Master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock really needs no introduction; his love for Smokey And The Bandit, however, does. After a special honorary screening of Psycho in 2000, Hitch's daughter Patricia confirmed a horrifying rumour that had been doing the rounds for some time: that one of Alfred Hitchcock's favourite films was the Burt Reynolds-starring, Hal Needham-directed 'classic' caper Smokey And The Bandit. Hitchcock was known to be a fan of FW Murnau, Fritz Lang and Billy Wilder, but his interests, to the end, clearly laid in more commercial cinema. Smokey was, according to Patricia Hitchcock, one of the filmmaking giant's ultimate guilty pleasures. Along with Smokey, Hitchcock also apparently gave repeated watches to 1974 stray dog drama Benji, which reportedly made him cry. Which just goes to show that reports of Hitch being a complete monster on-set didn't extend to his personal life, where he was more than happy to sit back with a Burt Reynolds chase picture and kids' movies that made him weep. Which bizarre favourite films of great directors have we missed off the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
