Directorial Chronology - 1970
In The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929 - 1968, Andrew Sarris provided an extremely useful and entertaining appendix he called "Directorial Chronology." It was basically a best American film of the year list with a highly auteurist, idiosyncratic bent. So you would see things like Man's Favorite Sport (Hawks) ranked well above something more critically exalted (by the mainstream) like Fail Safe (Lumet). He did not numerically rank the films, but they are pretty clearly presented in order of preference (and preferred auteurs). Since it is my aim to pay tribute to great text by the great man, I am going to attempt to do the same. Here is the next entry.
Directorial Chronology - 1970
Arthur Penn Little Big Man
Sam Peckinpah Ballad of Cable Hogue
John Cassavetes Husbands
Michelangelo Antonioni Zabriskie Point
Irvin Kirshner Loving
Billy Wilder Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Russ Meyer Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Jerry Schatzberg Puzzle of a Downfall Child
Blake Edwards Darling Lili
Frank Perry Diary of a Mad Housewife
Brian De Palma Hi, Mom
Stephanie Rothman Student Nurses
Leonard Kastle The Honeymoon Killers
Phil Karlson Hornets' Nest
Bob Rafelson Five Easy Pieces
Carl Reiner Where's Poppa?
Stuart Rosenberg WUSA
Paul Mazursky Alex in Wonderland
Robert Altman MASH
Robert Altman Brewster McCloud
John Huston Kremlin Letter
Richard Rush Getting Straight
Melvin Van Peebles Watermelon Man
Jerry Lewis Which Way to the Front
Howard Hawks Rio Lobo
Don Siegel Two Mules for Sister Sara
Robert Aldrich Too Late the Hero
Elliot Silverstein A Man Called Horse
Paul Williams The Revolutionary
John Avildsen Joe
John Frankenheimer I Walk the Line
William Friedkin Boys in the Band
Roger Corman Bloody Mama
Herbert Ross Owl and the Pussycat
Mike Nichols Catch 22
Brian G. Hutton Kelly's Heroes
Paul Morrissey Trash
William Fraker Monte Walsh
Vincente Minnelli On a Clear Day You can See Forever
