13. Robert Wise
Key Films: Blood on the Moon, The Set-Up, The Day the Earth Stood Still, I Want to Live!, The Haunting, West Side Story, The Sand Pebbles, Star Trek: The Motion Picture Robert Wise was one of the last traditional Hollywood directors who were so adept and versatile at jumping from genres to genres. Wise has arguably made landmark films in all the major genres of its time. From West Side Story and Sound of Music to The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Haunting. His career effectively began as an editor in which he learned the skill of making and constructing a film to its fullest effect. Orson Welles gives a lot of credit to Wise for his editing in what is usually considered the great film of all time, Citizen Kane. His work as an editor gave him a chance to work with great directors such as Orson Welles and William Dieterle, another underrated director. Working with these directors informed his way of directing as he worked without the limitations of most camera movement in a film like The Set-Up, whose boxing scenes was referenced to in its cinematography in the Scorsese classic, Raging Bull. His filmography is so great, yet nobody associates his name with the great versatile directors such as Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder. But, look at the contrast between the bright colors and vibrancy of The Sound of Music and the moody atmosphere of The Haunting or just the differences between his two great musicals. West Side Story is an urban, jazzy affair that features a lot of red and blacks to symbolize the New York City setting. Compare that to The Sound of Music which is expansive and wide that symbolizes the cheeriness of the Von Trapp family. But, of all his great films, The Haunting is quite possibly his best film. In a time in which horror movies could be as cheesy as the William Castle film, A House on Haunted Hill, Wise was able to make a haunted house film that does not feature much jump scares. It uses psychological horror in the likes of a Val Lewton 40s horror film. Wise is perhaps one of the greatest filmmakers ever that are only respected by the deepest of movie aficionados.