I may have overstated. Let me correct myself to say he was one of the best directors ever.
Stanley Kubrick is my # 1
There ya go.
I haven’t seen enough of Kubricks stuff to really rate him, but for sure, he is an excellent director.
And I am in no way trying to take away from Mr. Hitchcock. He continually delivered top quality, suspenseful stuff that would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
It’s just that in my world, it seems kind of formula.
A category like “best director” gets very influenced by personal taste, stylistic ideas, etc. I very much like Coppola but way more for his non-Godfather stuff like Dementia 13 (which is kind of hammy and campy but you can see what he’s capable of) and Rumblefish (I consider this a GREAT film!!!)