10 Great Directors Who Have (Allegedly) Done Terrible Things

It's deeper than Roman Polanski.

Feb 01, 2013
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Complex Original

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It's hard to divorce an artist's personal life from their work—assuming you're the kind of person who thinks that's necessary. Fact is, context is often too important to dismiss. And sometimes an artist's discretion is so persistently discussed, or happened on such a gross scale, that it dares you to evaluate their art in the face of it.

But which event do you use as your measuring stick? For instance, is it more important to watch Roman Polanski's films knowing he's a Holocaust survivor, or that his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by followers of Charles Manson? Or is it most important to watch his films knowing that he fled America without standing trial for drugging and raping a 13-year-old?

The following 10 directors are gifted artists. They've made significant films. But they've also been accused of doing terrible things. It's up to you to decide how much that matters. 

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Written by Frazier Tharpe (@The_SummerMan)

Alfred Hitchcock

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Most Famous Films: Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), Psycho (1960)
Most Horrible Moment: Harassing actress Tippi Hedren on set

If last year's HBO movie The Girl is to be believed, Alfred Hitchcock went from master of suspense to captain of sleaze on the set of The Birds, due to a fixation on leading lady Tippi Hedren.

Hitch was infamous for his extra-special attention to detail in every aspect of his films, from cast to set design, and given that he "discovered" Hedren, it comes as no surprise that he subjected her to the same scrutiny. Of course, a human being isn't a set. Hedren alleged that Hitch made her uncomfortable, lashing out when she refused his unprofessional advances. During the filming of the final attack scene, he kept the actress trapped in a room full of live birds. Later in life, Hedren described the experience as nightmarish and out of pocket.

Still, she continued to work with him.

David O. Russell

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Most Famous Films: Three Kings (1999), The Fighter (2010), Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Most Horrible Moment: His on-set blow-up while filming I Heart Huckabees

Many great directors are notorious for taking unorthodox and, in some cases, unethical measures to get the performances they want. But few have pushed a star to the point of temporary insanity like David O. Russell did to Lily Tomlin during filming for his comedy I Heart Huckabees.

A pair of leaked behind-the-scenes videos made light of two incidents where Russell and Tomlin twisted each other's nerves to the point of public, production-halting explosions. In the first video, Russell's confusing direction frustrates Tomlin until she cracks, going on a profanity-laden three minute rant.

The main event came later in the production. In that video, Tomlin calls Russell's methods into question for the whole set to hear. David O. positively loses his shit.

As funny as it is with the distance of a YouTube clip, it's important to remember that, professionally speaking, this was neither of their proudest moments. And that also, as it turned out, I Heart Huckabees was hardly worth the fuss.

John Ford

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Most Famous Films: The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), How the West was Won (1962)
Most Horrible Moment: Making John Wayne cry

You don't get a reputation as the only man capable of making John Wayne cry by being a nice guy. John Ford, director of many classic westerns, is also one of the most notorious hard-asses to ever sit behind the camera. Many directors are rough on their actors for the sake of mining a great performance, but Ford is infamous for bullying, mocking, and otherwise degrading his actors until they were putty in his hands.

Despite this, John Wayne and Ford were best of friends, and several other actors credit the director with pulling their best work out of them. Stockholm Syndrome or just the nature of the director-actor relationship?

George Lucas

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Most Famous Films: Star Wars
Most Horrible Act: Pissing on his own legacy

We've seen plenty of artists fuck around and tarnish a classic legacy with crucial errors of judgment, but nothing stings quite like the mistakes of George Lucas. With Lucasfilm sold off to Disney and George now in retirement, we'd love to be able to look back on his space saga with total fondness and respect.

Instead, we have to deal with trauma that includes: touching up the most beloved film series of all time with unnecessary effects; the introduction of Hayden Christensen, the Hollywood party crasher who just won't leave; the awfully written, Twilight-esque romance of Padme (Natalie Portman) and Young Vader; and Jar Jar Binks, the intergalactic minstrel. These are just to name a few.

As much as we love J.J. Abrams, we can't help but feel more than a little trepidation about whatever the thirsty executives at Disney are planning for the new trilogy. Then again, if Lucas himself could fuck up his own work so brazenly, maybe it's time to give someone else a crack at it.

Woody Allen

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Most Famous Films: Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011)
Most Horrible Act: Marrying his adopted daughter

The heart wants what the heart wants. (We should also point out that Woody was never legally Soon-Yi Previn's adoptive father.) Still, the neurotic director has been in her life since she was around 10 years old, when he was shacked up with her adoptive mother, Mia Farrow. That relationship hit the rocks when Farrow caught Allen with nude photos (taken by him, no selfies) of her then 20-year-old daughter.

Yes, legally there was no foul play, but goddamn we're talking about some serious emotional damage. And even though they weren't related by blood, the situation can't help but feel grossly incestuous. And predatory as well—Allen was pushing 60 when (he claims) the relationship started. 

Fast forward to the present and Allen and Soon-Yi are married, with two adoptive, pre-teen daughters of their own. We can only imagine how the "How Did You Two Meet" conversation went.

D.W. Griffith

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Most Famous Films: The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916)
Most Horrible Act: Glorifying the Ku Klux Klan 

D. W. Griffith directed hundreds of films, but none more significant than The Birth of a Nation, a groundbreaking film for the ways that it employed previously unseen narrative techniques and popularized the feature-length film. The film's impact cannot be ignored. It was a huge leap forward for the medium in terms of craftsmanship.

Know what else can't be ignored? That Nation glorifies the Ku Klux Klan. Klan members are the heroes of this film. So uh, thank you, but fuck you, D.W. Griffith.

Leni Riefenstahl

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Most Famous Films: Triumph of the Will (1935), Olympia (1938)
Most Horrible Act: Supporting Hitler and the Third Reich

How much can we hail a great director that was all about "Heil Hitler"? Triumph of the Will has been studied and praised for its camerawork and editing by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, and Peter Jackson. Truly, it is an aesthetic achievement.

But it's also a piece of propaganda that painted Adolf Hitler in a most triumphant light. In this way, Riefenstahl is like D.W. Griffith. Her work and influence will forever be important to the medium, but the fact remains that she used her talents to support the Nazis.

Roman Polanski

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Most Famous Films: Knife in the Water (1962), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Chinatown (1974),The Pianist (2002)
Most Horrible Act: Fleeing the country before standing trial for drugging and raping a thirteen-year-old

In 1977, Polish director Roman Polanski was arrested and charged with the following: rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. The minor in question was 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now Samantha Geimer). Instead of standing trial in California, where he was charged, Polanski fled the country. Despite an arrest in Zurich in 2009, he has still not stood trial. The charges are still pending.

Do you watch his films and think about this? Does it color the experience?

Answer freely. After all, you can't be wrong.

Dario Argento

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Most Famous Films: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1973), Deep Red (1975) Suspiria
Most Horrible Act: Constantly staging graphic murder and rape scenes with his daughters as the vicitms

Italian filmmaker Dario Argento is known for writing and filming especially graphic and disturbing horror movies. Women are killed off in lurid, flashy fashion. Sometimes, those women are played by his daughters. Argento sometimes uses his own hands in the murder scenes. And then there's his film The Stendhal Syndrome.

The thriller opens with a cop hot on the trail of a serial killer, only the psycho gets the best of her. He turns the tables and rapes her in one of the more difficult scenes to sit through in all of cinema. The actress playing the cop: Argento's daughter, Asia.

The director had already come under fire for his potentially exploitative material, but directing his daughter in a scene like this (also written by him) added another layer of nasty that sent his critics into a frenzy.

As was the case with Allen, nothing illegal has happened. But still, none of this feels right.

Mel Gibson

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Most Famous Films: Braveheart (1995), The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Most Horrible Moment: Threatening his girlfriend

Mel Gibson is an equal-opportunity basket case. From a 1991 interview that suggested homophobia, to his notorious phone call/rant to girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, where he describes her being raped by “a pack of niggers,” Mel has managed to offend most of the world's population. Name a group of people, and Mel Gibson has probably said something vile about them.

During a 2006 DUI arrest he reportedly complained that “fucking Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” This guy has such a knack for being near tape recorders every time he has something disgusting to say. Which is lots of the time.

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