The history of Hollywood has delivered an extensive list of directors whose names have become synonymous with the movie-going experience. In addition, certain directors can be identified with different eras of Hollywood, like Charlie Chaplin in the Silent era, Alfred Hitchcock in the Golden Age, and Steven Spielberg in the Silver Age.
Big films sometimes loom larger in viewers' minds than their directors, no matter how famous they may be. As a result, several prominent Hollywood directors have made films that fell under the radar for one reason or another, whether it be box office underperformance, poor critical reception, or something else.
10
Canadian Bacon Is Michael Moore's Lone Non-Documentary Film
Canadian Bacon is the only film to date by Michael Moore that isn't a documentary. It also features the last film performance of John Candy, who died an untimely death at just 43 in 1994. Moore satirizes relations between the United States and Canada along their shared border in the film.
The film received mostly poor to middling reviews from critics, and Moore's career has gone on to be defined by great documentary works like Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Sicko. Canadian Bacon is better than its generally given credit, though. Candy is hilarious as usual, and if the film falters a bit in the second half, it's still fresher than anything Moore has put out since 2015.
9
Murder! Is Alfred Hitchcock Showing What He Would Later Bring To Hollywood
Alfred Hitchcock made several films before he defined an era of Hollywood filmmaking. However, none of those films revealed more about what would become his signature style than Murder! Hitchcock plays with his favorite theme in this 1930 effort, experimenting with shocking imagery and camera cuts.
The film also plays with the gross sexist history of women not being perceived as truth-tellers, perceived as mentally unwell. Herbert Marshall, who became a regular Hollywood leading man, stars in the film as a juror hounded to convict an innocent woman.
8
Howard Hawks' Scarface Is Better Than The Remake
Though Howard Hawks' Scarface was well-known at one time, it has since been cast into obscurity by the 1983 remake starring Al Pacino and directed by Brian De Palma. Hawks' version is a much better film. While the '83 version is obsessed with cocaine and extravagant decor, this is all to disguise its hollowness.
The 1932 version frames the idea of the American Dream alongside the rise of Italian gangster Tony Camonte, played marvelously by Paul Muni. Both the American Dream and Camonte are portrayed as deceitful and dangerous, as the film's trajectory mirrors the '20s falling off into the Great Depression.
7
Doctor X Is One Of Michael Curtiz's Only Horror Efforts.jpg)
Michael Curtiz is known for films like Casablanca and Captain Blood, but Doctor X is a very effective pre-Code horror film from 1932. The film features a performance from Fay Wray that pre-dates her role in King Kong, and co-stars famous stage actor Lionel Atwill.
The film is a solid horror effort featuring an evocative atmosphere and remarkable use of early two-color Technicolor. Its pre-Code release allowed the film to engage in several topics that were considered taboo at the time, including cannibalism and prostitution.
6
The Man From Planet X Is Classic Edgar G. Ulmer
The Man from Planet X is consistent with nearly everything in Edgar G. Ulmer's filmography, yet it never became one of his more well-known efforts. The director, known for The Black Cat and the film noir Detour, made what is easily one of his top three films with this 1951 effort.
This sci-fi film has all the markings of its era, like Cold War metaphors and scientists hoping to gain a selfish edge. Few of these films have what Planet X does: a genuine heart and an alien character who's both likable and oddly sympathetic.
5
Outrage Is Ida Lupino At Her Most Trailblazing.jpg)
Ida Lupino was famous for being one of the foremost feminist filmmakers of her era, best known for 1953's The Hitch-Hiker. Outrage came out three years earlier, and is one of the first films to tackle the subject of sexual assault head-on. Lupino was a fearless director, a fact that shows in this film.
The director's bravery in poking holes through a number of misogynistic lines throughout her career is why her work is so essential. Here, she digs deep into the psychological trauma suffered by victims, and the wide-ranging impact that trauma has on their day-to-day lives in the aftermath.
4
Images Is A Terrifying Film From Robert Altman
Robert Altman was an incredible director, best known for films like M*A*S*H, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, and Nashville. His 1972 film Images isn't as well-known, but it's easily one of the most viscerally terrifying films of all time. Susannah York turns in an incredible performance in the film.
Altman subjects York's character to a barrage of ghostly apparitions and hallucinations while she stays at a remote vacation home. One particular scene in which her character imagines her husband as a different man pretending to be her husband is one of the scariest scenes of all time.
3
True Crime Is An Overlooked Clint Eastwood Thriller
Clint Eastwood has undertaken an incredible workload over the last several decades, and True Crime is one of those unsung efforts forgotten by time. Eastwood plays a journalist convinced that a man is about to be put to death for a crime he didn't commit and then goes about proving it.
The film is significant because it shows a side of Eastwood that's always been apparent in his best work, but is underappreciated: a sensitivity to human suffering and politically liberal sentiment. This 1999 effort is easily among the best of his late 20th/21st-century output.
2
Rich And Famous Was George Cukor's Last Film
George Cukor was 82 years old when Rich and Famous was released in 1981. Cukor, known for Hollywood classics like The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib, examines the complicated relationship between two longtime friends who find their lives at different intervals.
Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen play their roles perfectly, creating a compelling duality throughout the film as they each contend with the presence of the other in their life. The film offers an engaging look at how time rearranges or manipulates relationships, and how the role of status interacts with this.
1
The Falcon And The Snowman Is An Extremely Effective Spy Drama From John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger, whose most famous film was Midnight Cowboy, based 1985's The Falcon and the Snowman on the true account of two American men who sold United States security secrets to the Soviet Union. Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn play these two men in a film both paranoid and icy cold.
This excellent film succeeds because of it the way it indicts inexperience and naiveté. The characters in the film become so hopelessly out of step and in over their heads that a human connection with them is nearly severed while the audience wonders just how something this bad could possibly happen.