Younger Directors Step Up

June 10, 1965 - Movie directing, traditionally a tough trade for an outsider to enter, seems to be opening its doors.

The major studios, always reluctant to assign films to novices, seem to be growing more venturesome. More than a dozen new directors will make their first pictures in the next few months. 

The main reason for this is a critical shortage created as more and more older directors retire. While many of the long-time directors began as editors, nearly all the newcomers are writers or T.V. directors.

The television alumni include Sidney Pollack (left), who this week will start his first picture, “The Slender Thread,” with Sidney Poitier for Paramount; David Rich, who has just finished “Madame X” at Universal; Lamont Johnson, who will shortly start “Witness to the Killing” at Warner Brothers, which is based on the murder of Kitty Genovese last year; and Elliot Silverstein, who recently completed “Cat Ballou” at Columbia.

The writers directing include James Poe, who wrote “Lilies of the Field” and has a directing commitment at Columbia; Ric Hardman, who has been signed to direct the film version of his novel, “The Chaplains Raid” for Warner Brothers; and James Clavell, who will direct “To Sir, with Love,” for Columbia.

“The hard fact is that in nine out of 10 cases, the picture that finally appears on the screen is not the picture that you wrote,” said Poe, long a screenwriter. “The only way you can control things is to direct the films yourself.”

Others breaking into the business include Carl Reiner, Richard Serafian, Howard Morris, and Jerry Paris, all of T.V.; James Harris, a move producer who has worked with Stanley Kubrick; and Brian Hutton, an actor. Mike Nichols, who has had successes on Broadway, will make his film debut this month with “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” for Warner Brothers.

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