The Silver Screen Oasis

Thanks ChiO ... I didn't see it the first time ... now I know!

ChiO, I've done my civic duty and cast my votes. Your pithy sayings under each poll are a cute touch!

Your pithy sayings under each poll are a cute touch!

aw, he's just priming us for re-election...

FYI

Seeing a comment by CCF in one of the threads causes me to remind folks: Your vote can be changed.

(Subliminal message: Yes...I must vote for Orson...I must vote for Orson....)

The surprises for me, some big, some small:

1. I thought Welles would finish higher (but I never dreamed Top 5).
2. I nearly fainted when Jacques Tourneur finished in the Top 16.
3. I did faint when Powell finished in the Top 5.
4. I was shocked that Lang and Renoir barely made the cut.
5. That Dreyer did make it was a very pleasant surprise.
6. Huston and Stevens in the Top 16 was a bit of a surprise.
7. That Walsh, De Sica, McCarey, Reed and Kazan finished out of the running was unexpected.

The biggest non-surprise: The Top 4 and their order.

Added in edit: 8. Sidney Lumet wasn't named by anyone.

I considered "The Orson Case" carefully. Do I give credit for one magnificent achievement? Or focus on consistency? "Ambersons" is a good movie. A great one? "Shanghai" has impressive visuals, "Touch" a stylish atmosphere. Neither earns a spot on my all time great list.

I think Tourneur appeals to our appreciation of "less is more." The quiet, creepy Lewton thrillers. The literate, but understated OUT OF THE PAST. We're not the STAR WARS crowd!

I believe I noticed Dewey picked Nicholas Ray first. That surprised me. Ray was a fine director. But with Dewey's interest in diabolical, poetic crime stories, I would have expected to see Ulmer, Lang or Siodmak atop the list. Ray, however, created one of the premiere cinematic nightmares in THEY LIVE BY NIGHT. I see the logic!

I thought of Lumet.

Unfortunately it was today, when I heard his name mentioned on TCM. Wish I'd thought of him before. Dog Day Afternoon is one of my all time faves.

Do I give credit for one magnificent achievement?

Absolutely not! You give credit for...what?...twelve (or so) magnificent achievements...in spite of the industry. His "failures" are better than most of the so-called masterpieces of others.

Simply the greatest artist of the 20th Century.

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If I had only put Ray one notch higher (I was the only other person to name Ray), he would have made it. But then Renoir would not have, so I guess I can live with it. Ray is the director that has climbed more and higher in my estimation over the past five or so years than any other. PARTY GIRL is the movie that put him into perspective for me. I was looking for something realistic instead of surrealistic. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, unfortunately, probably does him more harm than good (kinda like CITIZEN KANE for Welles). Dig behind the post hoc iconography, and there is one tremendous movie. And if anyone says that IN A LONELY PLACE or JOHNNY GUITAR is better...well...I won't argue (I might disagree, depending on mood, but I won't argue).

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Tourneur -- completely agree there. The quietest action movie director ever. A very special artist.

Number 13 and 20, Fellini and Scorsese - Poll is appears to be broken; members may not be able to change their vote; nor vote at all. Is this true or not? At my end it is.

The Fellini - Scorsese thread should be remedied in part. Thanks for reporting that, kingme.

Note that the polling for that thread is not open until Monday as the others are -- I will try to remedy that later (tried & failed twice this morning). But to be safe --

VOTE EARLY, if not often.

VOTE EARLY, if not often.

Obviously, you know Chicago!

Thanks for this contest. It's already been a lot of fun - interesting and, at the same time, a trifle maddening. I was quite surprised at some of the names that scored so high and others that either barely made the cut or else didn't at all.

I'd never tried to list directors before, I didn't realise how many I appreciate and how it's almost impossible to judge one against the other. I'm surprised at some names that didn't make it to the final 32 especially De Sica but there are plenty of others that fell by the wayside too. Perhaps it's so difficult because directors borrow the best of other people's work and innovate their own techniques and to try to judge is so difficult. I guess all the directors who got named by all our members deserve a nod for continuing fascination with their work.

I thought the hardest part would be the initial list. I was wrong!

I found it most interesting when pitting them against one another. Some fell in my estimation when put up next to someone else, and some immediately rose. I'm not even sure I voted for all who were on my initial list. Saddest of all was having to vote against a favorite when two of them were in the same round. In some cases, I didn't even realize how much I liked a certain director, until forced to vote against him. It can never be a fair estimation of a director to be mercilessly pitted against another. It just shows me how different they all are, and how individual their characteristics.