Who's the most diversified director?

What director has done it all? Successfully directed a wide variety of films and stars in a broad mix of genres?

My personal pick is William Wyler (1902-1981) who distinguished himself from his peers through his cinematic achievements rather than by a signature style of filmmaking. He held the distinction of: receiving the most Academy Award nominations (12); having guided the most Oscar-nominated performances (35) and the most Oscar-winning performances (14); having directed the most Best Picture Oscar-nominated (13) and -winning films (3). The only director to have won more Oscars for directing was John Ford, who surpassed Wyler's three statuettes with four of his own.

He was known as “40-take” Wyler for retaking a scene over and over again until every aspect of it played just the way he wanted. As a result, few actors made more than 1 or 2 films with him.

He directed a lot of Westerns in his early career including Hell’s Heroes in 1929, the first version of Three Godfathers (it was also Universal's first all-sound movie shot outside a studio). Also directed the crime drama with social overtones, Dead End in 1937. Directed Bette Davis in three of her best roles, for each of which she was nominated for an Oscar: Jezebel, (1938, she won), The Letter (1940), and The Little Foxes (1941). Other classics include the period costume film Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier (1939), The Westerner (1940), Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the gritty crime film The Detective Story (1951), the romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953), the taut drama The Desperate Hours (1955), Friendly Persuasion (1956), the Western epic The Big Country (1958), one of the greatest epics of all time Ben-Hur (1959. Wyler was an assistant director on Cecil B. DeMille’s 1925 original Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Principal photography for the remake required more than 6 months of shooting on location in Italy, with hundreds of crew members and thousands of extras. Wyler was the overlord of the largest crew and oversaw more extras than any other film had ever used. At the time it was the most decorated film in cinema history, winning 11 of the 12 Oscars for which it was nominated.), a story about homosexuality The Children’s Hour (1961, a remake of his 1936 film These Three), and the musical Funny Girl (1968).

Wyler's three Best Picture Oscar-winning films were also three of the most commercially successful films of their respective periods, Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Ben-Hur. According to one online source, “no American director after D.W. Griffith and the early DeMille, not even the great Orson Welles, did as much to fully develop the basic canon of filmmaking technique than did Wyler--once again, with the caveat of John Ford.” In 1966 he received the Irving Thalberg Award, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' ultimate accolade for a producer. The same source said, “So high was his reputation in his lifetime that he was the fourth recipient of the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, after Ford, James Cagney and Welles.”

Davis credited Wyler for making her a box office-star after he directed her Oscar-winning performance in Jezebel. Olivier credited Wyler with teaching him how to act on film. Olivier won his first of 10 acting Oscar nominations in the role of Heathcliff. He’d had contempt for the movies, but after working with Wyler he developed respect for the medium. Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar for best actress in her American film debut under Wyler in Roman Holiday. She worked with him in 2 other films. Barbra Streisand also won an Oscar for her first movie role in Funny Girl. When other members of the cast complained of Barbra telling them how to act, Wyler said, “You'll have to forgive Barbra; this is the first picture she's ever directed.”

Wyler also made documentaries during World War II: The Memphis Belle (1943) and the Oscar-winning The Fighting Lady (1944). The Memphis Belle documentary features aerial battle footage Wyler and his crew shot over the skies of Germany. One of his photographic crew, flying in another plane, was killed during the filming of the air battles. Wyler himself lost the hearing in one ear and became partially deaf in the other due to the noise and concussion of the flak bursting around his aircraft.

About making movies, Wyler said, “It's 80% script and 20% you get great actors. There's nothing else to it.”

I don't base a directors greatness or diversity off of how many awards he/she has won/nominated and (bitterness maybe felt here) especially how much the academy has awarded him. Awards are nice and it’s nice to be recognized. I also realize that you are only trying to establish and solidify how important he was to film which I agree. He was very critical to cinema no argument here plus it‘s your personal choice. I think Wyler is exceptional and diverse as much and more than you’ve stated.

I also believe he was fortunate like so many others to be making movies in the time of the silent era were the camera had no bounds and unfortunate but to his talent he was able to overcome the solid static camera of the early talkies. He was an innovator of the sound era. Were some greats fail he improved, to his credit. One of the great things of that time were directors that established themselves (which he did) where able to make one for the studio and one for themselves. Nowadays it’s not as easy and defiantly not as common as it was then. Throught cinema there have always been drawbacks and improvements in the medium. Things that make it easier or harder for the director to work with or around. My choice is a bit of a copout because I can’t seemed to perceivable get it down to one it would have to be either Akira Kurosawa or Sidney Lumet.

While William Wyler might have technically worked in many different genres, he is mainly an adaptor of well known plays and novels. As is often the case with movies that win a lot of awards and acclaim, many of his films seem more dated and less interesting than some of his contemporaries whose mantle piece was less occupied with Oscars.

Most directors who are allowed to make many films dip into everything.
Spielberg and Ridley Scott have made all types of movies. Ridley has also directed and produced several thousand commercials.

Diversified from my POV would mean multi-talented, i.e. writer/director/producer/storyboader/DP types who wear many hats.

Again, I land on Ridley Scott for this. Ridley doesn't write, but he tells the writer what to write.

My favorite director, however, is "Bloody" Sam (see my avatar). And he stuck to what he was good at - bang bang.

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And Alfred Hitchcock stuck with what he did best.

While many directors have worked in many diferent genres, it is unusual for one to have an oustanding reputation for a body of work in different genres, An exception is Howard Hawkes known for being a master of both action and screwball comedy.

No, awards are not the only criteria or perhaps even the main criteria for judging one's accomplishments, but the fact that he was associated with so many films and actors who received nominations is, I think, some indication of how his peers judged his work. Awards aside, the fact he was picked to do Universal's first talkie on location indicates some front office confidence in his ability, as do accolades from such actors as Olivier and Davis. (Of course, Universal was owned at that time by Wyler's uncle who at one point had 70 family members on the payroll, but Wyler later became the "director of choice" at studios not owned by relatives.)

Wyler's most glaring fault as a director was that he apparently couldn't communicate to actors what he wanted them to do. There's a story that he once did 40 takes of one scene with Henry Fonda in Jezebel, simply saying, "Again" with each retake. Finally Fonda demanded some input, and Wyler replied, "It stinks. Do it again." Charlton Heston claims Wyler told him early in the shooting of Ben-Hur that his performance was "inadequate." When Heston asked what he should do, Wyler replied, "Be better."

Wyler claimed that multiple takes of the same scene got actors tired and angry, at which point they finally abandoned their preconcieved notions so that their real essence showed through. Sounds to me like a hell of a way to run a set, especially since he often went over schedule and over budget. But just look at the performances he got in those films! The three films Bette Davis did with Wyler are generally regarded as among her best, even though she walked off the set in a dispute with him in Little Foxes.

I was hoping for some discussion of others' favorite actors. What is it you like about Kurosawa and Lumet? Their work doesn't seem at all similar, and yet you have a hard time picking one over the other. Enlighten us.

Does their work have to be similar. Diversity does not have to follow the same line of creativity. Even though I have not seen any of Lumet’s stage work, heard his radio broadcasts, or seen any of his tv shows that lead him to make films. He’s done almost every type of acting/directing medium. He was an actor before he was a director. He was in the war as a radar specialist. He’s worked and dealt with ever acting style imaginable. He managed big budget superstar films (Murder on the Orient Express) and little one set dramas (12 Angry Men) He’s perfected the cop drama genre threw multiple avenues and degrees of exploration. He's work with all types of genres and been good at it. He’s made his share of bad films but never been swayed or daunted by those failures. Human Corruption is a big theme in some of his work and redemption is a lasting quality he imbues on specific characters.

I don't understand the criticism of material from plays and books. Bogart's first attempt at a movie career was a total failure, but he successfully broke through in his second attempt playing Duke Mantee in the film version of The Petrified Forest, a role he originated on stage. Katherine Hepburn's flagging career got a shot in the arm when she obtained the movie rights to The Philladelphia Story and a role that was originally written for her. The first movie John Huston directed at the start of his illustrious career was the second remake of The Maltese Falcon from a very popular crime novel. Many of my favorite films started as plays or books.

As for how well such stories hold up, I guess that's one of the "eye of the beholder" things. To me, The Best Years of Our Lives speaks as much about the problems of ex-soldiers readapting to civilian life as Brando's The Men after the Korean war or Born on the Fourth of July in the Vietnam era. The Detective Story is about abortion, police brutality, crime, themes still reflected on today's front page. It's about a cop who can't bend his principles even to forgive the woman he loves and how that rigid stance destroys him. The Desparate Hours and Friendly Persuasion are about fathers trying to protect and defend their families under the worst sort of pressures in situations they don't really know how to handle. The latter also explores the moral problem between one's religous conscience and the duties of patriotism in a war not of his choosing, something that is going on today with Iraq. Dead End shows poverty as a major factor in juvenile deliquency and how minor offenses by children can escalate leading to a life of crime as embodied by Bogart and his crony Allen Jenkins. That drama is still being played out on inner city streets today.

I just picked Wyler as one example. Not saying he's the only one or even the best one--just one example. I would love to hear your picks of directors who have stretched over several genres and outstanding films.

You misunderstand me. I was noting that their work is dissimilar and wondering therefore what draws you to each. Obviously you like some things one does and the other doesn't and vice versa. I was hoping you would contrast their techniques and strong points. What I'm hoping for is a discussion of directors, the good, the bad, and the so-so.


Lumet is responsible for my love of history through his You Are There TV series in the 1950s with Walter Cronkite and other CBS news team members reporting historical events from the field from the Declaration of Independence to Custer’s last stand or the Battle of Waterloo. His directorial debut with 12 Angry Men was auspicious, but I never could quite figure out Marlon Brando’s motivation in The Fugitive Kind. Lumet did much better with ONeill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. And Fail-Safe was positively chilling, with great performances all around. The Hill with its all male cast in a story about a British stockade in the North African desert during WWII is one of my favorite films. Murder on the Orient Express is a delight; Albert Finney really shines in that one. And Dog Day Afternoon is disturbing, yet interesting, back when Pacino was still acting.

Want to broaden your remarks? What do you like about Spielberg, Scott, Peckinpaugh? What are the special strengths of each? Anything you don't like about them? Talk to me. I'm listening. Tell me more of you POV of diversified directors.

We had a mini conversation about this earlier, started by rufnek here which went on into the next page.

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I never did get back to looking at the response to my question, but there are some good choices and good reasoning there.

Otto Priminger is another remarkably versatile director, best known for three films that pushed past the Hollywood censorship of his day:

The Man with the Golden Arm (1956) with Sinatra playing a drug addict, a breakthrough role for Darren McGavin as a pusher, and the best-ever performance by Eleanor Parker playing against type as the manipulative wife. Also a great performance by Arnold Stang, playing against his usual comic type. Its soundtrack set new standards as one of the most creative and inventive jazz scores for a major film. The Motion Picture Association of America refused to certify the film because of its subject matter.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) about the trial of a rape case with an outstanding cast including James Stewart, George C. Scott, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell, and Eve Arden. The judge was played by Joseph N. Welch, a real lawyer who won fame by standing up to Sen. Joe McCarthy in an anti-Communist hearing. It was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to frankly address sex and rape. It was shot on location where the murder and trial on which the book and movie were based actually occurred. Some of the people on the original jury played members of the jury in the film. It was one the first Hollywood films to challenge the Hays Code, along with Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959) and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). It has been described as “probably the finest pure trial movie ever made,” and has been used as a teaching tool in law schools because it covers all the basic work of a defense lawyer from client interview and arraignment through trial. Also has a great jazz soundtrack by Duke Ellington, who has a small part in the film.

Advise and Consent, filmed on real locations in Washington, DC, including the Capitol, the canteen of the Treasury Building, the Washington Monument and the Crystal Room of the Sheraton Carlton Hotel. This film also challenged the Motion Picture Association of America's Production Code because of Don Murray playing a married US Senator being blackmailed because of a wartime homosexual affair and because it was the first mainstream American movie after World War II to depict a gay bar. It also confronted the Hollywood black list with Preminger casting left-wing actors Will Geer and Burgess Meredith. It marked the screen comeback of Gene Tierney, who withdrew from acting for several years because of her bipolar disorder. It marked the film debut of actress Betty White and it was the last film for Charles Laughton, who died of cancer 6 months after the film's release. President Kennedy’s brother-in-law Peter Lawford played one of the senators. Priminger offered a cameo role of a Georgia senator to Dr. Martin Luther King, who turned it down (Georgia had no black senator at that time).

An Austro–Hungarian Jew who came to the US in 1935, Priminger played one of the greatest Nazi villains in American film as the camp commander in Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 (1953).

Priminger directed one of the best film noirs ever in Laura (1944) with Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, and Judith Anderson and another film noir classic, Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) with Dana and Tierney. Other film noirs directed by Priminger were Fallen Angel (1945), Whirlpool (1949), The 13th Letter (1951), and Angel Face (1952, with the sometime troublesome Robert Mitchum),
Side note: The theme song from Laura became one of the most popular in Hollywood history, recorded in more than 400 renditions from Frank Sinatra to Carly Simon.

Other films:
Priminger was the original director for the English costume classic Kidnapped (1938) with juvenile star Freddie Bartholomew, but walked off in a classic dispute with Darryl F. Zanuck.

Centennial Summer (1946, a musical)
Forever Amber (1947, another period costume drama condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency)
Daisy Kenyon (1947, a romance with the often cantankerous Joan Crawford, Henry Fonda, and Dana Andrews)
The Moon Is Blue (1953, a comedy)
Two all-Black musicals, Carmen Jones (1954, with a rewritten opera score) and Porgy and Bess (1959)
River of No Return (1954, a Western with Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe)
Saint Joan (1957, another costume epic. Priminger handpicked Jean Seberg to star in the title role although she was unknown and had no previous acting experience)
The epic Exodus (1960, the script was by banned screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was credited under his own name for the first time in a decade)
The Cardinal (1963 dealing with social issues such as interfaith marriage, sex outside of marriage, abortion, racial bigotry, the rise of fascism, and war)
In Harm's Way (1965, a big cast war epic starring John Wayne. It was the last black-and-white World War II epic and the last black-and-white John Wayne film)
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965, a terrible film but apparently a cult classic)
The gawd-awful Hurry Sundown (1967, Preminger bought the movie rights to this novel before it was published, thinking it was going to be another Gone with the Wind—it wasn’t. But the film encountered union problems and all sorts of bigotry and segregation problems for its mixed-race crew shooting on location in the South. A convoy of cars and trucks returning actors to their hotel after a day of shooting was fired on by hidden gunmen. Priminger and Faye Dunaway had a major blowup during the filming)

James Cameron, Alfred Hitchcock are my tow all time favorite. So i think the are quite versatile.

Hitchcock rightfully developed a reputation for offbeat, often macabre mysteries, but I would have liked to see him stretch himself to other genres. I'm willing to class his remake of his The Man Who Knew Too Much with Doris Day as almost a musical in that she sings, what, a couple of times? The film he made with Charles Laughton as head of a bunch of wreckers was definitely a period costume piece. He even had one film on the edge of a war story, with the German submariner aboard the Lifeboat. He made great romantic films with Cary Grant and a variety of women. And The Trouble With Harry is humorous, but not quite a comedy. What he did he did well--I love the self-imposed limitations in Rope and Rear Window and the unusual climatic scenes using the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. But all of this revolved around a similar core so that at heart they were all mysteries. I wish he had stretched himself more--like a real comedy, which I know he had in him, or a Western setting, even a "modern Western." Hitchcock's take on the material from The Assassination of Jesse James, There Will Be Blood, or No Country for Old Men could have been spectacular.

Stanley Kubrick directed in a lot of different genres. But I don't really care how versatile they are. You can still actually be prolific in one genre. With one exception, from the mid 1930's on Hitchcock made exclusively suspense films. But movies like North by Northwest, Rebecca, Strangers on a Train, Notorious Lifeboat, Psycho, The Birds, etc., are thematically and structurally quite different from each other.