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The Essential Directors: The Art and Impact of Cinema's Most Influential Filmmakers
From Turner Classic Movies, this is the essential guide to all the must-know detail on the style, achievements, and landmark films of the most influential directors in cinema history from the silent era through the 1970s.
For well over a century, those who create motion pictures have touched our hearts and souls; they have transported and transformed our minds, intoxicated and entranced our senses. One artist's vision is the single most prominent force behind the the director. The Essential Directors illuminates the unseen forces behind some of the most notable screen triumphs from the aesthetic peak of silent cinema through the New Hollywood of the 1970s. Considering each artist's influence on the medium, cultural impact, and degree of achievement, Turner Classic Movies presents a compendium of Hollywood's most influential filmmakers, with profiles offering history and insight on the filmmaker's narrative style, unique touches, contributions to the medium, key films, and distinctive movie moments to watch for. The work of these game-changing artists is illustrated throughout by more than 200 full-color and black-and-white photographs.
In The Essential Directors you’ll read how Cecil B. DeMille revamped religion to define an era, and how Oscar Micheaux broke barriers to become the most influential Black filmmaker of the 1920s. You’ll marvel at the efficient artistry of “One-Take Woody” Van Dyke and fall in love again with the sophisticated studio-era classics
of George Cukor. You’ll gain insight into how women like Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino built thriving careers in an industry ruled by men and discover what drove Mike Nichols to mix comedy with tragedy, becoming the highest-paid director of his day in the the process. The Essential Directors presents the work of these game-changing artists and dozens more in this stunning volume.
For well over a century, those who create motion pictures have touched our hearts and souls; they have transported and transformed our minds, intoxicated and entranced our senses. One artist's vision is the single most prominent force behind the the director. The Essential Directors illuminates the unseen forces behind some of the most notable screen triumphs from the aesthetic peak of silent cinema through the New Hollywood of the 1970s. Considering each artist's influence on the medium, cultural impact, and degree of achievement, Turner Classic Movies presents a compendium of Hollywood's most influential filmmakers, with profiles offering history and insight on the filmmaker's narrative style, unique touches, contributions to the medium, key films, and distinctive movie moments to watch for. The work of these game-changing artists is illustrated throughout by more than 200 full-color and black-and-white photographs.
In The Essential Directors you’ll read how Cecil B. DeMille revamped religion to define an era, and how Oscar Micheaux broke barriers to become the most influential Black filmmaker of the 1920s. You’ll marvel at the efficient artistry of “One-Take Woody” Van Dyke and fall in love again with the sophisticated studio-era classics
of George Cukor. You’ll gain insight into how women like Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino built thriving careers in an industry ruled by men and discover what drove Mike Nichols to mix comedy with tragedy, becoming the highest-paid director of his day in the the process. The Essential Directors presents the work of these game-changing artists and dozens more in this stunning volume.
344 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
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143 people want to read
About the author
Sloan De Forest
5 books10 followersSloan De Forest is a writer, actor, and film historian who has written about film for Sony, Time Warner Cable, the Mary Pickford Foundation, and Bright Lights Film Journal. She has contributed essays to the books Natalie Wood: Reflections on a Legendary Life and Grace Kelly: Hollywood Dream Girl. She lives in Hollywood—mentally, spiritually, and geographically.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 22, 2022
A march through time, detailing 56 prolific directors. Geniuses such as Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. DeMille, Frank Capra, Michael Curtiz, John Huston, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and more. Each director has a list of 5 or 6 'must see' movies. Their movie-list is often far too truncated.
It was interesting to read about there persona behind the scenes. These are the people that had the greatest control of what we ultimately get to see on the film. There is a 'key scene to watch' that chooses a particular 'signature' movie scene that is part of their trademark.
Consistent book layout, with good pictures and easy to read text. This is the tip of the ice berg here, since an entire book can be written on each one of these greats.
I would have liked a little more depth, but that could get out-of-control with book size here.
It was interesting to read about there persona behind the scenes. These are the people that had the greatest control of what we ultimately get to see on the film. There is a 'key scene to watch' that chooses a particular 'signature' movie scene that is part of their trademark.
Consistent book layout, with good pictures and easy to read text. This is the tip of the ice berg here, since an entire book can be written on each one of these greats.
I would have liked a little more depth, but that could get out-of-control with book size here.
October 7, 2023
Whenever I approach one of TCM's Essentials books, I do so with a bit of skepticism, because my experiences have been… shall we say… uneven. Which is why I am so pleased to report that Sloan De Forest has produced a great Essentials volume, this time about film directors.
The premise is simple. Mr. De Forest divides film history into six eras and then gives summary information about whom he considers to be the important film directors of each era. Each summary includes some background information, a general sense of the director's style(s), the essential movies that the director made, and a description of a scene from one of those movies that best illustrates that director's style. Pretty straightforward.
At the end of each chapter, Mr. De Forest provides an overview of other important directors from the era who didn't quite make the list.
I am pretty conversant when it comes to classic movie directors, so, while there were a few directors who were not familiar, I was pleased to see that I tended to agree with Mr. De Forest's choices throughout the book. I balked a little at his choices of some of the more modern directors, but I think that was more a matter of my tastes rather than his mistake.
All-in-all, a good read and a worthy reference book for my collection.
The premise is simple. Mr. De Forest divides film history into six eras and then gives summary information about whom he considers to be the important film directors of each era. Each summary includes some background information, a general sense of the director's style(s), the essential movies that the director made, and a description of a scene from one of those movies that best illustrates that director's style. Pretty straightforward.
At the end of each chapter, Mr. De Forest provides an overview of other important directors from the era who didn't quite make the list.
I am pretty conversant when it comes to classic movie directors, so, while there were a few directors who were not familiar, I was pleased to see that I tended to agree with Mr. De Forest's choices throughout the book. I balked a little at his choices of some of the more modern directors, but I think that was more a matter of my tastes rather than his mistake.
All-in-all, a good read and a worthy reference book for my collection.
November 18, 2023
This is all about Hollywood directors, so don’t look for Kiarostami, Kielowski or Herzog; also missing are Spike Lee, Richard Linklater and the Coen Brothers. But what we do have in here is a parade of fabulous filmmakers, each of whom get a 5 or 6 page whistlestop career summary and a checklist of Must See movies plus lotsa great pix.
Sloan de Forest’s heart is in the right place. She ticks Hollywood off for excluding women and Black directors mostly, she shudders at the well-known Woody Allen and Polanski scandals, and she points out great forgotten gems made by all these directors.
But man, she is a bland writer. She can spot a tedious uninformative quote at 50 yards :
Upon Mervn LeRoy’s death in 1987, critic Charles Champlin identified the common thread found in all of the producer/director’s films : “They were meant to move audiences strongly – to tears, laughter, pride, fear, satisfaction. And most of them did.”
The New York Times in 1942 praised Casablanca as “a highly entertaining and even inspiring film that makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap”
Biographer George Mast on Howard Hawks : “Hawks’ stories might be seen as complicated webs of causality in which each of the parts functions efficiently and effortlessly in producing the whole.”
I mean, we would hope you could say all these things about every movie ever made. Well, maybe you couldn’t say them about Spider Baby. That one is pure batshit.
One thing this book reminded me of was how very many of the great Hollywood directors were German :
Fritz Lang
Erich von Stroheim
Ernst Lubitsch
Josef von Sternberg
William Wyler
Otto Preminger
Douglas Sirk
Billy Wilder
Fred Zinnemann
Well, however colourlessly Sloan writes about these 56 directors she cannot help but enthuse and excite the film fan reader, because on every page you are thinking “oh yeah, I gotta see that one again!” or “hey, I never heard of that one, sounds great”; and after all she crams such a vast amount of information into 300 pages, so I should stop being so mean – this is a nice book! Recommended!
Sloan de Forest’s heart is in the right place. She ticks Hollywood off for excluding women and Black directors mostly, she shudders at the well-known Woody Allen and Polanski scandals, and she points out great forgotten gems made by all these directors.
But man, she is a bland writer. She can spot a tedious uninformative quote at 50 yards :
Upon Mervn LeRoy’s death in 1987, critic Charles Champlin identified the common thread found in all of the producer/director’s films : “They were meant to move audiences strongly – to tears, laughter, pride, fear, satisfaction. And most of them did.”
The New York Times in 1942 praised Casablanca as “a highly entertaining and even inspiring film that makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap”
Biographer George Mast on Howard Hawks : “Hawks’ stories might be seen as complicated webs of causality in which each of the parts functions efficiently and effortlessly in producing the whole.”
I mean, we would hope you could say all these things about every movie ever made. Well, maybe you couldn’t say them about Spider Baby. That one is pure batshit.
One thing this book reminded me of was how very many of the great Hollywood directors were German :
Fritz Lang
Erich von Stroheim
Ernst Lubitsch
Josef von Sternberg
William Wyler
Otto Preminger
Douglas Sirk
Billy Wilder
Fred Zinnemann
Well, however colourlessly Sloan writes about these 56 directors she cannot help but enthuse and excite the film fan reader, because on every page you are thinking “oh yeah, I gotta see that one again!” or “hey, I never heard of that one, sounds great”; and after all she crams such a vast amount of information into 300 pages, so I should stop being so mean – this is a nice book! Recommended!
November 30, 2021
Film historian and author Sloan De Forest provides movie buffs an excellent guide to the most influential film directors and their impact on film history. This carefully curated collection of directors, with figures from the beginning of film history to present day, highlights the importance of each individuals contributions as well as demonstrates the impact they had on a whole on how movies are made and how they influence culture. I really enjoy De Forest's writing style and this book is no exception. There is a lot of information here so it will take a while to read through all the directors. Worth the effort!
Full review: https://www.outofthepastblog.com/2021...
Full review: https://www.outofthepastblog.com/2021...
February 23, 2022
I really enjoyed this. There's a great range of directors in here, from early days of Hollywood to the present. I liked the profiles of each one, with viewing suggestions and beautiful photos. I liked that the author doesn't shy away from the controversy surrounding some of them. It's not a deep dive, but a really good overview of directors. There were a couple I hadn't heard of and also plenty of films I'm looking forward to watching that the book has inspired me to see. A great gift for the movie lover in your life.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy for review.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy for review.
May 24, 2024
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has issued a series of books highlighting famous films, directors and stars of the film industry. The Essential Directors covers several of directors both Hollywood and foreign and is a nice way of comparing who were responsible for major films. The book also covers women and minority directors and though I could dispute some of the films picked as essential, it's still a good read.
March 30, 2022
Loved the book! I would have loved to see a few more directors added from our current time, but perhaps another volume could be written! ;) The book was very detailed and taught me a lot about film history. I greatly enjoyed reading about some of my favorite directors such as Hitchcock, Wilder, Capra, McCarey, and Brooks!
December 10, 2022
If you're a film fan wanting to expand your knowledge, look no further than this book. Packed with information galore, and well written. De Forest hits the target yet again.
March 30, 2025
A little bit too American for my tastes, but still an interesting read that has provided many new films to seek out.
December 23, 2025
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews