One of the true masters of cinema, Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa (1910 - 1998), was influenced by Hollywood genre films and fiction including the work of John Ford, detective novelist Dashiell Hammett and Shakespeare. He recast the Western stories into a series of samurai movies in the 50s and 60s but also covered contemporary topics in many other films. He is the director of several master works of world cinema. Kurosawa did not draw storyboards, but contributed many costume and concept paintings to his films.