Top Ranked Directors - by Point Totals

[Our 100th post!]  © William L. Sinclair


Top 200 Directors, films in the Top Ranked 1011 only that we compiled, ranked by total points for all films. Kubrick, photo rt, would be #1 had he made more films.

Count, Director, Top Ranked Film, Total Points [avg pts per film]

1. 14 - Hitchcock, Alfred [ Vertigo (1958) #6 ] - 55352 [avg 3954]
2. 10 - Kubrick, Stanley [ 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) #2 ] - 42161 [avg 4217]
3. 12 - Scorsese, Martin [ Taxi Driver (1976) #12 ] - 37474 [avg 3123]
4. 11 - Kurosawa, Akira [ Seven Samurai, The (1954) #7 ] - 33022 [avg 3002]
5. 16 - Ford, John [ Searchers, The (1956) #46 ] - 32142 [avg 2009]
6. 8 - Chaplin, Charles [ City Lights (1931) #21 ] - 31835 [avg 3979]
7. 16 - Godard, Jean-Luc [ Contempt (1963) 74 ] - 31243 [avg 1953]
8. 15 - Buñuel, Luis [ Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The (1972) #88 ] - 29977 [avg 1999]
9. 7 - Spielberg, Steven [ Schindler's List (1993) #27 ] - 28694 [avg 4099]
10. 11 - Fellini, Federico [ 8½ (1963) #37 ] - 27722 [avg 2520]
11. 8 - Wilder, Billy [ Sunset Boulevard (1950) #14 ] - 27448 [avg 3431]
12. 12 - Bergman, Ingmar [ Seventh Seal, The (1956) 29 ] - 27032 [avg 2253]
13. 4 - Coppola, Francis [ Godfather, The (1972) #1 ] - 26334 [avg 6584]
14. 11 - Hawks, Howard [ Bringing Up Baby (1938) #118 ] - 25560 [avg 2324]
15. 7 - Welles, Orson [ Citizen Kane (1941) #5 ] - 24090 [avg 3441]
16. 6 - Lean, David [ Lawrence of Arabia (1962) #50 ] - 22668 [avg 3778]
17. 10 - Lang, Fritz [ M (1931) 11 ] - 22392 [avg 2239]
18. 10 - Renoir, Jean [ Rules of the Game, The (1939) #44 ] - 21204 [avg 2120]
19. 8 - Bresson, Robert [ Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) 93 ] - 20832 [avg 2604]
20. 8 - Huston, John [ Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) #62 ] - 20190 [avg 2524]
21. 7 - Keaton, Buster [ Sherlock Jr. (1924) #89 ] - 19724 [avg 2818]
22. 4 - Capra, Frank [ It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 10 ] - 17564 [avg 4391]
23. 8 - Powell, Michael [ Peeping Tom (1960) #360 ] - 17464 [avg 2183]
24. 5 - Polanski, Roman [ Chinatown (1974) #3 ] - 17376 [avg 3475]
25. 7 - Truffaut, François [ Jules et Jim (1961) #59 ] - 17238 [avg 2463]
26. 7 - Eisenstein, Sergei [ Battleship Potemkin (1925) 100 ] - 17070 [avg 2439]
27. 4 - Scott, Ridley [ Blade Runner (1982) 13 ] - 16179 [avg 4045]
28. 5 - Murnau, F.W. [ Sunrise (1928) #38 ] - 16168 [avg 3234]
29. 5 - Dreyer, Carl Theodor [ Passion of Joan of Arc, The (1928) 51 ] - 16068 [avg 3214]
30. 10 - Rossellini, Roberto [ Paisan (1946) #166 ] - 16058 [avg 1606]
31. 8 - Eastwood, Clint [ Unforgiven (1992) #91 ] - 15976 [avg 1997]
32. 4 - De Sica, Vittorio [ Bicycle Thief, The (1949) 16 ] - 15656 [avg 3914]
33. 7 - Cassavetes, John [ Woman Under the Influence, A (1974) #176 ] - 15564 [avg 2223]
34. 9 - Visconti, Luchino [ Rocco and His Brothers (1964) #237 ] - 15186 [avg 1687]
35. 6 - Allen, Woody [ Annie Hall (1977) #77 ] - 15039 [avg 2507]
36. 5 - Ray, Satyajit [ Pather Panchali / Apu Trilogy I (1955) #32 ] - 14988 [avg 2998]
37. 6 - Antonioni, Michelangelo [ L'Avventura (1960) #187 ] - 14434 [avg 2406]
38. 4 - Leone, Sergio [ Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) #70 ] - 14418 [avg 3605]
39. 7 - Altman, Robert [ Nashville (1975) #192 ] - 13854 [avg 1979]
40. 3 - Lucas, George [ Star Wars (1978) #4 ] - 13743 [avg 4581]
41. 8 - Ophuls, Max [ Earrings of Madame de..., The (1953) 264 ] - 13588 [avg 1699]
42. 6 - Mizoguchi, Kenji [ Ugetsu (1953) 58 ] - 13300 [avg 2217]
43. 7 - Tarkovsky, Andrei [ Solaris (1972) #263 ] - 13200 [avg 1886]
44. 3 - Griffith, D.W. [ Intolerance (1916) 64 ] - 13198 [avg 4399]
45. 6 - Coen Ethan and Joel [ No Country for Old Men (2007) #165 ] - 13163 [avg 2194]
46. 5 - Sturges, Preston [ Lady Eve, The (1941) 92 ] - 13162 [avg 2632]
47. 3 - Jackson, Peter [ Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) #84 ] - 12603 [avg 4201]
48. 4 - Forman, Milos [ One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) #54 ] - 12314 [avg 3079]
49. 4 - Cameron, James [ Aliens (1986) #159 ] - 12253 [avg 3063]
50. 4 - Tarantino, Quentin [ Pulp Fiction (1995) #20 ] - 12172 [avg 3043]
51. 4 - Lumet, Sidney [ 12 Angry Men (1957) #124 ] - 11976 [avg 2994]
52. 5 - Kazan, Elia [ On the Waterfront (1954) #67 ] - 11952 [avg 2390]
53. 6 - Lubitsch, Ernst [ Trouble in Paradise (1932) #234 ] - 11804 [avg 1967]
54. 4 - Wyler, William [ Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946) #102 ] - 11786 [avg 2947]
55. 6 - Resnais, Alain [ Last Year at Marienbad (1961) #215 ] - 11250 [avg 1875]
56. 2 - Fleming, Victor [ Wizard of Oz, The (1939) #18 ] - 11132 [avg 5566]
57. 7 - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner [ Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) 196 ] - 11128 [avg 1590]
58. 4 - McCarey, Leo [ Duck Soup (1933) #41 ] - 10924 [avg 2731]
59. 7 - Kiarostami, Abbas [ Close-Up (1990) 189 ] - 10769
60. 5 - Pasolini, Pier Paolo [ Gospel According to St. Matthew, The (1964) #103 ] - 10760
61. 3 - Curtiz, Michael [ Casablanca (1942) #47 ] - 10506 [avg 3502]
62. 5 - Lynch, David [ Elephant Man, The (1980) #193 ] - 10266
63. 5 - Ozu, Yasujiro [ Tokyo Story (1953) #57 ] - 10218
64. 6 - Minnelli, Vincente [ Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) #288 ] - 10068
65. 6 - Ray, Nicholas [ Rebel Without a Cause (1955) #280 ] - 10052
66. 4 - Bertolucci, Bernardo [ Conformist, The (1970) 76 ] - 9788
67. 5 - Cukor, George [ Philadelphia Story, The (1940) #148 ] - 9614
68. 5 - Sirk, Douglas [ All That Heaven Allows (1955) #233 ] - 9604
69. 4 - Donen, Stanley [ Funny Face (1957) #735 ] - 9452
70. 3 - Reed, Carol [ Third Man, The (1948) #15 ] - 9246 [avg 3082]
71. 4 - Mankiewicz, Joseph L. [ All About Eve (1950) #33 ] - 9238
72. 5 - Peckinpah, Sam [ Wild Bunch, The (1969) #87 ] - 8998
73. 6 - Kieslowski, Krszystof [ Dekalog (1988) #235 ] - 8974
74. 5 - Roeg, Nicolas [ Don't Look Now (1973) #301 ] - 8966
75. 4 - Gilliam, Terry [ Brazil (1985) #188 ] - 8783
76. 4 - Carné, Marcel [ Enfants du paradis, Les (1945) #183 ] - 8728
77. 4 - Herzog, Werner [ Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) #72 ] - 8534
78. 4 - von Stroheim, Erich [ Greed (1924) 79 ] - 8234
79. 6 - von Sternberg, Josef [ Blue Angel, The (1930) #269 ] - 8170
80. 4 - Wenders, Wim [ Wings of Desire (1987) #245 ] - 7908
81. 2 - Vigo, Jean [ L'Atalante (1934) 49 ] - 7874 [avg 3837]
82. 2 - Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly [ Singin' in the Rain (1952) #26 ] - 7604 [avg 3802]
83. 4 - Nolan, Christopher [ Memento (2000) #354 ] - 7406
84. 2 - Clouzot, Henri-Georges [ Wages of Fear, The (1952) #134 ] - 7390 [avg 3695]
85. 4 - Miyazaki, Hayao [ Spirited Away (2001) #255 ] - 7366
86. 3 - Tati, Jacques [ Playtime (1967) #209 ] - 7362
87. 3 - Anderson, Paul Thomas [ There Will Be Blood (2007) #180 ] - 7326
88. 3 - Wise, Robert [ Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951) #318 ] - 7272
89. 2 - Whale, James [ Bride of Frankenstein (1935) #140 ] - 7204 [avg 3602]
90. 4 - Almodóvar, Pedro [ All About My Mother (1999) #283 ] - 6825
91. 5 - Vidor, King [ Crowd, The (1928) #355 ] - 6759
92. 3 - Zinnemann, Fred [ High Noon (1952) #106 ] - 6560
93. 4 - Tourneur, Jacques [ Out of the Past (1947) #236 ] - 6446
94. 2 - Zemeckis, Robert [ Back to the Future (1985) #175 ] - 6434 [avg 3217]
95. 4 - Reiner, Rob [ Princess Bride, The (1987) #371 ] - 6426
96. 3 - Malick, Terrence [ Days of Heaven (1978) #260 ] - 6402
97. 3 - Carpenter, John [ Halloween (1978) #317 ] - 6355
98. 3 - Stevens, George [ Shane (1953) #282 ] - 6214
99. 3 - Cocteau, Jean [ Belle et la bête, La (Beauty/Beast, 1946) #240 ] - 6196
100. 1 - Laughton, Charles [ Night of The Hunter, The (1955) 35 ] - 6100 [avg 6100]
101. 4 - Melville, Jean-Pierre [ Army of Shadows (1969) #291 ] - 6086
102. 2 - Nichols, Mike [ Graduate, The (1967) #107 ] - 6016
103. 4 - Demy, Jacques [ Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The (1964) #284 ] - 5954
104. 2 - Preminger, Otto [ Laura (1944) #168 ] - 5952
105. 3 - De Palma, Brian [ Scarface (1982) #210 ] - 5943
106. 1 - Cooper, Merian C./Ernest B. Schoedsack [ King Kong (1933) 40 ] - 5838 [avg 5838]
107. 5 - Hou Hsiao-Hsien [ Time to Live and the Time to Die, The (1985) #500 ] - 5802
108. 2 - Stanton, Andrew [ WALL-E (2008) #181 ] - 5795
109. 3 - Fincher, David [ Fight Club (1999) #271 ] - 5768
110. 2 - Campion, Jane [ Piano, The (1993) #81 ] - 5697
111. 3 - Sharpsteen, Ben [ Fantasia (1940) #358 ] - 5690
112. 2 - Lasseter, John [ Toy Story (1995) #82 ] - 5588
113. 2 - Friedkin, William [ Exorcist, The (1973) #143 ] - 5562
114. 1 - Frankenheimer, John [ Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) #43 ] - 5559 [avg 5559]
115. 3 - Rivette, Jacques [ Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) 141 ] - 5542
116. 2 - Lee, Ang [ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) #152 ] - 5452
117. 3 - Clair, René [ Le Million (1931) #313 ] - 5410
118. 2 - Lee, Spike [ Do The Right Thing (1989) #112 ] - 5377
119. 1 - Hanson, Curtis [ L.A. Confidential (1997) #45 ] - 5348 [avg 5348]
120. 2 - Bird, Brad [ Incredibles, The (2004) #295 ] - 5333
121. 2 - Darabont, Frank [ Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) #155 ] - 5234
122. 2 - Demme, Jonathan [ Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) #90 ] - 5234
123. 4 - Zhang Yimou [ Raise the Red Lantern (1991) #298 ] - 5219
124. 2 - Cimino, Michael [ Deer Hunter, The (1978) #110 ] - 5202
125. 2 - Hill, George Roy [ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) #149 ] - 5088
126. 2 - Boyle, Danny [ Slumdog Millionaire (2008) #232 ] - 5051
127. 2 - Marker, Chris [ La Jetee (1961) 184 ] - 4972
128. 3 - Greengrass, Paul [ Bourne Ultimatum, The (2007) #362 ] - 4640
129. 1 - Vertov, Dziga [ Man With a Movie Camera, The (1928) 78 ] - 4602 [avg 4602]
130. 3 - Pabst, G.W. [ Pandora's Box (1928) #249 ] - 4430
131. 2 - Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones [ Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) #222 ] - 4330
132. 1 - Mulligan, Robert [ To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) #96 ] - 4324 [avg 4324]
133. 2 - Fosse, Bob [ Cabaret (1972) #276 ] - 4302
134. 2 - Angelopoulos, Theo [ Landscape in the Mist (1988) 316 ] - 4282
135. 1 - Penn, Arthur [ Bonnie and Clyde (1967) #105 ] - 4240 [avg 4240]
136. 2 - Wong Kar-Wai [ In the Mood for Love (2001) #268 ] - 4205
137. 3 - Leigh, Mike [ Secrets & Lies (1996) #376 ] - 4195
138. 4 - Weir, Peter [ Truman Show, The (1998) #689 ] - 4172
139. 3 - Rocha, Glauber [ Black God, White Devil (1964) #528 ] - 4166
140. 2 - Hand, David [ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) #256 ] - 4136
141. 2 - Boorman, John [ Deliverance (1972) #309 ] - 4134
142. 1 - Wajda, Andrzej [ Ashes and Diamonds (1958) #114 ] - 4132
143. 1 - Hamer, Robert [ Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) #117 ] - 4122
144. 2 - Yang, Edward [ Yi yi (2000) #221 ] - 4101
145. 1 - Lanzmann, Claude [ Shoah (1985) #119 ] - 4078
146. 3 - Cronenberg, David [ Dead Ringers (1988) #349 ] - 4076
147. 1 - Pontecorvo, Gillo [ Battle of Algiers, The (1966) #132 ] - 3936
148. 1 - Mackendrick, Alexander [ Sweet Smell of Success (1957) #133 ] - 3896
149. 2 - Romero, George A. [ Night of the Living Dead (1968) #326 ] - 3856
150. 2 - Lester, Richard [ Hard Day's Night, A (1964) #327 ] - 3849
151. 2 - Snow, Michael [ Wavelength (1967) #259 ] - 3842
152. 1 - Mendes, Sam [ American Beauty (1999) #139 ] - 3799
153. 2 - Siegel, Don [ Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) #342 ] - 3780
154. 1 - Akerman, Chantal [ Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) #146 ] - 3740
155. 1 - Rossen, Robert [ Hustler, The (1961) #153 ] - 3686
156. 1 - del Toro, Guillermo [ Pan's Labyrinth (2006) #154 ] - 3681
157. 1 - Tornatore, Giuseppe [ Cinema Paradiso (1988) #158 ] - 3632
158. 3 - Rohmer, Eric [ My Night at Maud's (1969) #497 ] - 3630
159. 1 - von Donnersmarck, Florian Henckel [ Lives of Others, The (2006) #162 ] - 3537
160. 3 - Frears, Stephen [ Queen, The (2006) #479 ] - 3515
161. 1 - Milestone, Lewis [ All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) #164 ] - 3514
162. 2 - Straub, Jean-Marie [ Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, The (1968) #850 ] - 3466
163. 3 - Jarmusch, Jim [ Stranger Than Paradise (1984) #628 ] - 3426
164. 3 - Sembene, Ousmane [ Moolaadé (2004) #617 ] - 3419
165. 1 - Singer, Bryan [ Usual Suspects, The (1995) #169 ] - 3410
166. 2 - Sturges, John [ Great Escape, The (1963) #294 ] - 3398
167. 1 - Burnett, Charles [ Killer of Sheep (1977) #173 ] - 3367
168. 2 - Flaherty, Robert [ Nanook of the North (1922) #443 ] - 3362
169. 2 - Aronofsky, Darren [ Requiem for a Dream (2000) #459 ] - 3340
170. 2 - Meyer, Russ [ Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) 315 ] - 3322
171. 2 - Ashby, Hal [ Harold and Maude (1971) #346 ] - 3310
172. 2 - Riefenstahl, Leni [ Triumph of the Will (1935) #453 ] - 3310
173. 3 - Malle, Louis [ Atlantic City (1980) #489 ] - 3290
174. 1 - Ramis, Harold [ Groundhog Day (1993) #182 ] - 3262
175. 1 - Hopper, Dennis [ Easy Rider (1969) #190 ] - 3190
176. 3 - Burton, Tim [ Ed Wood (1994) #724 ] - 3188
177. 1 - Meirelles, Fernando [ City of God(2002) #191 ] - 3188
178. 2 - Walsh, Raoul [ White Heat (1949) #322 ] - 3152
179. 1 - Shaffner, Frank [ Patton (1970) #202 ] - 3105
180. 1 - Pollack, Sydney [ Tootsie (1982) #212 ] - 3049
181. 2 - Parajanov, Sergei [ Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) #510 ] - 3030
182. 1 - Avildsen, John G. [ Rocky (1976) #223 ] - 2938
183. 1 - Wachowski, Andy & Larry Wachowski [ Matrix, The (1999) #224 ] - 2932
184. 2 - Stone, Oliver [ Platoon (1986) #390 ] - 2920
185. 1 - Gondry, Michael [ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) #225 ] - 2915
186. 1 - Kelly, Richard [ Donnie Darko (2001) #226 ] - 2908
187. 1 - Mann, Michael [ Heat (1995) #227 ] - 2904
188. 1 - Gance, Abel [ Napoléon (1927) #230 ] - 2888
189. 2 - Tarr, Béla [ Sátántangó (1994) #547 ] - 2886
190. 1 - McTiernan, John [ Die Hard (1988) #241 ] - 2802
191. 1 - Peterson, Wolfgang [ Das Boot (1981) #243 ] - 2798
192. 1 - Hooper, Tobe [ Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974) #246 ] - 2780
193. 1 - Dovzhenko, Alexander [ Earth (1930) #247 ] - 2774
194. 1 - Wise, Robert/Jerome Robbins [ West Side Story (1961) #251 ] - 2742
195. 1 - Erice, Victor [ Spirit of the Beehive, The (1973) #257 ] - 2688
196. 2 - Chen Kaige [ Farewell, My Concubine (1993) #452 ] - 2678
197. 1 - Feuillade, Louis [ Les Vampires (1915-16) #262 ] - 2666
198. 2 - Ritchie, Guy [ Snatch (2000) #607 ] - 2624
199. 1 - Bogdanovich, Peter [ Last Picture Show, The (1971) #278 ] - 2612
200. 1 - Attenborough, Richard [ Gandhi (1982) #281 ] - 2598
201. 1 - Sandrich, Mark [ Top Hat (1935) #285 ] - 2572
202. 2 - Edwards, Blake [ Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) #596 ] - 2560
203. 1 - Schlesinger, John [ Midnight Cowboy (1969) #289 ] - 2558
204. 2 - von Trier, Lars [ Breaking the Waves (1996) #445 ] - 2548
205. 2 - Schnabel, Julian [ Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2008) #439 ] - 2541

See the complete list of all 430 directors with films in the Top Ranked 1000

Top Average Per Film (2+ films)

1. Francis Ford Coppola 6584
2. Victor Fleming 5556
3. George Lucas 4581
4. D.W. Griffith 4399
5. Frank Capra 4391
6. Stanley Kubrick 4217
7. Peter Jackson 4201
8. Steven Spielberg 4099
9. Ridley Scott 4045
10. Charles Chaplin 3979
11. Alfred Hitchcock 3954
12. Vittorio De Sica 3914
13. Jean Vigo 3837
14. Stanley Donen 3802
15. David Lean 3778
16. Henri-Georges Clouzot 3695

High Scores One Film Only

1. Charles Laughton 6100 [Night of the Hunter]
2. Cooper & Shoedsack 5838 [King Kong]
3. John Frankenheimer 5539 [Manchurian Candidate]
4. Curtis Hanson 5348 [L.A. Confidential]
5. Dziga Vertov 4602 [Man With the Movie Camera]
6. Robert Mulligan 4324 [To Kill a Mockingbird]
7. Arthur Penn 4240 [Bonnie and Clyde]