Directors With A Small Body Of Work

[sfpcc1]

Can anyone think of a famous or known director whose body of work is well known but small.

 

I'll start with three examples:

 

Charles Laughton made one film: Night Of The Hunter

 

Bob Fosse made only Five Films: Sweet Chairity, Caberet, Lenny, All That Jazz, and Star 80

(but he also worked on stage)

 

Stanley Kubrick made only around 12 films, (give or take a movie or two.)

[ValentineXavier]

Terrance Malick has only directed five films so far, including *Badlands* and *Days of Heaven*.

 

Marlon Brando directed only one, *One-eyed Jacks*.

 

Australian director, Ray Lawrence, a less well-known favorite of mine, has only directed three films, all great - *Bliss* 1985, *Lantana* 2001, and *Jindabyne* 2006.

[MyFavoriteFilms]

I think the Fosse example best explains it...if they spend the bulk of their career directing stage productions or television shows, then they don't helm many feature films.

 

Also, sometimes actors take a turn at directing but it is not their primary focus. Paul Newman directed five feature films and one telefilm.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Rouben Mamoulian---17 completed films in 35 years (Is that small?)--fired from several others.

[MyFavoriteFilms]

> Rouben Mamoulian---17 completed films in 35 years (Is that small?)--fired from several others.

 

I guess it depends on whether or not he was directing films that were large in scope and took many months or years to complete. Kubrick's total is low because he would sometimes spend up to three years filming something, then spend another year or two on it in the editing stages.

 

I would have to check Mamoulian on the internet broadway database...perhaps he spent a lot of time doing stage work in between his films? I don't know.

 

I think almost every director has been fired or replaced on a few projects...maybe with the exception of Robert Wise, whose track record is near-perfect.

[scottman1932]

Erich von Stroheim, 8 films, 9 if you count HELLO SISTER (1934), where he was fired in production and little or no final footage was used.

[Guest]

Ida Lupino 8 films

 

Barbra Streisand 3 films

 

Lillian Gish 1 film

[MyFavoriteFilms]

Speaking of lady directors, *Penny Marshall* is another one to add here.

 

As for *Ida Lupino,* her total is low because she focused her attention on directing television programs beginning in the late 50s. She did come back to features in '66 to direct her pal Roz Russell in THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS.

 

Ida's TV directorial work includes: Mr. Adams and Eve (in which she costarred with husband Howard Duff); The Donna Reed Show, The Untouchables, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Rifleman, Bewitched, and Gilligan's Island.

[JefCostello]

Jean Vigo only directed a few films.

Sergio Leone had about 6 or 7.

Terrence Malick doesn't have many movies.

Andrei Tarkovsky made 7 films.

I don't think Jacques Tati made more than 5 or 6 films. (I could be wrong on this one, though).

 

 

As far as classic Hollywood, directors made tons of films in those days, so there aren't many acclaimed classic Hollywood filmmakers with less than 10 credits.

[scottman1932]

Ricardo Cortez directed 7 films (1939-1940)

James Gleason directed 1 film in 1935

[sfpcc1]

Michael Cimino: 7 films, (2 were good, the last one The Sundowners nobody saw came out in 1996.)