Monday, August 21, 2023

Jack Conway - most underrated studio director?

 It's hard to call directors underrated because the minute someone pays them attention they're kind of rated.

But Jack Conway surely has some claim for being one of the most unfamous directors of famous films. I think because he worked so long at MGM, whose directors were often dismissed (Clarence Brown, Victor Fleming). They were also dismissed because they died young too and thus missed boomer critic mythologising.

But how's this for a top ten

1) Libeled Lady (1936)

2) Red Dust Woman (1932)

3) Boom Town (1940)

4) A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

5) Tarzan and His Mate(1934)

6) The Hucksters (1947)

7) Viva Villa! (1934)

8) Too Hot to Handle (1938)

9) A Yank at Oxford (1938)

10) The Unholy Three (1930)

That's a pretty good list and they're just films I'm famililar with. The best Jean Harlow movies, the best Tarzan, some excellent Clark Gable flicks.

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