*The distinguished choreographer Robbins was fired from West Side Story prior to the end of shooting, and the film was finished by producer and co-director Robert Wise. Robbins, whose credits include the direction of the original Broadway productions of West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof, is the only person to win the Best Director Oscar for the only film that he directed.

** Costner resisted the urge to direct again for years after the success of Dances With Wolves, creating an aura of infallibility over his directing prowess. That aura was finally smashed to pieces with the fiasco of The Postman (1997).