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The rules for induction into the American Cinema Hall of Fame are very simple. You have to:
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INDUCTED: April 2000
INDUCTED: March 2000
INDUCTED: February 2000
INDUCTED: January 2000
INDUCTED: December 1999
INDUCTED: November 1999
INDUCTED: October 1999
INDUCTED: September 1999
INDUCTED: August 1999
| In case just the words Citizen Kane aren't enough, let me tell you that, in 1941, Welles directed what is generally considered the greatest film of all time (if such a thing can truely be measured.) The importance of what he accomplished with that movie, in terms of filmmaking technique, can not be overstated. And he never topped it (who could?), though his films The Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil, and The Lady From Shanghai were all valiant efforts. |
| It's funny to think back now and remember that, after Fred Astaire's first screen test, some studio executive wrote "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little." A LITTLE?! Who was that guy? How could he have missed what moviegoers all over the country, from then to now, see, everytime Fred Astaire graced a dance floor? You watch him, and your first reaction is to think "I could do that." Don't you believe it. Some of his best films are Top Hat, Swing Time, Holiday Inn and Easter Parade. |
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He was the most natural actor the screen has ever known. Never took one lesson. The most believable, likeable, and identifiable actor in the history of cinema. How can you not like Jimmy Stewart? And his performances were outstanding. Don't just blow off It's a Wonderful Life as a Christmas movie. Watch it in July, and concentrate on Stewart's fantastic performance in a role he is totally immersed into. His work with Alfred Hitchcock in Rope, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo were more complex than people remember him as. His great westerns of the 50's gave him his most profitable decade as an actor. Only won one Oscar, for The Philadelphia Story.
Visit the Jimmy Stewart Museum web site. |
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He never really seemed to enjoy what he was doing, and his comments about not being able to figure out what filmmakers and audiences saw in him helped build that devil-may-care attitude. But it seems that actors have been trying unsuccesfully for years to develop the kind of screen persona that Mitchum developed in such an off-hand way. He was the ultimate tough guy, and film noir seemed to have been invented just for him. Don't believe me? Check out Out of the Past from 1947. Other great Mitchum films include Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, and the cult classic Thunder Road. |
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More than any other director, Hitchcock will forever be associated with one particular genre. He was dubbed The Master Of Suspense, and he definitely cornered that market. His real talent was for putting ordinary people in extraordinary cirumstances, which is why it's so easy for his audience to connect with the main characters. Also, his casting Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant in a number of his films didn't hurt. Along with the Master of Suspense's Vertigo, Psycho, Shadow of a Doubt and North by Northwest, he also dabbled in comedy with The Trouble With Harry and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. |
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John Huston was a man as famous for being an iconoclastic adventurer as he was as a talented filmmaker. His filmography proves that time and again, as he seemed to travel from one end of the world to the other for the right location. He was one of the first directors to get out of the studio and film on location, most notably on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. His career spanned well over 40 years, and included such classics as The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, The African Queen, The Man Who Would Be King, and The Red Badge of Courage. |
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Proof positive that the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Sturges had a string of hits in the early 40's that is unparalleled by any director before or since. Starting with The Great McGinty in 1940, he directed Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, Hail the Conquering Hero and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek over the next four years. After that, his association with millionaire and lunatic Howard Hughes brought his streak, and career, to a screeching halt. But his unique writing and directing style had already made him a Hollywood legend. |
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Best known as the director of Birth of a Nation. He worked during the era of silent films (for those of you not familiar with the name), and can be single-handedly credited with writing the book on film language. The most basic ideas of shot composition and editing can be traced back to his work. If anyone can be considered the Father of Film Language, it's D.W. Griffith. |
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The man was flawless on screen. He was the very definition of grace and style. The reason he never won an Oscar has to be that he never seemed to be acting, but he had us all fooled. You don't come across on film like that by accident. Some of his best performances where in Arsenic and Old Lace, The Philadelphia Story, and Hitchcock's North by Northwest. |
