Greatest Number of Films You've Seen by One Director

[Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi]

What is the greatest number of feature-length films that you've seen by any one director? And, of course, who's the director?

[ormazd]

I don't use IMDB, so don't have an easy way to count. I would make an educated guess at Hitchcock, though. Seen about 40 of his.

[mightysparks]

Going by my spreadsheet - Steven Spielberg with 18 films. I really need to work on director filmographies to get the numbers up a bit

[Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi]

I don't use IMDB, so don't have an easy way to count. I would make an educated guess at Hitchcock, though.

You could go to ListsofBests.com, and enter into the search box the names of directors you think are likely candidates. It's a fairly quick way to count.

[Kasparius.]

I think it's Brakhage with over 70 films. But that's mostly shorts. I'll have to look for features.

[burneyfan]

I was almost sure this was going to be Ford for me, but it turns out, it's Hitchcock, with at least 36. I'm only working off of TSPDT's top 200 directors list (plus directors from past years who have fallen off this year's list), but I doubt Joel Schumacher or someone like that had a chance, anyway.

[Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi]

I was almost sure this was going to be Ford for me, but it turns out, it's Hitchcock, with at least 36. I'm only working off of TSPDT's top 200 directors list (plus directors from past years who have fallen off this year's list), but I doubt Joel Schumacher or someone like that had a chance, anyway.

I just did a quick check on the same directors, and I got 22 for Ford and 21 for Hitchcock. However, I've seen 29 out of Kurosawa's 31 films, so that's probably the winner for me.

[Kasparius.]

So:

Raoul Walsh: 45 features
Hitchcock: 43 features.

I might be overlooking someone, though.

I guess I need to see more Ford, only 31.

[MMAlpha]

I'm a long way behind everybody else, but I've seen at least 10 feature films by the following directors:

25: Woody Allen
24: Alfred Hitchcock
20: Ingmar Bergman
18: Jean-Luc Godard
16: Akira Kurosawa
16: Steven Spielberg
15: John Ford
14: Howard Hawks
14: Fritz Lang
13: Coen Brothers
12: Billy Wilder
12: Ernst Lubitsch
11: Luis Bunuel
11: Orson Welles
10: Martin Scorsese
10: William Wyler
10: Stanley Kubrick
10: Robert Bresson

[Kasparius.]

Forgot Woody Allen, then he's a tie with Raoul Walsh: 45 features.

[tourdesb]

If we count shorts, Brakhage is #1 by far with 60+.

Features: With 24 movies seen, it's a tie between Alfred Hitchcock & Steven Spielberg.

[Bobby Peru]

I was just thinking this as I added 1941 to my spreadsheet. It looks like Steven Spielberg with 22 films.

[Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi]

Forgot Woody Allen, then he's a tie with Raoul Walsh: 45 features.

ListsofBests only lists 43 features for Allen. Whatever the case, I take it you've seen everything he's done.

[bal3x]

Looks like Hitchcock, followed by Spielberg and Scorsese, but I would actually rephrase this question: list directors which you have seen most films from (a bit clumsy, but I hope it makes sense), i.e. if there are any directors which you have completed (seen all their films). Maybe needs a new thread

[PeacefulAnarchy]

My top 5, the first two are based primarily on shorts.

Stan Brakhage 43
Buster Keaton 30
Woody Allen 30
Alfred Hitchcock 30
Eric Rohmer 24

[AdamH]

Clint Eastwood: about 26. I looked quickly and there might be another one or two that I have seen.

Everything apart from White Hunter Black Heart, The Rookie, Firefox and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (that's the one that I can't remember if I've seen now).

[Kasparius.]

Actually if you count shorts and tv mini series, I've seen 63 Godard films.

[Cippenham]

According to IMDB Woody Allen has directed 46 films including shorts, with No 47 being made=Bop Decameron to be released next year and Woody will be acting in that film! I think I have only seen about 17 of these.

[mightysparks]

When I get back from my holiday, I think I'll concentrate on doing the filmographies of a few directors. Then with the French challenge, do Godard, Melville and all that fun stuff. David Lynch has been the only director whose filmography I actively tried to (and did) finish, I usually just randomly choose movies instead of going by directors, so all my numbers are very low

[allisoncm]

Forgot Woody Allen, then he's a tie with Raoul Walsh: 45 features.

ListsofBests only lists 43 features for Allen. Whatever the case, I take it you've seen everything he's done.

Have you seen the Harvey Wallinger one?

I've seen all Woody Allen's features, plus a lot/most of the ones he's acted in (and not directed). Haven't seen Bop Decameron & Harvey Wallinger.

Claude Chabrol: 60
Jean-Luc Godard: 58
Alfred Hitchcock: 56
William A. Wellman: 47 (approx)
Michael Curtiz: 37
Fassbinder: 34
Frank Borzage: 33
Julien Duvivier: 30
John Ford: around 29
George Cukor: 27
Howard Hawks: 27
Edward Dmytryk: 25


also, FWIW, I've seen around 74 films with Bette Davis. But that's only because studios used to work actors to death back in the day.

[kingink]

According to my listal profile:
1. Alfred Hitchcock (36 items)
2. Woody Allen (34 items)
3. Roman Polanski (26 items)
4. Lucio Fulci (24 items) (I want him to be in the first place. He will eventually)
5. Martin Scorsese (23 items)
6. François Truffaut (23 items)
7. Krzysztof Kieslowski (22 items)

Hitchcok and Allen are very popular I see. Well... no surprise there.
"Actually if you count shorts and tv mini series, I've seen 63 Godard films." Kasparius I'm in awe!

[Kasparius.]

You guys are right, I had omitted Harvey Wallinger, but I forgot to scroll up so I forgot about Sounds from the town I Love and New York Stories.

By the way has anybody seen Harvey Wallinger?

[serri]

Just features I'd have to say Hitch.

I'm not going to count for shorts, but I'm sure Tex and Stan are battling it out. : P

[Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi]

Forgot Woody Allen, then he's a tie with Raoul Walsh: 45 features.

ListsofBests only lists 43 features for Allen. Whatever the case, I take it you've seen everything he's done.

Have you seen the Harvey Wallinger one?

I've seen all Woody Allen's features, plus a lot/most of the ones he's acted in (and not directed). Haven't seen Bop Decameron & Harvey Wallinger.

Claude Chabrol: 60
Jean-Luc Godard: 58
Alfred Hitchcock: 56
William A. Wellman: 47 (approx)
Michael Curtiz: 37
Fassbinder: 34
Frank Borzage: 33
Julien Duvivier: 30
John Ford: around 29
George Cukor: 27
Howard Hawks: 27
Edward Dmytryk: 25


also, FWIW, I've seen around 74 films with Bette Davis. But that's only because studios used to work actors to death back in the day.

Those are impressive numbers!

[soitgoes]

30 or more features:

Alfred Hitchcock - 38
Mikio Naruse - 35
Ingmar Bergman - 32
John Ford - 32
Woody Allen - 31
Akira Kurosawa - 30

[Knaldskalle]

Alfred Hitchcock: 53.

[jeff_v]

Criticker makes this easy for me:

1. Chuck Jones - 58
2. Alfred Hitchcock - 38
3. John Ford - 31
4. Buster Keaton - 28
5t. Fritz Lang - 27
Martin Scorsese - 27
7t. Steven Spielberg - 23
Woody Allen - 23

[tommy_leazaq]

Hitchcock - 13
Steven Spielberg - 12
Stanley Kubrick - 10

These are my only 10+

[burneyfan]

These are my only 10+

Awwwww, think of it this way: it means you probably have lots of wonderful first-time encounters ahead of you! I'd trade my "36 Hitchcocks" for your 13 in a heartbeat, if I meant I'd have the pleasure of seeing them for the first time again...well, not counting Topaz...

[allisoncm]

Topaz

[SeanMX12]

Surely it's Kurosawa. Thanks to tcm's Kurosawa anniversary marathon a year ago, I've seen around 30.

[Knaldskalle]

well, not counting Topaz...

Well.. to be fair, Topaz does have a beautifully shot death scene. But the movie is definitely not Hitch's finest moment.

[Kasparius.]

well, not counting Topaz...

Well.. to be fair, Topaz does have a beautifully shot death scene. But the movie is definitely not Hitch's finest moment.

Easy Virtue is a tougher Watch than Topaz.

[Knaldskalle]

well, not counting Topaz...

Well.. to be fair, Topaz does have a beautifully shot death scene. But the movie is definitely not Hitch's finest moment.

Easy Virtue is a tougher Watch than Topaz.

There are several of his early movies that are for completionists only. The Pleasure Garden, Champagne, Juno and the Paycock, Rich and Strange, The Skin Game. I'm not too crazy about The Manxman either.

[burneyfan]

well, not counting Topaz...

Well.. to be fair, Topaz does have a beautifully shot death scene. But the movie is definitely not Hitch's finest moment.

Easy Virtue is a tougher Watch than Topaz.

I agree about the death scene, and Easy Virtue is definitely no great shakes (and then they remade it recently!), but overall...none is so horrible, with the right perspective. I'd watch a double feature 24-hour marathon of Easy Virtue AND Topaz if it meant I could unwatch Sex and the City 2.

[St. Gloede]

I've seen everything from Woody Allen, except Midnight in Paris. Think that's 41. After that I have Alfred Hitchcock at 39 and Jean-Luc Godard at 36.

[Pain]

Lang: 26
Hitchcock: 25

[timmy_501]

Woody Allen 37
Akira Kurosawa 27
Clint Eastwood 25
Raoul Ruiz 21

[Laydback]

No huge numbers from me yet:

Takashi Miike-32
Hitchcock-27
Jess Franco-22
Spielberg-22
Roger Corman-21
Russ Meyer-17
Ford-17 (Watching 3 Godfathers soon)
Scorsese-16
Kurosawa-16
Lucio Fulci-15
John Huston-15 (Great looking filmography. Watching Beat The Devil soon)

[jgwr]

If we're talking features only, then the winners for me are Kurosawa (26), Hitchcock (29, and two more currently in my to-be-watched pile) and Fritz Lang (20 plus one to be watched). I've seen more films by Herzog (42 plus two to be watched) but most of those are his documentaries, most of which are not quite feature-length. And I've seen 173 by Georges Melies, but none of those are features, obviously.