Samuel Fuller's screenwriting, production and direction established him as a controversial political figure in American cinema. Consistent opposition to standard conventions and ideology including traditional Western lifestyles developed his reputation as a highly acclaimed auteur by many leftist European film-makers. At the age of 12 Fuller became a copyboy on The New York Journal and at 17 a crime reporter for the San Diego Sun. His colorful past included hopping freight trains while touring the country and later a stint in the army (World War II) fighting in North Africa and Europe. His greatest recognition came with Forty Guns (1957) which was initially condemned in the U.S. because of its ham-fisted deconstruction of the narrative, but in Europe it was strongly praised for its stylistic and aggressive vigor. Among the director's unfinished projects was a film about Abraham Lincoln, in which Lincoln is seen in a uncharacteristically critical light.

Suggested Reading

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Sam Fuller: Film Is a Battleground : A Critical Study With Interviews, a Filmography and a Bibliography
by Lee Server

Director - Selected filmography and DVDBeaver review links:

 

Street of No Return (1989), Thieves After Dark (1984), White Dog (1982), The Big Red One (1980), Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1973), Shark! (1969), The Naked Kiss (1964), Shock Corridor (1963), Merrill's Marauders (1962), Underworld U.S.A. (1961), The Crimson Kimono (1959), Verboten! (1959), China Gate (1957), Run of the Arrow (1957), Forty Guns (1957), House of Bamboo (1955), Hell and High Water (1954), Pickup on South Street (1953), Park Row (1952), Fixed Bayonets! (1951), The Steel Helmet (1951), The Baron of Arizona (1950), I Shot Jesse James (1949)