Directorial Chronology - 1973
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.
Now, the great movie year of 1973.
Directorial Chronology 1973
Terence Malick Badlands
Robert Altman The Long Goodbye
Martin Scorsese Mean Streets
Richard Lester The Three Musketeers
Sam Peckinpah Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Peter Bogdanovich Paper Moon
Bill Gunn Ganja & Hess
Brian De Palma Sisters
Woody Allen Sleeper
Lamont Johnson The Last American Hero
William Friedkin The Exorcist
James Flynn The Outfit
George Romero The Crazies
Jerry Schatzberg Scarecrow
Hal Ashby The Last Detail
Phil Karlson Walking Tall
George Roy Hill The Sting
George Lucas American Graffiti
Paul Mazursky Blume in Love
Don Siege Charley Varrick
Howard Zieff Slither
Jack Starrett Cleopatra Jones
John Hancock Bang the Drum Slowly
Jack Hill Coffy
Robert Aldrich Emperor of the North
Peter Yates The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Larry Cohen Hell Up in Harlem
Clint Eastwood High Plains Drifter
Herbert Ross The Last of Sheila
Willard Huyck Messiah of Evil
Sidney Lumet Serpico
James Harris Some Call It Loving
James Guerico Electra Glide in Blue
Robert Clouse Enter the Dragon
Curtis Hanson Sweet Kill
John Milius Dillinger
Sidney Pollack The Way We Were
Joseph Sargent White Lightning
J. Lee Thompson Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Clint Eastwood Breezy
Curtis Harrington The Cat Creature
Mark Rydell Cinderella Liberty
Ted Post The Harrad Experiment
Aram Avakian Cops and Robbers
Mike Nichols The Day of the Dolphin
Gerardo Damiano The Devil in Miss Jones
Oscar Williams Five on the Black Hand Side
Ralph Bakshi Heavy Traffic
Ossie Davis Gordon's War
Bruce Geller Harry in Your Pocket
