Five movie critics who made their mark as filmmakers

March 24, 2017 at 12:30PM
May 21, 1973 One of the most impressive acting discoveries in a quarter century is 9-year-old Tatum O'Neal. She is the daughter of Ryan O'Neal and they are shown above. In a scene from "Paper Moon" in which they co-star. Tatum,combining the qualities of Margaret O'Brien with a touch of Jackie Coogan in their moppet days, makes "Paper Moon" one of ***** August 7, 1977
Tatum and Ryan O’Neal in a scene from “Paper Moon.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Marshall Fine isn't the first film critic to slide into the director's chair. Five others who made a successful transition:

Peter Bogdanovich

The former Esquire writer cooled off after his early '70s trifecta of "The Last Picture Show," "What's Up Doc?" and "Paper Moon," but occasionally shows his magic touch, most recently with a 2007 documentary on rocker Tom Petty.

Francois Truffaut

Earned a place as one of cinema's greatest auteurs with such films as "The 400 Blows" (1959) and "Day for Night" (1973). Steven Spielberg paid homage by casting him in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

Jean-Luc Godard

Truffaut's colleague on the magazine Cahiers du Cinema has more than 130 credits starting with 1960's "Breathless," which helped define the French New Wave. Received honorary Oscar in 2010.

Paul Schrader

The former L.A. Free Press scribe who wrote "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull" has his own intriguing catalog as director, including "American Gigolo" (1980), "Affliction" (1997) and "Auto Focus" (2002).

Richard Schickel

The Time magazine critic has directed many documentaries, including the groundbreaking 1970s series "The Men Who Made the Movies" and the Emmy-nominated "Minnelli on Minnelli."

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