This is a list of notable directors and their first commercial cinematic films, listed chronologically by release date.
Many of the listed filmmakers, including Orson Welles, directed earlier works that were not commercially released, such as film-school projects, movies that failed to find distribution, or others that were never intended for release. Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, some directors learned their trade in the medium of television, including Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, and Alfonso Cuarón. Later directors such as Alan Parker and Ridley Scott did their first professional work in commercial television advertising, which became more cinematic in the 1960s and 1970s. The success of MTV and the popularity of music videos from the early 1980s drew first work from David Fincher, Jonathan Glazer, Michel Gondry, and Spike Jonze.
♦ Indicates a director who created other earlier works for television.
# Indicates a director whose earlier work is uncredited.
† Indicates a director whose earlier work has not been released in cinemas—for example, film school productions, short films, or music videos.
Pre–1876 1874 Pierre Janssen – Passage de Vénus
1876–1925
1878 Eadweard Muybridge – The Horse in Motion
1887 Louis Le Prince – Man Walking Around a Corner
1889 William Kennedy Dickson – Monkeyshines William Friese-Greene – Leisurely Pedestrians, Open Topped Buses and Hansom Cabs with Trotting Horses
1892 Émile Reynaud – Un bon bock
1894 Alexander Black – Miss Jerry
1896 Alice Guy-Blaché – La Fée aux Choux Georges Méliès – Le Manoir du diable
1898 Edwin S. Porter – The Cavalier's Dream
1901 Segundo de Chomón – Bajada de Montserrat
1907 Sidney Olcott – The Wooing of Miles Standish
1908 Louis Feuillade – L'Homme aimanté D. W. Griffith – The Adventures of Dollie
1909 Mack Sennett – The Curtain Pole
1911 Oscar Apfel – The Wedding Bell Thomas H. Ince – Artful Kate Lois Weber – A Heroine of 76
1912 Herbert Brenon – All for Her Christy Cabanne – Life of Villa Michael Curtiz – Utolsó bohém, Az Francis Ford – The Post Telegrapher J. Farrell MacDonald – The Worth of a Man Wallace Reid – The Tribal Law Victor Sjöström – Ett hemligt giftermål Maurice Tourneur – Jean la Poudre Robert Wiene – Die Waffen der Jugend
1913 Wallace Beery – Kitty's Knight Frank Borzage – The Mystery of Yellow Aster Mine Hobart Bosworth – The Sea Wolf Jack Conway† – The Old Armchair Carmine Gallone – Il bacio di Cirano Dadasaheb Phalke – Raja Harishchandra King Vidor – Hurricane in Galveston Raoul Walsh – The Pseudo Prodigal
1914 Donald Crisp – Her Father's Silent Partner Cecil B. DeMille – The Squaw Man Allan Dwan – The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch William S. Hart – The Gringo Rex Ingram – The Symphony of Souls George Irving – The Jungle Alexander Korda – Orhaz a Karpatokban Robert Z. Leonard – The Master Key Frank Lloyd – The Law of His Kind John M. Stahl – A Boy and the Law William Desmond Taylor – The Smouldering Spark
1915 Roscoe Arbuckle – Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco Richard Boleslavsky – Ty yeshcho ne umesh lyubit Charles Brabin – Vanity Fair Tod Browning – The Lucky Transfer Lon Chaney – The Stool Pigeon Harry Davenport – The Island of Regeneration Alan Hale – The Passing Storm Frank Reicher – The Clue Hal Roach – Willie Runs the Park William A. Seiter – The Honeymoon Roll
1916 Francis X. Bushman – In the Diplomatic Service Alfred E. Green – The Temptation of Adam Oliver Hardy – Bungles Lands a Job Rex Ingram – The Great Problem Rupert Julian – Naked Hearts Ernst Lubitsch – Shoe Palace Pinkus George Marshall – Love's Lariat Fred Niblo – Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
1917 John Ford – The Tornado Lambert Hillyer – An Even Break Harold Lloyd – Over the Fence Roy William Neill – The Girl, Glory John S. Robertson – Baby Mine Wesley Ruggles – For France W. S. Van Dyke – The Land of Long Shadows
1918 James Cruze – Too Many Millions Douglas Fairbanks – Arizona Dave Fleischer – Out of the Inkwell Howard C. Hickman – The White Lie Zoltan Korda – Károly bakák Wallace Worsley – An Alien Enemy
1919 Carl Theodor Dreyer – The President Victor Fleming – When the Clouds Roll By Max Fleischer – The Tantalizing Fly Fritz Lang – Halbblut Oscar Micheaux – The Homesteader F. W. Murnau – The Boy in Blue Gustav von Seyffertitz – The Secret Garden Erich von Stroheim – Blind Husbands
1920 Clarence Brown – The Great Redeemer Erle C. Kenton – Down on the Farm Reinhold Schünzel – Der Graf von Cagliostro Edward Sedgwick – Fantomas William A. Wellman – The Twins of Suffering Creek Sam Wood – Double Speed
1921 Gregory La Cava – His Nibs Charlie Chaplin – The Kid John Gilbert – Love's Penalty Harry Houdini – The Soul of Bronze William K. Howard – Get Your Man Grover Jones – The Unknown Rowland V. Lee – Blind Hearts Edward Ludwig – Rip Van Winkle Leo McCarey – Society Secrets Albert S. Rogell – The Ranch Mystery
1922 Frank Capra – Fultah Fisher's Boarding House Irving Cummings – The Man from Hell's River Robert J. Flaherty – Nanook of the North Alexander Hall – A Game of Craft Rupert Hughes – The Wall Flower Frank Tuttle – The Cradle Buster
1923 Adrian Brunel – The Man Without Desire William Dieterle – Der Mensch am Wege Sessue Hayakawa – La Bataille Seymour Hicks – Always Tell Your Wife Julio Irigoyen – De Nuestras Pampas Buster Keaton – Three Ages Kenji Mizoguchi – Ai ni yomigaru hi Dudley Murphy – High Speed Lee Berthold Viertel – Nana
1924 Tay Garnett – Fast Break Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg – The Adventures of Oktyabrina Jean Renoir – Backbiters
1925 Clyde Bruckman – Cowboys Cry for It Jean Cocteau – Jean Cocteau fait du Cinema Roy Del Ruth† – Eve's Lover Sergei Eisenstein† – Strike Edmund Goulding – Sun-Up Alfred Hitchcock – The Pleasure Garden Walter Lang – The Red Kimono Stan Laurel – Chasing the Chaser Lewis Milestone† – Seven Sinners Paul Sloane – Too Many Kisses Josef von Sternberg – The Salvation Hunters A. Edward Sutherland – Coming Through Herbert Wilcox – Chu-Chin-Chow
1926–1975
1926 Howard Hawks – The Road to Glory Miles Mander – The Whistler Archie Mayo† – Money Talks Ray Taylor – Fighting with Buffalo Bill Edgar G. Ulmer# – The Border SheriffCo-directed with Robert N. Bradbury William Wyler† – Lazy Lightning
1927 Anthony Asquith – Shooting Stars Lloyd Bacon – The Heart of Maryland David Butler – High School Hero Robert Florey – One Hour of Love Mervyn LeRoy – No Place to Go Yasujirō Ozu – Zange no Yaiba
1928 Norman Z. McLeod – Taking a Chance Alfred L. Werker – The Pioneer Scout Tim Whelan – Adam's Apple
1929 Lionel Barrymore – Madame X John Cromwell – Close Harmony Dorothy Davenport – Linda Martin Frič – Father Vojtech Rouben Mamoulian – Applause Andrew Marton – Two O'Clock in the Morning Robert Milton – The Dummy Elliott Nugent# – Wise Girls Edgar Selwyn – The Girl in the Show Alf Sjöberg – Den starkaste Norman Taurog – Lucky Boy
1930 Luis Buñuel† – L'Age d'Or Lloyd Corrigan – Follow Thru George Cukor – Grumpy Howard Hughes – Hell's Angels Sidney Lanfield – Cheer Up and Smile Ray McCarey – Two Plus Fours Lowell Sherman† – Lawful Larceny Robert Siodmak – People on Sunday Jean Vigo – À propos de Nice James Whale – Journey's End
1931 Peter Godfrey – Down River Michael Powell – Two Crowded Hours Otto Preminger – The Great Love Jacques Tourneur – Tout ça ne vaut pas l'amour Stuart Walker – The Secret Call
1932 Thorold Dickinson – The First Mrs. Fraser Karl Freund – The Mummy Henry Hathaway – Heritage of the Desert William Keighley – The Match King Henry Koster – Thea Roland Edwin L. Marin – The Death Kiss Irving Pichel – The Most Dangerous Game John Rawlins – High Society Herbert Selpin – Chauffeur Antoinette Robert Stevenson – Happy Ever After
1933 Busby Berkeley – She Had to Say Yes Fei Mu – Night in the City Mitchell Leisen – Cradle Song Marcel Pagnol† – Le gendre de Monsieur Poirier George Stevens† – A Divorce Courtship Charles Vidor – Sensation Hunters Bernard Vorhaus – The Ghost Camera
1934 Charles Barton – Wagon Wheels Cedric Gibbons – Tarzan and His Mate Brian Desmond Hurst – The Tell-Tale Heart John Farrow – The Spectacle Maker Arthur Lubin – A Successful Failure Mario Mattoli – Tempo Massimo Alice O'Fredericks – Ud i den kolde sne Billy Wilder – Mauvaise Graine Harold Young – Leave It to Blanche
1935 Edward Dmytryk – The Hawk W. C. Fields# – Man on the Flying Trapeze James W. Horne – Bonnie Scotland Mehboob Khan – Judgement of Allah Yuan Muzhi – Scenes of City Life Carol Reed – It Happened in Paris Douglas Sirk – The Girl from the Marsh Croft Jacques Tati – Gai dimanche
1936 Lew Ayres – Hearts in Bondage John Brahm† – Broken Blossoms William Clemens – Man Hunt Norman Foster – I Cover Chinatown Stuart Heisler – Straight from the Shoulder Buck Jones – For the Service Gregory Ratoff – Sins of Man Wells Root – The Bold Caballero
1937 Vijay Bhatt – Khwab Ki Duniya William Cottrell, David Hand, Larry Morey, and Perce Pearce – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Giacomo Gentilomo – Sinfonia di Roma Roy Kellino – Concerning Mr. Martin Julio Saraceni – Noches de carnaval Harold D. Schuster – Wings of the Morning S. Sylvan Simon – A Girl with Ideas William Witney – The Painted Stallion
1938 Leslie Howard – Pygmalion Erich Pommer – Vessel of Wrath George Waggner – Western Trails Mario Zampi – 13 Men and a Gun
1939 Ricardo Cortez – Inside Story Harold Huth – Hell's Cargo Joseph Losey – Pete Roleum and his Cousins Leslie Norman – Too Dangerous to LiveCo-directed with Anthony Hankey Vincent Sherman – The Return of Doctor X
1940 James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Jim Handley, Ford Beebe Jr., T. Hee, Norman Ferguson, and Wilfred Jackson – FantasiaCo-directed with Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen, and David D. Hand Joseph Barbera and William Hanna – Puss Gets the Boot Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen – Pinocchio William Morgan – Bowery Boy Vittorio De Sica – Rose scarlatte Preston Sturges – The Great McGinty
1941 Jules Dassin – The Tell-Tale Heart John Huston – The Maltese Falcon Jean Negulesco – Singapore Woman Irving Rapper – Shining Victory George Sidney† – Free and Easy Ted Tetzlaff – World Premiere Orson Welles† – Citizen Kane Spencer Williams – The Blood of Jesus
1942 Henri-Georges Clouzot – The Murderer Lives at Number 21 Noël Coward and David Lean – In Which We Serve Basil Dearden and Will Hay – The Black Sheep of Whitehall Michael Gordon – Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood Will Hay – The Black Sheep of Whitehall Charles Lederer – Fingers at the Window Albert Lewin – The Moon and Sixpence Anthony Mann♦ – Dr. Broadway Joseph M. Newman – Northwest Rangers Manoel de Oliveira – Aniki-Bóbó Emeric Pressburger – One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
1943 Robert Bresson – Angels of the Streets William Castle – Klondike Kate Delmer Daves – Destination Tokyo Maya Deren – Meshes of the Afternoon Akira Kurosawa – Sanshiro Sugata Frank Launder – Millions Like Us Roy Rowland†# – A Stranger in Town Vincente Minnelli# – Cabin in the Sky Dudley Nichols – Government Girl Roberto Rossellini – Le Nave Biance Luchino Visconti – Ossessione Fred M. Wilcox – Lassie Come Home
1944 René Clément† – Paris sous la botte Charles Crichton – For Those in Peril Lewis Gilbert – Sailors Do Care James V. Kern – The Doughgirls Clifford Odets – None But the Lonely Heart Laurence Olivier – Henry V Helmut Weiss – The Punch Bowl Robert Wise – The Curse of the Cat PeopleCo-directed with Gunther von Fritsch
1945 K. Asif – Phool Mel Ferrer – The Girl of the Limberlost Phillip Ford – The Tiger Woman Elia Kazan† – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn George Seaton – Diamond Horseshoe Don Siegel – Star in the Night William C. Thomas – Midnight Manhunt Hal Walker – Out of This World
1946