Clarence Brown: Mainstream Director of the Stars

Martin Scorcese. Robert Altman. King Vidor. Alfred Hitchcock. Clarence Brown.

For a casual film buff, the first four names on that list likely ring a loud and clear bell (well, maybe not Vidor, but hear me out). Each of those men is easily recognizable as a great film director. Scorcese is the man of Raging Bull and Taxi Driver. Hitchcock was the master of suspense, Altman was a maverick, and Vidor - well - Vidor was the guy who filmed part of Wizard of Oz and the excellent silent films The Big Parade and The Crowd. At the very least, the first four are acknowledged by film historians and critics as being extremely influential in the history of directing. All four of them easily made the Top 100 Directors list at the website TheyShootPictures.com.

But what about Clarence Brown? He was a film director, but his name would rarely, if ever, be placed in the same company as the four names mentioned first. He does not appear on the previously cited Top 100 list, and one would be shocked if any modern director acknowledged him as being significantly influential.

However, more probably should. The list of names at the top is the list of men who, as of this writing, had the most Oscar nominations for Best Director without winning. This is pretty elite company for Brown to fall in with, so one must ask: how exactly is he so forgotten by modern film buffs?

The answer is simple: he was the anti-Robert Altman. He was a mainstream studio director who made wide-appeal movies at MGM - the hegemon of the big boys - during the studio era. Everything that the critics and the filmmakers who came of age during the "post-classical" period stood for - and still stand for today - runs directly counter to what Brown did.