Top 21 British directors of all time

[penfold]

Originally Posted by batman Michael Winner ('62 - '72) must be worthy of an honourable near miss

I think we could have a top 50 and he would still be missing, sorry...

And where the hell is Anthony Asquith?? , I can understand them neglecting (again, or still) Maurice Elvey, George Pearson, Hepworth and Fitzhamon, Guy Newall [My Avatar], Henry Edwards and Graham Cutts...but by any measure they were as competent, influential and successful as some of the others on the list...but Asquith??
Asquith, when allowed, was the equal of Hitchcock. Without the others, you would never have heard of Hitchcock.

[Rob Compton]

Originally Posted by penfold I think we could have a top 50 and he would still be missing, sorry... And where the hell is Anthony Asquith?? , I can understand them neglecting (again, or still) Maurice Elvey, George Pearson, Hepworth and Fitzhamon, Guy Newall [My Avatar], Henry Edwards and Graham Cutts...but by any measure they were as competent, influential and successful as some of the others on the list...but Asquith?? Asquith, when allowed, was the equal of Hitchcock. Without the others, you would never have heard of Hitchcock.

Absolutely agree re Anthony Asquith!

Like many such lists, this is much too biased towards more modern and contemporary directors, to the exclusion of past greats. Somewhat typical of a country that is forgetting it's history.

rgds
Rob

[ChristineCB]

"forgetting the past..."

The "What have you done for ME lately" syndrome...

The "I have to make a million immediately..." syndrome, which fortunately gives plenty of prey to get-rich-quick schemer predators.

I see the Music Mogul who churned out Backstreet Boys and InSync has disappeared with $150 million or more. He was recognized as a low-life to begin with but found out enough about the music industry's accounting piracy as his path to stealing even more money. Then he parlayed that into this latest stock-bilking scheme. Oh yes, downloading pirates are the REAL problem among that den of thieves! I doubt the world's downloading pirates could even reach the 1% mark that the record companies and their execs pilfer each year. But it's a great smokescreen that's worked.

And it all fits nicely into forgetting the past, or burying it so it can't be seen frequently and continually grow new generations of fans. There are just too many great old films that blow the doors off of the new stuff. Maybe this is a necessary strategy of helping newbies by burying old films under rightsholder restrictions.

[penfold]

Well sort of Christine, but this goes back a long way....the figures I mentioned made all their best work in the silent era....only Asquith made any real impact in sound films. The others, if they directed at all, languished in low-budget quota productions. Their silent-era achievements counted for nothing by 1930, victims of a corporate media version of built-in obsolescence.. a deliberate denigration of silent product that did happen in the silent/sound transition ....it's a question of our generation rediscovering these films and their makers, and it is a growing band of brothers and sisters...

[thirdlady]

I would add Alan parker to the list and also David lean.

[WiseFilms]

Originally Posted by penfold ...And where the hell is Anthony Asquith?? , I can understand them neglecting (again, or still) Maurice Elvey, George Pearson, Hepworth and Fitzhamon, Guy Newall [My Avatar], Henry Edwards and Graham Cutts...but by any measure they were as competent, influential and successful as some of the others on the list...but Asquith?? Asquith, when allowed, was the equal of Hitchcock. Without the others, you would never have heard of Hitchcock.

I agree completely.

And the documentarians were horribly snubbed as well:
Paul Rotha, Humphrey Jennings, John Grierson, and others.

Of the 21 in that list, only Leigh, Hitchcock, Lean, Boorman, Davies, Roeg, Anderson, Powell, and Dickinson really belong there.
And Chaplin and Mackendrick too, it would be hard to do with out, although their inclusion is debatable, for reasons separate from their talents.

The rest of them, (save for early Loach), don't belong anywhere near the Top 52.

I would add to the worthy:

Bill Forsyth, Val Guest, Charles Crichton, Robert Hamer, Alan Clarke, Karel Reisz, Roy Ward Baker, Jack Clayton, the Korda's, the Boulting's, Herbert Wilcox, Victor Saville, Alberto Cavalcanti, Nick Park, Henry Cornelius, Marcel Varnel, and Basil Dearden.

Aside from the one's Penfold mentioned, I wouldn't want to leave without taking notice of these outstanding British directors, who like Chaplin, spent most (if not all) their days in Hollywood:

James Whale, Wm. Beaudine (primarily for his Silent work), and Edmund Goulding.

And if more American ex-Pat's are allowed (besides Mackendrick) , I can't go without saying:
Joseph Losey, Richard Lester, and Kubrick, have all made British films much richer for their sojourn's there.

[Marky B]

For me,David Lean should have been at the top and where is Alan Parker? As for Ridley Scott,I am sure his inspiration for Blade Runner came from ICI sites in Billingham and Wilton when he was at Art College in Hartlepool. His brother,Tony,according to the IMDB,was born in Stockton.
Ta Ta
Marky B

[grubbanax]

What about Muriel Box and Antonia Bird?

[Last of the Osirians]

I would like to see Terence Fisher and Roy Ward Baker added to that list; both have directed a number of acknowledged British cinema classics and deserve greater recognition for their work.

[Phil Turner]

Originally Posted by Marky B For me, David Lean should have been at the top .......... Ta Ta Marky B

It's so difficult to place directors in any specific order, but I would also vote for David Lean. To direct so many classics in different genres shows remarkable skill and diversity. Alfred Hitchcock would be my second choice. His films may have lacked diversity, but the sheer volume, quality (and enjoyability) of his output is hard to match. More than anyone, his films have provided me with endless pleasure.

Regards
Phil Turner

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Phil Turner It's so difficult to place directors in any specific order, but I would also vote for David Lean. To direct so many classics in different genres shows remarkable skill and diversity. Alfred Hitchcock would be my second choice. His films may have lacked diversity, but the sheer volume, quality (and enjoyability) of his output is hard to match. More than anyone, his films have provided me with endless pleasure. Regards Phil Turner

Check the one above him in the list
More volume, more variety and I would say more quality but that's always very subjective.
And Lean did have a good training when he worked as an editor on a couple of Powell's films

Steve

[Phil Turner]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Check the one above him in the list More volume, more variety and I would say more quality but that's always very subjective. And Lean did have a good training when he worked as an editor on a couple of Powell's films Steve

Yes, he certainly had a good training. It goes without saying that Michael Powell was one of my heroes too, just like Lean and Hitchcock. Really, it's unfair to compare these greats of British cinema, all of whom were unique and distinctive individuals, capable of creating work of timeless genius. Best just to celebrate and savour their achievements rather than make comparisons.

Regards
Phil Turner

[christoph404]

What about Ronald Neame?! Great director who made two of my favourite films, "Tunes of Glory", "Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" I really like the caper movie "Gambit" as well. Actually his audio commentary on the DVD of "Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is fascinating as is on "Tunes of Glory" (region 1 dvd only) Neame went to hollywood and enjoyed success there, he directed the original "Posseiden Adventure" !! He is alive and well and aged over 90 I believe, last of the greats as far as I am concerned.

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

Originally Posted by DB7 1 Alfred Hitchcock 1899-1980 Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else.

I couldn't agree more. Indeed, I consider Alfred Hitchcock to be the greatest movie Director period, let alone among the Brits.

I consider 'Vertigo' to be his greatest movie... even though he'd been claimed by the USA by the time he made it.

And he Directed the first British talkie... 'Blackmail'.

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

Originally Posted by A Pemberton lets make it the top 22 and add Richard Attenborough

Good point. He's the only Director who can match David Lean on the field of epic historical.

He might only have Directed one movie... but on the strength of 'The Night of the Hunter' alone... Charles Laughton deserves some mention at the bottom of the list (bottom, or maybe a footnote... only because he did one movie and that would be usually considered American - but he was born a Brit). I wonder how many wonderful movies he may have made had the critics been kinder and more forward-looking.

For a recent British Director... Neil Marshall's looking quite good