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10 Great Movies Made By Actor-Writer-Directors

Being a good director is one thing. The ability to function as writer, director and actor all on the same film is about being on another level entirely. Not many attempt it: directors sometimes write and writers sometimes direct, but most filmmakers decline to step in front of the camera as well as call the shots behind it. And, those that do aren't always particularly successful.

3) Manhattan (Woody Allen)

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Though like Roman Polanski he’s now mired in controversy, Woody Allen has still made plenty of standout movies as actor-writer-director in his time; probably more than anyone else, in fact.

Allen’s always been his own writer on movies he’s directed of course, and from 1969 to 2003 he was often the star as well. As such, singling out one of Allen’s as actor-writer-director is difficult when there are literally dozens to choose from.

Some would say Annie Hall is Allen’s greatest work, or that one of his “early, funny ones” like Sleeper takes the prize. However, it’s Manhattan, a film which Allen himself hated and which he wanted buried by the studio, that looks more and more like his defining work.

If nothing else, it’s certainly his finest love letter to the city he adored; a gentle, sometimes sad comedy-drama in which every shot looks like it belongs on a New York City postcard.

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