Sr et ay f eer: Stee eee ay 7 ah = ao °| 7 , en a} PMH Maa Le C1 ys 5 v a WIZ CHUCK JONES, AND MUCH MORE iq a) / “id ‘WP ALe Nae ALT =x voor ALLEN AL wa HITCHCOCK wan SCORSESE : sei ELBERG oxo WELLES su WILDER af : | aE UAT WY a iseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eel LLUMGLUUE eueeeceeneee eee ery YBARS AGO, this cover story would have been unthinkable, Directors weren't stars inthe days of the old Hollywood stu- dio system, Stars were stars, Directors were the emplayees who made sure everyone did his or her part and got out, within the bud get and on time. Any director who insisted on artistic control—that erackpot Welles, say-—was a troublemaker. @ How did we get from there to here: Scorsese, Spielberg, and Stone inspiring passionate debate in video-store aisles, Tarantino garering a much ink as James Dean once did? Some of the ere has to goto film eiies who, inthe lates and early "6s, pioneered the auteur theory—the idea that the director is the primary author of ‘movie, But the shift has come from the audience, too. ‘These days, when we watch a tape of Jes or The Bins or Mr Smith Goes to Washington, we know we are privy to one person's way of seeing the world—one that has the power to change the way we see the world, @ And what ‘gets a direetor on our list of the 50 Greatest? A con ent, body of work or a handful of great movies; a compelling vi sion; a groundbreaking style; above all, a personal stamp ‘that ents across films, genres, and decades. We tried to bal- ‘ance the home team against directors from other countries ‘and geniuses past against prodigies present, Ifthe list is glaringly made up of white guys—an inescapable fact of movie history—that's because it stil too early to reflect the different voices starting to be heard. (Cheek ont the Piece on page 47 aout 20 up-and-comers to see how dffer- ent the 50 Greatest might look ina decade) @ Here are the artists who made the eut—in every sense ofthe phrase,At l CE a ta Re nd Sa Aen Per Oe reece go Pe ee ed Alfred Hitehcock Mystery Magazine, Sore nren eres eres eee ees Se ed ee nes Pema rrie a ts itcheoek stands hare fortwo reasons: ieee rene eet tn Pee tts one ese ry unfold with such confidence that we de- Pe ed eee id eminent eee ered in NORTH BY NORTHWEST, «sea of unbrel- ce ct ent en ee ener ns Cred ee Semen ernnt persona—that droll ghoul comparing ae- fener eneert retry reece ert as Ser eee ae Sas eens Cee nnd oe eee Pee eet ers eared ea re Soe ee ed Como es See oneal)For Att the hard- ass on sot stories (“If sn actor started to ase questions,” recalled Henry Fonda, “{Ford would] either take seo those pages and tear 41895-1073 them out of the script ‘rns him in ana ful way"), Ford was the great senti- mentalist of Hollywood's classe era ‘Themes of honor, duty, and patriotism percolate through his war films, cra mas, Lincoln biopie—even a eomedy lke THE QUIET MAR. Above al, he cod fied the Western with the textbook STAGECOACH, plumbed the dark side of the genre with THE SEARGHERS, znd ee shrined Utah's Moment Valley a the only playground for an eon like John ‘Wayne, Must-soes: STAGECOACH Wayne (1920, Warner); THE SEARCHERS Wayne (1956, Warner) a2 ArRiL in, 1996 “ACTION ‘Soorses briefs De wire an Har- ‘ey Hatton the eto 70's ronan iy ns eon Sans eras eet ns ee ae cnet erent Pee) Sts ee ees Seen ea a ee ert Sr ment fr itself Must-sees: BRINGING UP Egencia ane) Eon ett eel emer Pee See eee enter lepth—both visual Coens Perr ns Pr Poesy ee ed had one incontrovertil ener as er ce ec ee ad rag Se cee eed ee Paes ne Pr eer on aor (ore eben en tas ete Cot want SCORSESE He was a sickly kid living in New York City's Little Italy who threw himself Into old movies, ere ating storyboards for the films he saw in his head. And the greatness of Scorsese is that alone among his peers, his movies sil fel hot-wired into his own 1942- id, Scorsese may seem to have neaghed of ate, but who can deny the foverish power of MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, snc GOODFELLAS?” ‘There is no other direetr with more of . . tn interest in the mechanics aft Or Md with more moviedrunke caf toexplare il it “Tspatter bits of myself allover the i seroen," he has said, We're stil ducking, ‘Must-soes: TAXI DRIVER Robert De Nico i 5, Columbia TriStar, R)s RAGING A BULL De Niro (1980, MGMIUA. RZ *eeeeeeeeeeeee seneeeeeeeeee ‘wpa KUROSAWA noua BERGMAN As rovon topin poe T TAKE the images down as the elusive [iam eee from my childhood, ruth” in his mas- ere put them into the I terpiece nastomon, area ‘projector’ [to get] the Tkyo-bor dire new ways of ev BE cor has moved from cree ener ing them," Bergman ~ rene to genre fr 50 once said. He had years, Rashomon, a eran much to evaluate 19 es 1968 peerpemter 1818 orn in Sweden, he story told from four viewpoints, esta- [Ac MEER | as ised in Lutheran home nd the lished him as an artist, opening up the [ETSI | posvimicm and introspection i his work West for other Asian directors ie aPCTER have a docply religious sobrictyskmhis sujito Oau and Kenji Mizoguchi, Kurs ESSE prolific carcer—over 40 flms—Berge aia, who grew up watching American JTC TSR an used surreal dream sequenees and films, put his personal stamp on sich OECTA Christian allegory to explora family, figuresas King Lear (RAM) and Mactcth TTT God, and death. The great exception it (THRONE OF 81000). Holywood return) LACUS MOMERCSOSIM | 108%": FANNY AND ALEXANDER, 2 tale of the homage—THE SEVEN SAMURA! in. SAUCE C USSG SRSIRN childhood that has an adult’ perteption spied The Magnificent Seven, a Stor EASTER of ploasure and anguish —it wash list Wars has touches of THE HIDDEN FOR- EER OPNCRSNAURERREE lm before retiring to concentrate o TRESS. Must-soes: RASHOMON ‘Tpshiro BRNO ME tay ork. Must-soes: THE SEVENTH Mifune (1950, Sultan); TWE SEVEN Meee eDLeMt SEAL Max von Sydow (1957, Sultan) SAMURAI Mifune (1951, Home Vision) AMORA een PERSONA Li Ullmann (1966, CMIBDA) fra ae cans es een acs Cees nrereeeeeereres HN TTETAIE Pee eters een Ty pee ett errs eres Pec Se en a es) ST TTT) a bout humbie men facing ve ad WASHINGTON, MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, " Pete ee ACT eg eae ee terest ee ee een aen term was eoned, Must-see: MR SHIT Peer eee een ene Pernt Sere trrre eat) sergman backs up Davi Cara- ‘io on locaton ‘ee 177s The Serpents EasAO peers } coer poorest I, oes EOS Sia oer S ieee rence crn es Peet cero Coonan idike indulgence in Ta ee nes] ert aa rates Peers hen re SPIELBERG He's 4 mogal nov, running a studio he F co-owns, but under the srface harks 1 year-old kid making war movies in his backyard. Spictberg wes us because hels tural, as if born ith himself; the fan of JAWS i in rediscovering the joys of storyteling as demonstrated by a gifted 27-year-old. He's dazzled us with raft (Ue INDIANA JONES lms, last himsolfin neversnever land (WOOK), nd earned respect and Oscars (SEHIND= LER’ UST), Yet i's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (OF THE THIRD KIND an EX. tha Blais kil and meaning in a way closest Spielberg himself. Must-sees: JAWS Roy Scheider (1975, MCA/Uaivers PG); EX: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL Fn ry Thomas (1082, MCA/Uniersal, PG) i nA VERYON®: has his reasons,” says party Pewee i . Care ee Ss es cS ed See ee ay Pane ee ee film; even the enemy officer played by Erich von Stroheim in GRAND ILLUSION has astiffnecked grace. Renoirs films eg eet | painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. But errant mere nec eco ey DROWNING (remade as Down and Out in en : peers Pats oes) ravching ebind ‘ee | oneSPP snmuroaC HUCK JONES es BUGS TOON wr TIMES 7 WOULD BE dethepieable fa tribute tothe greatest directors of poople made ‘no mention of Chuck Jones, who brought some of Hollywood's most vivid an ‘mal characters to life—and triggered with his Road Runner-Coyote saga the ‘most hilariously combustible relationship in film. Since the $3-year-0ld toon King set the fur lying at Warmer Bros in 164, he's delighted children and adults by ‘making the passions, grudges, and romantic dilemmas of Bugs Bunny; Daly Due, Elmer Fudd ane! ripe lothario Pepe Le Pew seem nothing less than human. At last month's Osears, where Jones aevepted a Lifetime Achievement Award, the line between ie and art became too blurred even for him, as he wondered it ‘the honor hadn't heen engineered by Aeme Corporation, “The clipe were poorly done,” Jones now says of the montage which featured the obscure yet Osear-win ning 1965 short, The Dot and the Line) precoling his acceptance. “I hadnt seen them. That's why I said, What can I say in the face of such humiliating evidence?” 1f Oscar seemed il-aequainted with the charms of Jones 300s sx-mimite car toons-—not to mention such perennial TV specials as 196s Dr. Sewas's How the Grinch Stole Christmas—other classi directors are most certainly not. Steven Spielberg has proclaimed him “a eomie genius, up there with Keaton and Mack ‘Sennett,’ for his Road Runner odes tothe laws of physics, And Martin Scorsese, ‘Jones says, remains awestruck by the animator and his old Warner teams int itive gif for comedic pacing: “He couldn't believe anybedly could time an entire pictur, and eutit to exactly the proper length before prevuction.” Jones, who grew upin Southern California, where he lives with his wife, Marian, {shack at Warne, which had shut down its shorts shop inthe mids, but recent- ly rehined him to bring up the next erop of animators working on new cartoons starring the old characters. But he not happy that the sequel he dwt to 1955% (One Evegay Evening (the one with the perversely silent singing toad) i still unre leased, I'm not sure it wus completely successful," he says. "But what picture i?” "The answer to that is as ase as any video ealletion of vintage Chuck Jones. SD ent yea tay fashioned himself as & Sebo Ce Seen Poe ‘The irony is that his best films are 80 ce care pees eee nee a a ee es ey DICK), Huston often grasped at air, but Series eet st Poteet er eer eae eee wee cert THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING Sean Con- ‘usBUNUEL Sratn’s greatest, most experimental inater calatort el with Salvador Dal on 1228's ON cMEN AnDAtou and 18 TAGE D9R, surrealist Teen ines Masterpces fled with iages power cng tite ots After 18 years of dvsing oF working on Spanish and American fms, Buel greeted yiAoes, beak ale of Mica de ieee CETL ul lator made euttingat- ines of hypocrisy, class, al 8; Hike 1967 BELLE DE JOUR, His sje could be ‘blunt; of UN ORIEN ANDALOU nfarions eyeball slashing, he sid, fled tbe se Trani, and 1 Ha vould diagust people.” Must-soes: LAGE O'R aston Modot (1930, Glew; THE DIB- (GREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE Fr nanslo Rey (1972, Medi, R SpouseGT Cree We watch Hollywood's latest, =: ockbuster, we're still seeing the visual language that Griffith developed in more than 480 movies and shorts from 1908 to 1925. But while he helped create the artform ofthe 20th century, Griffith's stories were often purple Vietoriana. Worseptheovert, ‘rosy racism of THE BIRTH GF A NATION — the birth of the feature film as we Jnow itis unforgivable. Yet heeannot Doe denied his poe as cinema fist ma 1875-1948 Jor artist, as well sits first victino "Mle lived too long,” said ertie James Ague ‘of Griffith's decline in the fils ancl 40s, “and that is one thing sadder than dy ing too soon,” Must-soes: THE BIRTH OF ‘A NATION Lillian Gish (1915, Rapublig WAY DOWN EAST Gish (1920, Nostalpia) freee Ente eects eee pre ns enters peers: Re reg a ns Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn potopnineye rere veneer asee rangers director” aoa bak eet Paar ee es aeenneeniines anes? eee eras Permanent od ary Grant (190, MGM/UA);A STARIS Reena wa ALTMAN ce a mec He's THE very mod ere GEp | ofa countereatture roe director, specializing errr nas Bin formless collisions RPM Bf isto that, avin AEE WHS and HASH Mary Piekford, whom WIE, can create spats REM 828 or haphazard pro- eens eee fundity, When the sparks don't fly RPMS MTORE | thouch—as in QUINTET, POPEYE, or iients were widely imitated, and his oA eo ah ere ES toore wearingly seltindalgent. But PROMISES there is something exquisitely Amert PRUE «can in Altman’ stylo—one thinks ofpi- eRe METEM oncers coalescing on a tall iekcring RS oan the unknown. Hollywood's iv RETRO ing rebuke to itso, he foatsin and out a BER | fashion—rising gloriously to the oe SR ETRE TI |cxsion when the suits and the material PRR low. Must-soos: MSHVILLE Keith Cur (1930, MGM/UA); 70 on wor To BE MENGE gM Jack Benny (1942, Warner) ERTim Robbins (1992, Newbine, B) eee ANTES i ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY 298 ‘WOODY ey oa ALN 1935- gy PeRHAPs it was his humble origins as a gag writer for the likes of Sid Caesar that made Allen such a quintessentially New York nebbish, Whatever the reason, this writer-director: actor’ films are less by Woody Allen than ahout Woody Allen His eaty slap Stick TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, SLEEP- ER) gave way to brill romantic comedies (MANHATTAN, HANAN AND HER SISTERS) that won him respect, nd ‘hough Allen may lapse into sel-ab- sorbed homages (STARDUST MEMORIES, A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS SEX COMEDY), he ereates perfect ensemble pos just a we're ready to write him off Must-soes: ANNIE HALL Diane Keaton (9 MGM UA, PG); GRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. Mia Farrow (1989, Orion, PG-19) Peers ees raaves COPPOLA Abiperives accrue to him lke thistes on ‘bear: talented, prof. Poe irre poet Sore ranaery ligate, hapless, vi- i sionary, familia, ieal Prevesti ste, se'indulgent. OF eens the triumphant tri- oes tumvirate of Califor: Seas 1903-1986 © 1939- or splashy musical: nia film school gras, ETA RASAIME Coppola is the only one who has fol- POSTMASTER «loved his artist impulses; Laucas has TSE OEM ME | Jocks himself away with tech toys STEN | Spiclbory is oo simple geninsto self ro ee Aestruet. But Coppola has THE GONVER- PRRMORITSCMRUNENRIOTAM SATION, THE GODFATHER ancl its sel, EEC SRS NECA and that truly qualified masterpieae, PREM COSCOSINCM APOCALYPSE NOW—movies that rouble ROR ESSE aul yaw like no others oftheir time POTEET One watches him uneasily waiting for ‘months ater the production wrapped. [i i eremr Coy PSU COLLECTION Al Pacino (1972-1990, BULLER Penn, 2); APOCALYPSE NOW Mar. atran tin Sheen (1970, Paramona, R) “Seen eneMeal hel on ess Poe sratey KUBRICK T H1NK he reall k wants to make & mo: i vie that will hui people” puzzled Ste phen King before THE SHINING came out in 1980 Therein es the pe parado of Kubrick 1928- set: No matter how it cuts, we keep coming back more, With precise, surgi shock, he creates momentaithat embed B themselves in out eonseiodsness; ‘2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, teens pillag to the strains of ‘Sing inth in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. His fil chilly witness to the joy, terrors, afd tion, Must-s0es: OR, STRANGELOVE Pex ter Sellers (196, Colambia TriStar A CLOCKWORK ORANGE Malcolm fer B Dowel 197, Warnen ‘Scenes seeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeee eeeneeeeeero ; ec ea ees him to rane tears, the eee Sree P cost He found humor (or ie roe ACTION" ieee ae ST rca a ed ramos TRUFFAUT Winn a 18-pagedia- tribe on Frances stage wider makes 2 int with favor font soot Ar A TIME when most Indian films Sere were dismissed as [ia eesti nant studio system in che sical, Ray’s gripping et ” humanist dramas Sees drew worldwide at artime Poland re Cahiers du Cinéma, the shy but insolent, ‘Truffaut began a movement that revo- vention, The Cate rete Iutionized film eri i ealeaoen born filmmaker’s de- HG he a fear cism and filmmaking. PR but teature, 19555 PATHER PANCHAL, SE ETARAI Stsessing tat directors shold tise told the story of poor boy's if in & OTE T ICMR osc with yorsnal ste, he pf Bengali village with bresthtaking, oni (OAM THE 400 BLOWS, an utrurealistic lookat versal beauty It won the Best Human [MARES UTERINE IM boy with uncaring parents—and the Document award at Cannesin 196607) LE Nouvelle Vague bloomed. Seen as the ‘encouraged Ray to make two sequels, 2 ot ent Rito g ns seller ofthe New Wave dines- APARWJITO 2nd THE WORLD OF APU, hich A ORS ee ae iter directed more eonser¥a- drew comparisons to Chekhov-and ES sen teeny tegen and left the experimenting tooth Renoir In 1992, Ray accented Lift [ATM crs. “He justitied all our fneonsisten: time Achievement Oscar from hit [AAT ETRE cis," said director Claude Chabrol, “by sickbed, Must-sees: PATHER PANCHAL) CSS TSSSCSSG CAME his own painstaking consistency.” Must- Kana Banerjee (1255, Nostalgia Fant: SL OOMEEEERI soes: THE 400 BLOWS Jean-Pierre Léa ty), THE WORLD OF APU Sccmitra Chat [TTR (1959, Home Vision); JULES AND JI CL LTE Nicholson (1975, Porwonount, Jeanine Morean (1982, Home Vision)SUPP MTT): ae" in the "30s, Sturge wrote and directed nebe-r058 Se Meo Colbert and Barbara Stanwyek, boost: cd by a repertory of erackerjack char acter actors, got to spout some of th fanniest dialogue ever written. But Sturges left Paramount before MAIL THE CONQUERING ERO’ 1944 release over artistic control There'd be just one more gen films, “The only amazing thing about CIN LUMIOARAUAIATTRUCMMUT URI att atom ‘sees: THE LADY EVE Henry Ponda (1941, MCAIUniversal); UNFAITHFULLY YOURS Rex Harrison (18, FosVideo) amid a hand oflescer Ix Honuvwoon, they say you're only as good as your last movie, Too bad: Some once-aclaimed directors made their last great films little too long ago ‘@ WILLIAM FRIEDKIN Early sucossses: Th Boys in the Band, The French Connee tion, The Exorest. Specialty: Verstility—he could helm a sensitive gay dra sity policier, and supernatural chiller Law points: The homophohie Cruising, the glossy Jade, and the supernatural tiller The Guardian. Upswing? Being mar ried to Paramount head Sherry Lansing means he'll got atleast one more shot st nas redemption, sueh as Jericho Equation, a poitieal thriller in development, Sane eae) erst aera Panett ots een Perreery rine os ‘@ TERRENCE MALICK Early successes: Bacllanls, Dnys of Heaven. Specialty: Vi sual poetry—vhether it's Badlands dusty, sun-baked Dakota highways or Days of Heaven's amber waves of grain. Low polnt: After the box ollie disappoint- ment of Days he lot Hollywood, prompting Leonard Malin to dub him “the ein- cmt equivalent of J.D. Salinger” Upswing? His adaptation of Walker Perey’s The Moviegoer isin development and may star Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins, 5 ern scout ry zee: Te Last Pion, ope on. oe rr oe § Gatpraingsurfartaidysuce crip mCi Sept ea aA yocnste Tat ON ponte Anthea: carne. She a a Slay itran tng Lat Lethe aie A! a ee Dany Sat dpowng Cova nec rec, Coe SE a ton naeison ar sues: is Beny Poco. Spd is rng ck SR a Nicholson inthe "0s tow point: Man Trouble something starving Jack Nicho- Aaa 1% sonin thes; Lione Richie “All Night Long” video. Upswing? Retesring vith eae ai ® Nicholson in the noir thriller Blood and Wine; if that doesn’t pan out, Lionel ketene Asem. [eee os ceeree treed ei : Peer renee 5 Scie, cma try seas ie Der er: Seda Sati oe. A a Low point: Heaven's Gate set the standart for big-budget bombs. Upewing? This {all's The Sunchaser, starring Woody Harrelson. —CN 36 APRIL 19, 1996 rence ri 1)