American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1927-2027:
Historical Phases
My Oscar Book:
Updated Aug 25, 2025–please revise
My study of the American Cinema, 1927 to 2027, divides the major film directors of the past century into three sub-groups:
- 1927-1966: Classic Hollywood Cinema, the studio era (directors under contract), from the sound era n, about 42 years
- 1967-1999: New American Cinema, post-studio era (directors working in mainstream Hollywood), about 30 years
- 1994-present: New Millennium, focus on independent Cinema, about 30 years
AMERICAN CINEMA (Studio System), 1929-1966
A (5)
Aldrich, Robert (1918-1983)
Allen, Lewis
Annakin, Ken (1914-2009)
Arnold, Jack (1916-1992)
Arzner, Dorothy (1997-1979)
B (13)
Bacon, Lloyd (1890-1955)
Beaumont, Harry (1888-1966)
Benedict, Laslo (1907-1992)
Berkeley, Busby (1895-1976)
Bernhardt, Curtis (1898-1981)
Boetticher, Budd (1916-2001)
Boleslavsky, Richard (1889-1937)
Borzage, Frank (1893-1962)
Braham, John (1898-1982)
Brooks, Richard (1912-1992)
Brown, Clarence (1890-1987)
Browning, Todd (1882-1962)
Butler, David (1894-1979)
C (7)
Capra, Frank (1897-1991)
Cardiff, Jack (1914-
Chaplin, Charlie (1889-1997)
Cromwell, John (1888-1979)
Cruz, James (1884-1942)
Cukor, George (1899-1983)
Curtiz, Michael (1888-1962)
D (9)
Da Costa, Morton (1914-1989)
Dassin, Jules (1911-
Daves, Delmar (1904-1977)
DeMille, Cecil B. (1881-1959)
De Tot, Andre
Dieterle, William (1893-1972)
Dmytryk, Edward (1908-1999)
Donen, Stanley (1924-2019)
Douglas, Gordon, 1909-1993)
E (2)
Endfield, Cy (1914-1995)
Enright, Ray (1896-1965)
F (7)
Farrow, John (1904-1963)
Fitzmaurice, George (1885-1940)
Fleischer, Richard (1916-2006)
Fleming, Victor (1883-1949)
Ford, John (1895-1973)
Franklin, Sidney (1893-1972)
Fuller, Samuel (1911-
G (7)
Garnett, Tay (1894-1977)
Glenville, Peter (1913-
Gordon, Michael (1909-1993)
Gould, Edmund (1891-1959)
Green, Alfred E. (1889-1960)
Griffith, D. W. (1875-1948)
Guillermin, John (1923-
H (6)
Hamilton, Guy (1922-
Hathaway, Henry (1898-1985)
Hawks, Howard (1896-1977)
Heisler, Stewart (1894-1979)
Hall, Alexander (1894-1960)
Huston, John (1906-1987)
I
J
K (6 directors)
Kazan, Elia (1909-2003)
Keighley, William (1889-1984)
Kershner, Irvin (1923-
King, Henry (1888-1982)
Koster, Henry (1905-1988)
Kramer, Stanley (1913-2001)
L (
La Cava, Gregory (1892-1952)
Lang Fritz (1890-1976)
Lang, Walter (1898-1972)
Lean, David (
Leisen, Mitchell (1897-1972)
Leonard, Robert Z. (1889-1968)
Leroy, Mervyn (1900-1987)
Litvak, Anatole (1902-1974)
Lloyd, Frank (1889-1960)
Logan, Joshua (1908-1988)
Losey, Joseph (1909-1984)
Lubitsch, Ernst (1892-1947)
Lupino, Ida
M (
McCarey, Leo (1898-1969)
McLeod, Norman Z. (1898-1964)
Mackendrick, Alexander (1912-1993)
Mamoulian, Rouben (1898-
Mankiewicz, Joseph L. (1909-1993)
Mann, Anthony (1906-1967)
Mann, Daniel (1912-1991)
Mann, Delbert (1920-
Marshall, George (1891-1975)
Mate, Rudolph (1898-1964)
Mayo, Archie (1891-
Menzies, W.C. (1896-1957)
Miller, David (1909-1992)
Milestone (1895-1980)
Murnau, F. W. (1888-1931)
N (2)
Negulesco, (1900-1994)
Nelson, Ralph (1916-1987)
O (
P (8)
Parrish, Robert (1916-1995)
Preminger, Otto (1906-1986)
Payne, Alexander
Q
Quine, Richard (1920-1989)
R (4)
Rapper, Irving (1898-1999)
Reed, Carol (1906-1976)
Rossen, Robert (1908-1966)
Rush, Richard (1929-
S (10)
Sandrich, Mark (1900-1945)
Seaton, George (1911-1979)
Sherman, Vincent (1906-2006)
Sidney, George (1911-2001)
Siegel, Don (1912-1991)
Sirk, Douglas (
Stahl, John (1886-1950)
Stevens, George (1904-1975)
Sturges, John (1910-1992)
Surges, Preston
T (4)
Taurog, Norman (1899-1981)
Tetzloff, Ted (1903-
Thompson, J. Lee (1914-
Tourner, Jacques (1904-1977)
U (1)
Ulmer, Edgar (1900-1972)
V (4)
Van Dyke, W.S.
Vidor, Charles (1900-1959)
Vidor, King (1894-1982)
Von Stroheim (1885-1957)
W (6)
Walsh, Raoul (1887-1980)
Walters, Charles (1911-1982)
Welles, Orson (1915-1985)
Wilder, Billy (
Wood, Sam (1883-1949)
Wyler, William (1902-1981)
Y
Yates, Peter (1929-
Z
Zinnemann, Fred (1907-
NEW AMERICAN CINEMA (1967-1999)
A (7)
Abrahams, Jim (1944-
Allen, Woody (1935-
Altman, Robert (1925-2006)
Apted, Michael (1941-2020)
Ashby, Hal (1936-1988)
Attenborough, Richard (1923-2014)
Avildsen, John (1936-
B (15)
Badham, John (1939-
Ballard, Carroll (1937-
Bay, Michael (1965-
Becker, Harold (1950-
Beresford, Bruce (1940-
Benton, Robert (1932-
Biegelow, Kathryn (1952-
Bogdanovich, Peter (1939-
Boorman, John (1933-
Brooks, James L. (1940-
Brooks, Mel (1926-
Branagh, Kenneth (1960-
Brest, Martin (1951-
Burton, Tim (1958-
C
Cameron, James (1954-
Carpenter, John (1948-
Cassavetes, John (1928-
Cimino, Michael (1943-
Clayton, Jack (1921-1995)
Coolidge, Martha (1946-
Coppola, Francis Ford (1939-
Crave, Wes (1939-
Cronenberg, David (1943
Crowe, Cameron (1957-
Cuaron, Alfonso,
D (
Dante, Joe
Darabont, Frank
Davies, Andrew (1947-
De Bont, Jan (1943-
Demme, Jonathan (1944-2018)
De Palma, Brian (1940-
Donner, Richard (1939-
E (3)
Eastwood, Clint (1930-
Edwards, Blake (1922-
Emmerich, Roland (1955-
F (5)
Figgis, Mike (1949-
Friedkin, William (1935-
Forman, Milos (1932-
Fosse, bob (1927-1987)
Frankenheimer, John (1930-2002)
G (1)
Greengrass, Paul (1956-
H (14)
Hackford, Taylor (1944-
Haines, Randa (1945-
Hallstrom, Lasse (1946-
Hancock, John (1939-
Hansen, Curtis (1945-2016)
Harvey, Anthony (1931-
Hellman, Monte (1932-
Hill, George Roy (1922-2002)
Hiller, Arthur (
Hill, Walter (1942-
Holland, Agniezska (1948-
Howard, Ron (1954-
Hughes, John (1950-2009)
Hudson, Hugh (1936-
I (1)
Ivory, James (1928-
J (5)
Jackson, Peter
Jewison, Norman (1926-
Joffe, Roland (1945-
Johnson, Lamont (1922
Johnson, Nunnally (1897-1977)
Jordan, Neil (1950-
K (4)
Kaplan, Jonathan (1947-
Kasdan, Lawrence (1949-
Kaufman, Philip (1936-
Kubrick, Stanley (1928-1999)
L (7)
Lee, Ang
Lester, Richard (1932-
Levinson, Barry (1942-
Lucas, George (1944-
Luhrmann, Baz (
Lumet, Sidney (1924-2011)
Lyne, Adrian (1941-
M (9)
Malick, Terrence (1943-
Malle, Louis (1932-1995)
Mann, Michael (1943-
Marshall, Gary (1934-2016)
Marshall, Penny (1942-2018)
Mazursky, Paul (1930-2014)
Milius, John (1944-
Miller, George (1945-
Mulligan, Robert (1925-
N (3)
Newell, Mike (1942-
Nichols, Mike (1931-2014)
Noyce, Philip (1950-
P (7)
Pakula, Alan (1928-1978)
Parker, Alan (1944-
Parks, Gordon (1912-
Payne, Alexander (1961-
Peckinpah, Sam (1925-1984)
Penn, Arthur (1922-
Perry, Frank (1930-1995)
Polanski, Roman (1933-
R =
Rafelson, Bob (1935-
Raimi, Sam (1960-
Redford, Robert (1936-
Reiner, Bob (1945-
Reisz, Karel (1926-
Richardson, Tony (1928-1992)
Ritt, Martin (1914-1990)
Robson, Mark (1913-1978)
Roeg, Nicholas (1928-2018)
Ross, Herbert (1927-2001)
Rush, Richard (1929-2020)
Rydell, Mark (1934-
S
Schaffner, Franklin (1920-
Schlesinger, John (1926-2003)
Schrader, Paul (1946-
Scorsese, Martin (1942-
Scott, Ridley (1937-
Sena, Dominic (1949-
Shelton, Ron (1945-
Sheridan, Jim (1949-
Shyamalan, M. Night
Soderbergh, Steven (1963-
Sonenfeld, Barry
Spielberg, Steven (1946-
Stone, Oliver (1946-
T
Tamahori, Lee (1950-
Tarantino (1963-
Tashlin, Frank (1913-1972)
Toback, James (1944-
U
Ulmer
V
Verhoeven, Paul (1938-
W (2)
Weir, Peter (1944-
Z (5)
Zemeckis, Robert (1952-
Zieff, Howard (1943-
Zucker, David (1947-
Zucker, Jerry (1952-
Zwig, Edward (1952-
Independent Cinema, 1990-Present
Directors
Almereyda, Michael (1960-
Anders, Allison (1958-
Anderson, Brad
Anderson, Paul Thomas (1970-
Anderson, Wes (1969-
Aronofsky, Darren (1970-
Bartel, Paul (1938-2000)
Brooks, Albert (1947-
Boyle, Danny
Burnett, Charles (1944-
Campion, Jane (1954-
Coen, Joel (1958
Coen, Ethan (1960-
Cox, Alex (1954-
Dahl, John (1956-
Drazan, Anthony (1955-
Ferrara, Abel (1952-
Foley, James (
Franklin, Carl (1949-
Franklin, Howard
Gomez, Nick (1963-
Gordon, Keith (1961-
Graff, Todd
Gray, James
Green, David Gordon (1975-
Haas, Philip (1954-
Hanson, John
Hardwick, Catherine
Hartley, Hal (1959-
Holofcener, Nicole (
Hoffman, Michael (1956-
Hunter, Tim (
Jarmusch, Jim (1953-
Kerrigan, Lodge (1964-
Lee, Spike (1956-
Linklater, Richard (
Lynch, David (1946-
McBride, Jim (1941-
McNaughton, John (1950-
Macdonald, Kevin
Mangold, James (1964-
Morrissey, Paul (1939-
Munch, Christopher (1962-
Nair, Mira (1957-
Nunez, Victor (1945-
Payne, Alexander (1963-
Pellington, Mark (
Penn, Sean (1960-
Rene, Norman ( -1996); gay indie
Robbins, Tim (1958-
Romero, George (1940-
Ruben, Joseph (
Rudolph, Alan (1943-
Russell, David O. (1958-
Sayles, John (1950-
Smith, Kevin
Soderbergh, Steven (1963-
Solondz, Todd (
Stillman, Whit (1952-
Tarantino, Quentin (1963-
Turturro, John (
Wang, Wayne (1949-
Waters, Mark (1946-
Waters, John (1946-
