14. Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica's legacy hinges on fewer films than almost any other great director, which goes to show just how respected those few movies are. Along with Rossellini, De Sica helped establish Italian neo-realism with his two most important works, Shoeshine and Bicycle Thieves. Bicycle Thieves in particular has been hailed ever since its release as a classic and it has only grown in reputation and influence since its release and is often considered one of the greatest movies ever made. His third classic film, despite the poor performance at the box office, would be 1951's Umberto D. and the overwhelming response to De Sica's work led to the Academy Awards making a permanent Best Foreign Language Film category. After a string of box office failures, De Sica stopped making the searing social consciousness dramas he had made his name for and by all accounts his output was never as good afterwards. Still, Bicycle Thieves was for a time ranked #1 on Sight & Sounds list of top films and regularly ranks in the top 20 in many of today's lists of greatest films and both Shoeshine and Umberto D. are fixtures on many of the same. His filmography is top-heavy and inconsistent, but still more impressive than all but a few in film history.