Steven Spielberg Helped Direct A Scene In One Of Martin Scorsese's Best Movies

Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are two of the most influential filmmakers in history. Both have gifted audiences with some of the greatest films ever made, and I am certain that most SlashFilm readers have at least one, if not multiple, movies of theirs in their list of personal favorites. Along with being filmmaking colleagues, Spielberg and Scorsese are also close friends, having come up during the 1970s alongside fellow Movie Brats Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas.

Although both are well-acclaimed and widely considered amongst the greatest to ever touch a camera, Spielberg and Scorsese also tend to focus on projects that are tailored specifically to their sensibilities and have distinctly different creative visions. Spielberg is a crowd-pleasing filmmaker, which was often a slight lobbied against him by his earliest critics. Those same folks dismissed movies such as "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" as populist fare that doesn't measure up to the artistic merits exhibited by films like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Chariots of Fire," and "Gandhi" (all of which were the respective Best Picture winners the same years those three Spielberg movies were also nominated). Meanwhile, Scorsese is a more abrasive filmmaker, often showcasing problematic characters amidst the darkest corners of our society. Although Spielberg and Scorsese tend to focus on different genres, both have an undeniable genius to their craft that they mutually respect.

Given how different they can be in terms of their directorial sensibilities, it's surprising to learn that Spielberg once helped direct a pivotal scene in one of Scorsese's best films. But what's even more shocking is that the movie in question is one of Scorsese's most controversial in regards to content: "The Wolf of Wall Street." Spielberg's films are usually the types you can comfortably watch with your parents, so his involvement in arguably Scorsese's most profane, sexually explicit, and morally reprehensible film (not to mention his biggest movie ever, box office-wise) is as hilarious as it is interesting.

Steven Spielberg visited the set of "The Wolf of Wall Street" on the day the Steve Madden scene was being filmed. In what was meant to be a mere visit between friends, as well as a reunion with his "Catch Me If You Can" star Leonardo DiCaprio, Spielberg ended up contributing some of his own directorial sensibilities to the aforementioned sequence, in which Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) brings Steve Madden (Jake Hoffman) on stage to rile up his team to sell the Steve Madden company's stock. Martin Scorsese, DiCaprio, and Jonah Hill (who plays Donnie Azoff in the film) reflected on Spielberg's set visit while promoting the movie during a 2013 roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter:

SCORSESE: Well, he came on the set the day we were shooting the speeches. He said he came in to say hello, and he stayed the whole day and was helping me, saying, "I think you should move the camera." (Laughs.)

DICAPRIO: That was like a double-whammy for everyone on set. Everyone who had to act that day was like, "Spielberg and Scorsese are watching me? Jesus Christ!"

HILL: We would go back to get notes, and they were sitting next to each other. It was insane.

SCORSESE: And I hadn't been on his set [since] "Catch Me If You Can." Back in the '70s, we'd hang out, and we used to get [each other's] advice a lot. But as we all got older, [we] grew apart, in a way, making our own kinds of pictures.

Just the mere thought of that day on the set of "The Wolf of Wall Street" is pure heaven for film lovers. For Leonardo DiCaprio, it was an opportunity to see his frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese reconnect with his "Catch Me If You Can" director Steven Spielberg in what was likely one of the most creatively invigorating days of his illustrious career. As for Jonah Hill, this type of moment was one he had dreamed of for many years. Before "The Wolf of Wall Street," Hill was most notable for his brash performances in raunchy comedies such as "Superbad." However, his dramatic turn in Bennett Miller's "Moneyball" in 2011 helped pave the way to him being taken more seriously in Hollywood, garnering him an Academy Award nomination. Although "The Wolf of Wall Street" was still a comedy, it allowed Hill to immerse himself in a character further than he ever had up until that point. Under the direction of Scorsese and the support of an A-lister like DiCaprio, Hill turned in what, to this day, still stands out as his greatest performance.

Steven Spielberg's next directorial effort is an upcoming science fiction film based on an original idea of his. David Koepp wrote the screenplay for the currently untitled project, and it features a noteworthy cast that includes Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, and Colman Domingo. Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese has numerous projects in development and recently made a surprise appearance on the Apple TV+ comedy series "The Studio." Spielberg is 78 and Scorsese is 81, and the fact that we are still getting powerful new films from these two living legends is proof that brilliant cinema is alive and well today.

"The Wolf of Wall Street" is available to own on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD. It can also be streamed on Paramount+ and Hulu.