Metzger seems a no-brainer pick as best American erotic director except that his work is so European in character that it's hard to describe him as an American director at all. Metzger was a driving force in every stage of the cinematic sexual revolution in America. The saucy European art films his company Audubon imported in the early 1960s helped set the stage for US acceptance of nudity in film. As a director, his acclaimed 1960s soft core films remain highly regarded today and he later directed several of the most acclaimed American XXX films.