Films winning the Best Director award and nothing else has been a rare phenomenon. In 97 years of Oscars, it has happened only 7 times.
Two Arabian Knights (1927)
Directed by Lewis Milestone
On the very first Academy Awards, held in July of 1928, the movie that won the Best Directing (Comedy Picture) category was not only not nominated for Best Picture, but actually not nominated for any other award. It was Lewis Milestone that won this Oscar for Two Arabian Knights, a silent comedy about two American soldiers fighting to escape the Germans during World War I, while quarreling over a beautiful young woman.
For the second Academy Awards, the Best Directing categories were merged, making Milestone the sole winner of this award.
The Divine Lady (1929)
Directed by Frank Lloyd
The second Oscars were held in 1930, and it was the only time when no film won more than one Oscar (the Best Picture went to The Broadway Melody).
The Divine Lady‘s won Best Director for Frank Lloyd, one of the 36 founders of the Academy.
The tale of a romance between two women and a British war hero, The Divine Lady has faded into relative obscurity. It’s a serviceable silent romance with a great performance by Corine Griffith,who was nominated for Best Actress, one of the two nominations the movie got aside from Best Director. The melodrama is stilted, its tone is dull, and its main qualities are its striking battle sequences and Griffith’s performance.
Skippy (1931)
Directed by Norman Taurog
At age 9, Jackie Cooper is the youngest Best Actor nominee. Skippy is a mild comedy about the mischievous son of a wealthy doctor trying to save a friend’s pet from dogcatcher. Of the four categories it received a nod in at the 4th Academy Awards, it only won one: Best Director.
Norman Taurog was for a long time was the youngest-ever recipient of the award at 32 years and 260 days, before Damien Chazelle took the record in 2017 (at 32 years and 39 days old) when winning for La La Land.
Skippy is a charming, sweet family movie based on highly popular comic strip of the same title. Taurog’s grasp on the childlike feeling of wonder and innocence is admirable, resulting in one of the most enjoyable and underrated comedies of the time.
Mr. Deed Goes to Town (1936)
Directed by Frank Capra
Mr. Deed Goes to Town was one of the first comedies made after the enforcement of the Hyas Code.
A delightful screwball comedy about an unassuming greeting card poet from small-town Vermont, who goes to New York upon inheriting massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who want to take advantage of him.
The movie received five Oscar nominations at the 9th Academy Awards, but its only win was for Frank Capra as Best Director.
Capra’s distinctive style defines Mr. Deed Goes to Town, a satire about wealth and corruption. Gary Cooper delivers a terrific performance, but it’s Capra’s vision that makes it entertaining.
The Awful Truth (1937)
Directed by Leo McCarey
In the screwball rom-com The Awful Truth, a married couple file for divorce, but find it hard–if not impossible–to let go of each other. The charm of Irene Dunne (who got an Oscar nomination for her performance) and Cary Grant, as well as the subtle direction of Leo McCarey, makes it one of the Genre’s best samplers.
McCarey received the only Oscar of the five that the movie was nominated for.
Dunne’s performance elevates The Awful Truth to iconic status, being simultaneously hilarious and entirely believable. McCarey achieves the perfect balance between hilarious farce and emotional romance, having loads of fun examining marriage and human connections while also providing some nuanced, surprisingly complex elements.
Giant (1956)
Directed by George Stevens
Whereas before it had usually happened with comedies, at the 29th Academy Awards it happened with the sprawling Western epic Giant. The story unfolds across generations, following the family of a Texas cattle rancher and their rivalry with cowboy and oil tycoon Jett Rink. Though it was nominated for ten Oscars, George Stevens’s Best Director win was its only victory.
Giant is a massive visually striking film, a riveting narrative about generational conflicts, social change, and progress.
It was the last of James Dean’s 3 features, as he was tragically killed in a car crash before the movie’s release.
The Graduate (1967)
Directed by Mike Nichols
A romantic dramedy that helped define the American New Wave, The Graduate concerns a disillusioned college student who finds himself in the limbo between adulthood and adolescence, which manifests as him being torn between his older lover and her daughter.
One of the most quotable, engaging comedies, it won only the Best Director award for Mike Nichols of the 7 it was nominated for at the 40th Oscars.
The Graduate finds humor in twisting and subverting the typical rom-com and coming-of-age genre tropes, in exploring the anxious and aimless personality of its protagonist. The movie contains 3 outstanding performances by Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, and Katherine Ross all at the top of their game.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
Directed by Jane Campion
It took over half a century for this rare Oscars’ phenomenon to occur again, in 2021, The Power of the Dog.
Jane Campion directed this subversive Western about a charismatic rancher who inspires fear, but when his brother brings home a new wife and her son, he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love as he endlessly torments them.
Campion’s latest film is a profoundly nuanced meditation on toxic masculinity as it relates to power and aggression, as well as a complex depiction of themes of sexuality and insecurity.
It’s a powerful psychological drama with an incredible ensemble, directed by a Campion in full dominance of her craft.
