100 Notable Real Life Film Families

Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Jason Schwartzman & Nicholas Cage

This is a list of families where more than one member has done significant work in film. I've included only the members of the clan famous for their movie work; sometimes there are other relatives who have also worked in lesser-known films, or who are famous for other reasons.

I've already done a separate list for brothers who are both directors and I’ll soon be doing another list for married couples. This one concentrates on other siblings, and cross-generational movie fame within a family.

1.   Affleck: Ben And Casey, brothers

2.   Andrews: The Andrews Sisters, LaVerne, Maxene and Patty

3.   Argento: Dario, father of Asia

4.   Arquette: Rosanna, Patricia and David, siblings

5.   Baldwin: Alec, Stephen and William, brothers

6.   Barrymore: John, Lionel and Ethel, siblings, and John’s grand-daughter, Drew

7.   Begley: Ed Begley, father of Ed Begley Jr

8.   Belushi: John And Jim, brothers

9.   Bergman: Ingmar, father of Daniel, also a director

10. Blier: Bernard, actor-father of the French director, Bertrand

11. Bottoms: Timothy And Sam, brothers

12. Bowie/Jones: David Bowie, father of Duncan Jones

13. Bridges: Lloyd, father of Jeff and Beau

14. Brolin: James, father of Josh (Josh's step-mum is Barbara Streisand)

15. Busey: Gary, father of Jake

16. Cagney: Jeanne (actress) and James, siblings

17. Carey: Harry Carey, father of Harry Carey Jr

18. Carradine: John, father of Keith And David

19. Bonham Carter/Asquith: Helena Bonham Carter, great-niece Of Anthony Asquith

20. Cassavetes: John, father of Nick

21. Clooney/Ferrer: George Clooney, nephew of Jose Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney (singer/star Of White Christmas)

22. Connery/Cilento: Jason Connery, son of Sean Connery And Diane Cilento

23. Coppola/Cage/Shire/Schwartzman: Francis Ford Coppola is a) father of Sofia b) son of Carmine, film composer and c) brother of Talia Shire, who is the mother of Jason Schwartzman. Nicholas Cage is a nephew of both Francis Ford Coppola and Talia Shire.

24. Culkin: Macauley, Kieran and Rory, brothers

25. Curtis/Leigh: Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis

26. Cusack: John And Joan, siblings

27. Cusack: Cyril, father of Sinead

28. Day Lewis/Balcon: Daniel Day Lewis, grandson of Michael Balcon

29. Delphy: Julie’s father Albert is a well-know actor in France who’s been in dozens of films since the 1970’s

30. De Havilland/Fontaine: Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine (real name Joan De Havilland), sisters

31. Deneuve/Dorleac: Catherine Deneuve and Francois Dorleac, sisters

32. Dern/Ladd: Laura, daughter of Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd

33. Deschanel: Zooey and Emily, daughters of Caleb, cinematographer

34. Douglas: Kirk, father of Michael

35. Downey: Robert Downey, father of Robert Downey Jr

36. Fairbanks: Douglas Fairbanks, father of Douglas Fairbanks Jr

37. Fanning: Dakota and Elle, sisters

38. Farrow/O’Sullivan: Mia Farrow, daughter of John Farrow and Maureen O’Sullivan

39. Fiennes: Ralph, Joseph and Martha, siblings

40. Fisher/Reynolds: Carrie Fisher, daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds

41. Fitzgerald/Lindsay-Hogg: Geraldine Fitzgerald, mother of Michael Lindsay-Hogg (Lindsay-Hogg is also the biological son of Orson Welles: see Wikipedia for further details.)

42. Fonda: Henry, father of Jane and Peter, and grand-father to Peter’s daughter Bridget

43. Fox: James and Edward, brothers

44. Gainsbourg: Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of Serge

45. Gish: Dorothy And Lillian, Sisters

46. Griffith/Hedren: Tippi Hedren, mother of Melanie Griffith

47. Gyllenhaal: Maggie and Jake, siblings

48. Hanks: Colin, son of Tom

49. Hannah/Wexler: Daryl Hannah, step-niece of Haskell Wexler

50. Hayworth/Rogers: Ginger Rogers and Rita Hayworth, cousins

51. Hudson/Hawn: Goldie Hawn, mother of Kate Hudson

52. Huston: Walter, father of John, who was father of Anjelica And Danny (by different mothers)

53. Jason Leigh/Morrow: Jennifer Jason Leigh, daughter of Vic Morrow

54. Kiarostami: Abbas, father of Bahman, also a director

55. Kinski: Klaus, father of Nastassja

56. Ladd: Alan, father of Alan Ladd Jr (executive and producer)

57. Lee: Bill Lee, father of Spike, composer for many of his movies

58. Lee: Bruce, father of Brandon

59. Lynch: David, father of Jennifer, also a director

60. Macdonald/Pressburger: Kevin Macdonald, grandson of Emeric Pressburger

61. Maclaine/Beatty: Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beauty, siblings

62. Mankiewicz: Hermann (writer of Citizen Kane) and Joseph, Writer-Director, brothers

63. Marx: The Marx Brothers, Groucho,  Chico, Harpo and Zeppo

64. McLaglen: Andrew V, director son of Victor

65. Mills: John, father of Hayley

66. Minnelli: Liza, daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli

67. Newman: Alfred and his son Thomas, and Alfred’s nephew, Randy, all well-known film composers

68. Olsen: the Olsen Twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley, plus Elizabeth 

69. O'Neal: Ryan, father of Tatum

70. Ophuls: Max, father of Marcel

71. Paltrow/Danner: Gwyneth Paltrow, daughter of Blythe Danner

72. Patric/Gleason: Jason Patric, grandson of Jackie Gleason

73. Penn: Sean And Chris, brothers

74. Phoenix: River and Joaquin, brothers  

75. Quaid: Dennis and Randy, brothers

76. Redgrave/Richardson: Michael was father of Vanessa and Lynn. Vanessa married director Tony Richardson and they had two actress daughters, Natasha and Joely Richardson

77. Reed: Oliver, nephew of director Carol

78. Reiner: Rob, son of Carl 

79. Renoir: famous French director Jean had an actor brother Pierre, whose son Claude was a noted cinematographer

80. Roberts: Eric and Julia, siblings

81. Rossellini: Isabella Rosselini, daughter of Ingrid Bergman And Roberto Rossellini. (Also Renzo Rossellini scored many of his brother Roberto’s films)

82. Schell: Maximilian and Maria, siblings

83. Scott: Campbell, son of George C.

84. Shaffer: Anthony (Sleuth) And Peter (Amadeus)- Screenwriter twin brothers

85. Shaw: The famous Shaw Brothers Studio of Honk Kong was started by 6 brothers, most famous of whom was Sir Run Run Shaw.

86. Sheen/Estevez: Martin Sheen, father of Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen

87. Sinatra: Frank, father of Nancy (who acted in a few movies)

88. Smith: Will, father of Jaden

89. Sorvino: Mira, daughter of Paul

90. Stiller: Ben, son of Jerry

91. Surtees: Bruce, son of Robert (both cinematographers with major filmographies)

92. Sutherland: Donald, father of Keifer

93. Van Peebles:  Melvin, father of Mario

94. Voight/Jolie: Jon Voight, father of Angelie Jolie

95. Wahlberg: Donnie and Mark, brothers

96. Warner :  The Warner Brothers, Jack, Harry, Albert and Sam

97. Wayans: Damon, Marlon and Keenan Ivory, brothers

98. Weinstein: Harvey And Bob, brothers

99. Wilson: Luke And Owen, brothers

100. Zanuck: Richard D., Son of Darryl F.

20 Pairs of Brother Directors

Listed below are 20 pairs of brothers who have both directed feature films. I’ve given one notable film they’ve made: a single film if they usually work together, or one each if they don’t. Country of origin of the brothers is also given.

1.   Boulting The Boulting Brothers, John (I'm All Right Jack) and Roy (Carlton-Browne of the F.O) (UK)

2.   Coen The Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan (No Country for Old Men) (US)

3.   Dardenne The Dardenne Brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc (The Son) (Belgium)

4.   Farrelly The Farrelly Brothers, Peter and Bobby (There's Something About Mary) (US)

5.   Hughes The Hughes Brothers, Albert and Allen (Menace II Society) (US)

6.   Kaurismaki Mika Kaurismaki (L.A. Without a Map) and Aki Kaurismaki (Drifting Clouds) (Finland)

7.   Lumiere Auguste Lumiere and Louis Lumiere (Arrival of a Train at a Station) (France)

8.   Maysles Albert and David Maysles (Gimme Shelter) (US)

9.   McDonagh Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) and John Michael McDonagh (The Guard) (UK)

10. Pang Oxide Pang and Danny Pang (Bangkok Dangerous) (Hong Kong)

11. Pate Jonas Pate and Joshua Pate (Liar AKA Deceiver) (US)

12. Quay The Brothers Quay, Stephen and Timothy (The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes) (US)

13. Russo Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Welcome To Collinwood) (US)

14. Scott Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) and Tony Scott (Enemy of the State) (UK)

15. Sheridan Jim Sheridan (In The Name Of The Father) and Peter Sheridan (Borstal Boy)  (Ireland)

16. Strause  Greg Strause and Colin Strause (Skyline) (US)

17. Taviani The Taviani Brothers, Paolo and Vittorio (Padre Padrone) (Italy)

18. Wachowski The Wachowski Brothers, Andy and Larry (The Matrix) (US)

19. Weitz Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz (About A Boy) (US)

20. Zucker David Zucker and Jerry Zucker (Airplane)  (usually co-direct with Jim Abrahams) (US)

40 Essential Film Noir 1940-1960

Defintions of film noir vary, but I’ve taken it to mean a black-and-white American crime drama from 1940-1960 with a bleak or anxious mood, a fatalistic hero or anti-hero, and very expressive high-contrast lighting. They are often derived from hardboiled crime fiction, and include a femme fatale and a complex structure involving flashbacks. The following films have most or all of these elements, and they are also a lot of fun to watch.

It’s often been claimed that film noir was a result of a certain cynical mood in post-war America, with returning soldiers traumatised by their war experiences, or anxious about how they could fit back into society, and about women’s new roles (hence the high proportion of double-crossing females in these films). On the other hand there’s no doubt  Double Indemnity (1944) and a few other films from before 1945 were indeed film noir.

1.         Act of Violence (Fred Zinnemann, 1949)

2.         The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston, 1950)

3.         The Big Clock (John Farrow, 1948)

4.         The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953)

5.         The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)

6.         The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall, 1946)

7.         Boomerang (Elia  Kazan, 1947)

8.         Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947)

9.         The Captive City (Robert Wise, 1952)

10.       Criss Cross (Robert Siodmak, 1949)

11.       D.O.A. (Rudolph Mate, 1950)

12.       Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947)

13.       Dead Reckoning (John Cromwell, 1947)

14.       Detour (Edgar G.Ulmer, 1945)

15.       Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)

16.       Force of Evil (Abraham  Polonsky, 1948)

17.       Gilda (Charles Vidor, 1946)

18.       Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950)

19.       The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946)

20.       Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955)

21.       Kiss of Death (Henry Hath¬away, 1947)

22.       The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1948)

23.       The Lady in the Lake (Robert Montgomery, 1947)

24.       Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944)

25.       The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)

26.       Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945)

27.       Murder, My Sweet (Edward Dmytryk, 1944)

28.       The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948)

29.       Odds Against Tomorrow (Robert Wise, 1959)

30.       On Dangerous Ground (Nicholas Ray, 1952)

31.       Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

32.       Panic In The Streets (Elia Kazan, 1950)

33.       Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953)

34.       The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett, 1946)

35.       The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946)

36.       Stranger on the Third Floor (Boris Ingster, 1940)

37.       The Woman in the Window (Fritz Lang, 1944)

38.       They Live by Night (Nicholas Ray, 1949)

39.       This Gun for Hire (Frank Turtle, 1942)

40.       Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)

10 Barbara Stanwyck Predicaments

It has been said that Barbara Stanwyck’s career in movies was notable for how often she played characters in difficult situations. I set out to find out if this was true…

1.   Stella Dallas (1937). Barbara’s a low class, single mum with a daughter who’s the focus of her life, but as the daughter grows up and Barbara tries to do the best for her she can, she realizes that the girl would stand a better chance of making headway in society if her vulgar mother wasn’t part of the picture....

2.   Remember the Night (1940). Kleptomamniac Barbara ends up in jail for shoplifting. The prosecuter takes pity on her because it’s Christmas, and they end up falling in love. This leaves them with a new problem, though: how do they deal with the upcoming trial?

3.   The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). Having killed someone when she was a young girl and escaped the rap, Barbara becomes suspicious when the boy she loved at the time returns to town after many years. She mistakenly believes he’s out to blackmail her over the incident and this precipitate all kinds of high drama...

4.   The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947). Barbara starts a romance with Humphrey Bogart but he doesn’t tell her he's already married, or that he’s mentally ill. He poisons his wife, marries Stanwyck and soon her life is in danger too...

5.   The Other Love (1947) Concert pianist Barbara, who’s got a serious illness and is dying, lives it up with playboy Richard Conte in Monte Carlo, but at the same time her doctor David Niven is secretly in love with her.

6.   Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). Barbara overhears a murder plot on the phone, then realises she’s the intended victim....

7.   The File on Thelma Jordon (1950) Bad girl Barbara starts an affair with married assistant D.A. Wendell Corey and almost by accident finds herself falling in love with him. However, she realizes it will never work: she will forever belong in a lawless world....

8.   No Man of Her Own (1950) Pregnant, penniless Barbara gets dumped by her boyfriend and then takes on the identity of another pregnant woman, who was killed in a train crash and had a rich family of in-laws who’d never met her. These in-laws accept imposter Barbara and her newborn son into their family, but then that ex-boyfriend turns up and starts blackmailing her....

9.   Jeopardy (1953) Barbara’s on vacation on an isolated beach in Mexico with her husband when he gets his leg trapped. She has to take the car to get help but then, as luck would have it, an escaped criminal just happens to be wandering around and kidnaps her. Will she be able to get back to her husband before the tide comes in and drowns him?

10. Titanic (1953) Well, you can guess from the title what Barbara’s predicament is here....

Serious Film History: 101 Important Auteurs Who Are Often Studied on Film Courses

Note that this is not a list of the greatest directors; it’s a list of auteurs who get a lot of critical attention from serious film history books. It leaves out such populists as Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and Woody Allen, to name just three, and it leaves in many silent-era directors and experimental film-makers whose films are seen by few people except academics.

I’ve included Brian De Palma but not Steven Spielberg, Ernst Lubitsch but not George Cukor, because I’m trying to give the very selective, highbrow flavour of academic film courses, with their focus on directors who are independents or iconoclasts, recognised foreign masters, politically committed film-makers, or important from a genre-studies point of view.

I’ve concentrated on directors whose status is well-established and I’ve left out anyone who came to prominence since 1980.Country given is where they established their reputation, regardless of country of birth.

1.   Abel Gance (Fr.)

2.   Agnes Varda (Fr.)

3.   Akira Kurosawa (Jap.)

4.   Alain Resnais (Fr.)

5.   Albert and David Maysles (U.S.)

6.   Alexander Dovshenko (U.S.S.R.)

7.   Alfred Hitchcock (U.K.)

8.   Andrei Tarkovsky (U.S.S.R.)

9.   Andrzej Wajda (Pol.)

10. Anthony Mann (U.S.)

11. Bernardo Bertolucci (It.)

12. Brian De Palma (U.S.)

13. Buster Keaton (U.S.)

14. Carl Theodor Dreyer (Den.)

15. Chantal Akerman (Belg.)

16. Charles Burnett (U.S.)

17. Charles Chaplin (U.K.)

18. Chris Marker (Fr.)

19. Claude Chabrol (Fr.)

20. Constantin Costa Gavras (Greece)

21. D. W. Griffith (U.S.)

22. Douglas Sirk (U.S.)

23. Dziga Vertov (U.S.S.R.)

24. Eric Rohmer (Fr.)

25. Erich Von Stroheim (U.S.)

26. Ernst Lubitsch (U.S.)

27. F.W.Murnau  (Ger.)

28. Federico Fellini (It.)

29. Francois Truffaut (Fr.)

30. Frank Tashlin (U.S.)

31. Frederick Wiseman (U.S.)

32. Fritz Lang  (Ger.)

33. G.W.Pabst  (Ger.)

34. George A.Romero (U.S.)

35. Georges Melies (Fr.)

36. Henri-Georges Clouzot (Fr.)

37. Howard Hawks (U.S.)

38. Humphrey Jennings (U.K.)

39. Ingmar Bergman (Swed.)

40. Jacques Rivette (Fr.)

41. Jacques Tati (Fr.)

42. Jacques Tourneur (U.S.)

43. James Whale (U.S.)

44. Jean Cocteau (Fr.)

45. Jean Luc Godard (Fr.)

46. Jean Pierre Melville (Fr.)

47. Jean Renoir (Fr.)

48. Jean Vigo (Fr.)

49. John Cassavetes (U.S.)

50. John Ford (U.S.)

51. John Waters (U.S.)

52. Josef Von Sternberg (U.S.)

53. Ken Loach (U.K.)

54. Kenji Mizoguchi (Jap.)

55. Kenneth Anger (U.S.)

56. Kon Ichikawa (Jap.)

57. Krzysztof Kieslowski (Pol.)

58. Leni Riefenstahl (Ger.)

59. Luchino Visconti (It.)

60. Luis Bunuel (Spain)

61. Mack Sennett (U.S.)

62. Manoel De Oliveira (Port.)

63. Marcel Carne (Fr.)

64. Max Ophuls (Fr.)

65. Maya Deren (U.S.)

66. Michael Powell (U.K.)

67. Michelangelo Antonioni (It.)

68. Mikio Naruse (Jap.)

69. Miklos Jancso (Hung.)

70. Nagisa Oshima (Jap.)

71. Nicholas Ray (U.S.)

72. Orson Welles (U.S.)

73. Ousmane Sembene (Senegal)

74. Pier Paulo Pasolini (It.)

75. Preston Sturges (U.S.)

76. Rainer Werner Fassbinder  (Ger.)

77. Raoul Walsh (U.S.)

78. Rene Clair (Fr.)

79. Robert Aldrich (U.S.)

80. Robert Bresson (Fr.)

81. Robert Flaherty (U.S.)

82. Roberto Rossellini (It.)

83. Roman Polanski (Pol.)

84. Sam Peckinpah (U.S.)

85. Samuel Fuller (U.S.)

86. Satyajit Ray (India)

87. Sergei Eisenstein (U.S.S.R.)

88. Stan Brakhage (U.S.)

89. Stanley Donen (U.S.)

90. Stanley Kubrick (U.S.)

91. Terence Malick (U.S.)

92. Theo Angelopoulos (Greece)

93. Tod Browning (U.S.)

94. Tomas Gutierrez Alea (Cuba)

95. Vincente Minnelli (U.S.)

96. Vittorio De Sica (It.)

97. Volker Schlondorff  (Ger.)

98. Vsevolod Pudovkin (U.S.S.R.)

99. Werner Herzog  (Ger.)

100. Wim Wenders  (Ger.)

101. Yusujiro Ozu (Jap.)