Amazing Directorial Accomplishments in Cinema Quiz

Answer: Victor Fleming: "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) 6/10

Victor Fleming also directed "Gone with the Wind" which was released in 1939 and ranked 4/6. Fleming directed his first movie in 1919. He joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios in 1932 and directed some of their most prestigious films starting with "Red Dust" (1932). He won the Academy Award for Best Director for "Gone with the Wind".
Michael Curtiz is the only other director with a top 10 film and another in the top 100 from the same year which was "Yankee Doodle Dandy" 100/98.
Francis Ford Coppola also directed "Apocalypse Now" (1979) 28/30 and "The Godfather Part II" (1974) 32/32.
Steven Spielberg also directed "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) 25/24, "Jaws" (1975) 48/56, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) 60/66 and "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) (no rank)/71.

Answer: Gene Kelly: "Singin' in the Rain" (1952)

Gene Kelly made his film debut as an actor/singer/dancer in "For Me and My Gal" (1942), starring with Judy Garland. He began co-directing with Stanley Donan in "On the Town" (1949). He continued directing into the 1960s, including "Hello, Dolly!" (1969) which received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. "Singin' in the Rain" is ranked 10/5.
Fred Astaire was the lead actor/singer/dancer but was not credited with directing or choreographing "Swing Time" which is ranked (no rank)/90.
Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse were outstanding dancer/choreographer/directors but did not have lead roles in the listed movies. "West Side Story" is ranked 41/51 while "Cabaret" is ranked (no rank)/63.

Answer: Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson is a native of New Zealand who directed "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) which was ranked 50 by AFI. The film which brought him to mainstream prominence for directing and screenwriting was "Heavenly Creatures" (1994). In addition to directing, Jackson co-wrote and co-produced "The Fellowship of the Ring", the first film in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. It was nominated for 12 Oscars and won four but not Best Picture or Director. The final film in the trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003), which he also directed, co-produced and co-wrote, won all eleven Oscars it was nominated for including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.
James Cameron directed, wrote, co-produced and co-edited "Titanic" which is from 1997 and was ranked number 83 by AFI. It won 11 Oscars including Best Picture and Director.
Ridley Scott directed "Gladiator" (2000) which won for Best Picture and received a total of five Oscars. He also directed "Black Hawk Down" (2001) which was nominated for Best Director and won two Oscars. Neither was ranked in the AFI top 100.
Ron Howard directed and co-produced "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) which won for Best Director and Picture and received a total of four Oscars but was not ranked in the AFI top 100.

Answer: Billy Wilder

Wilder was screenwriting in Berlin and moved to Hollywood in 1934. He came to prominence as a director and co-writer with "Double Indemnity" (1944) which was ranked number 38/29 by AFI. His other top 100 films are "Some Like It Hot" (1959) 14/22 and "The Apartment" (1960) 93/80.
Frank Capra's top 100 films are "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) 11/20, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) 29/26 and "It Happened One Night" (1934) 35/46.
William Wyler's top 100 films are "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "Ben-Hur" (1959) 72/100 and "Wuthering Heights" (1939) 73/(no rank).
John Huston's top 100 films are "The African Queen" (1951) 17/65, "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) 23/31 and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) 30/38. Huston also wrote the screenplays for all these his movies listed here.

Answer: Orson Welles: "Citizen Kane" (1941)

"Citizen Kane" is widely considered to be the greatest film ever made (as of 2022) and was rated number one on both AFI surveys. And it was Welles' first film! He went on to direct twelve more feature films and acted in several more as well. Despite being considered one of the most influential directors of all time, he won only one Oscar which was for Best Original Screenplay for "Citizen Kane" and this was the only Oscar "Citizen Kane" won.
Woody Allen also co-wrote "Annie Hall" which was ranked 31/35. It was nominated for five Oscars and won four including Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay.
Kevin Costner also co-produced "Dances with Wolves" which was ranked 75/(no rank). It was nominated for 12 Oscars and won seven including Best Picture and Director.
Clint Eastwood also produced "Unforgiven" which was ranked 98/68. It was nominated for nine Oscars and won four including Best Picture and Director.

Answer: True

All four were indeed nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor. The following are the actors who did win Best Actor those years:
Gary Cooper won the Oscar for Best Actor for "Sergeant York" (1941).
Richard Dreyfuss won the award for "The Goodbye Girl" (1977).
Jeremy Irons won the award for "Reversal of Fortune" (1990).
Al Pacino won the award for "Scent of a Woman" (1992).

Answer: John Ford

Ford began his directing career in 1917 and continued to direct feature films into the 1960s with his last being "7 Women" (1966). In addition to "The Grapes of Wrath", his two other films in the AFI top 100 are "Stagecoach" 39/(no rank) and "The Searchers" (1956) 96/12. His three other Oscars for Best Director were for "The Informer" (1935), "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) and "The Quiet Man" (1952).
William Wyler's AFI top 100 films are "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "Ben-Hur" (1959) 72/100 and "Wuthering Heights" (1939) 73/(no rank). He won three Oscars for Best Director.
John Huston's AFI top 100 films are "The African Queen" (1951) 17/65, "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) 23/31 and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) 30/38, which was the film for which he won his only Oscars (Best Director and Adapted Screenplay).
Merian C. Cooper directed "King Kong" (1933) 43/41 but the film received no Oscar nominations.

Answer: Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick began directing in 1951 with a documentary short film. His first feature film was in 1953 and his first Hollywood feature was "Paths of Glory" (1957). His three films in a row which are in the AFI top 100 are "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) 26/39, "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) 22/15 and "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) 46/70. Furthermore, he wrote, or co-wrote and produced, all three of these excellent films! He also directed "Spartacus" (1960) which was ranked 81 on the 2007 AFI survey.
Coppola nearly accomplished this feat with "The Godfather" (1972) 3/2, "The Godfather Part II" (1974) 32/32 and "Apocalypse Now" (1979) 28/30 but also directed "The Conversation" (1974).
Steve Spielberg directed "Jaws" (1975) 48/56, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) 60/66 and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) 25/24 but also directed two other films during that time period.
Martin Scorsese directed "Taxi Driver" (1976) 47/52, "Raging Bull" (1980) 24/4 and "Goodfellas" (1990) 94/92 but none of these were consecutive.

Answer: Elia Kazan

Kazan was born in Turkey to Greek parents and came to the USA in 1913. He began his directorial career with stage productions in New York City. His first feature film was "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945). He became one of the founders of the Actors Studio, a non-profit membership workshop for actors, directors and playwrights to learn their craft. One of the Studio's protégés was Marlon Brando. Kazan first directed Brando in the stage version of "Streetcar" and then the film which was nominated for 12 Oscars and won four. "On the Waterfront" was also nominated for 12 Oscars and won eight!

Answer: Victor Fleming: "Gone with the Wind" (1939)

Clark Gable did not win Best Actor for "Gone with the Wind". Instead, Robert Donat won for "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1939). Vivian Leigh won Best Actress and Sidney Howard won Best Adapted Screenplay. However, "Gone with the Wind" is the only one of the four films ranked in the top 10.
For "It Happened One Night", Clark Gable won Best Actor, Claudette Colbert won Best Actress and Robert Riskin won Best Adapted Screenplay.
For "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Jack Nicholson won Best Actor, Louise Fletcher won Best Actress and Lawrence Hauben / Bo Goldman won Best Adapted Screenplay.
For "The Silence of the Lambs", Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor, Jodie Foster won Best Actress and Ted Tally won Best Adapted Screenplay.