Category Archives: Directors

“Often I pretended to a cameraman to know less than I did. That way I got more cooperation.” — Ida Lupino

It’s the birthday of actress and director Ida Lupino. To give some perspective on her unlikely and inspiring trajectory: she was born into a theatre family dynasty. By the time she was 14, 15, she was playing adult roles. She … Continue reading

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“The main thing about directing is: photograph the people’s eyes.” — John Ford

It’s his birthday today. For Film Comment, I wrote about his somber, emotional WWII movie, with the title that really BITES: They Were Expendable. And they really were expendable. It’s an amazing film and – in my opinion – one … Continue reading

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“In France, I’m an auteur; in Germany, a filmmaker; in Britain; a genre film director; and, in the USA, a bum.” — John Carpenter

Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley, 1979 “An Elvis movie is always worth watching because of Elvis.” – Kurt Russell John Carpenter, director: In dealing with Elvis, I’m bringing a lot of my own feelings to it and how I feel … Continue reading

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“We’re not breaking new ground. We’re trying to be entertaining within a format that’s familiar.” — Walter Hill

“I very purposely — more and more so every time I do a script — give characters no back story. The way you find out about these characters is by watching what they do, the way they react to stress, … Continue reading

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“I think I’m a pretty good storyteller.” — John Sturges

It’s the birthday today of great and weirdly under-rated American director, John Sturges. One of the best parts about writing about the Criterion essay for the release of The Great Escape was getting to do a deep dive into the … Continue reading

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“My philosophy is that to be a director you cannot be subject to anyone, even the head of the studio. I threatened to quit each time I didn’t get my way, but no one ever let me walk out.” — Dorothy Arzner

It’s her birthday today. I have written quite a bit about her films here, mainly one of my favorites, Merrily We Go to Hell, a superb drama about a marriage gone terribly wrong, starring Sylvia Sidney and Fredric March in … Continue reading

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“We want to see our lives dramatized on the screen as we are living it, the same as other people, the world over.” — Oscar Micheaux

Pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux was born on this day. Just remember: when someone says Tyler Perry is the first African-American filmmaker to have created and owned his own production company … they are erasing Oscar Micheaux. This is not to … Continue reading

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“There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses.” — Jonas Mekas

When the avant-garde filmmaker (he referred to himself often as a “film diarist” died at the age of 96, the outpouring of tributes was overwhelming (and, in many cases, instructive. There was a lot I didn’t know.) My fellow NYFFC … Continue reading

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“In lieu of private themes we had generalisation, in lieu of what was special the typical, in lieu of accident causality. Decorativeness gave way to constructedness, Reason was put on a par with Emotion, while sensuality was replaced by didacticism and fantasy by documentary reality.” — Erwin Piscator

It’s Erwin Piscator’s birthday. Even if you didn’t set OUT to learn about him, if you have done any reading about actors/theatre in the 20th century – either in Germany or in America – you will run into his name … Continue reading

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“The best thing that can come with success is the knowledge that it is nothing to long for.” — Liv Ullmann

It’s her birthday today. In 2018 I was assigned by the Criterion Collection to write tributes to four of Ingmar Bergman’s actresses: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, (Liv and Bibi were paired together in one video – Bergman saw them as … Continue reading

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