George Stevens (1904-1975) is highly regarded for the diverse number of films he directed, his work ranging from romance and comedies to Westerns and historical epics. Nominated for five Academy awards for best director, he won twice, for the dramas A Place in the Sun and Giant.

George Cooper Stevens is noted for allowing the actors in his films to improvise on the set, sometimes causing scenes to be shot dozens of times. His movies feature many of the most noted actors from the 1930s to 1960s, including Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, Joel McCrea, Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Fred Astaire, and Carole Lombard. While most of these films were romantic comedies, it was for dramas that he received his greatest kudos; as James Harvey noted in Romantic Comedy in Hollywood: "Probably his most serious liability as a comic filmmaker is his apparent...