Since it's awards season and everybody is talking about (1940s voice) The Movies, it seems like as good a time as any to discuss some random but iconic director/actor duos who have helped make Hollywood what it is, both on-camera and behind it. Let's get into it!
1. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro
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No list of icons would be complete without these two. Both from the Bronx, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro met when they were both 16, but didn't start working together until they were reintroduced as adults by Brian De Palma. Since then, the two have made 10 films together, beginning with Mean Streets (1973), and culminating most recently with Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). "[Robert is] the only one alive now who knows where I come from, as kids, as young people," Scorsese said in a 2023 interview with The Hindustan Times.
My recommendation: Goodfellas. Stream it on Hulu.
2. David Lynch and Laura Dern
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Laura Dern first met David Lynch — and Kyle MacLachlan — at an LA Bob's Big Boy restaurant where they got malt shakes and french fries. "David was doodling on napkins," Laura said in an interview for W Magazine, while Kyle doodled in his ketchup with his knife. "A girl either goes, 'These are really bizarre men, and they're twin souls; "or, 'I'm in love with both these people and I want to spend the rest of my life with them."
Their friendship has spanned decades: they've done three movies together (Inland Empire, Wild at Heart, and Blue Velvet) as well as projects like Twin Peaks: The Return.
My recommendation: Blue Velvet, which is free to stream on Tubi!
3. Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly
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These two made three films together in the 1950s: Dial M for Murder (1954), wherein an ex-tennis star (Ray Milland) tries to have his wife (Grace Kelly) murdered for her inheritance; Rear Window (1954), where a homebound photographer (Jimmy Stewart) becomes convinced he's witnessed a murder in a neighboring apartment; and To Catch a Thief (1955), in which an ex-cat burglar (Cary Grant) must clear his name, and in the process falls head over heels with a young woman (Grace Kelly) who owns some very expensive jewels.
As I've said before, Hitchcock movies only ever age well. In the modern day, I contend they're the rare kind of movie that will make even the most disinterested viewer set down their phone and glue their eyes to the screen. If you want a taste of some golden Hollywood glam, I beg you, try one of these films out!
My recommendation: I have changed my mind multiple times before publishing this piece, but I'm going to have to go with Rear Window. You can stream it on Apple TV or Amazon Prime for $3.99.
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Bonus: David Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan
ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection, ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Kyle MacLachlan has been getting a lot of love recently, thanks in no small part to his amazing Instagram account. I did not want to choose between him and Laura Dern for this, so I felt the need to give him a shoutout. Although MacLachlan has starred in multiple films from David Lynch, like Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986), it's the TV show Twin Peaks that will always remain closest to my heart.
4. Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman
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Jason Schwartzman has appeared in no less than seven Wes Anderson movies, including Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Asteroid City (2023) (which you should really watch, if you haven't already)!
Their first movie together was Schwartzman's first-ever film: Rushmore (1998), in which he was just 17. Since then, as well as acting in Anderson's movies, he's also co-written three of his films: The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Isle of Dogs (2018), and The French Dispatch (2021).
My recommendation: Asteroid City was SO fun, and it came out just last year! Stream it on Prime.
5. Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy
Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
This year we all saw Oppenheimer...and in past years, we all saw Inception, and The Dark Knight trilogy. Their working relationship spans 20 years; Murphy recently said on 60 Minutes that Nolan has "had a profound impact on my life," and that while he's always told Nolan that he's there to play any part he might be offered, "deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him." Well, it finally happened, and their record-breaking hit is sure to go down in movie history.
My recommendation: Oppenheimer, streaming on Peacock.
6. Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson
Mondadori Portfolio / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images, Miramax / courtesy Everett Collection
Out of the 10 movies Tarantino has directed, Samuel L. Jackson has acted in six, beginning with the iconic Pulp Fiction in 1994. Arguably, Jackson's acting — with heavy hitters like Jackie Brown (1997), The Hateful Eight (2015), and Django Unchained (2012) — made Tarantino's legacy what it is, and when one of them gets brought up in conversation, the other is often not far behind.
My recommendation: Pulp Fiction, which can be streamed on Max.
7. Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder
20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
Nobody has ever been funnier than Mel Brooks, and I will stand behind that statement for life. On the occasions he worked with Gene Wilder, the world got three of the funniest, most culturally relevant movies of the 20th century: The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles (1974), and Young Frankenstein (1974). All three of these are endlessly rewatchable.
My recommendation: Young Frankenstein, which was co-written by Brooks and Wilder, and garnered them an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay (...which they lost to The Godfather Part II. It happens). How often does that happen for a comedy movie?!
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