Editing Steven Spielberg (section)

=== Influences ===
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| quote = "I didn't go to film school. I was self-taught. But I had great teachers, you know? All my influencers were the directors and the writers of the movies I was watching in theaters and on television. And my film school was really the cultural heritage of Hollywood and international filmmaking because there's no better teacher than [[Lubitsch]] or [[Hitchcock]] or [[Kurosawa]] or [[Kubrick]], you know, or [[John Ford|Ford]] or [[William Wyler]] or [[Billy Wilder]] or [[Clarence Brown]] – I mean, [[Val Lewton]]. I mean, those were my teachers."
| source = — Steven Spielberg, ''[[Fresh Air]]'' interview<ref name="FreshAir"/>
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Spielberg cites [[John Ford]] as a formative influence: "I try to rent a John Ford film... before I start every movie, simply because he inspires me.... He's like a classic painter, he celebrates the frame, not just what's inside it."<ref name=":BFI"/> He names [[Frank Capra]]'s [[It's a Wonderful Life|''It's A Wonderful Life'']] (1946) as an influence on themes of "family, community and suburbia".{{Sfn|Baxter|1996|p=20}} He enjoyed the work of Alfred Hitchcock,{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=81}}{{Sfn|Hook|2010|p=6}} [[David Lean]],{{Sfn|Freer|2001|p=148}} [[Stanley Kubrick]] and [[John Frankenheimer]].{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=263}}{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=xvii}} In college, he was inspired by foreign films by [[Ingmar Bergman]], [[Jacques Tati]] and [[François Truffaut]].{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=143}} [[Spencer Tracy]] has also influenced the characters of Spielberg's films,{{Sfn|Baxter|1996|p=19}} as did ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''.{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=170}} He says [[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|''Lawrence of Arabia'']] is the film he's seen more times than any other.<ref>{{cite AV media| date=March 9, 2023 |title=The Film Steven Spielberg Has Watched More Than Any Other| publisher=[[The Late Show With Stephen Colbert]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7quIPjqFhq0}}</ref> With [[Martin Scorsese]], Spielberg helped with the restoration of ''Lawrence'' by [[Robert A. Harris]].<ref>{{cite news| title=The Resurrection of 'Lawrence of Arabia| last=Rothman| first=Cliff| date=January 29, 1989| work=[[Los Angeles Times]]| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-29-ca-1564-story.html}}</ref> Among films by his contemporaries, Spielberg was influenced by [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[The Godfather]]'':  "I was pulverized by the story and the effect the film had on me... I also felt that I should quit, that there was no reason I should continue directing because I would never achieve that level of confidence and ability to tell a story."<ref>{{cite web| title=Steven Spielberg's Favorite Movies: 30 Films the Director Wants You to See| work=[[IndieWire]]| date=March 27, 2024| url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/steven-spielberg-favorite-movies/the-searchers-john-wayne-1956/}}</ref> In 2005, Coppola contacted Spielberg about restoring the film; Spielberg contacted studio head [[Brad Grey]].<ref>{{cite news |title='Godfather' films finally restored to glory |last=Snider |first=Mike |work=[[USA Today]] |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/dvd/2008-09-22-godfather-restored_N.htm |date=September 23, 2008 |access-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721213818/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/dvd/2008-09-22-godfather-restored_N.htm |archive-date=July 21, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{what|His contacting Grey is a non sequitur. Clarification is needed|date=April 2025}} In 1982, Spielberg bought one of the prop sleds from ''[[Citizen Kane]]''. Spielberg called ''Kane'' 'the most classic movie ever made," and the sled "a symbolic emblem of quality in the film business".<ref>{{cite news| title=Sled of 'Citizen Kane' Brings $60,500| date=June 11, 1982| work=[[The New York Times]]| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/11/movies/sled-of-citizen-kane-brings-60500-sled-in-citizen-kane-is-sold-for-60500.html}}</ref>