George Cukor: Top Oscar Directors for Actors III
January 28th, 2007 by Andre Soares
Known as a refined “woman’s director,” George Cukor has had his considerable output either relegated to the sidelines or simply dismissed by those who like their directors macho and their films male-centered. Not helping matters is the general perception that Cukor was merely a hired hand for the likes of David O. Selznick at RKO and Louis B. Mayer at MGM, not an auteur following a clear professional path. Except, of course, for the (assumed) fact that he was a woman’s director — and we’re back to square one.
Actually, George Cukor was one of the most remarkable directors of the studio era. Like Elia Kazan, Cukor served his apprenticeship in the theater, thus developing into an excellent actor’s director. Actor’s. Regardless of gender.
Because Cukor was gay, some have claimed that his sexual orientation explains his flair for directing actresses and for handling projects revolving around women. By having sex with guys, he is supposed to have somehow been more attuned to his “feminine” self, and thus able to handle Katharine Hepburn (in 10 films, including two made-for-TV movies), Joan Crawford (four times), Norma Shearer (three times), Rosalind Russell, Greta Garbo, Jeanne Crain, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Sophia Loren, Anna Magnani, Lana Turner, Jean Simmons, Maggie Smith, Jacqueline Bisset, and Candice Bergen, among others.
The list is impressive, though one must remember that Cukor worked mostly at RKO and MGM, two studios that, while Cukor was under contract, relied heavily on the star power of their female stars. Other RKO and MGM contract directors, regardless of their sexual orientation, also had to handle star vehicles for Garbo and Crawford and Shearer and Hepburn, and so on.
Additionally, the “gay sensibility” nonsense ignores the fact — and that is a fact — that Cukor was equally adept at directing male actors. Clark Gable may have gotten Cukor fired from the Gone with the Wind set, but the Oscar list below includes Fredric March, Basil Rathbone, Charles Boyer, James Mason, Anthony Quinn, and no less than three male Oscar winners, James Stewart, Ronald Colman, and Rex Harrison.
Cukor also guided numerous other male stars, including Cary Grant (three times), Spencer Tracy (five times, right), Melvyn Douglas (twice), John Barrymore (three times), Yves Montand, Laurence Olivier, Jack Lemmon, Aldo Ray, Gene Kelly, William Holden, Broderick Crawford, Robert Taylor, Maurice Chevalier, Wallace Beery, Joel McCrea, Dirk Bogarde, Stewart Granger, and Leslie Howard.
Perhaps by having sex with men, Cukor was able to absorb some of the masculine vibes of his partners? Or perhaps it takes a real man to do it with another. No matter.
In any case, Cukor himself received five best direction nominations: Little Women, 1932/33; The Philadelphia Story, 1940; A Double Life, 1947; Born Yesterday, 1950; and My Fair Lady, 1964. He won for the last film.
George Cukor
21 Acting Nominations
(s) supporting category
(*) Academy Award winner
1930-31
Fredric March The Royal Family of Broadway (co-directed with Cyril Gardner)
1936
Norma Shearer Romeo and Juliet
Basil Rathbone (s) Romeo and Juliet
1937

Robert Taylor and Greta Garbo in Camille. Garbo could be as mannered as its physically feasible, but George Cukor managed to restrain the actress who, as the doomed courtesan, gives one of the screen’s most passionate performances.
Greta Garbo Camille
1940

Box-office poison Katharine Hepburn came back to Hollywood with her Broadway hit The Philadelphia Story. She won the New York Film Critics best actress award, but only James Stewart — unfairly — took home that year’s acting Oscar.
James Stewart The Philadelphia Story *
Katharine Hepburn The Philadelphia Story
Ruth Hussey (s) The Philadelphia Story
1944

Ingrid Berman turns the tables on Charles Boyer in Gaslight. Irene Dunne, who had been offered the part, would have been a better choice for the role.
Charles Boyer Gaslight
Ingrid Bergman Gaslight *
Angela Lansbury (s) Gaslight
1947
Ronald Colman A Double Life *
1949
Deborah Kerr Edward, My Son
1950
Judy Holliday Born Yesterday *
1954

The overlong and old-fashioned A Star Is Born is (more or less) saved by Judy Garland’s excellent performance.
James Mason A Star Is Born
Judy Garland A Star Is Born
1957
Anthony Quinn Wild Is the Wind
Anna Magnani Wild Is the Wind
1964

Audrey Hepburn was the only top player from My Fair Lady not to receive an Academy Award nomination. Rex Harrison won that year, and so did Julie Andrews — the original Eliza Doolittle — for Mary Poppins.
Rex Harrison My Fair Lady *
Stanley Holloway (s) My Fair Lady
Gladys Cooper (s) My Fair Lady
1972
Maggie Smith Travels with My Aunt
William Wyler: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - I
Elia Kazan: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - II
Fred Zinnemann: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - IV
Martin Scorsese: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - V
Oscar Nominations 2007 - Article
Academy Awards 2007 - Nominated Producers
Berlin Film Festival 2007 Film Line-Up
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George Cukor was a brilliantly director. I loved “A Star is Born”. Judy Garland was absolutely outstanding. She was the best in this film.
I wish there were directors like Mr. Cukor. We will NEVER see films made like that every again!