All i can say is that when i try to get away with ANYW i get caught and punished immediately.

Lucky actors who do

  But apparently it is the place where actors learn to speak after their death...

Anyh, one of the most famous Director/Actor couples must have been Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski. Herzog even made a documentary about it: Mein liebster Feind (My Best Fiend).

There are a couple that are rather visible, but not that well known in terms of viewership these days!

Ingmar Bergman, got a lot of performances from many actors, all of them were augmented beautifully by one of the best cinematographers in the history of film! Sven Nykvist. And we remember a lot of those stills/shots!

Peter Brook, is less known, but a very important director that took theater by storm and created some incredible productions off various experiments into the "soul" of the acting. Many actors will tell you about him, but the ability to direct involves the actor trusting the director and the production and I don't think there is a better example than Keith Mitchell that did King Lear somewhere near 400 times, and in one of Mr. Brook's books, he says that in one of the repetition moments in the play, Keith never once said it the same time, and it always sounded so fresh and beautiful. An amazing and insane reflection and appreciation by a director ... that knew that any idea about the play had nothing to do with people and the actors!

Zhang Yimou, got Gong Li to do some fine things, but she could never do anything else as well with any other director ... it was like her star was too far in front of her, instead of working the character.

Akira Kurosawa, likely lived for working with Toshiro Mifune one more time. It was like he never had to tell him what and how to do anything, and he just exploded all over the stage.

Blake Edwards, got some outstanding performances from Peter Sellers, where most other directors just got things totally out of control. When it came to Peter Sellers, though, there was one exception ... Vittorio de Sica got an amazing performance out of him, but turning him loose with his emotions in "After The Fox" a fantastic film ... and with hilarious bits.

Jacques Rivette, is not quite discussed, but Bulle Ogier always seem to show up and do a fantastic job, and not feel self conscious as she appears in many other films.

Claude Berri, did an unbelievable job with his actors all the way to the end of JEAN DE FLORETTE and MANON OF THE SPRING ... and both films have astonishing moments, only to explode in the very end, and leave you breathless ... and done so quietly and carefully, to make it even more explosive.

Pedro Almodovar, always seemed to get great performances out of the women, even though he is said to be gay ... and one wonders if he just lets them do whatever they want rather than discuss or argue ... but in many of his films, the women are amazing!

David Lean. Famous for his altercations with Sir Alec Guiness, probably based on their first meeting when DL told him they were rehearsing, and he was shooting instead, which no doubt would create a feeling of distrust with that person ... but he could never stay away, and got some outstanding moments in several other films. It is also amazing how he got Omar Shariff to seem so right and perfect in two films.

Nicolas Roeg, married the lady he first met at an audition and she became a part of a lot of his films. The weird thing is that no one seems to remember any other films she did at all ... and a lot of it might have to do with how the cinematography was done and designed to help her look better in the film. Nic had started as a cinematographer so if there was one thing he knew about, was how to compose and make a shot work within a situation ... which he also colored with music really well many times!

Peter Greenaway, is hard to leave behind. There are many performances that are insane in his films, but it is really hard to forget Helen Mirren in one film, Sir John Gielgud in another, and then not remember the actress in The Pillow Book even when I can't remember her name ... all of it, likely because he, while well known for being a stickler to his direction, likely allowed some freedom, because he trusted some of the actors on hand for their ability to create characters that were more believable and full, than a director himself could possibly conceive as a person!

I wanted to add Godard and Truffaut, but Godard is like cheating, but the only films that anyone remembers Jean Seberg and Jean Paul Belmondo, not to mention Anna Karina, ad in Godard films. I don't think that Godard has any idea how to direct an actor/actress, so he just turns them loose in the playground of his film, in which he also participates! Truffaut is different, but I'm not sure that many of his films were as scripted as we thought, which says a lot more about his abilities and trust in the actors.

Hi,

I imagine that it is really clear why ... improvisation, which Stanley allowed and often kept the camera going, when some actors just manage to keep on shining. He did the same thing with Malcom in another film. But he was not able to help himself with a larger cast and in other films for one reason or another ... but we can certainly name quite a few great performances, going as far back as Kirk Douglas, Peter Sellers who undoubtedly had a much better interpretation of the script he had in his hands, to the point that PS ended up doing at least 6 voices that we are aware of in Dr. Strangelove. Not to mention that I think a lot of moments are improvised, like the General getting a call from his girlfriend when he is in a meeting ... which sounded quite clearly improvised, but he covered beautifully.

Robert Altman loved to improvise, which is why Warren Beatty didn't like doing "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", which is a favorite of mine.