A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies is a 1995 British documentary film of 225 minutes in length, presented by Martin Scorsese and produced by the British Film Institute.
In the film Martin Scorsese examines a selection of his favorite American films grouped according to four different types of directors: the director as storyteller; the director as an illusionist such as D.W. Griffith and F. W. Murnau, who created new editing techniques among other innovations that made the appearance of sound and color possible later on; the director as a smuggler such as filmmakers Douglas Sirk, Samuel Fuller, and Vincente Minnelli, who used to hide subversive messages in their films; and the director as an iconoclast, those filmmakers attacking social conventionalism such as Charles Chaplin, Erich von Stroheim, Orson Welles, Elia Kazan, Nicholas Ray, Stanley Kubrick, Arthur Penn, and Sam Peckinpah.
Summary
The documentary is structured in segments: Part I The director's dilemma The director as storyteller The Western The Gangster film The Musical Part II The director as illusionist The director as smuggler I Part III The director as smuggler II The director as iconoclast
It was originally shown on television in the UK in 1995.
Films mentioned
(Roughly in the order of the appearance.)
Part I
The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952, directed by Vincente Minnelli
Duel in the Sun, nicknamed "Lust in the Dust", 1946 Western film directed by King Vidor, William Dieterle and others The Girl Can't Help It, 1956 Musical film directed by Frank Tashlin Bigger Than Life, 1956 directed by Nicholas Ray Vertigo, 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock The Naked Kiss, 1964 neo-noir film written and directed by Samuel Fuller Murder by Contract, 1958 film noir directed by Irving Lerner The Red House, 1947 psychological thriller directed by Delmer Daves The Phenix City Story, 1955 film noir directed by Phil Karlson Sullivan's Travels, 1941 comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges The Crowd, 1928 silent film directed by King Vidor The Big Parade, 1925 silent film directed by King Vidor Shadow of a Doubt, 1943 thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939, directed by Frank Capra
The Director as Storyteller
The Western
The Great Train Robbery, 1903 Western film written, produced, and directed by Edwin S. Porter The Musketeers of Pig Alley, 1912, directed by D. W. Griffith High Sierra, 1941, directed by Raoul Walsh Colorado Territory, 1949 western film directed by Raoul Walsh (a remake of the 1941 High Sierra) Stagecoach, 1939 western film directed by John Ford She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, 1949 western film directed by John Ford The Searchers, 1956 western film directed by John Ford The Furies, 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann The Naked Spur, 1953 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann The Tall T, 1957 Western film directed by Budd Boetticher The Left Handed Gun, 1958 American western film and the film directorial debut of Arthur Penn Unforgiven, 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood Directed by John Ford 1971 documentary directed by Peter Bogdanovich The Gangster Film The Public Enemy, 1931 American Pre-Code crime film directed by William A. Wellman Regeneration, 1915, directed by Raoul Walsh Scarface, 1932 American gangster film directed by Howard Hawks (and Richard Rosson) The Roaring Twenties, 1939 crime thriller directed by Raoul Walsh I Walk Alone, 1948 film noir directed by Byron Haskin. Force of Evil, 1948 film noir directed by Abraham Polonsky Point Blank, 1967 American crime film directed by John Boorman The Musical Gold Diggers of 1935, 1935 musical film directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley Gold Diggers of 1933, 1933 musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley 42nd Street, 1933 musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon with choreography by Busby Berkeley Footlight Parade, 1933 musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon with choreography by Busby Berkeley Meet Me in St. Louis, 1944 musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli My Dream Is Yours, 1949 musical and comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz New York, New York, 1977 musical directed by Martin Scorsese (film mentioned in connection with My Dream Is Yours) The Band Wagon, 1953 musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli A Star Is Born, 1954 musical film directed by George Cukor All That Jazz, 1979 musical film directed by Bob Fosse