The Favorite Director Blogathon is Here!

The Favorite Director Blogathon is finally here, and Quiggy from The Midnite Drive-In and I have a great line-up for you! This post will be updated over the weekend with the new posts. I can't wait to read about everyone's favorite director! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

DAY 1 

Demanded Critical Reviews starts off the blogathon with The Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky.

Cinematic Scribblings brings us The Quintessential Ozu: Late Spring (1949).

Love Letters to Old Hollywood explores the magic of Mr. Wilder, Mr. Baxter, and Mr. Kubelik.

Angelman's Place discusses Roman's Baby.

Caftan Woman has us saddle up with William Wyler - Hell's Heros (1929) and The Big Country (1958).

Plot and Theme tells us to stop worrying and love Dr. Strangelove and the Folderol of Fallout.

John V's Eclectic Avenue takes us on a trip into Jacques Tourneur's World of Shadows.

Classic Movie Treasures celebrates John Wayne's birthday today with a look at John Ford's 20-year Journey to Make The Quiet Man.

Christina Wehner takes a look at William Wellman - Action and Story.

Pure Entertainment Preservation Society looks at George Cukor: The Director Who Makes Films Seem Real.

Anybody Got a Match? argues that Stanley Donen's Charade (1963) is a perfect example of  his unique directing abilities and not a Hitchcock knock-off.

DAY 2 & 3

My co-host, The Midnite Drive-In, looks at horror master John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

Hamlette's Soliloquey looks at John Ford's masterpiece The Searchers (1956).

Charlene's (Mostly) Classic Movie Reviews discusses Ingmar Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly (1961).

Realwidgiemidget Reviews goes Behind the Camera with Ed Wood.

Critica Retro shares her Ode to Orson Welles.

DAY 4

Champagne for Lunch discusses her favorite Mervyn Leroy Films.

LA Explorer shines a Spotlight on The Miracle at Morgan's Creek (1944).

And lastly, my post on Frank Capra and Robert Riskin.

A Viewer's Guide to Classic Films discusses how Women Take Center Stage: D.W. Griffith's Resolute Heroines.

Thanks for participating in this blogathon!!
I promise I'll read and comment on everyone's posts starting Tuesday. My post took a lot longer than I had anticipated. Meanwhile, enjoy reading everyone's contributions, and I hope to see all of you at The Second Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon + Errol Flynn!

ANNOUNCING the Favorite Director Blogathon!

A few weeks ago, Quiggy from The Midnite Drive-In graciously asked me if I would like to co-host a blogathon with him on Favorite Directors. As is apparent by all the blogathon banners running down the right side of my blog, I love blogathons, so of course I said yes.

As everyone knows, directors are essential to a successful film. A film director "controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking." Without a good director, a film may die before it's finished or never achieve the success it might have.

There are many directors from the Golden Age of Hollywood who have become iconic and whose faces are instantly recognizable. Then there are the directors who's films are loved by many but who are only known by name. And lastly there are the ones who are never given the acclaim they deserve. That is what this blogathon is for, to honor all directors.

Here are a few simple rules:

1. Directors from the early days of film up until 1990 are fine. You can choose a single film that particularly showcases the style of that director or cover an entire career. When you've made your choice, please let me or Quiggy know in the comments below. Be sure to include the link to your blog so I can add it easily to the roster.

2. No duplicates of movies. However, if someone has chosen Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho you can still pick another film he directed or his career as a whole.

3. Since this blogathon is taking place over Memorial Day weekend, early admissions will be accepted. If you will be out of town simply publish your post ahead of time and leave the link to it in the comments below. It will be added at the appropriate time.

4. Take one of the banners below and share it on your blog to spread the word!

5. And lastly, have fun!!

Roster:

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies: The film collaborations of Frank Capra and Robert Risken

The Midnite Drive-In:  John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Caftan Woman: William Wyler's Hell's Heroes (1929) and The Big Country (1958)

Christina Wehner: William Wellman

Cinematic Scribblings: Yasujirô Ozu's Late Spring

Love Letters to Old Hollywood: Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960)

Champagne for Lunch: Mervin LeRoy

Classic Movie Treasures: John Ford's The Quiet Man (1952)

Hamlette's Soliloquy: John Ford's The Searchers (1956)

*Whimsically Classic: Billy Wilder's The Major and the Minor (1942)

Critica Retro: Orson Welles's Othello (1952)

Cinema Cities: Overview of Billy Wilder's Films

Charlene's (Mostly) Classic Movie Reviews: Ingmar Bergman's Through A Glass Darkly (1961)

Realweedgiemidget Reviews: Ed Wood

Angelman's Place: Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968)

John V's Eclectic Avenue: Jacques Tourneur's  Out of the Past  and Curse of the Demon

*Because We Have the Stars: Billy Wilder' Sunset Boulevard (1950)

LA Explorer: Preston Sturges' Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)

*It Came from the Man Cave: Sam Raimi and Evil Dead 2 (1987)

Plot and Theme: Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Anybody Got a Match?: Stanley Donen's Charade (1963)

Pure Entertainment Preservation Society: The naturalness George Cukor's Films

Demanded Critical Reviews: The film-making style of Andrei Tarvosky in Solaris (1972), The Mirror (1975), and Stalker (1979)

A Viewer's Guide to Classic Films: D.W. Griffith's films Scarlet Days and Way Down East

Directors of Christmas Movies

                  

We watch them every year but aside from Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (and probably Michael Curtiz's White Chirstmas and Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner), you may not notice or recognize the director of your favorite Christmas films. In this post I am going to tell you who directed each of the most famous Christmas films and what other major films they directed. *This is not a complete list of Christmas films, just some of the better known or my personal favorites.

As I already mentioned, Capra and Curtiz need no introduction, but did you know the director of Christmas in Connecticut (1945) was Peter Godfrey? I certainly didn't recognize his name. I looked him up and discovered he was London born and directed two other great Stanwyck films (which I will be looking at for the Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon later this month) The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)and Cry Wolf (1947).

 

George Seaton directed the much loved Miracle on 34th Street (1947) but did you know he also directed The Country Girl (1954)? He also directed 36 Hours (1964), a James Garner film I discovered this year.

The director of The Bishop's Wife (1947) was Henry Koster, born in Berlin. He directed many well-known films, including The Inspector General (1949), Harvey (1950), and The Robe (1953), to name a few.

Holiday Affair (1949) is one of the lesser known holiday films starring Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh. It was directed by Don Hartman. He only directed five films total, but was the writer of many popular films, including quite a few for Bob Hope.

Remember the Night (1940), another Stanwyck film, was written by Preston Sturges but directed by Mitchell Leisen. His 50 credits include a couple Lombard films, Midnight (1939), and many other romantic comedies.

Bachelor Mother (1939) was directed by Garson Kanin, who directed My Favorite Wife (1940) and who wrote the Tracy/Hepburn films Adam's Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952).

Lastly, Holiday Inn (1942), which introduced perhaps the most popular Christmas song of all time, "White Christmas," was directed by Mark Sandrich, who has 76 credits beginning in 1926 and ending in 1946 (his death). His name will be familiar to all who love the Astaire/Rogers films.