Boetticher--I had a film instructor that lived and died by Boetticher, and the class he taught us on Westerns was split by thirds with Boetticher, Mann, and Ford. I had always been keen on Ford, and was a recent inductee to the cult of Anthony Mann at the time, but Boetticher just blew me away.

I've been meaning to try to grab that box set for cheap...going to have to look harder now.

Edit--I also really like a couple of his non-westerns, especially "The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond".