Which director had the most "greatest performances" of an actor

[skimpole]

Which director had the most "greatest performances" of an actor. I don't mean which director had the greatest performances, as opposed to the idea that each actor had a greatest performance in a movie, and who was the director responsible for them.

Hawks and Hitchcock are obvious choices, but might I suggest Michael Curtiz?

Errol Flynn, The Adventures of Robin Hood
James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy
Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca
Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce

[Feinberg]

William Wyler has to be right up there.

[laffite]

William Wyler has to be right up there.

...and with respect to William Wyler, must think about Bette Davis in Jezebel. I read and correct me if I don't have the right movie, but he contained her tendency to overact and therein instilled a sense of restraint that even her out a bit and in later performances as well. But don't think of Juarez in this context because as we know she tore a passion to tatters in that one, the scenery was not just chewed but spit out and chewed again. Jezebel though is probably my favorite Bette.

[jamesjazzguitar]

William Wyler has to be right up there.

William Wyler is my choice, especially for actresses. I believe the films he directed had the most nominations for best-actress, as well as wins.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Robert Wise had a way with actors.

Boris Karloff in The Body Snatcher (1945)
Lawrence Tierney in Born To Kill (1947)
Robert Ryan in The Set Up (1949)
Michael Rennie in The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
Susan Hayward in I Want To Live (1958)
Rita Moreno in West Side Story (1961)
Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music (1965)
Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles (1966)

[HoldenIsHere]

William Wyler has to be right up there.

I would also chose William Wyler.
DODSWORTH (all the main actors)
MRS. MiNIVER (Greer Garson)
THE LITTLE FOXES (Bette Davis)
THE HEIRESS (Olivia De Havilland)
DETECTIVE STORY (most especially Eleanor Parker and Lee Grant)
ROMAN HOLIDAY (Audrey Hepburn)
FUNNY GIRL (Barbra Streisand)

[Feinberg]

Of the more modern directors I think Sidney Lumet might be included. It was interesting to see him as a child actor in One Third of a Nation (1939).

[HoldenIsHere]

Of the more modern directors I think Sidney Lumet might be included. It was interesting to see him as a child actor in One Third of a Nation (1939).

Since you mentioned Sidney Lumet's work as a child actor, here's a photo from VOGUE of sixteen-year-old Sidney Lumet in the role of twelve-year-old Jesus, outside the gates of Jerusalem, in Maxwell Anderson’s play JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.

[Swithin]

Of the more modern directors I think Sidney Lumet might be included. It was interesting to see him as a child actor in One Third of a Nation (1939).

Since you mentioned Sidney Lumet's work as a child actor, I think it's fitting to mention his father who raised him. Here's Baruch Lumet (at right) in The Killer Shrews. (He also appeared in a few of his son's movies.)

[jamesjazzguitar]

William Wyler has to be right up there.

I would also chose William Wyler.
DODSWORTH (all the main actors)
MRS. MiNIVER (Greer Garson)
THE LITTLE FOXES (Bette Davis)
THE HEIRESS (Olivia De Havilland)
DETECTIVE STORY (most especially Eleanor Parker and Lee Grant)
ROMAN HOLIDAY (Audrey Hepburn)
FUNNY GIRL (Barbra Streisand)

Wyler was also my choice. I would add two other Bette Davis films, Jezebel (Davis won) and The Letter (Davis was nomninated), as well as The Best Years of Our Lives (my favorite Myrna Loy dramatic performance), and Ben Hur (my favorite Heston performance).

[Dargo]

Wyler was also my choice. I would add two other Bette Davis films, Jezebel (Davis won) and The Letter (Davis was nomninated), as well as The Best Years of Our Lives (my favorite Myrna Loy dramatic performance), and Ben Hur (my favorite Heston performance).

Yep, Wyler. And speaking of TBYOOL here, how about his ability to take a non-actor such as Harold Russell and have him turn in a performance good enough to win an Oscar for it in that very film...



(...no small feat there, I'd say)

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I'd like to include Fred Zinnemann since I believe he directed these actors and actresses to their best performance.

Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
Ethel Waters in The Member Of The Wedding (1952)
Montgomery Clift in From Here To Eternity (1953)
Don Murray in A Hatful Of Rain (1957)
Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story (1959)

[skimpole]

Is there a convenient list of TCM stars of the month which could be used to define major stars?