While he was known for his ability to work well with leading ladies such as Katherine Hepburn and Judy Garland, George Cukor's ability to direct male actors is often over looked and underestimated. Of the five Oscar winning performances he directed, three were won by male actors. He worked successfully with a large list of leading males including Basil Rathbone, James Stewart, Charles Boyer, and Rex Harrison.
Cukor earned his reputation as a "Woman's Director" early on in his career by directing films dominated by strong female characters and actresses such as Tarnished Lady (1931), What Price Hollywood? (1932), and Sylvia Scarlett (1935). He also developed a talent for directing screen adaptations of literary classics like Little Women (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and Camille (1936). In 1939's screen adaptation of Clare Luce's comedic play The Women, Cukor establishes his excellent ability to direct women in realistic scenes. The entire cast of the film, including the animal characters, is female.
"You direct a couple of successful pictures with women star's, so you become a 'woman's director'...Direct a sentimental picture and all you get is sob stuff. I know I've been in and out of those little compartments. Heaven knows everyone has limitations. But why make them narrower than they are?
These stereotypes plagued Cukor's career and cost him several opportunities. The most notable being the iconic 1939 classic,
Gone With the Wind. Clark Gable was extremely self conscious about playing Rhett Butler and Cukor's work on the project troubled him even more. He worried that Cukor would hand the picture over to Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland, favoring the women and leaving him to flounder with little to no direction. Gable's uneasiness and differences with the producer over the script ultimately resulted in Cukor's replacement three weeks into principal filming.
While Cukor's work with females was truly remarkable. Norma Shearer in The Women, Judy Garland in A Star is Born, or any of the ten motion pictures he made with Katharine Hepburn are all prime examples. However, his work with men was of equal quality and should not be dismissed or overlooked. In My Fair Lady, a film featuring Audrey Hepburn at her best, Cukor was able to successfully direct Rex Harrison to an Oscar-Winning performance for which he is still loved and remembered. In A Double Life with Shelley Winters, he was able to direct Ronald Coleman in an electrifying performance as an actor who can't separate his on and off-stage lives.
Cukor definitely had a way with making women shine. However, the silver screen shown equally as bright for the men he directed, as is evidenced by the strong male performances that were delivered under his guidance.
