Influence. Some moviemakers have it, some moviemakers want it, some moviemakers pay for it. Over the past eight-and-a-half years in these pages we've interviewed countless moviemakers-many of them quite influential in their own right-who have shared the names of those who influenced their own careers. It's never too shocking that they most often mention the names of directors.?

They don't all name the same directors, of course. And that caused us to wonder... just who are the most influential directors of all time?

We decided to try to find out, because the question is an important one. "Influence" is defined as that intangible power which can affect a person, thing or course of events. Many believe that motion pictures, more than any other art form in the past century, have had an influence on modern life. And if one also accepts the generally held premise that a director, more than any other creative force, steers and shapes a motion picture, then perhaps film directors as a group have had a vastly underestimated effect on the way society thinks and behaves. So we put the question to hundreds of directors, writers, critics, and moviemakers of all stripes, from the famous to the obscure (mostly the famous, though). Some of the results of this "Politics Free Poll" to name the 25 most influential directors of all time were predictable. But some of the opinions will undoubtedly surprise you, as they did us.

Speaking of opinions and influence, we recently spoke with three of our most influential critics-Roger Ebert, Kenneth Turan, and David Sterritt-on the state of the cinema. Ironically, this is also the issue we welcome Ray Carney back-to take a crack at film criticism.

If all this seems too heavy for our summer issue, take a breather with our piece on the influence of the French New Wave or the legend of Robert Evans... There's a lot to like in this issue.

Please don't forget to fill out the Reader's Poll! And have a great summer-we'll see you in the fall.