The most underrated directors of all time

There ought to be a shrine of him somewhere, where comedians could go like muslims go to Mekka. We owe him awe and not a footnote. Probably the greatest comic genius that ever lived.

I wonder if there is any director in film history that can present as many anti-fascist films as this man in his repertoire. Not even Ken Loach has as many, I think. But Loach is better known.

"Betrayed", "Music Box", "Missing", "Amen", "State of Siege", "Z" and "The Confession" - all highly original films with truly important messages. A most remarkable director, who is quite known but more like quiet known than really known.

Only three films but what films! And who has heard of him?

No comment needed, I think. Truly great director, well remembered but not by a long shot as well remembered as he should be!

So many good films!! This director is known but not much more than that. Is there any director in film history that can present as many great films, as great, yes, but not as many! And amongst them is Cabin In the Cotton, the maybe most neglected film of all time.

The only films that seem to survive from this director are his truly bad films. When will we see decent copies of "The Second Best Secret Agent In the Whole Wide World" and "Big Zapper"? So he isn't the second best director in the whole wide world but to be totally forgotten? - he hasn't deserved that!

Everybody knows "The Bicycle Thief" but what about his other films and the amount of them?? I claim that this man is no way near as well known as he should be!

So appreciate of other directors and always forgetting himself, so it seems. We must not though - many good films.

Is there anybody out there, who has seen "Blue Collar" and can connect it with this man? That was his first film and he never did a film as bold as this one again. He survived instead and I cannot blame him. Met him once - a wonderful man.

"Battle of Algiers", "Capo" and "Burn" comes to mind and the rest is not easy to see, since it isn't around for the most part. He isn't well known enough for not being on this list.

Did not direct many films but amongst them Reds and Bulworth. Known as actor not as director.

He did Penn and Teller Get Killed and if that was his only film then he should get stoned and not be praised. As it turns out that was his only mistake in a series of wonderful films. And he should be praised - much more than he is.

Only did seven films but there isn't one bad amongst them. As it turns out, he should however have needed some of Ken Russel's skills (see below). If Heaven's Gate had been done on a shoe-string budget, nobody would have complained. He should be better known, because his record is similar to Stanley Kubrick's, who also never made a bad film.

Although well known for Ben Hur, not known for a lot of other films like Friendly Persuasion, Detective Story, The Best Years of Our Lives, Wuthering Heights, Dodsworth and others. Correctly appreciated once, not any more.

Surprised to see him on this list? However, this is a truly remarkable director. I could not tell if he was right-wing or left-wing although his films were quite political at times. Always dignity and sticking to the truth as far as he knew it. Often mentioned by name but seldom explored. By no means fully appreciated.

Dragonwyck, 5 Fingers, All About Eve, The Barefoot Contessa, The Quiet American, There Was a Crooked Man - to name a few. Not nearly enough known.

So many good films and so often neglected.

Quite known but not nearly as much as he should be known. especially in the US.

High Noon and many others. Hardly known at all.

Once well known, now hardly known at all because of that idiocy called the new wave in France.

One of the first important directors of documentary.

Johnny Got His Gun. And please check out all the films he wrote.

Rather known but in my opinion not known enough.

Went up like a rocket, flashed, and gone was he. Not fair.

British quality film-making before David Lean took over. Who knows of him and his partner Emeric besides me and Martin Scorsese?

See above.

Once correctly estimated. Not any more.

The Man In the White Suit and many other films. Awesome, simply awesome. Practically unknown today.

So many good films, so abominably neglected.

The Most Dangerous Game and others that need to be remembered.

On par with David Lean in many respects. Hardly known at all today.

You seek him here (US), you seek him there (France), those nazi-republicans seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven is he in....yes he is still here in the abomination of western capitalistic society or, at least, he was until recently. Oops, just checked, he's gone. Too late for receiving the praise he ought to have had.

Joan of Arc, Ordet, Vampyr etc. Magical Maestro forgotten today.

Please forget that he did the fascist Fountainhead! He did so many other marvelous films, starting with The Crowd.

Wild Boys of the Road and many others, which this director is seldom reminded by. Who cares about his John Wayne -films?

Photographing Fairies, Close Your Eyes and The River King. Remarkable films and it seems that, because of lousy reviews, this director is kept from directing the likes of them again and has therefore drifted away into TV-land.

Remembered for all the wrong reasons and not for "They Live", that truly remarkable film.

They all talk about "Divorce, Italian Style", which is quite mediocre, and not a word about "Railroad Man" and other films, that you cannot even see now because they are not available!

Who has heard that name? And yet he has directed "Training Day" and "Shooter", two remarkable "smugglers" if ever there were any. Both these films point out serious problems in US society and where to focus your attention to while pretending to be action movies.

When will they finally remember this guy again and produce some decent dvd:s or, why not, blu-rays from his production? Will I ever see a decent copy of "Act of Love" again?

Did some 20+ features before he was swallowed by television. Of these at least half are cult or at least truly memorable. Is definitely not as well known as he should be.

Started off so well with Tesis, Open Your Eyes and The Others and then he did the talked about The Sea Inside, which was an atheist blunder and he doesn't seem to recover from that. Will not be forgotten by me for these first three films but will maybe be forgotten by most, and regretfully rightly so, if he continues on the path he seems to have taken now.

Flodder. Do you know the film?

OK, he did The World Is Not Enough, but let's forget about that and concentrate on Coal Miner's Daughter, Gorky Park, Class Action, THUNDERHEART and Extreme Measures instead. Is not well enough known for these efforts.

So many great westerns and film noir. The big films, though, were not as good. Still, too much neglected.

Many action films but even there some edge of decency to them. Did also "Top of the World" and similar "smugglers" (= films pretending to be one thing while in truth being something quite different - directors in the Soviet smuggled anti-totalitarian messages in their films and were praised by the west, directors in the west....) and is probably because of that not so well known.

Known for Tootsie and Out of Africa, but not for "Jeremiah Johnson", "The Yakuza", "3 Days for Condor", "Castle Keep" and "The Scalphunters". Falsely rated if not underrated.

On this list because of "Twenty-four eyes". Hopefully better know in Japan than here.

Not known for "Tucker", therefore on this list.

A Pistol for Ringo and many other films. Hopefully better known in Italy than here. Atmospheric.

Many have seen and remembered the short film "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". This was the director who did it. Remember?

Shall we remember the traitor or the filmmaker? I don't know. Meanwhile I put him on this list.

The Wages of Fear and most of his other films are most remarkable. Not as well known as he should be.

Did the astonishing Wag the Dog. Is he properly known for that? I don't think so.

On this list for his craftsmanship. Could make a film of a shoe-string budget look like a multi-million enterprise. He is not adequately appreciated for that.

Known for a lot of things but not for the highly imaginative director that he was. Passed away far too early.

Directed 9 features, all of them memorable and especially so "Who'll Stop the Rain". Did you know his name?

You all heard of Zorba but did you know that this man directed it? And not only Zorba but also A Matter of Dignity and others.

So many wonderful films and everybody seems to have forgotten all about him.

Many of his films cannot even be obtained in Sweden but I think nobody portrayed the working class better than he. He must not be forgotten.

Naughty director who did naughty films - all interesting and thought-provoking although being almost vulgar. Did not shy away from vulgar and we should not shy away from him.

That Man From Rio, King of Hearts, The Man From Hong Kong, Le Magnifique...They were all so amusing and did a lot for Jean-Paul Belmondo. I think this director should be remembered.

All those Zatoichi-films and Lone Wolf and Cub-films and Razor and... Probably not forgotten in Japan but should be known elsewhere.

Working Class Goes to Heaven and other films by this virtually unknown director.

Director who did three good films in a row after he had written "In China they eat dogs". Even I tend to forget him. We shouldn't.

Always interesting and should not be totally forgotten.

I wonder if there is any director with a broader range than this one. Check out all the movies he has done and ask yourself why he is not wider known.

Hardly known at all for his direction that includes "The Whisperers", "Of Human Bondage", "The Stepford Wives" and others.

Quite well known some forty years ago but much less known today. A pity.

Many tender films, worth to be known better.

Onibaba, Kuruneko and Naked Island.

Remembered for "Amarcord", "Satyricon" and "Roma" but not chiefly for "La Strada", "Nights of Cabiria" and "I vitelloni". Correctly remembere for "8 1/2". He is on my list of most overrated directors as well. Should have his own list with only him on it with the title "The most wrongly rated director of all times".