Skip to main content

Motion-picture Director

March 2024
1min read

Most Overrated Motion-Picture Director:

Cecil B. DeMille. He was not an artist; rather he was a conductor on a grand scale and therefore does not belong in the pantheon of great film directors.

Most Underrated Motion-Picture Director:

Alfred Hitchcock. Unlike DeMille, he was a true artist, as any careful study of his films will verify. He “camera cut” his movies so skillfully that he left his editors only the simple, noncreative task of assembling his cuts. From the start the film existed in its entirety in Hitchcock’s head.

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this magazine of trusted historical writing, now in its 75th year, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate