Best Director – 1967

Official Nominations: Mike Nichols. Richard Brooks. Norman Jewison. Stanley Kramer. Arthur Penn.

It’s another close call for 1967, with Mike Nichols picking up the official win for The Graduate. Richard Brooks got his directorial nomination for his take on Capote’s In Cold Blood, Arthur Penn picked up his second for Bonnie And Clyde, while both Norman Jewison and Stanley Kramer tackled racism and both deservedly earned a nomination.

My Winner: Mike Nichols.

My Nominations: Mike Nichols. Arthur Penn. Norman Jewison. Roman Polanski. Luis Bunuel. Stuart Rosenberg. Robert Aldrich. Jean Pierre Melville. Terence Young. Lewis Gilbert.

As strong a list of official nominations as we had this year, we nevertheless passed over a number of visionary directors and their works. Polanski tried his hand at comedy successfully in The Fearless Vampire Killers, while Robert Aldrich keeps the action and entertainment moving swiftly with The Dirty Dozen. Lewis Gilbert helms one of my all time favourites with You Only Live Twice, while another Bond favourite Terence Young admirably apes Hitchcock with Wait Until Dark. Stuart Rosenberg struck gold with Cool Hand Luke, Jean Pierre Melville made his most well known film in Le Samourai, and Luis Bunuel continued his incredible 1960s streak with Belle De Jour. Once again, any of these is deserving of the win.

My Winner: Lewis Gilbert

A controversial pick for me, but the scope of a Bond film had never been so large before, and for sheer scale, action, gags, and entertainment it is a tough one to beat. Who do you think deserves the Best Director crown of 1967? Let us know in the comments!