The TV Addict 

5. William Wyler
Though Wyler began most of his early career directing Westerns, and later directed classics of the genre (THE WESTERNER, BIG COUNTRY), his work was much more diverse than that. In several cases one can argue he gave us some of the foremost examples of those genres. After all, I feel anyone attempting to make an epic, a romantic comedy, a human war drama, or a musical biopic, is knowingly or not indebted to Wyler’s BEN-HUR, ROMAN HOLIDAY, MRS.MINIVER/ THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, and FUNNY GIRL. Other notables are DODSWORTH, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, THE CHILDREN’S HOUR, THE DESPERATE HOURS, THE COLLECTOR, JEZEBEL and THE LETTER. Wyler should also be recognized for having the distinct talent of catapulting fledgling actors to fame, whether it was Bette Davis in JEZEBEL, Audrey Hepburn in ROMAN HOLIDAY, or Barbara Streisand in FUNNY GIRL.

4. Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott has always distinguished himself as a director who leaps drastically from genre to genre with each subsequent film he makes. In chronological order we have: THE DUELLISTS, ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER, LEGEND, BLACK RAIN, THELMA & LOUISE, 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, WHITE SQUALL, G.I. JANE, GLADIATOR, HANNIBAL, BLACK HAWK DOWN, MATCHSTICK MEN, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, A GOOD YEAR, AMERICAN GANGSTER. Though some are better than others, surprisingly most of them good, and some are just flat-out classics (ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER). What’s up next? An Iraq movie (BODY OF LIES), a revisionist take on the Robin Hood legend (NOTTINGHAM), an adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel (BLOOD MERDIAN), as well rumors of a big-screen adaptation of the board came MONOPOLY, and this crime film.

3. Stanley Kubrick
Though he’s acknowledged as a cinematic genius for the quality of his work, one often easily forgets the actual scope of his films. He’s done crime noir (KILLER’S KISS, THE KILLING), war drama (PATHS OF GLORY), epics (SPARTACUS), black comedies (DR.STRANGELOVE), science fiction (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), severely messed up pseudo-science fiction (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), period piece (BARRY LYNDON), intelligent horror (THE SHINING),  more anti-war (FULL METAL JACKET), and, well, EYES WIDE SHUT.

2. Ang Lee
I feel about Ang Lee the opposite way I did about Tim Burton. Each of Lee’s films feels distinctively different from the other, not just because of the diversity of genres but also tone. Yes, they are all measured, slow, calm, but that seems more to do with pacing than necessarily tone. The man has moved from a family dramedy (EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN) to a Jane Austen adaptation (SENSE & SENSIBILITY), then a bleak and retro family drama (THE ICE STORM), followed by a civil war film (RIDE WITH THE DEVIL), a martial arts fantasy (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON), a comic book film (HULK), a tragic love story (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN), and most recently, a World War II espionage/sexual thriller (LUST, CAUTION). Next up, A LITTLE GAME (2009), which sounds to me like a romantic comedy. Personally, I want a science-fiction dystopia film out of him. It seems inevitable given his track record.

1. Howard Hawks
Though he has a surprisingly short filmography for someone working in the classical Hollywood system, Howard Hawks, much like William Wyler, has brought us some of the quintessential examples of the genres he worked in. The immense popularity of SCARFACE arguably single-handedly launched the gangster genre. There are no better screwball comedies than HIS GIRL FRIEDY or BRIGINGING UP BABY (only George Cuckor comes close with HOLIDAY and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY). THE BIG SLEEP is considered one of the foremost film noirs. RED RIVER remains one of the best Westerns ever made, and RIO BRAVO is up there as well. The film that most people associate with Marilyn Monroe, only after SOME LIKE IT HOT perhaps, is the Hawks musical GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. He lent the science-fiction genre a little more gravitas with THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (later remade by John Carpenter). He did both an excellent biopic and war film with SERGEANT YORK. That’s only a sample of his respectable work (I’m also a huge fan of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT and even more so ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS). The man was one of the greatest directors we’ve had for not only being versatile, but for making extraordinary films regardless of what genre they fell into.

For part one of our Top 10 Most Versatile Directors – click here.