Hollywood's Greatest Directors

A survey reference work presenting thumbnail sketches of important American film directors—set against a general overview of the evolution of Hollywood moviemaking—Hollywood's Greatest Directors is hosted by Erick Avari, who makes some rather extravagant claims for cinema's displacing literature as the primary contemporary means of investigating the human condition (as well as unreservedly embracing the auteur theory of directorial “authorship”). Narrated by Alphonse Kealey, the five half-hour programs here offer brief biographical accounts of select filmmakers, beginning with D.W. Griffith and ending with Kathryn Bigelow. While the coverage is compressed (Orson Welles, for example, receives less than five minutes), and some of the omissions are glaring (Alfred Hitchcock is dismissed with a single still), the drawbacks are balanced by a determined effort to include women (not only Bigelow, but also Lois Weber and Dorothy Arzner—hardly household names) and African Americans (Oscar Micheaux and Spike Lee). The division into five “epochs” (the silent era, the coming of sound, the “golden age,” the “second golden age” of the '70s, and the “new wave” since then) seems a bit arbitrary, and some choices are bound to be controversial (Mel Brooks but not Woody Allen?). But the clips here, coupled with excerpts from interviews with academicians, will serve as a useful introduction for newcomers to film studies. Extras include educator's guides, filmographies, timelines, and lists of Oscar winners. Also newly available at the same price is the five-volume companion set The Great Directors: The Making of 21st Century Hollywood. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)