

Acclaimed profiles of eight great American film directors. Produced and directed by Richard Schickel and narrated by Cliff Robertson, with solid interviews and film clips, the series reviews the careers of Raoul Walsh, Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, King Vidor, George Cukor, William A. Wellman, Alfred Hitchcock and Vincente Minnelli.
His career spans the entire history of film in America. Raoul Walsh began as a stunt rider in Pathen Brothers westerns and learned his craft as an assistant to D.W. Griffith. He then became a contract director for William Fox where he directed such distinguished silent films as “What Price Glory”, and “Thief of Baghdad”. Films excerpted include these as well as such action classics as “The Roarings 20s”, “High Sierra”, “White Heat”, and “They Died With Their Boots On”.
Aired: 11/4/1973Capra, whose enormous success in the 1930s transformed a tiny studio — Columbia Pictures — into one of the giants of the industry, extols the virtues of common men in such films as “Mr. Deeds Comes To Town”, “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington”; “Meet John Doe” and “It’s a Wonderful Life”.