When Actors Direct

The Bigamist (1953) - Ida Lupino directed a few films and for some reason this is considered "MUST SEE". It is not a great movie, and maybe in the generation to which it was released it may have been a good movie. The best compliment that I can pay it is that it was interesting enough to no feel like a waste of time.

Night of the Hunter (1955) - Charles Laughton's one and only shot as a director. The shady characters are as shady as can be, straight out of a dime novel. This is one of those movies that gains popularity as time passes. Since it was not well received at the box office, Laughton was never given an opportunity to direct again. Night of the Hunter is now considered a film noir classic. It is said, and I certainly can see it, that Laughton was influenced by the early German Expressionist films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and possibly M.

Easy Rider (1969) - Dennis Hopper's fond farewell to the free love generation ushering in the capitalism of the seventies. What child of the sixties HASN'T seen this one?

Dances With Wolves (1990) - Kevin Costner's directed a movie, based on a novel originally an unsellable screenplay. This is one of those lavish, sweeping epics that people just love. Plenty of beautiful scenery providing a backdrop for a story of a soldier's means of coping with his demons after the Civil War.

Braveheart (1995) - Mel Gibson, an Austrailian, playing a Scotsman, at war with the English king with the French wife. Another epic with beautiful scenery and battle sequences that keep your head spinning. Makes me wonder how anyone stayed alive in that kind of warfare.

The Passion of the Christ (2004) -Mel does it again. As if filming the Battle of Stirling wasn't enough, especially in kilts, he takes on the crucifiction of Christ, with actors performing in Latin, Aramaic and Hebrew. I am an agnostic and though I may not see it as a spiritual film, I recognize that the feat is something to be admired.