12. Bob Fosse
Key Films: Sweet Charity, Cabaret, Lenny, All that Jazz The medium of the stage and film is quite different so the fact that Bob Fosse was able to make the transition and make films that were both ambitious and memorable makes him one of the most interesting directors in history. He first burst into film as, none other than, a choreographer for such films as Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game. His jazz influence choreography, innovating such moves as the jazz hands and mixing styles of sexual gyrations and the mechanics of classical dance, made him a choreographer on demand. But, his dreams were Hollywood and it was in the directing chair that he made an impact. Cabaret, his breakout hit, was so ahead of its time in terms of a Hollywood musical that it was only echoed later in the film adaptation of Chicago. In Cabaret, he used the stage and Joel Greys musical numbers as a way to tell the narrative unlike a burst into a musical number that populated most other musicals that came before it. The influence of Chicago to the modern musical, which was originally directed and choreographed by Fosse, owes a lot to Cabaret. His following film, Lenny, was a jazzy, black and white film about the comedian Lenny Bruce. His film featured a hand held style in the vein of cinema verite style. The meditative style of the film was a forbearer to what I think is his best film, All That Jazz. The 8 ½ of musicals, Fosse writes and directs a film that is autobiographical as it focuses on his own personal demons of women, heart attacks, workaholic syndrome and his battle of being a genius. The film was derisive between critics and audiences but, it proves to be a landmark in ambition and style. There is no director since Fellini that has made as personal a film as Fosse with All That Jazz which is an underrated film in its own right. Mamet and other filmmakers who made the transition from the stage to film have not shown the skill and style of Fosse as he brings the same enthusiasm and creativity from his choreography to his films.