Reply #114: Hmm...a pissing contest about great American Directors of the 20th Century [View All]

and not one mention of John Ford or John Houston.

For starters:

-Ford-
Searchers, The (1956)
Mister Roberts (1955)
Quiet Man, The (1952)
Wagon Master (1950)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
3 Godfathers (1948)
Fort Apache (1948)
Fugitive, The (1947)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Battle of Midway, The (1942)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Grapes of Wrath, The (1940)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Stagecoach (1939)
Hurricane, The (1937)
Wee Willie Winkie (1937)
Mary of Scotland (1936)
Prisoner of Shark Island, The (1936)
Steamboat Round the Bend (1935)
Informer, The (1935)
Lost Patrol, The (1934)

-Houston-
Dead, The (1987)
Prizzi's Honor (1985)
Under the Volcano (1984)
Wise Blood (1979) (
Man Who Would Be King, The (1975)
Fat City (1972)
Kremlin Letter, The (1970)
Walk with Love and Death, A (1969)
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Bible, The (1966)
Night of the Iguana, The (1964)
List of Adrian Messenger, The (1963)
Freud (1962)
Misfits, The (1961)
Unforgiven, The (1960)
Roots of Heaven, The (1958)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
Moby Dick (1956)
Beat the Devil (1953)
Moulin Rouge (1952)
African Queen, The (1951)
Red Badge of Courage, The (1951)
Asphalt Jungle, The (1950)
We Were Strangers (1949)
Key Largo (1948)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
Let There Be Light (1946)
San Pietro (1945) (uncredited)
Report from the Aleutians (1943) (uncredited)
Across the Pacific (1942)
Maltese Falcon, The (1941)

Spielberg knows enough to salute these greats every now and then, i.e., including the kiss from "The Quiet Man" in "E.T." Spielberg is clever and knows his craft, but he has a long way to go before he can cast a shadow as long as these giants.