Good point about Herrmann/Hitchcock. Another excellent example.

Whilst I do think great films should be regarded as highly as great novels (to claim otherwise is snobbery), that film is collaborative doesn't detract from it being a work of art in any way. So I've always considered auteur theory misguided for that reason too. But that doesn't mean that the directors in question aren't people with singular drive and vision, working with their collaborators to produce something remarkable. They deserve to be properly recognised, but not as the sole author, unless they really are the sole author (Gints Zilbalodis's animated gem Away, for instance).

Also, I think Pauline Kael is wrong in her comments on Citizen Kane. Mankiewicz's screenplay is great, but even the greatest screenplay is just a blueprint. In less skilled hands, with an unimaginative director, a bad lead actor, and so on, Citizen Kane would have been a disaster.

Another area often overlooked is that of editor. Consider Jennifer Lame's recent work on Oppenheimer, for instance. Again, Christopher Nolan is the tip of a huge creative iceberg.