BEST FILMS BY CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD DIRECTORS

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Since I haven’t seen all the films by most of these directors, I won’t stake a claim to these being their “best” films, but they are the best of those I have seen. For each director I listed the best film first and, obviously enough, the second best second. I would have liked to add a third film to most of these, but, hey, rules is rules. I added a few Hollywood directors that I like, that weren’t listed previously. Also, for fun, I also ranked the directors as I would view them if they all had only made their two films and didn’t have any other history to judge them on. I was curious about how much difference a body of work makes in appreciating their talents. Needless to say, both the rankings and the films chosen could easily differ if I were to do this again.

Orson Welles The Magnificent Ambersons, Citizen Kane
Ernst Lubitsch The Shop Around the Corner, Heaven Can Wait
Alfred Hitchcock The Birds, Strangers on a Train
Buster Keaton The General, Steamboat Bill Jr.
Gregory LaCava Stage Door, My Man Godfrey
Frank Capra It’s a Wonderful Life, Meet John Doe
Michael Curtiz The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca
Lewis Milestone Hallelujah I’m a Bum, All Quiet on the Western Front
Victor Sjostrom He Who Gets Slapped, The Wind
John Ford The Quiet Man, My Darling Clementine
Vincente Minnelli The Pirate, Meet Me in St. Louis
Raoul Walsh Gentleman Jim, The Strawberry Blonde
Josef von Sternberg Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress
Jacques Tourneur I Walked With a Zombie, The Leopard Man
Robert Aldrich Kiss Me Deadly, Flight of the Phoenix
Stanley Donen Singing in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Charlie Chaplin Limelight, The Great Dictator
Edmund Goulding Nightmare Alley, Dawn Patrol
Rouben Mamoulian Queen Christina, We Live Again
John Brahm Hangover Square, The Lodger
Norman Z. McLeod It’s a Gift, Monkey Business
John Stahl Leave Her to Heaven, Magnificent Obsession
William Wyler Jezebel, The Good Fairy
Mervyn LeRoy Johnny Eager, I Am a Fugitive From A Chain Gang
Preston Sturges The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story
Anthony Mann The Fall of the Roman Empire, Winchester ’73
F.W. Murnau Sunrise, Tabu
Victor Fleming The Wizard of Oz, Red Dust
Howard Hawks Scarface, Man’s Favorite Sport
Fritz Lang The Big Heat, Ministry of Fear
James Whale Waterloo Bridge, The Old Dark House
Douglas Sirk A Scandal in Paris, Written on the Wind
Clarence Brown The Flesh and the Devil, Wife vs. Secretary
Robert Flaherty Louisiana Story, Nanook of the North
Charles Vidor Gilda, Cover Girl
William Wellman Nothing Sacred, The Light That Failed
Edgar Ulmer The Black Cat, The Strange Woman
Cecil B. DeMille Four Frightened Friends, The Crusades
Arthur Penn Night Moves, The Left Handed Gun
John Huston Moby Dick, Wise Blood
Henry Hathaway Peter Ibbetson, Niagra
Billy Wilder The Major and the Minor, One, Two, Three
Leo McCarey Love Affair, The Awful Truth
Nicholas Ray They Live by Night, Johnny Guitar
Roger Corman X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, The Tomb of Ligeia
Sam Fuller The Naked Kiss, The Baron of Arizona
Robert Stevenson Darby O’Gill and the Little People, Jane Eyre
George Stevens Swing Time, Vivacious Lady
Richard Wallace Young in Heart, Tycoon
William Castle I Saw What You Did, The Tingler
George Marshall Destry Rides Again, The Blue Dahlia
Edward Dmytryk Murder My Sweet, Walk on the Wild Side
Sam Peckinpah Ride the High Country, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Mitchell Leisen Hands Across the Table, Easy Living
John Farrow His Kind of Woman, The Big Clock
Frank Taschlin Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Artists and Models
Robert Rossen All the King’s Men, The Hustler
D.W. Griffith Orphans of the Storm, Sally of the Sawdust
Alexander Mackendrick A High Wind in Jamaica, Sweet Smell of Success
Elia Kazan Baby Doll, East of Eden
Henry King The Black Swan, In Old Chicago
Fred Zinnemann From Here to Eternity, Day of the Jackal
John Sturges Bad Day at Black Rock, The Great Escape
Mark Sandrich Shall We Dance, Top Hat
George Cukor Gaslight, Les Girls
Jack Arnold The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Jean Negulesco The Mask of Dimitrios, Humoresque
Irving Cummings The Dolly Sisters, Girl’s Dormitory
Anatole Litvak All This and Heaven Too, This Above All
Otto Preminger In Harm’s Way, Angel Face
Joseph Mankiewicz The Quiet American, Suddenly, Last Summer
Henry Koster The Rage of Paris, The Inspector General
Alfred E Green Baby Face, Dangerous
William Seiter Sons of the Desert, You Were Never Lovelier
Delmer Daves Jubal, Rome Adventure
King Vidor Bird of Paradise, Duel in the Sun
Mark Robson Isle of the Dead, The Ghost Ship
Budd Boetticher Decision at Sundown, Ride Lonesome
J. Lee Thompson Tiger Bay, Cape Fear
Robert Wise Curse of the Cat People, The Haunting
Lloyd Bacon The Sullivans, Footlight Parade
W.S.Van Dyke The Thin Man, Tarzan the Ape Man
William Dieterle A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Don Siegel Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Beguiled
Jerry Lewis The Nutty Professor, The Bellboy
Busby Berkeley Babes in Arms, For Me and My Gal
Ida Lupino The Trouble with Angels, The Gilligan’s Island episode The Producer
Richard Brooks Lord Jim, In Cold Blood
Rene Clair I Married a Witch, The Ghost Goes West
Frank Borzage The Mortal Storm, Strange Cargo
Archie Mayo Charlie’s Aunt, The Petrified Forest
Sidney Lumet Serpico, Running on Empty
Richard Fleischer Barrabas, The Vikings
Charles Walters Barkleys of Broadway, Good News
Allan Dwan Suez, The Three Musketeers
Robert Siodmak Dark Mirror, The Crimson Pirate
William Keighley The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Bride Came C.O.D.

What? Justin Vicari starting an interesting list thread? Has the world gone topsy-turvy? I can’t help but feel partly responsible. Of course, this probably means there’s a whopping piece of elitist, pretentious B.S. lurking around that I’ve yet to see. Anyway…

John Ford — How Green Was My Valley; Young Mr. Lincoln
Budd Boetticher — The Tall T; Decision at Sundown
Max Ophuls — Lola Montes; Le plaisir
Josef von Sternberg — The Scarlet Empress; Morocco
Erich von Stroheim — Queen Kelly; The Wedding March
F.W. Murnau — Sunrise; The Last Laugh (you never specified that the film had to be from his Hollywood period)
Jules Dassin — The Naked City; Rififi
Jacques Tourneur — I Walked With a Zombie; Out of the Past
John Huston — The Maltese Falcon; The Man Who Would Be King
William Wyler — The Little Foxes; The Best Years of Our Lives
Howard Hawks — His Girl Friday; Ball of Fire
Billy Wilder — Double Indemnity; The Apartment
Fritz Lang — Scarlet Street; M
Otto Preminger — River of No Return; Where the Sidewalk Ends
Douglas Sirk — Written on the Wind; Imitation of Life
Anthony Mann — Raw Deal; Winchester ’73
Sam Fuller — Pickup on South Street; Forty Guns
Nicholas Ray — They Live by Night; On Dangerous Ground
Joseph Mankiewicz — A Letter to Three Wives; All About Eve
VIncent Minelli — The Bad and the Beautiful; Meet Me in St. Louis
Elia Kazan — On the Waterfront; Gentleman’s Agreement
Robert Rossen — All the King’s Men; The Hustler
Cecil B. DeMille — Union Pacific; The Sign of the Cross
Robert Aldrich — Kiss Me Deadly; Vera Cruz
Richard Brooks — The Catered Affair; In Cold Blood
Alfred Hitchcock — Shadow of a Doubt; Strangers on a Train
George Cukor — Holiday; The Philadelphia Story
D. W. Griffith — Intolerlance; A Corner in Wheat
Raoul Walsh — The Roaring Twenties; They Drive by Night
Robert Flaherty — Louisiana Story; Man of Aran
Charles Chaplin — The Immigrant; A Day’s Pleasure
Buster Keaton — Steamboat Bill, Jr.; The General
Sam Peckinpah — Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia; The Wild Bunch
Blake Edwards — The Days of Wine and Roses; The Pink Panther
Ernst Lubitsch — Trouble in Paradise; One Hour With You
Stanley Kramer — Not really a fan.
Ida Lupino — Outrage; The Hitch-Hiker
Busby Berkeley — Footlight Parade (seguences); Dames (sequences)
Stanley Donen — Singin’ in the Rain; Indiscreet
Chuck Walters — The Barkleys of Broadyway; High Society
Frank Tashlin — Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?; Bachelor Flat
Martin Ritt — The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; The Front
Oscar Micheaux — Haven’t seen any of his films
J. Lee Thompson — Cape Fear (a lucky try)
King Vidor — The Crowd; The Big Parade
Charles Vidor — Gilda is about as close as he came to making a good film.
Orson Welles — Citizen Kane; The Stranger
Sydney Lumet — Serpico; The Hill

YOU FORGOT:

Michael Curtiz—Casablanca; The Sea Hawk
George Stevens – Gunga Din; Swing Time
Robert Wise – The Body Snatcher; The Set-up
Henry Hathaway – The Lives of a Bengal Lancer; The House on 92nd Street

William A. Wellman — The Public Enemy; The Ox-Bow Incident
Mervyn Leroy — I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang; Gold Diggers of 1933
William Keighley — The Street with No Name; Each Dawn I Die
Mark Sandrich — Top Hat; Holiday Inn
Frank Borzage — Seventh Heaven; Lucky Star
Allan Dwan — Robin Hood (1922); The Iron Mask
Anatole Litvak — All This, and Heaven Too; Blues in the Night
Frank Capra — It Happened One Night; Arsenic and Old Lace
W.S. Van Dyke — The Thin Man; Manhattan Melodrama
James Whale — The Invisible Man; Frankenstein
Robert Siodmak — Phantom Lady; Criss-Cross
André De Toth — House of Wax; Crime Wave
Lloyd Bacon — 42nd Street; Brother Orchid
Archie Mayo — The Mayor of Hell; Black Legion
Fred Zinnemann — From Here to Eternity; Act of Violence
Arthur Penn — Night Moves; Bonnie and Clyde
William Dieterle — The Hunchback of Notre Dame; The Devil and Daniel Webster
Tod Browning — Freaks; Dracula
Preston Sturges — The Lady Eve; Sullivan’s Travels
John Sturges — Bad Day at Black Rock; The Great Escape (just started watching his stuff, very good)
Edward Dmytryk — Crossfire; Murder, My Sweet
Morris Engel — Weddings and Babies; The Little Fugitive
Leo McCarey — The Awful Truth; Going My Way
Gregory La Cava — My Man Godfrey; Stage Door
Mitchell Leisen — Easy Living; Midnight
Rene Clair — The Flame of New Orleans; I Married a Witch
Clarence Brown — Flesh and the Devil; Anna Christie
Rouben Mamoulian — Love Me Tonight; Queen Christina
Fred Niblo — Ben Hur (1925); The Three Musketeers (1921)
William A. Seiter — Sons of the Desert; Hot Saturday
Lewis Milestone — All Quiet on the Western Front; A Walk in the Sun
Alfred E. Green — Baby Face; Smart Money
Alexander Mackendrick — The Sweet Smell of Success; The Ladykillers
Delmer Daves — Dark Passage; 3:10 to Yuma
John Farrow — The Big Clock; His Kind of Woman
Alexander Hall — Here Comes Mr. Jordan; Goin’ to Town

Jules Dassin The Canterville Ghost, Tokapi
Fred Niblo The Mark of Zorro, The Three Musketeers
Stanley Kramer The Defiant Ones, On the Beach
Blake Edwards High Time, Operation Petticoat

Max Ophuls – I’ve only seen Letter From an Unknown Woman from his Hollywood period, add Madame de… and he would rank around 5th on the list.
Morris Engel – I watched as much of Little Fugitive as I could bear. Great technique, far too cloying.
Erich von Stroheim – So far I’ve only seen parts of Greed and Foolish Wives, not enough to judge.
Oscar Micheaux — Zilch

I特稿


外語劇中文字幕組傳奇　．賈選凝
中國民間志願者翻譯外語劇的「字幕組」，以驚人效率，無私奉獻，成為網絡奇葩。他們都出於興趣自發組成，毫無報酬，但也彼此競爭，向千萬網友傳播最新美劇日劇，推動中國影視文化發展。


中國境外的人大多不曉得，美國日本最新電視劇，都可以在中國網上免費下載（verycd.com），並且有一支前仆後繼的志願者，第一時間翻譯中文字幕，為千萬網民服務。

「字幕組」是外語劇在中國被廣泛普及下載後衍生出的新興網絡團體，旨在將外語劇對白翻譯製作為中文字幕，方便觀眾觀看。在大量美劇、日劇通過網絡進行傳播的當今社會，「字幕組」的存在不可或缺，而他們的工作又極其辛苦——每一集外語劇首播後，「字幕組」成員會在二十四小時內翻譯、壓製出中文字幕，上傳至服務器，供觀眾下載。

「字幕組」的高效翻譯，極大方便了廣大依賴網絡追看外語劇的觀眾，而其工作性質則為義務勞動、參與者全憑自願，是網友出於興趣自發組成的團體。所有翻譯、美工、後期製作成員都無酬勞，故而也是一種獨特的「義工」。中國目前最具聲名的美劇字幕組是「YYeTs」，其他幾家著名字幕組包括「伊甸園」、「破爛熊」、「風軟」等，「日菁字幕組」則是最為知名的日劇「字幕組」。

每年秋季都是各大字幕組工作量最為密集的時段，今年亦不例外。自二零零五年《越獄》(Prison Break)風靡所帶動起的美劇風潮，如今早已晉升為許多觀眾的固定習慣。鎖定不同觀眾年齡層的熱播劇每年秋季都會推出最新一季——創下平均收視率三百七十萬、當下年輕人無人不識的《八卦天后》(Gossip Girl)第四季一經推出，每週二，所有追看該劇的少男少女便會心癢難耐地一遍遍刷新「Emule」頁面，渴望第一時間看到「YYeTs」(人人影視)字幕組翻譯出品的新鮮劇情(該劇美國時間每週一晚首播)。而已連播七年的《絕望主婦》(Desperate Housewives)今秋更新第七季後，資深「主婦迷」們最大的福音亦是美劇字幕組於第一時間的翻譯。而NBC斥巨資打造的政治懸疑劇《驚世》(The Event)更是今年美劇主打亮點。由著名科幻懸疑劇《The 4400》製片人Nick Wauters主理、風格融合《24》與《迷失》(Lost)氣質、劇情卻更為曲折的新劇《驚世》，講述男主人公在調查未婚妻的神秘失蹤事件時，無意捲入一場巨大的政治陰謀，從而揭開美國史上最大秘密。男主角的細微舉止都將直接牽動包括剛剛當選的美國總統、關押在阿拉斯加秘密監獄的政治犯及中情局局長，個人事件升級為一場國家陰謀，更可能改寫人類命運，故而劇評界稱該劇彰顯了「一人之力足以撼動地球」的精神。各大美劇字幕組自然不會錯過這部高居Twitter熱門新劇榜首的新寵，九月二十日美國一經首播，「YYeTs」、「伊甸園」等字幕組便在「Emule」上推出該劇的翻譯版本，且提供包括RMVB、HDTV、720P、MP4在內的多種格式供用戶下載。字幕組的努力使中國的美劇迷們得以緊隨美國本土的收視熱潮，享受近乎無時間差的同步觀劇體驗。

如果說美劇自《越獄》起便奠定了在中國的深厚影響力，故而無數鐵杆觀眾對於字幕組的心聲可化作一句「不能沒有你」。

「YYeTs」的組長梁良在接受亞洲週刊採訪時介紹道：「我們的團隊完全靠興趣愛好凝聚在一起，現在有約三百人。分工是：翻譯、時間軸、後期、美工、論壇版主。除了美劇之外，也開始翻譯日劇韓劇、一些國外優秀紀錄片及國外知名大學的公開課程。同時，我們也在努力拍攝中國自己的原創網絡劇。希望有一天中國電視劇也可以和美國電視劇一樣引人入勝。」

釣島不影響迷戀日劇

另一方面，儘管釣島之爭中日關係緊張，但中國哈日族對日劇的迷戀絲毫不減，「日菁」等專研「日劇翻譯」字幕組的工作繁重。「Emule」首頁上的一份二零一零秋季日劇指南，昭示了日劇字幕翻譯群體幾乎連喘息的時間都無——週一：竹野內豐、上戶彩搭檔純愛劇《流星》，週二：當紅組合「嵐」主力二宮和也主演《打工仔買房記》，週三：《追稅黃金豬》、《相棒第九季》……週五：相差二十五歲的老夫少妻《秘密》，週六：「野豬大改造式」青春學園劇《Q10》，週日：「人氣漫畫真人版」《獸醫杜立德》、富士電視台強檔《完美報道》，日復一日，且每天皆有一至五部數量不等的日劇同步播出，整週無一日空檔。從十月至十一月，共有先後二十二部日劇播出，各日劇字幕組則將「照單全譯」。這份令人震驚的日劇指南，一方面真切反映出日劇在當下外語劇觀眾群中所佔有舉足輕重分量，另一方面也顯現出日劇「字幕組」們需承擔的超負荷工作量。「時效性」是對字幕組的嚴峻考驗，也是各「字幕組」間最為激烈的競爭，當每天三四部劇同步播出時，迅捷為觀眾提供方便的翻譯作品，對「字幕組」資源協調、人力調配便提出了更高要求，他們從而要付出更多心力去為觀眾奉獻精良作品。然而觀眾們在欣賞心儀劇集之後，普遍都會匆匆刪除下載看完的文件，對於無私製作這些文件的「字幕組」則知之甚少。

二零零三年加入「字幕組」圈子、開始學習影視後期的梁良，此前一直希望從事影視工作。製作字幕是他業餘的唯一愛好。他說：「做字幕，已跟我的生命連在一起，要是硬生生割捨的話，非常痛苦，我甚至會不知下班後還有什麼可以做的。」

據梁良介紹，「YYeTs」內所有成員都是用業餘時間去做字幕，其中百分之五十是學生，其他一半為上班白領等各種人士。美劇翻譯組成員三百人左右，日劇翻譯三十餘名，組內分有多個製作不同劇集的小組。大多組員在工作半年後便會因各種原因退出，能堅持滿一年的只有百分之三十，同時也會不斷有新鮮血液加入。通常，製作一集電視劇的工作流程是下載片源、調時間軸、調好後分成幾部分交給翻譯，之後校對合成、發布至網站供網友免費下載。

全無盈利的「字幕組」工作更似一個書友會或是車友會——一個純粹的愛好者組織、一個大家進行學習交流的平台。梁良說：「很多人都以為我們賺了很多錢，其實完全不是這樣。字幕我們全部免費提供下載，我們的收入是論壇的廣告，及一些會員的資助，用來購買維護服務器和寬頻線路。」他進而解釋：「我們這裏沒有一分錢的報酬，相反，還要佔用很多業餘時間。令大家凝聚在這個團隊的力量是“愛”：對影視的愛，對優秀知識的愛，對翻譯的愛，對這個團隊的“愛”。」

他們的奉獻使觀眾能在第一時間一睹外語劇。「字幕組」的存在，代表了廣大中國觀眾對外語劇的需求與期待，而從各種渠道觀看了大量日劇、美劇的觀眾，無形中也提升了自身欣賞水準，故而對中國電視劇提出更高期待。美劇和日劇在中國國內的大熱，一方面昭示了國內觀眾對優質電視劇的極大需求，另一方面也是對業內人士的一種無形鞭策——激發他們汲取外國電視劇中的養分與精髓。

編劇杜撰認為，中國當下電視劇，大多仍停留在模仿美劇肥皂劇的層面。他說：「像《越獄》這類劇，其實每年都有模仿者，光我開過策劃會，打算做成中國版《越獄》的電視劇，就有三四部了，只是很少有成功的。」

而資深編劇洪帆則認為，中國電視劇，從創作者和觀眾兩個層面都受到了美劇、日劇影響。創作者會學習先進國家和地區的作品，而學習的方式是多樣的，最簡單即是將一個已成功的境外的電視劇改編並本土化，製成一部國產電視劇，如《慾望都市》被改為《好想好想談戀愛》。更多則是學習結構、題材、及一些橋段與技巧。洪帆說：「日劇對國產電視劇影響較早，主要是青春偶像劇類型。而近年來《24》、《CSI》、《越獄》等美劇的情節編製技巧，對國內創作的震動和吸引力則更大，在懸疑、涉案、諜戰戲中都有集中體現。」

推動本土電視劇提升

「字幕組」的繁榮，標誌網絡時代下全球電視劇文化的互文趨勢已臻成熟，基於開放平台之上的外語劇分享交流成為時代訴求，觀眾渴望在第一時間欣賞到外語劇，與之相諧的非官方片源引進體系便深得人心。見微而知著，全球文化交流範疇內此種不斷被拓展的人性化操作，對提升激勵中國文化產品質素具促進作用。■