11. Stanley Donen
Key Films: Singing in the Rain, On the Town, The Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Charade, Two for the Road, Bedazzled Stanley Donen has the unfortunate role of being overshadowed by the brilliance of Gene Kelly. Kelly who co-directed a bunch of his most famous works with Donen, usually dismiss Donen as just being the titular director while he is onscreen. This is evident with the films he made without the Gene Kelly. His musicals have an inventiveness that featured cinematic brilliance in execution. The Royal Wedding, starring Fred Astaire, features one of the most famous dance scene in which Astaire was able to dance on the walls and ceilings of a room. Once again, the argument can be made that that was due to the mind of Astaire, but he was consistently brilliant with his 50s musicals only comparable to another MGM master, Vincente Minnelli. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has choreography that has been consistently used as the quintessential example of the MGM musicals of the 1950s. But, he cannot be denied the credit he deserves for Singing in the Rain. Even if it comes from the mind of Gene Kelly, the Broadway Medley is up there in audaciousness that can only be matched by Minnelli and West Side Story. Although, Donen is known for his musicals, his genre pictures also have worth. Charade starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, proved to be a taut, well made thriller that could have been a worthy entry in Alfred Hitchcocks filmography. People tend to forget his ability to direct comedy with some of his hits which was topped by the Dudley Moore, Peter Cook combo, Bedazzaled. Definitely a product of its time, it is probably the best film with the combination of Moore and Cook with an ingenious story twist of the Faustian moral. Donen was a director that was able to see the problem with the Busby Berkley musical and the fact that the routine was so static and give it his classic twist. Perhaps the fact that he was always shadowed by his auteur stars, Donen has gone underappreciated for a long time despite his resume cementing him as one of the most successful directors of all time.