Writer; singer; actor
UK
Voted in the critics’ poll
Voted for
1934 |
Jean Vigo |
|
1926 |
Buster Keaton |
|
1937 |
Jean Renoir |
|
1955 |
Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly |
|
1942 |
Humphrey Jennings/Stewart McAllister |
|
1963 |
Jean-Luc Godard |
|
1955 |
Charles Laughton |
|
1937 |
William A Wellman |
|
1963 |
Lindsay Anderson |
|
1957 |
Alexander Mackendrick |
Comments
It is absurd at this stage of cinema’s history to come up with a mere ten titles, as so many other films stand behind (and a good number beside) my own choices. While I admire every director I have selected, my list reflects my appreciation of the collaborative nature of the medium and the work of actors as diverse as Gabin, Parlo, Piccoli Harris, Roberts, Mitchum and Gish, cinematographers such as James Wong Howe, Stanley Cortez and Boris Kaufman, the writing talents of Comden and Green, David Storey, James Agee and Clifford Odets, and the sheer magical presence of Carol Lombard, Tony Curtis, Buster Keaton and that choreographic genius Michael Kidd. No room for Cagney, Welles, Cary Grant, Astaire, Chaplin, Roeg and Reisz… we could all go on. We’re going to need a bigger list.