Fifty Hollywood Directors introduces the most important, iconic and influential filmmakers who worked in Hollywood between the end of the silent period and the birth of the blockbuster. By exploring the historical, cultural and technological contexts in which each director was working, this book traces the formative period in commercial cinema when directors went from pioneers to industry heavyweights.

Introduction Robert Aldrich (1918-1983) Robert Altman (1925-2006) Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) Frank Capra (1887-1981) John Cassavetes (1929-1989) Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) Roger Corman (1926--) George Cukor (1899-1983) Michael Curtiz (1886-1962) Ossie Davis (1917-2005) Cecil B DeMille (1881-1959) John Ford (1894-1973) Sam Fuller (1912-1997) DW Griffith (1875-1948) Alice Guy-Blaché (1873-1968) Howard Hawks (1896-1977) Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) Elia Kazan (1909-2003) Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) Fritz Lang (1890-1976) Joseph Losey (1909-1984) Ernst Lubitsch (1892-1947) Ida Lupino (1918-1995) Anthony Mann (1906-1967) Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) Vincente Minelli (1903-1986) Mike Nichols (1931--) Max Ophuls (1902-1957) Gordon Parks (1912-2006) Alan J Pakula (1928-1998) Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) Arthur Penn (1922-2010) Roman Polanski (1933--) Otto Preminger (1905-1986) Nicholas Ray (1911-1979) Don Siegel (1912-1991) Robert Siodmak (1900-1973) Douglas Sirk (1900-1987) Victor Sjöström (1879-1960) Josef von Sternberg (1894-1969) Preston Sturgess (1898-1959) Frank Tashlin (1913-1972) Jacques Tourneur (1904-1977) King Vidor (1894-1982) Raoul Walsh (1887-1980) Lois Weber (1881-1939) Orson Welles (1915-1985) James Whale (1889-1957) Billy Wilder (1906-2002) William Wyler (1902-1981)

Yvonne Tasker is Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia. She has written, edited and co-edited six books on popular cinema and is the editor of Fifty Contemporary Film Directors.

Suzanne Leonard is Associate Professor of English at Simmons College, USA