Criteria for eligibility were as follows: only directors not previously well established as actors would be eligible, so out went Welles, Cassavetes, and Sjöström. Cameo and walk-on appearances were also excluded—so no Don Siegel in Play Misty for Me or Dario Argento in Innocent Blood. Lists ranked in order of preference were cajoled from a dozen game Film Comment contributors and esteemed colleagues: Gavin Smith, Kent Jones, Dave Kehr, Amy Taubin, Nathan Lee, Chuck Stephens, and Michael Chaiken in the U.S.; Geoff Andrew, Jonathan Romney, and David Thompson in London; Alexander Horwath in Vienna; and Nicolas Saada in Paris. Points for each mention were allotted in the time-honored manner: 20 points for a number one choice, 19 for number two, etc.

  1. Fritz Lang, Contempt

  2. Erich von Stroheim, Grand Illusion

  3. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taipei Story

  4. Erich von Stroheim, Sunset Boulevard

  5. John Huston, Chinatown

  6. David Cronenberg, To Die For

  7. Sydney Pollack, Husbands and Wives

  8. Jerzy Skolimowski, Eastern Promises

  9. Roger Corman, The Godfather Part II

  10. François Truffaut, Close Encounters of the Third Kind

  11. Nicholas Ray, The American Friend

  12. Mark Rydell, The Long Goodbye

  13. Spike Jonze, Three Kings

  14. Garry Marshall, Lost in America

  15. R.W. Fassbinder, The Bridegroom, the Comedienne and the Pimp

  16. James L. Brooks, Modern Romance

  17. Raoul Walsh, Birth of a Nation

  18. Otto Preminger, Stalag 17

  19. Roman Polanski, A Pure Formality

  20. Sam Fuller, Return to Salem’s Lot

  21. Sydney Pollack, Eyes Wide Shut

  22. Maurice Pialat, Que la bête meure aka Killer!

  23. Martin Scorsese, Guilty by Suspicion

  24. Ken Russell, The Russia House

  25. Martin Scorsese, Quiz Show

  26. Caveh Zahedi, Waking Life

  27. Jean-Luc Godard, We’re All Still Here

  28. Preston Sturges, Paris Holiday

  29. Nanni Moretti, The Second Time

  30. Boris Barnet, The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks

  31. Benjamin Christensen, Michael (1924, Carl Theodor Dreyer)

  32. Maurice Pialat, Mes petites amoureuses

  33. Jerzy Skolimowski, White Nights

  34. George Kuchar, Thundercrack!

  35. Patrice Chéreau, The Last of the Mohicans

  36. Sharunas Bartas, Pola X

  37. Claude Berri, Va savoir

  38. Kenneth Anger, A Midsummer’s Night Dream*

  39. Tian Zhuangzhuang, South of the Clouds

  40. Woody Allen, The Front

  41. Larry Fessenden, River of Grass

  42. John Cromwell, A Wedding

  43. Richard C. Sarafian, Songwriter

  44. Werner Schroeter, Beware of a Holy Whore

  45. Barbet Schroeder, The Darjeeling Limited

  46. Elia Kazan, City for Conquest

  47. William (Wilhelm) Dieterle, Faust

  48. Peter Bogdanovich, Mr. Jealousy

  49. Robert Downey Sr., To Live and Die in L.A.

  50. Sydney Pollack, Death Becomes Her *Although the maker of such avant-garde milestones as Scorpio Rising and Fireworks once claimed he played the child prince in William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt’s 1935 film (at age 7), Warner Bros.’ production reports and casting sheets conclusively document that a little girl, child actress Sheila Brown, actually played the role. Nevertheless, three participants voted for him.