Over the past few weeks there have been a torrent of new films released that continue with a trend of collaboration between certain Directors and Actors. Tim Burton once again united with Johnny Depp for Alice in Wonderland (also casting his wife Helena Bonham Carter again), Martin Scorsese and Leo Dicaprio teamed up for Shutter Island, and Matt Damon teamed up with Paul Greengrass for another outing in Greenzone.
Celebrating Hollywood favouritism at its best, here are some of cinemas most iconic partnerships to grace the big screen….
Marlene Dietrich and Josef von Sternberg
Josef Von Sternberg discovered Marlene Dietrich on the German cabaret scene, casting her in Der blaue Engel and 5 more of his later films, including Morocco and Shanghai Express. Von Sternberg and Marlene were lovers for a period but the screen partnership ended when their real life relationship died, with The Devil Is a Woman being their last film together.
John Wayne and John Ford
John Fords decision to cast John Wayne in the classic Western Stagecoach was the start of a great career for John Wayne in the movies, and the director and actor duo then went on to make 14 films together (not counting a few bit parts pre-Stagecoach) including classic westerns The Quiet Man, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Wayne and Ford completely dominated the genre, and their partnership is the longest running pairing on our list.
Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart
Alfred Hitchcock cast James Stewart in just 4 of his movies, but these were some of the directors most celebrated films, which really brought Stewart into the industry limelight. Stewart took the lead roles in Rope, Rear Window, Vertigo, and the remake of Hitch’s own earlier film, The Man Who Knew Too Much. However Stewart was known to often favour directors, also repeatedly working alongside Anthony Mann before his Hitchcock era, and with director Frank Capra later on in his career.
Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
Akira Kurosawa is well known for often using the same cast and crew in his films but it’s his partnership with star Toshiro Mifune that is most notable. Kurosawa’s began working with Mifune with Drunken Angel and they made 16 films together. Producing classics like Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Roshomon Kurosawas’ most celebrated films are nearly all those which feature Mifune.
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro
Although Scorsese more recently has tended to rely on Leonardo Dicaprio as his leading man his early works all used De Niro. The pair made 8 films together but the most memorable by far was when De Niro was cast as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. They went on to make Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino among others. However they haven’t worked together since Casino, as Scorsese appears to have taken on Leo instead.
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp
Alice in Wonderland marks Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s 7th collaboration, which is set to continue in the upcoming adaptation of TV series Dark Shadows. First working together in Edward Scissorhands they have also produced such classic titles together as Sleepy Hollow and Corpse Bride. Burton also often casts his wife, Helena Bonham-Carter in his films.
These are just some of the most famous and longest running partnerships that exist. There are numerous others we could mention including Howard Hawks and Cary Grant, Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe and Judd Apatow and Paul Rudd. As for actresses and directors this is a much rarer occurrence and the only long running partnerships we can think of are Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, Pedro Almodavar and Penelope Cruz, and of course the talented Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman.
Have we missed your favourite duos? Let us know in the comments below.
