Old Directors are New Again

Hollywood has always been categorized as being obsessed with youth, constantly looking for the next big young star and endlessly chasing the teenage dollar at the box office. But it's interesting to note that directing seems to be one of the few jobs where age is considered an asset, not a liability. Many of today's top directors are men (and, in a handful of cases, women) who've been at it for decades. This year's Oscar nominees featured 76-year-old Woody Allen alongside Martin Scorcese (69) and Terrence Malick (68). Ridley Scott, at 74, is still making summer blockbusters. And of course, Clint Eastwood shows no signs of slowing down at age 81, still churning out a movie almost every year, and in some cases, more than one. Even Steven Spielberg, at 65 is now ready to collect his Social Security.

While one may think that great directors such as Spielberg and Scorcese should naturally be able to continue working for as long as they'd like, I was curious as to whether this is a new trend in filmmaking, or whether it was always the case. Looking back at the careers of several legendary directors of the past and comparing them today, a few patterns do emerge:

For the most part, the legendary director's of the 40's, 50's and 60's did continue working until their late sixties at least. William Wyler (Ben-Hur) directed his last film at age 68, John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath) at 72, David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) at 75, Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo) at 76. In general, they made their final films 5-10 years before their deaths, with the exceptions of those such as Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot), Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life), and Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront) who lived well into their nineties.

So famous directors working into their twilight years is not necessarily new. However, the quality and consistency of their films is another story altogether. Many of these directors may have made films into their 70s, but by and large, the films they made were not considered up to par with their earlier work, and as a director got older, any work at all was harder to come by. Billy Wilder's last film was Buddy, Buddy,  a widely panned Jack Lemmon/Walter Mathau comedy made in 1981 at age 74. Wilder often complained of discrimination due to his advanced age, and took the film simply because it was the only one offered to him. Frank Capra made his last film in 1964 at the age of 68, and unable to find any subsequent work, retired altogether from filmmaking and moved out of Hollywood.

More recently though, notable directors are not only making more films, but many are making what some consider to be their finest work. John Huston (The Maltese Falcon) may have set the precedent, having famously worked straight until his death in 1987 at age 81, and making the acclaimed Prizzi's Honor in 1985. And in the last decade, Robert Altman (MASH) and Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men) were both still making acclaimed films on a consistent basis until their deaths at ages 81 and 86 respectively. Now, as Scorcese, Eastwood, and other have shown, age is seemingly no barrier to greatness anymore. Moreover, although their films may not be generating the same level of acclaim anymore, directors like Oliver Stone, Brian De Palma, and Robert Redford are still working consistently, and choosing projects instead of being forced into taking them just to earn a paycheque. At 73, Francis Ford Coppola may be directing bizarre and critically panned films such as Youth Without Youth and Twixt, but what is important is that he is making the films he wants to make.

Perhaps this level of freedom is the biggest contributor to why so many older directors continue to work. Compared to the studio-dominated days of the 1950s and 60s, there are for more independent studios out there willing to finance films today, and for a director with name recognition more avenues available to make them. So long as the climate stays welcome for senior directors, I expect the majority to continue taking advantage of it, because it seems that they've got no lack of stories they still want to tell. As Woody Allen said, "You know, I've made a lot of films, but I've never felt like I really made a masterpiece, and I would love to. That would be fun."