THE TOP 12 BEST OF ALL-TIME DEBUT FILMS BY AMERICAN DIRECTORS

Before I get into this, I want to make mention this article will contain a Top 12 Best Film list with some critical analysis, photos of the filmmakers & their film posters, and movie trailers all further down the editorial.

Okay, so, I saw an article on the entertainment news site, IndieWire, about the “25 Best Movies by American Directors 35 or Under” that were made in the 21st century. The list contained a lot of interesting and intriguing films to say the least but left a lot of films out that arguably should have been on the list such as Damien Chazelle’s “Whiplash”, Patty Jenkins’ “Monster”, Peter Docter’s “Monster Inc.”, Marc Webb’s “(500) Days of Summer”, Benny and Josh Safdie’s “Good Time”, Spike Jonez’s “Adaptation”, Josh Trank’s “Chronicle” and so forth.

Furthermore, arguments could easily be made for certain films that shouldn’t have made the list to start with — such as David Gordon Green’s “Pineapple Express” for example, beating out superior films like the ones mentioned above that didn’t. Also, the order of the films is also highly debatable on the list but I’ll digress on the matter.

But IndieWire’s list got me thinking about another notion that stimulated my intrigue after reading their list. While they came up with a listing of the best films by American Directors 35 or under, I was interested in knowing what are the best debut feature films — but of all time. Now, doing such a list for starters is a rather hard and challenging undertaking as there is a relatively large & extensive portion of Directors who succeeded nicely with their debut feature film.

So, establishing such a list can put one through a daunting task per se and can create many facets of debate but I had to create boundaries for such a list. First off, I came to wonder about a ranking as how far should I go? I was originally thinking of just doing a Top 10 but I thought, why not go a little further and do a Top 12 instead. I wasn’t going to do a Top 25 or anything to that extent, that’s just too much and not really necessary. I feel people would like to know the pinnacle debut titles and not just a broad account of great debut titles. I thought a Top 12 lineup was a good measurement overall.

Secondly, I decided I needed to condense the list by just focusing on American directors and their debut feature films. It made the objective somewhat easier to sort through even though, I was going to end up leaving out many acclaimed filmmakers who weren’t American on one hand but also had highly successful debut feature films themselves. When I was laying the foundation of this manifest, you begin to realize just how many noticeable names and well-recognized debut feature film titles you truly end up leaving off which makes it compelling but yet, strenuous when put into perspective in organizing such a listing.

Just to name some filmmakers and their debut feature film that weren’t American: Sam Mendes (England) with “American Beauty”, M. Night Shyamalan (India) with “The Sixth Sense”, Charles Laughton (England) with “The Night of the Hunter”, Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Mexico) with “Amores Perros”, Charles Chaplin (England) with “The Kid”, Jason Reitman (Canada) with “Thank You for Smoking”, Billy Wilder (Poland) with “The Major and the Minor”, Danny Boyle (England) with “Shallow Grave”, François Truffaut (France) with “The 400 Blows”, Alex Garland (England) with “Ex Machina”, Akira Kurosawa (Japan) with “Sanshiro Sugata”, Steve McQueen (England) with “Hunger” and that’s just a small portion of examples that I’m just scratching the surface on.

Then of course, after gathering such a lexicon of candidates, there are many, I do mean many, American filmmakers and their feature film debut titles that were going to be left off the ranking when doing just a Top 12. This just brings other obstacles in the matter because you start to realize and say to yourself: “Man, I’m going to be leaving A LOT of American Directors and debut feature films off this list when all set and done here.” It brings a real sense of curiosity on what will end up on the census in the end.

So, here is a sizable portion (and far from all) of American Directors and their debut feature films that missed the cut to make it on the Top 12 list such as: Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights”, Spike Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich”, Stanley Donen’s “On the Town”, Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves”, Nicholas Ray’s “They Live By Night”, Patty Jenkins’ “Monster”, David Lynch’s “Eraserhead”, Steven Soderbergh’s “Sex, Lies, and Videotape”, Bennett Miller’s “Capote”, Mel Brooks’ “The Producers”, Darren Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream”, John Hughes’ “Sixteen Candles”, Richard Kelly’s “Donnie Darko”, James L. Brooks’ “Terms of Endearment”, John Cassavetes’ “Shadows”, Preston Sturges’ “The Great McGinty”, Ben Affleck’s “Gone Baby Gone”, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ “Little Miss Sunshine”, Michael Mann’s “Thief” and many, many more.

I know what you’re thinking and yes, that is a lot of top notch American Directors and films left off the concluding panel. So, this was an exceedingly ambitious and easier said than done list to establish with such an array of talents and films to choose from. Again, this wasn’t easy but I feel I created an admirable list to say the least despite leaving so many successful and well-qualified filmmakers and their first feature films off the table.

How I decide the list of the Top 12 was administered through a rather collective algorithm from various critical and audience aggregators, in helping to form an overall consensual ranking of the American Directors and their debut feature films. This is a topic that can be debated on various levels but without further ado, may I present to you, the “Top 12 Best of All-Time Debut Feature Films By American Directors”:

12. “BLOOD SIMPLE” (1984)

Directed By: Joel and Ethan Coen

A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple. Joel and Ethan Coen’s debut feature film showed the sure footedness with which they would ease themselves into one genre after another, reworking each to fit their deadpan vision. This particular film encapsulates all that has come to typify the Coen brothers’ style with engaging narrative, inventive direction, and the juxtaposition of grim violence with moments of sublime, sometimes surreal, human behavior and a playful approach that would shape their future works, and launched the silver screen career of Frances McDormand.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

11. “MONSTERS, INC.” (2001)

Directed By: Peter Docter

The film goes about in order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, 2 monsters realize things may not be what they think. Peter Docter lets us get to know each of its characters well enough to miss them when they’re gone in wonderfully imaginative and a very funny first feature film that shows an impressive maturation of storytelling abilities with a childlike quality and adult sensibility.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

10. “BOYZ N THE HOOD” (1991)

Directed By: John Singleton

The film follows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence and future prospects. John Singleton was only 23 years old when he made this urgent state-of-the-nation drama as his feature film debut. The film mixes frangible hope and overwhelming despair, making a dramatic compilation of issues and ethics in the black community, speaking to our hearts with its themes about responsibility, manhood, friendship, reliance, self-esteem, and prosocial behavior.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

9. “WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?” (1966)

Directed By: Mike Nichols

The film is about a bitter, aging couple, with the help of alcohol, use a young couple to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other. Mike Nichols with his auspicious debut feature film brings a scathing and honest scream of a black comedy of a vitriolic stage portrayal of a domestic and scandalous dysfunctional marriage translated effectively with a merciless dissection to the screen with the help of powerhouse performances from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in this intellectual’s pathosis of satiety and gamesmanship canniness classic.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

8. “THIS IS SPINAL TAP” (1984)

Directed By: Rob Reiner

The film is of one of England’s loudest bands, which is chronicled by film director on what proves to be a fateful tour. Rob Reiner’s feature film debut inspired put-on was the first to actually capture the texture and style of the real rockumentary standard that has come to define much of modern screen comedy. For all the film’s japes and jokes, the film is really about the exhaustion of the spirit at the brimming egotism, small minds and incogitable self-indulgence of overpaid rock stars in consideration of the conciseness of fame and the band members’ denial that is ineffably and movingly sad making this a time-honored exemplar of its genre.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

7. “RESERVOIR DOGS” (1992)

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

The film takes place after a simple jewelry heist goes terribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant. A 29-year-old first-timer in Quentin Tarantino, brings a savvy and stylistic sensationalism with suspense, horror and humor that are expertly interwoven in this debut feature film that indicates a remarkably fully formed cinematic sensibility. A brash, brutal crime-caper film that is a superb character study of hard-bitten men turning on each other and the drama about the dissolution of trust in bringing the arrival of one of contemporary cinema’s hottest talents into the limelight.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

6. “SHORT TERM 12” (2013)

Directed By: Destin Daniel Cretton

The film is of a 20-something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend. Destin Daniel Cretton is able to leap tall towers of everyday humor and humanity and suddenly drop you into a pit of total, gut-wrenching sadness in a single bound. Brie Larson gives a superb performance in this solidified exploration of life in this heartbreaking drama about the lingering effects of childhood abuse and neglect, pushing us to look at our own emotions, experiences, and relationships in the process even under the best of curative circumstances, offering a much-needed corrective to the indie-darling set-particularly in its curiously optimistic conclusion.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

5. “MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL” (1975)

Co-Directed By: Terry Gilliam (with Terry Jones)

The film follows King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embarking on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles. Terry Gilliam’s debut feature film is a wonderfully inventive comedy that brilliantly debunks the Dark Ages and legends of chivalry. Troupe members Gilliam and Jones bring a visual style that is both cinematic and outrageously surreal with wonderful charming filters through these almost collegiate efforts, crammed with acres of quotable dialogue, the film plows along from one inspired bit to the next as if these underfunded Brits, in doing their best, did it better in representing one of the best and brightest comedies ever to shine from the silver screen.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

4. “THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION” (1994)

Directed By: Frank Darabont

The film is of two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. Frank Darabont brings a throwback to the kind of serious, literate drama Hollywood used to make with an old-fashioned prison tale of morality with a powerful, poignant, thought-provoking and conclusively irresistibly up-lifting debut feature film. The film explores the range of human kindness and cruelty in patiently sculpts the large cast of characters who actually learn something about themselves as the film progresses. Both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman deliver two of their finest and first-class performances of their careers, layering with snippets of individuality of small, daily sustenance and minor triumphs that are amicably inspiring in a testament to an overcoming odds story of camaraderie and growth, with a conclusion that abruptly finds poetic justice in what has come before in this classic gem of a film.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

3. “THE MALTESE FALCON” (1941)

Directed By: John Huston

The film is about a private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette. John Huston’s debut feature film establishes itself as a hardboiled, dark, and complexing plot, concentrating on the baseness of man, and a cynical mood sustained to its still shockingly grim conclusion, presenting a claustrophobic world animated by betrayal, perversion and pain as one of the best examples of action and suspenseful melodramatic storytelling in cinematic form. It’s the film that catapulted Humphrey Bogart to major stardom, offering one of his finest performances with many memorable lines as the private-eye detective of Sam Spade. The film is among the most important and influential films to emerge from the Hollywood system as its seminal moment in the development of what would come to be known as film noir. It’s “the stuff that dreams are made of,” a comment made by Spade about the elusive black bird of the title, a sentiment that easily applies to this indisputable classic.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

2. “12 ANGRY MEN” (1957)

Directed By: Sidney Lumet

The film follows a jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence. Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama is a taut, well-crafted sociological study which makes no self-saluting motions to greater importance, giving the film the much-desired breathing room it needs to reach full potency in this debut feature film. A masterful work of where tension comes from personality conflict, dialogue and body language, not action, of shifting momentum and the ideal of sticking to your scruples in the face of antagonistic group thinking. The gripping, penetrating, and engrossing examination of a diverse group of twelve jurors is displayed with superlative performances all around, highlighted by Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall and Ed Begley with the jurors’ dramas that are powerful and provocative enough to keep a viewer spellbound in this undeniable top-of-the-line classic.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

1. “CITIZEN KANE” (1941)

Directed By: Orson Welles

The film takes place following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance. Orson Welles’ debut feature film at 24 years of age, helped define the language of film, and the totality of its achievement provides no end of fascinating topics to discuss at length. An ecstasy of light and shadow, of clashing textures and graphic forms, such as hadn’t been seen since the silent era. It’s an impressive dramatic epic that articulates some of the myths of capitalist America in a personal and human way through the spirit of visual and narrative innovation, and Welles’s precocious, towering central performance, as the deeply haunting depiction of the life of William Randolph Hearst has long been synonymous with the filmmaker’s spectacularly odd and genuinely tragic career. There’s no denying that Welles, both in front of the camera and behind it, is spellbindingly effective in making this one of the great masterpieces and landmarks in the annals of cinema.

For a better look, here’s the movie trailer:

In concluding this article, these are truly the top-tier of debut feature films from American directors/filmmakers who hit their mark right out of the gate and put their names in the pantheon of cinematic achievement. While all have taken different paths (on and off this list), some have succeeded to legendary directorial status, as others have been on the ebb and flow throughout their entire careers while, others have floundered and not reached such renown production since their arrival in Hollywood. But one thing can be said, they all made their imprint be known in the annals of cinema no matter which way their career paths took them. So, what do you think are some of the best debut feature films by American filmmakers? Thanks for reading and hoped you enjoyed.

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