Story (1951) 4/-
Carrie (1952) 2/-
Roman Holiday (1953) 10/3
Friendly Persuasion (1956) 6/-
The Big Country (1958) 2/1
Ben-Hur (1959) 12/11
The Children's Hour (1961) 5/-
The Collector (1965) 3/-
Funny Girl (1968) 8/1

Despite the remarkable number of nominated performances extracted from the stars he directed, William Wyler was never known to be a good communicator. He was given the nickname '40-take Wyler', when, during the filming of Jezebel, he put Henry Fonda through forty attempts of a single scene. When Fonda would ask for some imput on what was wrong, Wyler replied, "It stinks. Do it again". Wyler was known to film a scene repeatedly, until every aspect of it was just the way he wanted it to be. This technique allowed him to use fewer, longer takes in the finished films, giving individual scenes a feeling of continuity, and not distracting the audience with frequent cuts, which might harm the developing story. Wyler brought out a depth to the actor that would create more realistic characters. His cinematic artistry earned him a reputation as a maker of serious and intelligent films, with strong dramatic values. He obtained maximum emotion from the material within the realms of plausibility.

For seven consecutive years (1936 to 1942), William Wyler directed a film that received a Best Picture nomination (Dodsworth, Dead End, Jezebel, Wuthering Heights, The Letter, The Little Foxes and Mrs. Miniver). The latter film would win the Oscar, the first of three Best Picture winners Wyler directed. The others, The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben-Hur. He also directed The Heiress, Roman Holiday, Friendly Persuasion and Funny Girl, giving him 13 nominations for Best Picture, more than any other director in Oscar history. His personal total of 12 directing nominations is also a record (Dodsworth, Wuthering Heights, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Heiress, Detective Story, Roman Holiday, Friendly Persuasion, Ben-Hur and The Collector).

In 1942, after directing Mrs. Miniver, Wyler joined the U. S. Army Air Corps, and his 1944 documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, contains actual aerial battle footage that Wyler and his crew shot over the skies of Germany. Due to the noise and concussion of the flak bursting around his aircraft, Wyler actually lost the hearing in one ear, and became partially deaf in the other.

Returning from the war, Wyler directed a film dealing with three soldiers, who, like himself, were coming home from overseas, and trying to reconnect with their families and community. 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives touched America, and called attention to the difficulties veterans were facing as they attempted to resume their pre-war lives. The scene where Myrna Loy first sees her returning husband, played by Fredric March, is as emotional a screen moment as you can find.

Back in 1925, William Wyler had worked as a second-unit director on Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. In 1959, he would direct a new version, Ben-Hur. It would win Best Picture among its 11 Oscars, a record that stood until 1997, when Titanic would equal that amount. In 2003, both films were joined by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, as the only films to win 11 Oscars.

In 1968, Wyler replaced Sidney Lumet as the director of the film version of Funny Girl, a smash Broadway musical that starred Barbra Streisand. Lumet had clashed with Streisand and producer Ray Stark, the son-in-law of vaudeville great Fannie Brice, whose life was being portrayed by Streisand in the film. Wyler had never directed a musical, and didn't think he'd be capable because of his hearing deficiencies, but he reconsidered after a meeting with Streisand. The veteran director and the first-time film actress didn't always see eye-to-eye, but the end result was a major success, as Streisand won the Oscar for Best Actress (in a tie with Katharine Hepburn, for The Lion in Winter).

Some of William Wyler's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Counselor at Law, The Good Fairy, The Desperate Hours, How to Steal a Million, and The Liberation of L. B. Jones.

William Wyler died of a heart attack on July 27, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. He was 79 years old.

Just the beginning

For the past eight weeks, I've been counting down the Top 10 in the 'Oscar Director-y'. For those of you who may be new to this blog, or who haven't looked back to the March 13 'Welcome' entry, this list consists of directors whose films have received Oscar nominations during the course of their careers. Each nomination in the acting, writing and craft categories count. Only documentaries and short subjects are not included. When Clint Eastwood received 4 nominations this year for Letters from Iwo Jima, and 2 nominations for Flags of Our Fathers, his total this year was 6 nominations, and one win (for Sound Editing for Iwo Jima). It's that simple - add up all the nominations over the years for each director, and see who comes out on top. Here is the recap of the Top 10, with number of nominations, Oscars won, and pictures that received nominations:

10. Martin Scorsese -------64/15/13
9. Fred Zinnemann -------65/24/13
8. Michael Curtiz ---------68/12/23
7. Henry King -------------68/18/18
6. George Stevens ---------69/15/16
5. Billy Wilder -------------72/17/15
4. George Cukor ----------72/18/24
3. John Ford ---------------74/21/20
2. Steven Spielberg ------103/29/20

I'm planning on unveiling #1 this Sunday evening, but I just wanted to say that, although the Top 10 will be complete, the 'Oscar Director-y' will continue on. There are over a thousand directors who have qualified with at least one nomination, and while I have no intention of talking about all of them, I will examine the rest of the Top 25. Perhaps some of your favorite directors are among this group (listed alphabetically)

Woody Allen, Frank Capra, Francis Ford Coppola, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Elia Kazan, Henry Koster, Stanley Kramer, David Lean, Mervyn LeRoy, Joseph Mankiewicz, Vincente Minnelli, Sydney Pollack, Robert Wise, and Sam Wood.

I am also planning articles on the top foreign directors, female directors, actors who also direct, and a few other surprises down the road.

I hope you will come back from time to time to see what I've come up with. I welcome any comments from readers, and if you have a favorite director not in the Top 25, please, let me know, and I'll try to accomodate you. Enjoy, RayB

#2 - Steven Spielberg - 103/29/20

Most notable films: Jaws (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Schindler's List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Any discussion of Steven Spielberg's directing career will, invariably, connect the overwhelming popularity of his films to the lack of serious critical consideration he's received because of it. For every vote of praise he's received, there are dissenters pointing to his 'lack of heart', and making films 'for the masses'. A cinematic enigma, the only thing everyone must agree on is that Spielberg is the most commercially successful director of all time.

With 103 nominations and 29 Oscars, over 20 films, Steven Spielberg ranks 2nd on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 18, 1946, Steven Allan Spielberg was the son of Hungarian Jews, and his family dated back to the 17th century Austrian city of 'Spielberg', where his ancestors lived. He always seemed to be in love with movies. The first film he saw was The Greatest Show on Earth, when he was six-years old. It left an indelible impression on him, particularly the spectacular train-wreck sequence, which he would recreate with his Lionel train set, and document on film as an adolescent. Steven's father, a computer engineer, moved the family frequently because of his job, and the family had relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, when Steven started high school. By that time, he had been borrowing his dad's 8-milimeter movie camera, and begun making home movies, mostly action/adventure films, with his friends. When he was 12, he directed an 8-minute short called The Last Gun. At 13, he won a prize for a 40-minute war film, Escape to Nowhere. At 16, he directed his first independent feature, called Firelight, which ran 2 hours and 20 minutes. It was a science-fiction adventure, dealing with an alien invasion of Earth. It would later inspire one of his most popular films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With a budget of $400, Steven's father rented a local movie theater in Phoenix, and charged admission for a 'one-day only' screening, and made a $100 profit. "He can expect great things to come", quoted the local Phoenix newspaper, regarding the young director's future.

When his parents divorced, Steven moved to California with his father. He graduated from Saratoga High School in 1965, and applied to both the UCLA and USC film schools. He was rejected by both schools because of his C- average. He was eventually accepted at California State University at Long Beach, where he majored in English. He also obtained a part-time job, three days a week, at Universal Studios, as an intern, and a guest of the Editing department. Though he received no salary, the experience was invaluable, and in 1968, he directed a twenty six-minute short, Amblin', that was seen by Sidney Scheinberg, the vice-president of production for Universal's TV division. He signed 22-year old Steven to a long-term contract, making Steven the youngest person to sign a multi-year deal with a major Hollywood studio.

Steven Spielberg's first assignment was a new anthology drama, called Night Gallery, to be written and hosted by Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone. The 90-minute pilot featured three dramas, each with a supernatural twist. Veteran directors Boris Sagal and Barry Shear, each with more than 15 years experience, were hired to direct two of the segments, with young Spielberg to direct the third, titled Eyes. It starred Oscar-winning actress Joan Crawford, a film legend, and is the best remembered of the trio of tales. Crawford was impressed by the novice director's style, and in an on-set conversation with a writer, she pointed out Spielberg, and said, "go interview that kid, because he's going to be the biggest director of all time". Over the next few years, Spielberg directed a half-dozen episodes of popular TV dramas, including Marcus Welby, M.D., Owen Marshall: Counsellor at Law, and Columbo. In 1971, Universal signed Steven to a contract to direct three made-for-TV films. The first was a story written by Richard Matheson, called Duel. It dealt with a man in his car who, inadvertently, angers the driver of an 18-wheel tractor trailer, who then seeks revenge. A simple premise, but with Spielberg's taut direction, it became an intense 90-minute chase thriller. The theme of a protagonist being pursued by some kind of villain, whether a truck, a shark, aliens, soldiers or dinosaurs, recurs throughout Spielberg's works, giving the filmgoer a feeling of accomplishment as he conquers the odds in surviving impending danger.

The next major step for the 27-year old was a feature film, and in 1974, Universal released The Sugarland Express, about a young married couple on the run from the police. The Hollywood Reporter stated that "a major young director is on the horizon". Despite its thrilling chase scenes, the film was not a commercial success, but it attracted the attention of producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown. They liked what they saw, and hired Spielberg to direct a thriller based on a new, best-selling novel by Peter Benchley. The movie was Jaws, and it would turn out to be the first film to ever gross more than 100-million dollars. Released in June of 1975, it was the first 'Summer Blockbuster', a monster-sized hit. It received four Oscar nominations, winning three times for Film Editing, Sound, and Original Music Score (awarded to John Williams, who would continue scoring almost all of Spielberg's films). The only Oscar it didn't win was for Best Picture, losing out to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. During the filming of Jaws, the director had great difficulties with the mechanical shark that had been built for the movie. That necessitated a change of tactics for Spielberg, using shark-footage less than he had planned, and causing greater anticipation and tension for the viewer when the shark appeared unexpectedly. Suddenly, Spielberg had his choice of projects. He chose a new version of his teenage film, Firelight, changing his aliens from menacing to friendly, and called it Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Another major box-office success, it featured a Supporting Actress-nominated performance by Melinda Dillon, among its eight Oscar nominations. Eight other actors have received performing nominations in Spielberg-helmed vehicles, although none have ever taken home the golden statue. Here is a list of Spielberg's nominated films, with the number of nominations and Oscars won:

Jaws (1975) 4/3
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) 8/1
1941 (1979) 3/-
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 8/4
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 9/4
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 2/1
The Color Purple (1985) 11/-
Empire of the Sun (1987) 6/-
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) 3/1
Hook (1991) 5/-
Jurassic Park (1993) 3/3
Schindler's List (1993) 12/7
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) 1/-
Amistad (1997) 4/-
Saving Private Ryan (1998) 11/5
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) 2/-
Minority Report (2002) 1/-
Catch Me if You Can (2002) 2/-
War of the Worlds (2005) 3/-
Munich (2005) 5/-

Close Encounters would earn Steven his first of six Best Director nominations for the Academy Awards. After an unsuccessful attempt at broad comedy (1941), Spielberg turned out two more blockbusters in succession, Raiders of the Lost Ark, an homage to the action-packed serial adventures of the '40's, and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, a fable about an alien stranded on Earth, and the little boy who helps him return to his home planet. Both films were nominated for Best Picture. So successful were these hits, that a critical backlash began to surface, calling Spielberg's films "crowd pleasers that lacked artistic merit". When he responded with 1985's The Color Purple, a serious film adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning story, the film was another critical success, but, despite 11 Oscar-nominations, including Best Picture, Spielberg was snubbed by the Hollywood community, passing him by for Best Director. It took him eight more years, before he finally won the directing Oscar, for 1993's Schindler's List. He would win again in 1998, for Saving Private Ryan. His other nominations: Raiders, E.T., and 2005's Munich.

Whereas Steven Spielberg's films of the '70's and '80's were, predominantly action/adventure/fantasy thrillers, the '90's saw the more mature director deal with serious topics such as the Holocaust and the invasion of Normandy by Allied troops. Gone was the child-like wonder and awe that had imbued his earlier works, to be replaced by the appropriate solemnity required by his newer projects. As Spielberg entered the new millennium, his films continued to achieve success, accumulating over three and a half billion dollars in U. S. gross. Amblin' Entertainment, the company he founded at the beginning of the '80's, has produced all of his films, besides other hits, such as the Back to the Future -trilogy, Gremlins, The Goonies, Twister, The Mask of Zorro, and Men in Black, in addition to animated films An American Tail and The Land Before Time. In 1994, Spielberg teamed up with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, to form Dreamworks SKG, which produced three consecutive Oscar winning Best Pictures, American Beauty, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind from 1999 and 2001.

Some of Spielberg's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: The Sugarland Express, Always, and The Terminal.

With numerous upcoming projects , including a fourth Indiana Jones film, a biopic about Abraham Lincoln, and a sci-fi drama, there is every reason to expect Steven Spielberg's totals on the 'Oscar Director-y' to increase. Whether he will be able to overtake the current leader remains to be seen, but, no matter what, Spielberg will continue to astound filmgoers with his artistry and vision as few others have ever done.

#3 - John Ford - 74/21/20

Most notable films: The Informer (1935), Stagecoach (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Quiet Man (1952)

Considered by many film enthusiasts to be Hollywood's greatest director of Westerns, John Ford brought more than the West to American cinema. His depiction of 'the common man' in times of conflict, from Welsh coalminers, to migrating Oklahoman farmers, to Revolutionary War newlyweds, has elevated Ford's films to a level achieved by a select few in filmmaking annals.

With 74 nominations and 21 Oscars, over 20 films, John Ford ranks 3rd on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born on February 1, 1894 (or 1895, according to conflicting sources) in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, John Martin Feeney (or Sean Aloysius Feeney, or O'Fearna, again, conflicting sources), was the eleventh child of Irish immigrants. He graduated from Portland High School, and, after just a few weeks of college, decided to join his older brother Francis in Hollywood. Francis Ford, thirteen years older than John, was a writer/actor/director at Universal Studios. Young John, or 'Jack', as he was known then, started out as a propman's assistant and stuntman, then began acting in action serials in 1914, directed by brother Francis. In 1915, young Ford co-wrote and co-starred in The Doorway of Destruction. By 1917, he had added a third hat, as he co-wrote, acted and directed The Tornado. He directed more than 60 silent films over the next ten years, until 1928, when Four Sons added a musical score and sound effects. In 1929, The Black Watch would become his first Sound feature, and older brother Francis would make one of more than 30 acting appearances in a John Ford-helmed vehicle. Also appearing, Victor McLaglen, who would be featured in nearly a dozen Ford films. Ford was a firm believer in using actors he was familiar with, and what became known as The John Ford Stock Company featured character actors such as Ward Bond (25 appearances), John Carradine (12), John Qualen (9), Harry Carey, Jr. (10), Francis Ford (32), Hank Worden (9), Carleton Young (8), Ken Curtis (12), Barry Fitzgerald (5) and Arthur Shields (6). Ford's 'leading men' were also employed repeatedly: John Wayne (21 times), Victor McLaglen (11), and Henry Fonda (7). Ford's familiarity with these men enabled him to bring out richer, more comfortable performances.

In 1931, Arrowsmith became the first of Ford's features to be nominated for an Academy Award, receiving four nominations, including Best Picture. In 1935, The Informer earned the first acting nod for a Ford picture, with Victor McLaglen earning the Best Actor Oscar, beating out a trio of stars (Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone) from Mutiny on the Bounty. Bounty won the Best Picture award, but Ford had the last laugh, as he earned his first Best Director Oscar over Frank Lloyd. McLaglen was the first of ten performers who would receive Acting nominations in Ford's movies. Four others would also win the Oscar: Thomas Mitchell (Stagecoach), Jane Darwell (The Grapes of Wrath), Donald Crisp (How Green Was My Valley), and Jack Lemmon (Mister Roberts). Here is a list of Ford's nominated films, with the number of nominations and Oscars won:

Arrowsmith (1931) 4/-
The Lost Patrol (1934) 1/-
The Informer (1935) 6/4
Wee Willie Winkie (1937) 1/-
The Hurricane (1937) 3/1
Stagecoach (1939) 7/2
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) 1/-
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) 2/-
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 7/2
The Long Voyage Home (1940) 6/-
How Green Was My Valley (1941) 10/5
They Were Expendable (1945) 2/-
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) 1/1
When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950) 1/-
The Quiet Man (1952) 7/2
Mogambo (1953) 2/-
Mister Roberts (1955) 3/1
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) 1/-
How the West Was Won (1963) 8/3
Cheyenne Autumn (1964) 1/-

After directing three classic films, Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, and How Green Was My Valley (the latter two films earning him the distinction of being the first director to win back-to-back Oscars for Direction), John Ford assembled a film crew that became the Field Photographic Branch of the U. S. Office of Strategic Services. His World War II documentaries, The Battle of Midway (1942) and December 7th (1943) both were Oscar winners. He was present on Omaha Beach on D-Day, 1944, directing the Coast Guard cameramen who filmed the invasion from behind beach obstacles.

Upon returning to Hollywood after the war, he directed three films before turning his attention to his 'Cavalry Trilogy', Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Rio Grande. His use of the natural splendor of Monument Valley, in Utah, became a favorite location for his films, with frequent scenes of the individual dwarfed by the landscape creating indelible images in the filmgoers mind. Ford's cinematic vision, throughout his career, has influenced more major filmmakers than any other director. Such luminaries as Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Francois Truffaut, Akira Kurasawa, Sergio Leone and Bernardo Bertolucci have called Ford their favorite, or among their favorite directors. It was Welles, who, after viewing Stagecoach 40 times before starting work on Citizen Kane, remarked that he was influenced by "the old guys, the classical film makers, John Ford, John Ford and John Ford".

The '50's saw Ford returning to his Irish roots, with The Quiet Man, in 1952, earning him his fourth Directing Oscar, the only filmmaker to win that many. The only time he was nominated and lost was in 1939, for Stagecoach. During the filming of The Quiet Man, one of the second-unit directors was Andrew McLaglen, son of Ford-favorite Victor McLaglen. Andrew recalls suggesting using an overhead bridge for an interesting camera angle for John Wayne's introductory shot. John Ford simply asked, "Do you stand on a step ladder when you meet someone?"

In 1956, Ford directed John Wayne in The Searchers, regarded by many to be Ford's greatest Western. Wayne's collaboration with him covered a span of 35 years, culminating with 1962's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Some of his films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Prisoner of Shark Island, Mary of Scotland, Tobacco Road, My Darling Clementine, The Fugitive, Three Godfathers, Fort Apache, Rio Grande, What Price Glory, The Long Gray Line, The Searchers, The Wings of Eagles, The Last Hurrah, The Horse Soldiers, Donovan's Reef and Seven Women.

In 1973, John Ford became the first recipient of The American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award.

John Ford died of stomach cancer on August 31, 1973, in Palm Desert, California. He was 79.